Worth visiting even if only to see the distinctive orange typography, but fortunately that’s not all there is to this Upper West Side institution. A lively and enjoyably chaotic gourmet food market at ground level, on the floor above there’s a densely-packed inventory of kitchen appliances and housewares, while next door Zabar’s café caters for anyone needing a strong drink on the spot which included many college students that found their fake id card.

The archetypal Paris bistro, ornately decorated with wooden booths, palms and clusters of globe lamps. It’s a classic, favoured by tourists, but locals too, especially families for whom it’s perfect, with quick service, a wide menu and enough ambient noise that no one needs to feel self-conscious.

An attractive old shop, shelves stacked with tins and jars from the old world, Central is now known primarily as home of the definitive muffuletta. A hearty sandwich assemblage of salami, ham, mortadella, provolone and olive salad – a spicy, herby, vinegary mix of chopped green and black olives – all served on a large, circular flat loaf that’s then cut into quarters, of which one is an ample serving. It’s possible to eat in, but better to take it away and give the juices time to soak into the bread.

The crowds standing outside are patient, content in the knowledge that good things come to those who wait. Good things such as the fried chicken for which Willie Mae’s is famous: tender, moist pieces with a crisp, crunchy batter that’s best partnered with its textural opposite, a side of soft butter beans. Ice tea or house lemonade rounds things off nicely.

In the so-called Golden Bend, the canal belt’s most prestigious stretch, resides this peculiar cat-themed collection, occupying five grandiose rooms on the first floor among lawyers’ and bankers’ offices. Bob Meijer created the museum in 1990, in memory of his ginger tom John Pierpont Morgan. Works by the likes of Picasso, Rembrandt, Willink, Van der Elsken and Toulouse-Lautrec highlight the role cats have played in our society. There’s even an Egyptian cat mummy, while several healthy 21st-century felines idle amid the exhibits.

Open 364 days a year (King’s Day, 27 April, is the exception), this is simply the Netherlands’ best newsstand. Fittingly located around the corner from what was once Amsterdam’s own Fleet Street, it offers newspapers in every conceivable language, as well as international periodicals from the most outré fanzine to the latest fashion glossy. It also stocks a fine line in music, design and travel books, and runs a blog in English on its latest arrivals.