New Amsterdam Surf Association

Amsterdam

I chose Kaasland because it’s my summer hotspot to go have breakfast or lunch, like the best cheese and the best sandwiches. And it’s in the Haarlemmerdijk which is one of the nicest streets in Amsterdam. 

We’re at the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, that’s where the store is and that’s next to the dam so there’s not many places more central. During corona everything was kinda hard, especially during the winter months. I think it should be that community hangout spot for us, the surf team and everybody but I think now it’s just started to become that, because we can do the drinks and the afterparties and collection release parties here.

You have a lot of types of people jumping from the piers and everyone just brings their own towel and a lot of food and drinks. It’s a really fun place to just chill and get a tan. In summer it gets really busy so sometimes you really have to come early to get a good spot but it’s worth it. You can stay there for the whole day and usually at night, people will play music and maybe light little barbecues.

It’s a spot that’s a little bit further away from the city centre, so for us, it’s a bit more local. It’s very DIY in a way and it has this mix of fine dining but not with a dress code and not with those prices and afterwards around 9pm they usually take out all the chairs and tables and it just turns up really, really quick.
 
It’s just a place where they don’t want to have too many rules and they just want to be very open-minded about everything and if stuff goes crazy, the owners will be the guys that go crazier. It’s very easy-going, it’s not about who you are, it’s about music and having fun with a lot of people. 

New Amsterdam Surf Association’s Guide To Summer in Amsterdam

Heartbroken

Brussels

It’s a very old and typical Brussels daily flea market. You can find good bargains and nice antiques as well as a lot of weird stuff. I used to go there since I’m a kid with my Dad and we would just look for some nice furniture for the house, and after that we would have a sandwich and a soup at la Clef d’Or, a cafe that’s right on the square and is still running today. Those are my dearest childhood memories.

It’s my favourite ice cream spot, I think, in the world. During the first lockdown everything was closed, and you could only have takeaways and I would walk from my home 35 minutes all the way to Bargello and every day I would go and buy one ice cream and that was like my highlight of the day. It’s a true Italian style ice cream parlour, they have these flavours that I love and that you don’t find so often, dark chocolate sorbet and tuscan cream with pistachio and almonds.

It’s a little park located in the heart of Saint Gilles, that typically represents the diversity of Brussels as a lot of different crowds mix there. There is a basketball court and a field where people play pétanque while sipping a beer, the kids play in the grass and the skaters use the upper level’s flat ground with their friends watching them sitting on the stairs. During the first lockdown, it spontaneously became a big hang out place as the bars were closed down, to the point that the police came to confiscate the skating equipment due to neighbourhood complaints.

They make these awesome jerk chicken plates and also fish but also, they make these cocktails which are a bit too strong but are really good, it’s worth the money. They have a DJ, he plays reggae and dancehall and he’s always very hyped about being there, it’s a very nice vibe.

Decoratelier started as a scenography workshop that his owner, Jozef Wouters, opened to other collectives and people from the neighbourhood, and it quickly became a strong community and an inclusive lab for all kinds of ideas and projects. The space is easy to adapt as they use modular scaffoldings to create a different setting for every event, so they have had theatre performances, screenings, club nights as well as karaoke and a gym club.

Heartbroken’s Guide to Summer in Brussels

Tiny's Pizza

Berlin

It’s a very lovely spot, right on Paul-Lincke-Ufer. The bakery is really good, I think it’s been rated one of the best in Berlin so the croissants and baked goods there are really delicious.

This is kind of a general spot in the summer, people just try and catch as much sun as they can, with a beer or with wine and you kind of just find whatever space you have, maybe you run into some friends, maybe you meet someone new. That’s kind of the energy, it’s very casual.

It’s really nice to go on bike rides, also through the forest that is attached to it. And this island (Insel der Jugend) specifically is really lovely because there’s an outdoor cinema there, you can rent boats, there’s a little späti to pick up snacks or something to drink. And then there’s this one little spot, kind of like a boardwalk, where you just find people picnicking and sprawling out and the sun sets right along that view.

This is where you can rent out some paddle boats. It’s quite fun being on these little paddle boats. Actually driving the boat yourself is a different experience and with a close circle of friends it’s very funny but hectic as well.

It’s a really cute restaurant, kind of tucked away in the centre of the city. We have a big garden, a really big outdoor space for seating and for people to enjoy themselves. In the summer there’s a big emphasis on music and having DJs perform here.

Tiny's Pizza’s Guide To Summer in Berlin

London

Silk Road has been a mainstay on the London Chinese restaurant scene and certainly remains the best option south of the river. Its Xinjiang-style Sichuan dishes have been consistently numbing mouths and burning tongues for well over a decade now. Although the mountains of long dried chillies have been somewhat curtailed for the less capable spice palate of the clientele, even these more accessible iterations of classic, home-style dishes are delicious in their lashings of black vinegar and hot oil. Our order has been remarkably unchanged for a long time. Order lamb skewers, pork and black fungus fried beef dumplings, cucumber salad, home-style aubergine, home-style cabbage with rice and luxury noodles.

