Review from Utrecht Pub Guide:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~patto1ro/utrepubs.htm

De Vriendschap is an interesting pub which I can quite easily believe, as is claimed, to be the oldest in Utrecht. Even before you enter, you're struck by the oddness of the place. You have walk up some steps to a room half a storey above ground level.

Once inside, you can only marvel at the magnificent, peeling, brown-painted (well at least I think that's paint) ceiling. The most unusual feature is the bar counter, or rather its absence. In its place is what can only be described as a hole with a wonderful carved wood surround. It must be an original feature as no-one in their right mind would now design a pub this way.,. It's similar to genuine old English country pubs where you are served through a simple hatch.

The walls are covered in the sort of flotsam that only washes up on pub walls with the ebb and flood of decades. I wouldn't like to guess at the function and origin of most of the objects, but they form a bizarre gestalt that is most charming.

It doesn't have the most exciting beer selection but, hey, there's more to this world than beer, isn't there? I can heartily recommend Vriendschap just for its unusual interior. I have to hand it to the Dutch when it comes to not ruining pubs. A skill which somehow seems to have eluded pub-owners in many parts of Europe. (I haven't forgotten you bastards, Greenhall Whitley, despoilers of pubs and ales. Wem, Shippos and Davenports - quite an impressive number of excellent beers to kill off for what was, after all, only a regional brewer.) There are surprisingly large numbers of totally unspoilt bars in Holland. The beer selection may be pretty limited, but, if you're happy to drink Duvel or Westmalle, then you have a huge choice of pubs. Personally, I can live with drinking Westmalle Tripel every now and then.

Opening hours:

Mon - Sun: 07:30-02:00