I’ve finally discovered the best brunch place in Amsterdam – and it only took three tries to find it.

The first time was in late August. I checked their web site for the opening hours and off we went. When we got there however, all we saw was a locked door with a tacked sign that said it was the owner’s birthday and they’re closed until September. Ugh.

The second attempt was two weeks later. We got there and they were open, but were about to close to get ready for the early dinner crowd. Strike two.

The third time’s the charm. We got there and saw the place nearly full to the brim. I gave the maitre’d my sob story of failed dining attempts, and despite having no reservation, we got to sit down for Sunday brunch.

What started as a pop-up restaurant by an Englishman who wanted to offer his version of ‘lovefood’ finally opened as an honest-to-goodness restaurant June of this year. After only three months, they’ve already become too popular for comfort. The place was small, only about ten tables, and the acoustics incredibly poor. Having pure concrete walls doesn’t help minimize the noise level at all – especially if you have a table of nasal, loud-talking Americans close by.

The food turned out to be worth the repeated effort. It was the closest thing I’ve found (so far) to the brunches I had in the States. To my partner’s surprise and horror, they didn’t serve cola light – or any cola at all. He ended up getting a healthy glass of apple juice, which he gamely admitted later was the good kind of apple juice, the kind you don’t get from Albert Heijn. I on the other hand had my first mimosa in four years.

It may be premature to call it the best brunch in Amsterdam but since this city isn’t known for its cuisines I doubt it would be easy to find anything better. Now if I can only find a good tapas place, sushi, Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Mediterranean……