Pint Of Ale

We spent a lazy Sunday lunchtime relaxing in the atmosphere of Frenzi, an excellent bar in Amsterdam. It’s a two-roomed, modern, light airy café. It’s orange on the outside and a cool cream on the inside. The building seems to retain its original, ornate tiled floor. There is a selection of modern contemporary art on the walls. This took the form of paintings on scrap boards of wood and a montage of a Communist soldier, a big gun, and Naomi Campbell in a bikini. Interesting. Large plants help break up the interior space and there was a large vase of opulent flowers on one of the tables.

There was a pleasing buzz in the air as we chomped our lunchtime food. We really enjoyed the simple flavours in our simple yet excellent quality lunchtime snacks. The apple pie for dessert was possibly the best I’ve had! (And in Amsterdam, I had a lot of apple pie).

There is live jazz on a Sunday afternoon. When we were there, this consisted of a three-piece Chinese band playing American jazz. They were very good. The singer was dressed like an air hostess and she had a fantastic voice.

Being a Sunday afternoon, there were families in the café and the occasional well-behaved toddler would occasionally make the dart from one room to the other. I’ve been known to get grumpy with kids in pubs, but it always seems different in Europe - there’s a much more relaxed attitude.

There was a limited beer choice. Brand was the beer on offer, as with many other places in Amsterdam. It was a pleasant enough lager. There was no real ale of course. I was beginning to write off the beer choices in this city. (Come back in a couple of weeks to see how wrong I was eventually proved to be!