broodje bert - my new favourite lunch spot

Last week Trev sent me a link to a website called: Spotted by Locals.  It's separated by cities and has reviews of things to see, do and eat (reported by locals) so I browsed the Amsterdam section and looked for things I might be interested in.  There were lots of places that sounded good but a post about Broodje Bert caught my attention because I knew I had seen it earlier in the week when I was wandering around the Jordaan neighbourhood.

On Thursday I went to the Amsterdam Historical Museum, then went off in search of Broodje Bert.  I surprised myself by finding it relatively easily (I'm still working on developing a 'mental map' of the center of Amsterdam).  It's on a busy little corner overlooking the Singel canal and from the small cozy shop you can watch the parade of bikes speeding by and tourists wandering with guide-books in hand.

my view out the window

The shop is really small, It probably seats about 12 people inside, with additional tables outside (which would be fantastic when it's warm & sunny).  There's a comfortable hustle and bustle of activity inside and everything that comes out from behind the little sandwich bar looks so good.  I decided to have the warm tomato, mozzarella & pesto sandwich.  The sandwich was huge!  It was on a crusty and delicious baguette and the thick slices of fresh mozzarella were slightly melted and went so well with the fresh tomato and basil pesto.  It was definitely a 'knife & fork' type of sandwich!  It was served with a mixed vegetable salad that had a variety of greens, slices of cucumber, pepper and corn with a vinaigrette dressing.  My enormous sandwich and coffee were only 7 euro - an excellent price for the quality and amount of food.

I told Trevor all about it when I got home that day - you know that little feeling of victory you get when you've discovered a great little place that isn't overrun with the tourist scene?  So on Sunday afternoon when we were wandering around looking for a place to eat, we were pleasantly surprised to see that Broodje Bert was open (a lot of places are closed here on Sunday).  This time I ordered the 'Broodje Bert' a sandwich topped with grilled lamb meatballs and a garlic sauce.  It was soooo good.  The lamb meatballs were tasty and so filling and went so well with the baguette and all the greens.  I shared my sandwich with Trev, and I still, just barely, could finish it.  I'm already looking forward to my next visit to Broodje Bert.