Nestled in a corner of a Brutalist estate courtyard, Zeret always offers a convivial welcome and setting. Tafe Beleynah, the matriarch of this unassuming Ethiopian restaurant, will encourage you to order from the sharing platter, with a view to reordering your favourite options. Portions are ample however, so maybe take note of firm favourites and plan your return with new familiarity of the menu. The platters are arranged on injera – a fermented flatbread designed to grip and dip at the various lashings of vegan and meat stews. Cutlery is not provided as standard (although probably available; not that we’ve ever felt the need). Eat with your hands, get tactile; feed yourself and each other. Order the meat selection or vegan selection with an Ethiopian beer.

Grove Lane Deli, as we know it, feels like something from a Richard Curtis Movie. Any Camberwell coffee devotee has made GLD part of their daily routine, and if Jackie Chan was right and "coffee is a language in itself", then Danielle – the owner and baker – speaks with great fluency. The coffee, pastries, well-curated selection of posh, dry goods and natural wines make for fun shopping when you fancy a treat. Order the chicken focaccia sandwich (if it hasn’t sold out), burnt milk cookie and coffee. We write this in memorandum of GLD's former self. As of July 2024, it is going through a mysterious transformation – so watch this space.

We first happened upon Betty's just after they had opened. The owner, Andres, thrust plates of his flamed grilled chorizo and potatoes smothered with salsa verde into our hands, before cordially ushering us through the door past the haze from his daring curbside barbecue. We sat and heeded advice to opt for the sopa del dia – a broth rich in beef collagen and punctuated with bright vegetables, paired with the recommended plump long grain rice and avocado that somehow tasted of something beyond the water usually wasted in its cultivation. Not soon after we’d perched, the fire brigade showed up with something to say about Andres’ barbecuing practices. Some light-hearted bribery with grilled meats and good hospitality reassured them, but now you can find Betty's barbecue on less flammable ground at the Camberwell Farmers Market every Saturday from 11am. Order sopa del dia, avocado and rice, empanadas and the BBQ on Camberwell Farmers Market every Saturday.

A fairly new addition to Camberwell, Delly's has a cracker of a lunchtime deal. Lunchtime main and two sides and a drink for six [pounds], but if I could tempt you away from the efficiency of the meal deal, then go for their beef patty. An incredibly short and flaky pastry with an invitingly umber hue instead of the standard brilliant yellow. Encases a filling that I’m convinced is a repurposing of their stewed oxtail. Whatever it is, it’s delicious and blows Greggs’ steak bake out of the water at a savvy £1.50.

South London’s supreme ocakbasi spot, FM Mangal is a shining example of fire and flame cookery. Although recently renovated and stylised to something akin to a provincial Essex Instagram fever dream – complete with a faux flower statement wall – the grill still burns with great genetic skill and prowess. Work your way through the chef specials, grab yourself an Adana kebab; the bafflingly good sumac grilled onions and the bread is moistened to perfection with meaty juice run-off to mop it all up. Order the FM Mangal chef's special:  lamb beyti aubergine.

Lockdown sandwich maestros are slinging their playfully named sub-roll bangers from bustling pub destinations: the Grove House Tavern and The White Horse in Peckham. Their lunchtime executive solutions, once the saviour of working from home isolation, are still out for delivery daily. We worked alongside these fellas for a good while and gladly scoffed their sandwiches on the regs – and without fatigue. Don’t miss their evening menu either, perfectly calibrated alongside fun and pint sinking. Order literally any sandwich.

An unassumingly credible Dominican food spot. Despite its name, we would recommend to flip the menu and ignore the breakfast. As far as South American food goes, expect lots of fried meats piled high on a plate. This is a real great alternative to the fry-up if you’ve had a few too many beverages the night before. Order the empanadas, parrillada and the pollo a la canasta.

The obvious caff in Camberwell to nurse a hangover would be Rock Steady Eddies, but we prefer to drag ourselves a bit further up Coldharbour Lane to Johnnies. A sensory overload at every turn, this diner is the perfect spot for people watching. At peak times there’s a queue out the door but wait it out if you can. [You'll be] well fed for around a tenner. Order the full English.

Theo’s pizza is one of the closest replicants of Neopolitan-style pizza we’ve come across in London. We spent the best part of a week in the Italian centre of pizza, consuming 17 pizzas in five days, so we got a decent grasp of what was good and how it should be. Although that pizza pilgrimage is still definitely unrivalled, Theo’s does pretty damn well and, if anything, their pizza fritta comes the closest to the Italian original. Aside from strictly pizza authenticity, Theo’s works well as a restaurant with scope outside of their main commodity. Their sharing plates of mortadella, guindilla peppers and puffed fried dough nuggets are a great way to limber up before the main event. And there’s that tiramisu that’s just about perfectly formed and available for takeaway if the gluten overload has rendered dessert a bridge too far. Order the sharing platter, calzone and tiramisu.

