Where To Find The Best Street Food In Amsterdam
Amsterdam is a melting pot of cultures where street food reigns supreme. There is such a variety of street food in Amsterdam that you could spend a month or more going from food truck to food truck and still not have tasted it all.
What street food can you get in Amsterdam? You'll be surprised to find that the street food you can get here is both typically Dutch as well as international. You'll be tasting Dutch dishes like pickled herrings alone or wrapped in soft bread buns, french fries doused in curry sauce and crunchy sweet waffles you can quickly become addicted to.
There's definitely no lack of international street food in Amsterdam either so get ready for tasting everything from Spanish salt-encrusted padron peppers to Korean fried chicken to Surinamese soup. There are plenty of healthy and vegetarian street food options too so you won't have to be guilty about indulging in late-night feasting unless you just can't resist getting a cone of those fries with lashings of mayo.
Exploring central Amsterdam carrying baggage isn't much fun and you'll be weighed down by it. Leave your suitcase or rucksack at a Bounce luggage storage service in Amsterdam and you'll have both hands free to get stuck into your pickled herring sandwich or your paper cone filled with fries.
The Best Street Food Vendors In Amsterdam
Frens Haringhandel
It would be a culinary sin to be in central Amsterdam and not go to Frens Haringhandel for some pickled herring, smoked eel, oysters, or fried salt cold. Frens Haringhandel is a kiosk on the Koningsplein in central Amsterdam near to the floating flower market that is the epitome of Dutch street food.
At Frens Haringhandel they've been serving herring, deliciously fried salt cod, and other fish delicacies to locals and visitors for forty years. One of the most popular things they prepare are soft bread buns filled with smoked herring called broodje brado which is a typical Dutch street food.
You can also get the buns filled with shrimp, smoked eel, or mackerel. Smoked and pickled fish isn't to everyone's taste, but try the fried salt cod and you'll be a convert for life. If you don't eat fish then you'll want to give Frens Haringhandel a miss. Don't forget the tartar sauce!
Rudi's Original Stroopwafels
For anyone with a sweet tooth, getting a stroopwafel while in Amsterdam is a big must-do. Stroopwafels are a kind of waffle, similar to mini Dutch pancakes, made from a secret batter recipe that is cooked on a special grill. There's only one place to get stroopwafels in Amsterdam and that's from Rudi's Original Stroopwafels stall in the Albert Kyup Market.
Rudi was taught how to make his famous stroopwafels by a Dutch baker from Gouda who had been preparing the crispy sweet treats most of his life. What exactly goes into them isn't something they broadcast so when you bite into the double layer of spiced waffle sandwiched together with a caramel-like syrup, you'll just have to try and work the recipe out for yourself.
Seth Take Out
If you're in Amsterdam and the weather is basically being what Dutch weather often does, being cold and raining, you might need something that will warm you to the bones. To get a taste of tropical sunshine on a damp Amsterdam day drop by Seth Take Out on Singel which is just a street or two away from the Amsterdam Museum.
At Seth Take Out they prepare traditional Surinamese dishes rather than typical Dutch foods. The hearty plates are typical food of Suriname, a small South American country that's bordered by Guyana, French Guiana, and Brazil. Some of the dishes are spicy like the chicken dish Faya Fowru, others are not and are flavored with coconut milk or peanut sauce.
At Seth Take Out they also prepare Suriname soups, which are perfect for chilly days, as well as Asian-style noodle dishes like Bami Goreng and Indonesian food. One must-try at Seth Take Out is deep-fried cassava root chips. If you've never had them before you'll be astounded. They're so much tastier than fried potatoes and healthier too. They also go well with a glass of cold beer.
Chris Kip
Chris Kip is a street food stall located outside of the Albert Kyup Market on Albert Cyupstraat that's dedicated to one thing and one thing only – chicken. You'll usually have to elbow your way through the crowds gathered at the front of Chris Kip as the guys who work there are quite the showmen as they encourage people to try what they have on offer and that's a plentiful variety of chicken dishes.
From this bright red and yellow stall that flies an abundance of chicken decorated flags, you can get chicken sandwiches, roast chicken, deep-fried chicken, chicken meatballs in sauce, chicken hotdogs, chicken satay, chicken kebabs, and even a chicken curry sandwich. There are lots more different dishes too that are all totally chicken-oriented and everything is very budget-friendly.
Greg Monsieur
You may well have heard of the famous French sandwich called Croque Monsieur, well, in Amsterdam that becomes Greg Monsieur. Greg Monsieur has a stall in the Albert Cuyp Market, a famous street market that's open from Wednesday through to Saturday during the market's opening hours of nine-thirty to five.
If you're considering picking up some street food in Amsterdam for breakfast Greg's sandwiches are a good bet and after one of them, you probably won't need to eat for the rest of the day. The sandwiches from Greg Monsieur are triple-layer marvels of rustic farmhouse bread, grilled cheese, and other complementary fillings that can be as varied as a banana is to teriyaki beef.
Greg Monsieur makes some super vegetarian sandwiches too with adventurous ingredients like wild spinach, mango chutney, and pine nuts. The two things all the sandwiches have in common though are they contain cheese and are grilled, and they'll be a real treat for your taste buds.
