Proeflokaal De Admiraal

Once a distillery, the copper brewing kettles and oak kegs that still line the walls and the toilets located inside massive 10,000-litre vats give bar and restaurant Proeflokaal De Admiraal on Herengracht barrels of charm.

The proeflokaal part of the name means a tasting house and this one is linked to A. van Wees De Ooievaar in the Jordaan, the only distillery left in the centre of Amsterdam. A large number of A. van Wees jenevers (Dutch gins), liqueurs and old-fashioned bitters - with evocative names like Parrot Soup, Bride's Tears and Little Hans in the Cellar - are on sale, although there is a wine list too if you can't stomach hard liquor.

It’s particularly fun to try a tasting at Proeflokaal De Admiraal. The jenever tasting, for example, which costs around €10, comprises four small glasses of jenever of different ages. The first is a very young jenever, which is bottled as soon as it's made; the second is an ‘old’ jenever, which means it's been aged for 12 months; the third is a korenwijn; and the final - and mellowest of them all - is a zeer oude (very old) three-year-old jenever.

Proeflokaal De Admiraal really comes into its own in the winter. As well as raising a glass, you can squeeze into one of the many dark, cosy corners for a solid meat and two veg-style Dutch meal.

The menu emphasises Dutch dishes in hearty quantities, such as steak in red wine sauce or fish with capers and fresh dill. The dessert menu is equally straightforward. Choose from a simple scoop of ice cream or a slice of Dutch apple pie. Alternatively, skip dessert altogether and opt for a liqueur tasting instead.