Service is really poor (?) and other Amsterdam, Netherlands Local Custom Tips

I often hear from people visiting from the US and UK that service at restaurants in Amsterdam is really poor. Having lived in the US I agree that set against the expectations of an American customer service in the Netherlands simply, well, sucks.

Service in restaurants in the US is judge by how attentive and fast the waiters are. You expect basically minimal wait time, whether it's for your menu, food, refilling of your drinks and your bill.
Put simply, the Netherlands work on a custom that is the complete opposite.

People go to the restaurants, especially the nicer ones, in Amsterdam not to eat. They are there to 'go out'. It is very common to have 2-3 hour dinner, and if you get a table at a cafe in the afternoon it is pretty much yours for the rest of the day.

You need to pretty much call the waiter when you need something, whether it's the menu, another refill of your drink, when you are ready to order, and also when you are ready to pay. Also understand that the ratio of waiters to table is noticeably smaller to that in the US.
Once you understand this difference in custom, and are prepared for it, I'm hoping your dining experience will be much more enjoyable.

Oftentimes I had to be somewhere and thus had little time to spare for dinner. I would tell my waiter this as I was seated, and he will bring me the bill with the meal; so if you're in the same situation just do that, they were always willing to help to speed things up.

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The Dutch kiss a lot more than Americans or Asians. It is very common in Amsterdam that friends and acquaintances kiss each other on the cheek. This happens between woman/woman or man/woman.
The Dutch gives three kisses on the cheek; and it's left/right/left or right/left/right (not all three on the same cheek is basically what I want to say).
Male family members will also give each other one kiss on the cheek, but this normally doesn't happen among friends.

Three kisses on the cheeks is part of everyday life in Amsterdam; more so than hugging, so next time the girlfriend of your buddy leans forward and offer her face don't hesitate to give her three kisses.

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Amsterdam (the Netherlands) has a 'liberal' minimum drinking age law.
16 year olds are allowed to drink 'soft' alcoholic drinks; by law this is defined as drinks that contain less than 20% alcohol by volume.
This effectively means that when you reach 16 you are allowed to drink beer and wine.

When you reach 18 you can drink whatever you desire :)

Bear in mind though that most clubs require patrons to be 18 years of old minimum.

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Jenever (pronounced ye-nei-ver) is very famous and popular in Holland and Flemish speaking region of Belgium.

It has a taste that is similar to Gin, and so people often call it "Dutch gin" when explaining to tourists and foreigners. The drink distilled from malt wine and the taste comes from the 'juniper' berries that grows in Holland.

Is it a great-tasting spirit? well to be honest, no :p but it's the novelty that's important right? Every time I travel I always make sure I try the country's national spirits or drinks :)

There's many different distilleries that produce Jenever in the Netherlands. The famous ones include Bols, Bokma and Ketel One

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