Rollende Keukens, Amsterdam’s food truck festival

If there’s a time of year that makes me glad we live in Westerpark, it’s every last weekend of May. That’s when over a hundred food trucks roll into our neighborhood for Rollende Keukens, Amsterdam’s very own food truck festival.

From 20 “rolling kitchens” in 2008, Rollende Keukens has grown bigger, better and yummier every year. This year’s festival was an extended five-day foodie extravaganza with 130 food trucks featuring both tried-and-tested Dutch favorites and cuisines from all over the world.

Westerpark becomes packed to bursting with people from all walks of life: kids and toddlers squealing on the Ferris wheel, and crusty old men living out their rockstar dreams—or reliving their rock n’ roll pasts, who knows?—on the live music stages dotting the festival; trendy hipsters and young families (and that special hybrid, trendy young hipster families); the ever-practical Dutchies who stock up on cheaper drinks at the nearest Albert Heijn before coming, and Amsterdam expats seeking a taste of home.

There’s something for everyone at Rollende Keukens, whether it’s simple Dutch fare like grilled cheese tostis and kroketten presented in a fun, creative way, or flavors from a dozen different countries and cultures.

If you don’t enjoy the food, which is highly unlikely, you’re sure to enjoy that untranslatable Dutch gezelligheid—a feeling of belonging and fun that comes from being in the right place with the right company. I know I do.

With all this food truck fun just around the corner from our house, it was so easy to stop by every day for a quick bite. Here are my foodie favorites from this year’s edition of Rollende Keukens.

Jamaican grilled and fried bananas. If you’re visiting Rollende Keukens with babies or kids, I’d advise you to go well before the crowd gets too thick at around 3 or 4 p.m. However, most vendors aren’t even ready to serve food when the festival opens at 1 p.m… except for the Jamaican grill. These guys were already sizzling when we got there shortly after 1.

Thanks to a flavorful spice rub and a great char from the grill, this chicken didn’t even need any sauce on the side. It didn’t even need rice! And coming from a Filipino, that’s saying a lot. Served with hot, sweet, fried bananas on the side, it reminded me so much of home.

The Cajun potatoes from De Pieper Mobiel (very easy to find, it’s a huge potato on wheels!) were cheap, filling and tasty. For just €3.50, you get a bowl of fried potatoes topped with caramelized onions and peppers, tangy Cajun dressing and a sweet-spicy tomato salsa.

The dessert options were pretty dismal until we found Professor Grunschnabel‘s natural vegetal ice cream. Made with a coconut milk base, this ice cream is lactose-free, soy-free and gluten-free—but I couldn’t care less about that hipster crap. What I do care about are its awesome flavors!

Marlon and I shared the Cafe al Khatib, bittersweet Arabica coffee ice cream with cardamom and vanilla; Canelle Glorieuses, cinnamon with vanilla bourbon; and our runaway favorite, Indian Winter: a blend of papaya, fig, banana, mango and passionfruit with cardamom.

We discovered that our neighborhood Avondmarkt stocks Professor Grunschnabel’s delicious ice creams, which is very dangerous… oh wait, it’s healthy ice cream. Here’s to guiltless midnight snacking!

Other notable edibles: Smokey Goodness’s Best of Pork plate, which combines pulled pork, smoked spare ribs and pork belly for €12; Dirty Duck’s hot and crispy duck with hot honey and watermelon; and Microbar’s insectenhapjes, which gave the words “insect bites” a whole new meaning.

When it comes to food, Marlon says he’ll try anything once. So he tried their crispy fried grasshoppers on a stick… and gave one to Tala.

She bit the head right off that grasshopper, so I guess she truly is her father’s daughter.

With so much to see, do and eat, I just had to take more photos than I could fit in one post. Like Currystrumpet on Facebook to see more fun, festive and flavorful pics from Rollende Keukens. You might get more than a little bit hungry… don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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