February Means Chocolate Time - Day 4!

I took the hot chocolate hunt to a new country, The Netherlands, specifically Amsterdam.

This was a last minute stop and I had no clues what to do besides visit the museums and snack on frites with satay sauce.  Well, I didn't end up having any of the latter, but through the Knopf MapGuides Amsterdam*, we found a gem of a place that I intend to take my cutie to when we go to Amsterdam.  Yes, it was that good, in fact, it was my favorite cup of hot chocolate through the entire 2 months of travel and that's saying a lot!

De Bakkerswinkel [Roelof Hartstraat 68]

"Very popular bakery and tearoom, renowned for the quality and freshness of its products.  It has an extensive snack menu and excellent teas and coffees."*

It was the cat in the window that encoruaged us to walk in even though the place was packed.  We shared a large family-style dinner table with 9 other people and the garden at the back.  I had a croque monsiuer and the other two I was with ordered the special...not one of us was disappointed.

The space isn't huge, its a neighborhood spot, and the smells coming from the kitchen teased the senses.  The people who worked there were friendly, I mean genuinely happy, and the folks who we sat closet to at the table were a local family, older, and absolutely lovely to talk to.  They finished their lunches off with a scone, cream and lemon curd and recommended we do the same.  We did, of course, and oh yes, that was so very tasty.

Are you getting the gist of what happened at Bakkerswinkel?  I'm not a fan of food, but everything about the place rang my bells.

Okay, okay, on to the hot chocolate!

As you can see from my pics above, it came in a glass with chunks of chocolate with a few other bits of nuts settled on the bottom, and a frothy layer at the top.  Using the long spoon, I stirred it up and then set the spoon to cool down before repeating the process.  The older gentleman we spoke with helped me out on this one - explaining the science of it all [that part made me miss the cutie].  Let the spoon cool and stir with it to get the hot chocolate down to drinking temp. 

This glass of hot chocolate was light yet tasty, just a hint of spice and fabulous from the first sip to the last!  If you ever make it to Amsterdam, make a point to visit Bakkerswinkel and enjoy the experience.