Blend

Blend yourself in the mix. Sit yo ass down and listen to awesome live music. Okay?
Onder het genot van diverse wijntjes en hapjes.
We namen hier een vleesplankje, kaasplankje en een heerlijke Rib barbeque. Hele goede bediening, zeer gezellig sfeertje. Bij ieder gerecht een ander wijntje.
Goed advies voor bijpassende wijnen per gerecht, vriendelijk en een gezellige presentatie.
Puntje van kritiek. De bediening werd aan het eind van de avond wat trager en bleef vooral rondom de bar.
De hele avond was er een ‘live’ bandje bezig met een vet goede drummer, niemand minder dan John Engels. Damn, wat kan deze man drummen zeg.
Oost staat nu meer op mijn kaart dan eerst. Ik kom hier zeker en vast nog een keertje terug voor de final thought.

Very friendly staff excellent choice of wines. We asked the proprietor to surprise is with a wine and he gave us a very tasty white wine. Dinner was tasty, very good food for the price.
We only stopped by for a short quick bite of food before we had to move on to a different venue, but are definitely enamored with Blend, their wines and their very friendly, helpful and welcoming staff.

Blend is a part of the nicest sections of the newly developed Oostpoort. I must say I was a bit sceptical at first when hearing about this new boulevard situated on the Ringvaart. I mean, how can new buildings win it from the typical old Amsterdam canalhouses? I must admit that it has been done really well.
And Blend blends in perfectly when talking about well done. It’s the first café you’ll find from the square. The interior décor is stylish and the terrace beautiful next to the water with it’s willow trees hanging over it. Nice location.
The first thing that struck me was the extremely nice service. I had a cold, so they advised me to take water with fresh mint, lemon and honey. It was not even on the menu, so it was customised according to my needs. The coffees had options of taking them with soya, goat milk, lactose free. Score 1. The second thing is the food. The food on the menu looked really nice, simple not too many choices but enough and good prices. It also had some delicious bites, pastries and deserts on it. Score 2. The third thing is the wines. The winecard is elaborate and the one I tried was really good! Score 3. The fourth thing… when bringing the drinks, the added some free snack with it! I felt like being in Spain! Score 4
Well done, Blend!

Top pick: Eggplant with red lentil curry and fig chutney, served layered in a pot with a side salad. Robust without being overly dense like some lentil dishes, and a nice dose of olive oil gave it some extra richness. The salad niçoise was a close second, and the bread with aïoli provided some starch.
The beer menu has some local entries from Brand, but was fairly forgettable; the beverages here focus on wine & coffee. Service was very friendly, but perhaps stretched a little thin; took a little while to flag someone down for our bill.
The terrace is very kid-​friendly — at lunch time, probably half the groups had little ones. There were also some local-​sounding businessmen, a table of New Zealanders, and one guy getting a sunburn while reading the paper and smoking a cigarette. Inside is somewhat swankier (and was fairly empty when we visited).

Spacious, welcoming, and with a hype-​yet-​casual ambiance, Blend is a great café option in Amsterdam Oost.
Their menu offers a bit of everything: coffee, (ice) tea, soft drinks, breakfast basics, and sweets, as well as sandwiches, bites, charcuterie, and antipasti. As the name suggests, there’s also a selection of wines, beer, and other alcoholic drinks.
The view is quite relaxing, and you can enjoy the sunlight (well, when the sun decides to show up) in one of the tables outside, right in front of a canal. There’s good background music, and every second and last friday of the month there’s also live music.
Great place to come alone or ir groups. Be aware they do not accept cash, only credit cards and pin.