Little wine bar with simple cuisine: Caffé Al Dente

Caffé Al dente is just five minutes away from our house (on foot) and its popularity with locals says it all: great wine, nice staff, simple delicious pasta in an open kitchen...we particularly enjoyed the wines, and liked the suggestions to match the wine with the food... The short and straigtforward menu is written on the black board, just like in italy, and there are at least eight different wines to taste by the glass. A lovely place for dinner near our house, and there aren't that many of them...Booking is advised.
http://www.caffealdente.com/enoteca.html

For Chocolate Haute Couture: MARCOLINI is the answer

Well, there's much to say about chocolates in Belgium, and you might want to sample a few for yourself ..just down the street near our home you will be able to taste at least three different chocolate makers (Galler, Neuhaus, and Leonidas).

But none of them come close, in my humble opinion, to the extremely refined chocolates by Pierre Marcolini. There are a few boutiques downtown, I recommend you go the one Place du Grand Sablon, where you will also be able to sample a few other historical brands if you're really into chocolates (Wittamer, Godiva, etc) ...the Pierre Marcolini boutique looks more like a packed jewellery shop than a chocolate shop...on the first floor you usually have to wait, but you can pick and choose your chocolates. On the second floor, it's much faster and may be good for a first visit as they sell packaged little boxes with an assortement of their different "pralines". Enjoy!!

http://www.marcolini.be/

There's even a Marcolini addicts facebook group!! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8143454709

Restaurant CAFE AMSTERDAM

We had dinner in this huge venue on our first night in Amsterdam...it's an old water pump that's been converted into a fashionable café and restaurant suitable for families as well as groups of friends. It's not a romantic little café by the canals, by all means, but after a drink at the nearby terrace of the Kunst center (art center) it's worth a visit, for its exceptional size and style. Here's a link to the restaurant website, you might want to make reservations:

http://www.cradam.nl/

We had a drink there by the canal in Wester Park before dinner, it's really nice to hang out there and see the boats arrive . Café Amsterdam is just on the other side of the canal, five minutes away.

Amsterdam for the day or longer...

We stayed in Amsterdam for a week-end, and the weather was so gorgeous that on the second day we went to Haarlem and rented bikes to bike to the coast...a 20 km return trip! that was a little too much for our little ones, but how fun! We had great ice cream at a little Gelateria behind the main church on De Groote Platz, as a reward for all our efforts!

As far as Amsterdam proper is concerned, we LOVE the Vangogh museum, as his paintings are just so much better in real life than reproductions and both Camille and Thomas really enjoy them (we did the little programm specially designed for kids and they got a postcard to take away at the end) - and the Rijksmuseum, even though undergoing renovation work right now, has a nice little section about the 17th century- Amsterdam's Golden Age- with a few Rembrandt, Rubens, Vandyck, and, our favorite: VERMEER (they only have two of his paintings, but we just love the milkmaid!) Our children really enjoyed the Delf china with lots of paintings on them, the richly decorated doll houses and any painting involving horses, armors and ships!

http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/?lang=en

http://www3.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp

The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museums are close to each other, and also close to either the Vondel park for a little stroll and picnic, or the canal for a boattrip or - better if you have some energy left- a tour on a Canal Bike! We had lots of fun with our children pedaling our way through the maze of the canals! http://www.canal.nl/en/index.php

Of course there's much more to see and do in Amsterdam, renting a bike and stopping at a little café if the weather allows, somewhere in the Jordaan or the Nine Streets (designers and artists shops, lots of vintage too) should be top of the list too! And the New Kerk, Oude Kerk and Anne Frank's house are all very moving...It's hard to chose if you're short on time or have tired children in tow!

Magenta restaurant

We went to this little French restaurant one evening with my parents in-law, we all loved the food...The atmosphere is very conventional, very French, but the food was great and reasonnably priced we thought ( 28 euro menu with hors d'oeuvre, main course and dessert, all very refined) ...they serve a lot of fish and even though the portions are small, we had enough. This restaurant reminded me of the kind of delicious and delicate food you can find in Paris pretty easily, but not in Brussels! We will be back! Their website is http://www.magenta-restaurant.com/en/info.html I just noticed they will be closed in July this year...too bad!