De Prijs

The name means "The Price," and it's earned in local terms rather than absolute ones: cheaper than the Centrum, still Amsterdam. The shop sits on Surinamestraat by Surinameplein, under a residential block on a main road, a few minutes from Vondelpark and not much further from Rembrandtpark. Trams stop nearby. The trade is overwhelmingly local, skewing older than most shops in this city — regulars in their sixties turn up in the reviews describing it as a refuge from the commercial places downtown.

The entrance is discreet enough that first-timers have mistaken it for a small billiard club, which some visitors count as a feature.

The layout is the thing to understand before you go. The large front room is non-smoking — not even pure. Smoking happens in a separate enclosed room at the back, which keeps the front pleasant and cafe-like but means smokers share one confined space. Reviews split cleanly along that line: some love the smoke-free front, others find the back room isolating.

The menu is deliberately traditional: around eight strains and four or five hashes, mostly Moroccan imports, sold in pre-weighed bags. Pre-rolls, brownies and a well-regarded espresso machine round it out.