The Bulldog Energy

If you want to have a seat and a smoke, go next door to the bar of the Bulldog hotel. Much better ambience, not as packed, pooltable, and alcohol too!

Came here Friday July 3, 2015.
This was the first coffee shop I went to in the Red Light District area. We went in and were able to pick what we wanted from a screen that listed the menu but no prices. Decent variety that describe strengths.
The place was packed and staff was hard to get to. Not that much seating, no outdoor seating available until we waited for a bit, but door guy was super nice.
PROS:
— menu on screen
— menu described strengths of each option and described the effects
— nice staff
–seating across bike/​walk-​way on canal
CONS:
— place is too dark and small to sit inside
— smoky inside, needs more ventilation or open windows. That would be nice to sit by
— box packaging wasn’t very hard, kinda fell apart and squished our joints easily

Great spot.
If you’re looking for a large inviting place to sit and lounge this isn’t it.
If, what you’re looking for is a small, unique Amsterdam experience; this is it. We visited twice while we were in town and the first was better than the second. The coffee bar tender was spinning a DJ set from Ibiza on her laptop and it created an unusual feel.
We had a great time and had great service and after our latte, we returned to the streets to wander with our smirks and enjoy all the sights.

If you are going to sit down and chill, this probably isn’t the spot for you. Personally, I’m rating it on what I went there for — the looks and it being the first coffee shop. It is rather small (perhaps because it was the first one) and the outdoor area is tiny, but the actual design of it is dope. The whole outside is covered in colorful absurdities, which is just a cool thing to see and take a picture in front of. Most of the other coffee shops all seem to blend together and be the same, this one stands out in terms of design. You don’t need to go out of your way to see it, but if you’re in the area it’s a cool place to stop by. It is also right by The Bulldog Hotel, which is a great hostel if you need a place to stay.

So this place is cool because its the original «coffee house» type in Amsterdam. However it is usually crowded with tourists, there is no where to sit, no outdoor seating and most importantly no ventilation. If you don’t smoke weed or drink coffee you really have no reason to go here, as they don’t serve real feed only space brownies (which I would only suggest to experienced weed users). The space cakes are 7 Euro’s and take a few hours to kick in. Much cheaper then paying for all the stuff and rolling one yourself, although I did see a lot of people doing this as well. Downside to this place is no real food, they do sell chips and small snacks like this but that is about it. So once you are super hungry from inhaling all the secondhand weed smoke you will have to leave to go find some real food.
The décor is all wood, a bit dingy/​dirty looking but overall a cool place to hangout. It is really too bad they have no real outdoor seating since they are right on the canal, but what can you do.
Overall an okay place to see mostly just for this history, it has been around forever. Take some pictures go inside and take a look, then go to a less crowded coffee shop that has the safe stuff cheaper and 2 blocks away.

Not much to look at, but I was advised by a friend that I just had to visit this place. Apparently, it’s a popular chain in Amsterdam to visit… or a tourist trap. You be the judge.
I wasn’t quite sure why I bothered, considering every «Coffee» shop in Amsterdam mostly just sells «special» coffee and weed. And I don’t smoke weed or drink coffee after breakfast.
I was told that the shops that sold weed could not sell booze, but this place sold booze — which was the only reason for us to patronize the joint (no pun intended).
My favorite part of our 90 minute stay was the gigantic sized beers and video screens playing the latest American video’s (that I hadn’t seen yet).
The décor is grungy, as is every other coffee shop in town, so we weren’t there for the atmosphere… although they did have a pool table (which is more than most). They are also located on a canal… which would have been nice had they had more than one outdoor table. We didn’t return; instead opting for restaurants with more outdoor seating.