Paradox (Eerste Bloemdwaarsstraat)
I've made no secret on here that this coffeeshop is my favourite in Amsterdam. It gets consistently good reviews on here and I think that is down to the fact it hasn't really changed over the last decade (at least), except for a few licks of paint and a couple of a menu updates. Even the staff have remained consistent through the years. for those who don't know it is located in the Jordaan, close to the Anne Frank House and Westerkerk, on a little side street just off the Bloemgracht, which itself is a lovely canal. The coffeeshop is almost hidden nowadays by an overgrown bush but this makes it easier to miss for those 'wonderers' who may not appreciate it (sorry I'm being a bit of a coffeeshop elitist here!). Once inside the decor and set up is like a coffeeshop of old. It is very cafe like, with round hand painted tables and chairs and a comfier sofa style booth in the corner. The bud tenders counter is at the back of the shop and here you will find the nicest guys who run it. The menu hasn't changed much over the years. Whilst here I bought the Bio Green (€16/2.8g), the Amnesia Haze (€10/g) and the LA Confidential (€10/g). The bio is an organic, outdoor grown weed that offers a nice, mild smoke with a buzzy high and zippy taste. No one is pretending it is the most potent weed available in the city but it's a great morning smoke, allowing you to relax and walk around without feeling like you are going under. The Amnesia and the LA were rather similar I thought. The LA pushed it for me because the buds just looked SO nice. Really tight and smothered in crystals. This was an unbelievable smoke that hit me like a train. It was an intense, long lasting high that was very, very moorish. I was sad when it was finished and I had to go and buy another gram on my last day. The food in here is what makes Paradox entirely 'returnable'. They do great lunches of sandwiches, toasties, soup and the best veggie burger you will find anywhere. The milkshakes and hot chocolates are also the best around and the prices on soft drinks are really reasonable, in some cases being a good 80c-€1 cheaper than places like Amnesia where the drinks are really hiked. Paradox did not disappoint again on this trip. What I love most about it is that the more you go in, the more you see the same faces over and over again. For me, if the locals trust it so much to make it their only coffeeshop of choice, then it's good enough for me.
Het Ballonetje (Roetersstraat)
This is a local orientated places south of the Plantage and opposite one of the main UvA buildings. I've been a couple of times over the years and really enjoyed it. It's tiny inside with a few seats, a giant fish-tank and very friendly staff. It has some nice outdoor seating, although the road it is on is quite busy, and you can enjoy a good smoke here watching the world go by. One thing that is very noticeable is that the weed and hash are ridiculously well priced and when you try what you buy you realise just how good value for money it really is. The weed ranges in price, roughly from €5-€8 and the hash €5-€11. On this trip I was greeted by a really friendly bud tender, the place was quite busy but we managed to get a table outside. I bought NLX (€6/g) weed and the White Balloon (€7/g). Both were really nice smokes that represented superb value for money when you think about it. I wouldn't say I was totally blown away by the gear here, but it's a nice walk out to this shop and when you get there you get good service, nice environment and a good quality smoke at reasonable prices. That's more than you can say for a lot of places in Amsterdam.
La Tertulia (Prinsengracht)
I'm not a huge fan of this coffeeshop but my wife likes to pop in for a toastie every now and then and grab a table overlooking the canal and have a quick smoke with our lunch. This time there was scaffolding up over the building, although it was open, and there weren't many seats outside because of this. Even so, we popped in twice while we were there to find the shop exactly the same as it has always been since forever I think. It's a bit strange inside, as it is kind of on three levels. As you go in there is a couple of tables by the entrance, the counter and a few more tables are down a few steps, and their are some tables upstairs. The tables remind of primary school tables with all the graffiti and stuff on them. It is run by a mother and daughter combo who are reasonably friendly enough but it would be unfair to champion their friendliness against other shops because it doesn't compare with the likes of De Graal or Paradox. Their (uniform but somehow random) opening times are 11am-7pm Tuesday to Saturday. For me, the coffeeshop makes a great snack and juice bar but I don't think the weed is particularly mind blowing. I think what I bought was the Orange Bud (€7/g???). As you can probably tell, I don't really remember it, because it wasn't really memorable. In fact I don't think I even smoked it all. I would say give this place a try though, maybe take your own smoke and have a nice smoothie and a toastie for lunch. If you can get a seat on the canal outside, even better.
Greenhouse (Tolstraat)
Sadly I've only ever made it here twice. Once a couple of years ago and secondly on this trip. I do like the Greenhouse chain, but I've spent most of my time over the years at Namaste near the Waterlooplein. We decided to walk here from the Vondelpark (via De Graal and the Albert Cuyp). The shop was empty when we got there at around 2pm. It's nice inside, much like Namaste. Long, leather seating snakes around the perimeter of the room and you can get some nice privacy here when it's quiet. As expected, the theme is oriental/asian influenced and the music trippy and calm. They were showing the world cup whilst we were there but it was on mute and wasn't obtrusive. We bought the Stawberry Haze (€14/g). It was expensive and I wasn't sure at all, but I'd never heard of it and the Budtender wasn't particularly helpful so I went for it. To be honest it was poor. I thought the smoke was rather harsh and dry and the stone wasn't anything to write home about. I felt a bit ripped off to be honest which saddened me because in spite of all it's criticisms I've always enjoyed the merchandise on offer from Greenhouse. To make matters worse the budtender started playing some hardcore dance music just as we were starting to relax after the long walk. Suffice to say it wasn't long before we left and moved on. The funny thing was when we were in another c/s which I won't name, later on that day two guys came in after buying something they asked the budtender if she could look at some dodgy weed they had bought under the scope. They had a look and said it was 'no good' before the guys said it was...guess what...Strawberry Haze from Greenhouse. Thus ensued a knowing look and a nod of the head from a local man sat at the bar. 'No good, no good at all' he said. Maybe it was a bad batch, maybe it was a bad strain, I don't know. I wouldn't let it put me off going back to Greenhouse Tolstraat, definitely not. But on this occasion the poor quality I received, coupled with the buzz kill that was the head thumping music really ruined my time there and it has gone down a bit in my opinion. I'll be more cautious next time for sure.