Many of us have a very precise configuration of what to order at the British-Chinese takeaway. Regularly passed down a generation, these precisely recited orders become admitted into a kind of British oral history. Van Hing can cater to cravings for the classics, like salt and pepper dishes and Singapore noodles, while also hosting Vietnamese-style offerings as well. Van Hing does what it does and it does it well. You shouldn’t expect modern ‘elevated’ Pan-Asian fusion cooking or the like here; it’s a good, solid choice for cheap and quick eats. Order the sea-spiced aubergine.

The steady decline of the independent boozer is a sad marker of hard times. As pub chains and monopolies swoop in across south London, the essential soul of a good pub is being lost to the sterile formula of the modern gastropub nightmare. This is why we revere places like The Hermits Cave. It may not be the most comfortable or the best equipped, but it does have character. There’s no food offering here, but you’re invited to take your pick from the bounties of Camberwell New Road and eat it in the pub, with local hotspots like Silk Road, FM Mangal or Theo’s to accompany your pint.

Toad Bakery, formerly Frog Bakery, has dominated a market saturated with laminated baked goods. Toad’s creativity in the field is refreshing and despite the cost of butter soaring to almost crisis levels, they never skimp. In a conversation with the lovely owners, Rebecca and Oliver, they admitted that butter was their chief expenditure after staffing costs and it shows. Their Hawaiian spin on a Danish with ham hock and pineapple has been a firm favourite. Their innovative and daring combinations will have you pushing the boundaries of your tastebuds on your morning commute. Regular queues out the door are a sure sign of something good. RIP Frog, long live Toad.

Huong Vi Viet had big boots to fill, stepping into the premises of its now neighbour Silk Road. [This is] a family-run and orientated restaurant with multi-generational staff bringing warm hosting and authentic feeling dishes. The offering spans from the rice noodle to salads of the same extraction, soups and pho (we all know and love), but [the menu] eclipses the usual Anglified plod with some real home-style flourishes. Come hungry as the aunties in the kitchen are here to feed with great maternal instinct. The attentive staff will recommend the best dishes to your taste – we love the bún chả nem Hanoi.

Cutie Pies on Their Top Food Spots in Camberwell, London

Public Possession 

Munich

It’s sort of like the area where a lot of young people meet, either for going to the river or having some food or shopping. At night, it has a lot of bars so it’s one of the most lively areas in Munich so it felt natural to open something there.

It’s like one of the oldest food markets, definitely in town, and the whole approach is still very old school so like every stall has its own product and they can only sell that product and they have to get creative if they want to break some rules.

It’s one of the biggest parks in the world and it’s also the place where, when we all grew up, we hung out there in the summer because you could swim there. People also surf there. It’s kind of special.

It’s this industrial hall, warehouse kind of thing where we basically give space to a lot of different creative working people and try to create a space where you can share ideas and work together. A goal we have is to create a space where a lot of synergies can develop.

High Bar is a neighbourhood bar that’s been around for a while. It’s run by friends of ours and when we go out and have a drink that would be one of the places that would be a go-to. They have a very nice concept of serving small drinks called Highballs. It’s very good to be there because you always meet friends but also if you come from somewhere else you will easily get to chat with other people because it’s a small space that quickly gets crowded.

It’s our home base when it comes to DJing and clubbing in Munich. Despite everything else that was going on in the scene here in Munich they always stayed true to themselves and the idea and the vision they had which makes it, in a sense, unique.

Public Possession’s Guide to Summer in Munich

Errol

Bricky's finest. Wally's knowledge of Caribbean music is encyclopaedic. Make sure you roll to Eat of Eden afterwards to replenish.

Mostly secondhand bits from across the musical spectrum. Warning: no listening booths; YouTube is your friend.

A well-known one, but for good reason. A real mixed bag of records — new and old.

Another Soho spot (special mention to Jean-Claude's If Music too). Solid selection, very reasonably priced and knowledgable staff. Gwan.

Always a friendly vibe down there and they're always supporting local music. I don’t go here enough TBH.

If you're out west, take a peek in here for the goodness. If you're in central/north, check out their smaller store in Kings Cross

London Record Digging with Errol from Touching Bass

Touching Bass

The crepes are banging, and the juices are banging too and it’s black owned as well. It’s just a really great place to hang, it’s super informal. You can just go and buy a juice and hang out there all day and no-one’s going to kick you out or anything, it’s just a great spot.

We've been visiting Tafe and her husband's family-run business for years now. Someone from TB celebrates their birthday there at least once a year! It's everything we love about Ethiopian food: the taste (of course), the warmth of the people and the fact that you can eat together and with your hands. Make sure you order the T'ej ! (honey wine)

Telegraph Hill is very special to me because it was the first place that made me fall in love with London when I moved here from abroad. On my first visit a friend of mine took me up to the top of the park and there where all these smiley people with instruments and food, everyone playing music and vibing in the summer sun, it felt magical.

They just have lots of different things and because people trade in records all the time you never know what you’re going to find. You can find some really obscure stuff in there and I guess also because it’s a bit out of the way, you know, it’s like you kind of have to know about it to go there.

It feels a little bit more rural than some other parks, just like how big the trees are, and I guess it’s one of the bigger parks so it never feels too crowded. It’s just a beautiful park.


Explore

All 30 Results

Filtered Results