Greenwoods Singel: A Canal-Side Breakfast Worth the Queue

On 1 May we arrived at the W Amsterdam before our room was ready. While we waited, the hotel recommended breakfast at Greenwoods, on the Singel canal.

I’ll be honest: I was sceptical. A breakfast place by the canal, recommended to hotel guests, sounded like a tourist trap. How good could it be?

Very good, as it turns out. I was wrong.

Greenwoods Singel at a Glance
📍 Where · Singel 103, on Amsterdam’s innermost canal — the red “Breakfast · Brunch · Lunch · Tea” umbrella marks it.
⏳ The queue · Real but steady. We joined at ~10:40 on a Friday and were seated about 30 minutes later. No reservations; wait where the sign says.
🥞 What to get · The pancakes (banana + chocolate, or the €16.95 Stroopwafel Pancake Stack), a side of bacon, and the BLT (€16.95, with fries). Add a homemade hash brown for €3.50.
🪑 Seating · The terrace has only a handful of tables under the umbrella; the two dining rooms inside are bigger and where most people end up.
💡 Tip · Go to the Singel, not the Keizersgracht — that branch closed in December 2025, though some listings still show it.

The Queue on the Singel

The first thing we saw was the line. At the end of it, the red Greenwoods umbrella looked like a mirage. Its other side reads Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Tea, and that is still the whole menu.

We joined the queue at about 10:40 on a Friday and were inside roughly half an hour later. For a line that long, it moved well. The staff clearly know how to run the show on a busy day, and the flow never stalled.

For a breakfast like this, I would have waited longer.

Inside

Inside is small and homey. The wall above the kitchen is painted deep red, and two black bear figures climb the cords of the pendant lamps over the tables. A white cuckoo clock hangs on the wall, and the kitchen is open to the dining room.

The front room is brighter, with arched green-framed windows and a wooden ceiling fan shaped like a propeller. Every table was taken when I took this photo, and the queue was still standing outside the door.

The service was warm and excellent from the moment we sat down.

What We Ate

The pancakes were delicious. A stack of three thick pancakes came topped with grilled banana, melted chocolate and a heap of chocolate sprinkles, with a small jug of syrup on the side.

We added a side of bacon. It reminded me of Canadian bacon, and it paired perfectly with the sweetness of the pancakes.

The BLT was a hit too. The menu describes crispy maple bacon, thyme-infused tomato, iceberg lettuce and house-made mustard mayo on brown sourdough. We added a hash brown, and the fries were as good as the sandwich.

Fresh orange juice, a delicious americano and a flat white. What more could we ask for?

Thirty-Eight Years on the Singel

Greenwoods opened on the Singel in 1988 as an English tearoom, and the menu still grows out of that: English breakfasts, cream teas and brunch classics.

A second Amsterdam branch opened on the Keizersgracht in 2012 and closed on 14 December 2025. The Singel is now the only Greenwoods in Amsterdam. The others are in Edinburgh’s New Town, the first outside the Netherlands, and in Middelburg in Zeeland.

Bubbly Tips

• Budget time for the queue. We joined at about 10:40 on a Friday and were seated around half an hour later. It moves steadily.
• Wait where the sign says. A sign on the terrace asks guests to wait there to be seated and to keep the pavement clear for people walking past.
• Don’t hold out for the terrace. It has only a handful of tables under the umbrella. The dining rooms inside are bigger, and they are where most people end up.
• Add the hash brown. It is homemade and costs €3.50 as an extra.
• Order the plain pancakes as a sweet side. A stack of three with maple syrup is €6.50, an easy way to add something sweet to a savoury order.
• Mention allergies to your server. The board inside asks guests to raise allergies with the waitress.
• Go to the Singel, not the Keizersgracht. The Keizersgracht branch closed in December 2025, but some online listings still show it with opening hours.

Final Thoughts

I went in expecting a tourist trap and left planning to recommend it myself. The queue was real, the room was full, and the pancakes, bacon and BLT were worth every minute of the wait. Thirty-eight years on the same stretch of canal, and it still earns its queue.

Next time a hotel room isn’t ready, I know where I’m going.

Until next time!

xoxo,
Bubbly 🎈