Not so much about the specific store(s), Albert Heijn is currently doing online grocery orders and deliveries during the quarantine. Additionally, stores will be taking preventative measures.
To be clear, there are actually two Albert Heijns in Amsterdam Central Station. One in each of the station's main shopping halls. The one in the western hall is the smaller one that has the snack automat (essentially a large vending machine serving hot food) to the side of the entrance. The Albert Heijn in the eastern hall is bigger, more like a small station's grocery store. From what I could tell, it has more fresh baked goods than the one in the western hall. There currently seems to only be one Yelp page that's being used for both? But they do essentially sell the same things.
Albert Heijn is a chain of grocery stores, with the two in the station being specifically catered towards travelers who are on the go. There are fresh ingredients, but there is also a lot of ready to eat stuff and some microwaves you could use. The smaller one in the western hall reminded me of a much, MUCH nicer 7-Eleven (at least compared to the US's 7-Elevens) and the eastern one is just a nice little grocery store. If you are doing a lot of the Amsterdam tours, there is a good chance you're going to end up at Amsterdam Central Station multiple times like we did. All those times, Albert Heijn was super convenient. Especially when we either arrived at Amsterdam really late and needed to find food or when we arrived early in the morning to meet up with our tour group.
What made me so happy was that all the food we got was tasty. It felt less like we were compromising convenience for a quality experience. When we first arrived, I was delighted to find the food automat, which my research had recommended trying. It was something to check off the list almost right away and was something interesting and tasty for all of us to share and try, passing around what so everyone could have what was essentially our dinner that night. Not going to lie, I especially liked the kipmexicano (spiced meat), but the frikandel (hot dog) and kaassoufle (has melted cheese inside) were also very good. The thing that I was especially obsessed with that was available in both stores was the Vers Sap juices, with our absolute favorite being the banana-melon-mango-orange combo. For breakfast, I was pretty happy with their variety of croissants.
Overall, definitely convenient and my to-go recommendation for to-go groceries and food. read more