This was a small Italian restaurant that had a pretty big menu. Pasta dishes, pizza, salads, sandwiches, beef and chicken dishes, and appetizers: it was all here. We played it safe and ordered a pepperoni pizza, but to start off, we had shrimp scampi, which was surprisingly great, with big, fat prawns in a rich, garlicky butter sauce, served with hot garlic bread. Now, the bread is what really stood out. It was a loaf of crusty Italian bread, sliced and served with a dish of garlic herb butter. OH MY GOD! I could have eaten three or four loaves of it. The garlic butter spread was such a welcome departure from the ordinary bread and butter you’re served with meals in Europe. The bread was warm and crusty on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. YUM!

Our other appetizer was a nice big antipasti salad full of tasty salami, cheese and pepperoncinis. Our pepperoni pizza was quite good. It was really cheesy, and the crust was thin and crispy.

I was pretty impressed with this little place. It’s off the main square, and it was pretty empty on this Monday evening. As with all restaurants, it allows smoking, so it can get a little stuffy and smoky, but it was good, inexpensive food, a huge factor when you’re on vacation. Our bill was around 30€, and we had beer and wine with our meal.

The restaurant is two doors down from the Sofitel hotel on Neiuwe Zijds Voorburgwal, two streets over from Damrak. The tram stops right in front of it. Take tram nos. 1, 2, or 5.