De Wasserette

Open at 7:30 every single day, a block off the Albert Cuyp, which makes it the most reliable early table in De Pijp.

The name means the launderette, and the place has the same unglamorous usefulness: no concept, no queue theatre, just a daytime cafe that unlocks at 7:30 and keeps going until five, seven days a week. That consistency is the whole argument. At eight on a weekday you get a quiet room, a barista who takes the coffee seriously, and a kitchen already turning out egg dishes, homemade pastries and open-faced sandwiches that change with the season and the chef's mood. Eggs benedict, Florentine and Norwegian anchor the card, French toast handles the sweet side, and the chicken avocado sandwich is the one regulars name unprompted. Reservations are not taken and are not necessary: you sit where there is a seat. The caveat is size. It is a small room, it gets tight, and by eleven on a Saturday it is loud and slow, so this is strictly a weekday-morning recommendation. Being one street off the Albert Cuyp market means you are close to the noise without being in it.

Daily 7:30 to 17:00, no reservations. Go on a weekday before nine and the room is yours. Avoid weekends after ten, when the wait for food gets long and the room gets loud.

Photo: De Wasserette