Pietersma Snacks
Sometimes the only thing that will do is good old fast food. Nothing beats a lingering hangover better than a cone of french fries slathered in curry sauce or a high-carb croquette slapped in a bread roll and smothered in ketchup. If that's what you're craving then you'll find it on the food stall of Pietersma Snacks.
Pietersma Snacks' eye-dazzling orange and white striped food stall is outside of Amsterdam's Albert Cuyp Market. All they serve is items to go that've been fried, so forget being health conscious if you head for something to eat as their food is more about satisfaction than dietary requirements.
Don't feel guilty about tucking into these fried delights though. It's a well-known fact that everyone needs more carbs when it's cold, they've been cycling, or have just completed one of the best hikes in Amsterdam.
Padron Street Food
If you've been over in the trendy neighborhood of Amsterdam Oud-West while visiting Amsterdam, have a look around, Padron Street Food is the nearest place you can go for a great street food snack. Padron Street Food's food truck is located on Kinkerstraat in the De Halleen Food Court and is dedicated to providing healthy street food snacks.
At Padron Street Food they serve Mediterranean snacks they call Dutch Green Cuisine. Their specialty is Spanish-style padron peppers, hence the name, which are small green peppers fried in oil then liberally dosed with sea salt.
Every dish they make is vegetarian so you'll find roasted, raw, or tempura battered, grilled like their portobello mushroom burger, and served in eco-friendly paper cones as well as bowls of veg with seed toppings. It's great food made fast, and far more vegetarian-friendly than a traditional herring stand.
Vleesch Noch Visch
Vleesch Noch Visch is a vegetarian street food bar and truck on Schaepmanstraat which is just a couple of blocks from the Anne Frank House. Vleesch Noch Visch translates into English as neither meat nor fish and here the dishes are made from just about every other ingredient apart from those.
The added bonus of stopping by Vleesch Noch Visch, apart from the healthy food, is that the truck has a terrace where you can sit and eat rather than having to chew on the go. The specialty of Vleesch Noch Visch is a vegetarian gyro served on pita bread with tzatziki and they make several versions of it including a spicy tikka masala one for a tangy taste is. His
Gangnam Chicken
There is something about fried chicken that really hits the spot and if fried chicken is your favorite late night street food, you'll love Gangnam Chicken. Gangnam Chicken is one of Amsterdam's street food options that's a take-out food place, rather than a truck or stall, on Eerste Helmersstraat which is about midway between Rembrandtpark and Vondelpark.
At Gangnam Chicken they serve Korean-style twice-fried chicken accompanied with sides of spicy pepper sauce, sweet and sour red cabbage slaw, or cauliflower and sweet potato fries. It's flavorsome and very satisfying especially if you've been out and about investigating Amsterdam's nightlife scene and have sampled a little too much of the local gin.
Where To Find The Best Street Food In Amsterdam
Albert Cuyp Market
When you find out just how much great street food you can get in and around the Albert Cuyp Market it may well change your mind about where to stay in Amsterdam. The Albert Cuyp Market has some rich and varied offerings where street food and food trucks are concerned so if you're heading in that direction, go hungry.
You won't be able to resist starting the day with a mega sandwich from Greg Monsieur, trying a cone of tempura-battered vegetables from the Padron Street Food stall mid-morning to keep you going, nibbling on a stroopwafel from Rudi's Original Stroopwafels as an afternoon snack with a takeaway coffee while browsing the markets or getting some roast chicken from Chris Kip to take back to your accommodation. They all sum up to be the best street food you can get.
Street Food Festivals In Amsterdam
Taste Of Amsterdam
The Taste of Amsterdam is a street food festival held in Amsterdam at the beginning of June that really showcases street food in Amsterdam. Held every year in Amstelpark, the festival hosts food trucks from twenty of the city's leading restaurants. Top chefs go to the festival to promote their restaurants and try out new dishes on the crowd. This street food festival is more about fine dining than it is fast food so be prepared for some big culinary surprises. You'll find both traditional Dutch foods and exotic flavors from around the world here.
Rolling Kitchens
Rolling Kitchens is a huge food truck festival that takes place in Amsterdam's Westerpark usually toward the end of May. There are trucks galore serving everything from traditional Dutch dishes to Texas BBQ and all manner of international delicacies. The festival is a dawn to dusk event with live music and the bonus – entry is free. Enjoy the perfect lunch with a picnic at this popular Netherlands festival.
Amsterdam Kookt Summer
Amsterdam Kookt Summer festival is a four-day long food truck and live music event held at the NDSM Werf. This is the food festival to beat all food festivals as they decorate the park to the hilt, open beer gardens, set up stages, have cook-offs, workshops, and concerts. Definitely not a party to miss, and one of the best of its kind in the Netherlands.
After reading through this guide to street food in Amsterdam you now know that this Dutch city is street food heaven and that the Amsterdam street food options are seriously out of this world.
Whether you're on a backpacker's budget or have cash to splash, you'll find street food to tempt and satisfy even the most discerning of tastes. When the street food is as good as it is in Amsterdam there's really no need to ever step foot in a restaurant.
