Next time you will find yourself stuck on the Meent manoeuvre your way out of the high street and…read moreonto this quiet lane. Follow the smell of lavender and take a seat on the bench. Soon other fruit flavors will enter your nostrils and before you know it you will have walked inside a great little winery. Sigurd the shopkeeper and owner of an enormous smile will only be too happy to show you the great collection of wines they have. He is a walking storyteller, knows the quirky details of every bottle, and spends his free time visiting the old and new wine houses. On my last visit I discovered they have a fantastic sake collection as well with some of the best tasting sakes around if you are into the stuff. It is a social thing they will say which is why on Fridays they sometimes crack open a bottle or two and share it with you and others in a casual tasting affair. But this is the cool thing, no matter how small or how big the budget, you will leave with something delicious and a tale to tell your friends. As seen on I Know This Great Little Place in Rotterdam (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.571215479583766.1073741878.103845866320732&type=3)

Hmmm oké, deze winkel wordt door studenten misschien niet heel druk bezocht. En aangezien ik een…read morestudent ben is het niet persé logisch dat ik van deze winkel genoeg weet om iets geloofwaardigs te schrijven, maar dat is wel zo. Studenten die snakken naar alcohol trekken sneller een sprintje naar de Albert Heijn dan naar de Gouden Ton. En tja, deze zuiplappen hebben de volgende morgen dan waarschijnlijk een fikse hoofdpijn (en ze zijn ook niet helemaal bankroet, elke nadeel heb z'n voordeel). Maar als ik een perfect remedie tegen katerhoofdpijn zou moeten aanbevelen, zou ik iedereen naar de Gouden Ton sturen. Het heerlijke aan de Gouden Ton (ton) vind ik natuurlijk de wijntjes, uiteraard, maar die krijg je door het goede advies van de eigenaar, die altijd in de ton te vinden is. Ik ben er wel eens binnen gelopen met de vraag: 'eeeh, ja, ik zoek iets voor m'n vader, die is jarig'. Geweldige klantenservice levert deze goede man, hij wist me een perfect wijntje mee te geven om m'n vader blij mee te maken. In elke prijsklasse heeft de ton eigenlijk wel wijn liggen, vanaf ongeveer vier en een halve euro. En denk niet dat die goedkope wijn puur bocht is, ik heb ze laatst geproefd, en het was goddelijk.

The largest and the best spirits library in the Netherlands. You can find all kind of spirits from…read moredifferent parts of the World here. Fine drinks, good spirit, amazing team.

I always buy Gin and Tonics from the Library of Spirits. The best Wine selection in the city. Staff…read moremembers are helpful and they explain everything about drinks.

This is a large Albert Heijin location, located at Coolsingel 47 it is opposite Stadhuis Metro…read moreStation and was 200 meters away from the Hilton Rotterdam, making it the ideal location for me to grab essentials while shopping in the city. For tourists, Albert Heijin is the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, it's pretty much a brand you can't hide from and it seems they have stores everywhere you look with almost 1000 stores in the Netherlands. The store has a one-way system to enter/exit the store, you must scan a receipt to get out, this seems to be common with many AH stores, so can be difficult if you decide not to buy anything, or the item you want to purchase is out of stock. This particular location is modern and well laid out, they do seem to be focused on the self-service checkouts, with a large number of them. The self-service checkouts did seem unattended, after I had an issue, I was unable to find a staff member to assist me, and did have to leave my shopping on one of my recent trips to the store. I also liked how the statiegeld machine (return your plastic bottles to get your deposit back) was towards the front of the store, rather than tucked away in a back corner like other AH locations. They also have the bottled drinks towards the front of the store, by the checkouts, which also makes things easier. They had a good selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, and a small bakery section, brought in by the stores' recent expansion. Prices did seem slightly high, but not as high as other AH locations. With such market dominance, I guess they get away with it... Modern, clean location with reasonable selection, but the service is a letdown. 3*