In 't Aepjen on Zeedijk occupies an Amsterdam building dating to 1475, one of two surviving wooden facades, the brown cafe with the longest backstory.
Food program: Bar snacks
Address: Zeedijk 1, 1012 AN Amsterdam
Café Papeneiland on the corner of Prinsengracht and Brouwersgracht is the Amsterdam brown cafe from 1642, the apple pie inside almost as canonical as Winkel 43.
Signature drink: Jenever, beer on tap, coffee with apple pie
Food: Apple pie, bitterballen, cheese
Café de Reiger on Nieuwe Leliestraat in the Jordaan is the Amsterdam eetcafe with the back-room kitchen, brown-cafe service out front, no-frills dinners to follow.
Signature drink: Belgian beer, jenever, house wine
Food: Daily-changing kitchen, classics
Twenty Third Bar at Hotel Okura sits next to Ciel Bleu on the top floor, the Amsterdam cocktail bar with the city's most generous view across the city.
Signature drink: Japanese-inflected cocktails with city view
Food: Bar snacks, oysters
Wynand Fockink on Pijlsteeg has poured Amsterdam jenever since 1679, the proeflokaal where you bend over the tulip glass without lifting it from the bar.
Signature drink: Jenever flights, traditional Dutch liqueurs
Food: No food
Café Chris on Bloemstraat in the Jordaan has poured Amsterdam beer since 1624, claimant to the city's oldest brown cafe title, the room small enough to know.
Signature drink: Pilsner, jenever, no music
Food: Bar snacks
Rosalia's Menagerie at Conservatorium Hotel is the Amsterdam high-end cocktail bar pulled from old Havana, aged-rum lineup and a tropical-leaning seasonal menu.
Signature drink: Aged-rum cocktails, riffs on the daiquiri
Food: Bar snacks
