5 reasons why you want to visit Kaasbar Amsterdam
Amsterdam’s first cheese bar recently opened. I went ahead of you so I can tell you why it’s a very good idea to take a look here soon.
1. The cheese train
Kaasbar Amsterdam is located in the heart of De Pijp, opposite Marie Heinekenplein. You can take a seat at one of the tables by the window, but sitting at the cheese train in the middle of the spacious establishment is even more fun. Think of a sushi train where you take sushi from the conveyor belt, but with cheese, beneath a large glass dome.
2. Dutch cheese
Owners Mark, Thierry and Hademar are true cheese lovers. Mark and Thierry come from a cheese-making family and have chosen to serve only Dutch cheeses from Dutch farms. For example, I enjoyed the delicious ‘Skeapsrond’, a sheep’s cheese from Dirkhoeve, and ‘Hansje’, a cheese made from cow’s milk by Mathilde’s kaas. Both cheeses belong to the so-called white-flora family. Also very tasty: Le petit Doruvael truffle, a red-flora cheese from Doruvael farm.
3. Wine and beer pairings
For each cheese, the owners, assisted by wine and beer sommeliers, have devised special pairings that go well with the flavor of the cheese. This means you can enjoy the perfect wine and beer with every cheese for the ultimate taste experience.
4. Vegan cheese (that is genuinely good)
Cheese and veganism were a difficult combination for a long time. I recently bought vegan Parmesan at the supermarket and it was so godawfully bad that it made me aggressive. But still: genuinely delicious vegan cheese exists, and it is served here. The vegan cheeses come from Willicroft, the first vegan cheese shop in Amsterdam. Try the vegan camembert (almost indistinguishable from real camembert in appearance and texture!) or go for a romantic vegan cheese fondue.
5. Deliciously local
Not only are the cheeses local, the guests are too (for now). The owners deliberately do not target tourists, so Kaasbar does not become a tourist gimmick, but rather a place that Amsterdammers themselves enjoy visiting. The menu is also deliberately in Dutch. I doubt they will maintain this strategy for long, because De Pijp is highly touristy and cheese is precisely the kind of thing that attracts tourists enormously. But I do like the idea of focusing on the neighborhood and its residents.
Read also:
