Food

Lines for oliebollen (Or: 2018 edition)

As mentioned in a few months back, the oliebollenkraam (= stand to sell oliebollen) has temporarily moved to the Grote Markt due to construction around the Spuiplein. I suspect the move has been good for them and they are making much more money where they currently are. They are consistently voted one of the best stands in this providence.

Oliebollen is sort of like a doughnut and covered in powdered sugar. They are traditionally filled with raisins, but you can get them without raisins as well these days. They are eaten around New Years Eve, although you can also find them at carnivals throughout the year.

Here is a look at the line around 10:30 this morning:

And a close up, to show you what the stand looks like:

So the lines weren’t too bad at 10:30. This is what it looks like around 14:30, just four hours later:

There’s still three lines, give or take, and they stretch just to the edge of the tram/bus area. Compare that to the lines in 2014 and 2015. Of course that is at the old location, where it is easier to just have a single line.

I suspect the crowds will be greatest around 17:00, when everyone is out of work. However by then festivities will also be starting at our place so we won’t be going outside until closer to midnight, for the fireworks.

Categories: Food, Holidays, The Hague | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Homemade slow cooker beef stew (Or: Yummy goodness)

Yesterday Marco and I made a hearty beef stew in the slow cooker. Pure mostalgia. 🙂 With Liefde & passie bread from Albert Heijn (Love and passion). One of their freshly made breads from their bakery.

Homemade slowcooker beef stew with bread

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Kruidnoten (Or: The start of Christmas this year)

Back in 2013 I wrote a blog post called Kruidnoten (Or: Christmas comes earlier every year). That post mentioned how kruidnoten (Wikipedia) were readily available after September 1st. This candy is traditionally seen in the month of December, both for the Sinterklaas holiday on December 5 as well as Christmas.

This year they were definitely available by August 23, when this photo was taken in a local Hema. Heh.

Kruidnoten by Hema, August 2018.jpg

I give it another 5 years, and then they will be available everywhere by August 1st.

(And in case my parents are wondering, yes, we’ll bring some the next time we visit.)

Categories: Culture, Food, Holidays | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

A summer’s day (Or: Scheveningen is crowded)

One of the Dutch news sites NU.nl was featuring a video of the crowded beaches at Scheveningen, taken from a helicopter.

Today’s actually the last day for a while of weather that can be labeled “very good” for a while, with temperatures around 94F here in The Hague. We should also be getting a bit of rain tonight, hopefully, although it will do nothing for the drought conditions the country is experiencing.

On a brighter note, Marco and I visited Five Guys for a second time for some burgers and fries. This time I took a picture of the bulletin board where guests can leave reactions:

Five Guys bulletin board in The Hague, Aug 2018

There are of course a lot of wishes that Five Guys would come to someone’s country. And the ‘best milkshake in town’ paper makes me realized I’ve never had a milkshake at this fast food place. Maybe I should change that at some point…

Categories: Food, Scheveningen | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Little V (Or: Time to be a bit fishy)

Last week was Marco’s birthday. He decided to celebrate it at Little V, a Vietnamese restaurant in The Hague. I have blogged about them once or twice… or more.

This time I decided to try something new: sea bass. It came with a delicious ginger fish sauce on the side.

Little V sea bass

I’ve had fish before, but only since I moved to the Netherlands (as I don’t think fish sticks count!). It’s been a slow process: first salmon, then pangasius, then tilapia and tuna fish. I’ve also had a small bit of eel once, but that was more of a reluctant choice. It wasn’t bad, but it’s not something I could eat often. Maybe that will change some day.

On the other hand, I was pretty happy to see that I had a personal discount this week at the local grocery store (Albert Heijn) for pangasius filet. It definitely helps to bring a bit more variety into dinner.

But a Little V blog post wouldn’t be complete without a picture of some of the drinks we had:

Little V drinks - flavor of the moment, buddha smile

On the left is my ‘Flavor of the moment’ drink. For the life of me I can’t remember what the flavor was, but it was good. On the right is Roger’s ‘Buddha smile’. That drink is made of rum, lemon grass, ginger and lemon leaf. He definitely liked it.

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Mornings (Or: Breakfast at Lebkov)

Lebkov in The Hague is one of my favorite places to drink a coffee (an americano!) while studying or reading a novel. The latest visit saw me enjoying an americano with a large croissant. Yum!

Breakfast at Lebkov, The Hague

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Five Guys (Or: Just a few days to go!)

It’s official – Five Guys opens this Monday in The Hague!

Five Guys location in The Hague

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Friday night cuisine (Or: Homemade beef noodle pho soup)

So… Friday night Marco and I made beef noodle pho soup. Marco was inspired by the chicken pho soup he had at Little V here in the Hague.

Some highlights for giving the broth depth: a whole onion burned over the stove oventop, entire pieces of ginger, cinnamon sticks, and similar. Slow cook it for a few hours, then strain it…

But the coolest thing about this dish? The beef is cut into thin strips and placed into the bowl. You then pour the broth over it to near-instantly cook it:

Cooking beef strips with a hot broth

And here is a look at the final dish, with spring onions, julienne carrots, coriander, chives, bean sprouts and red peppers…

Homemade beef noodle pho soup

And a bonus picture of a salmon curry (with accompanying naan bread) that we made last week:

Salmon curry with naan bread

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Almost there (Or: Five guys coming to The Hague)

Did you know Five Guys is coming to The Hague? And not five guys, but Five Guys Burgers and Fries. This American chain will be coming to the city centre at Spui 10, just a few doors down from the KFC and near the Centrum tram/bus stop. It is not open yet, but it looks to open any-day-now.

They sell burger, fries, milkshakes, and… wait, beer? That’s quite Dutch and not something you would see in the American locations.

What do you need to know about Five Guys?

  • they have a free-style coke machine for endless drink options
  • the burgers have set prices, regardless of the amount of toppings
  • they offer free peanuts-in-the-shell to eat while you wait for your order

I was excited to see this photo from Marco:

Five Guys construction site in The Hague 2

And this photo is from earlier in the week – more signage is now visible behind the construction walls. They are very close to being done, so hopefully an opening date is announced soon!

With all of the above being said, I can fully see why Amsterdam refused to give Five Guys a license to open there (article in Dutch). Amsterdam is trying to reduce the amount of fast food options, not expand them. It’s possible that Five Guys can adapt their concept to better qualify (more seating, no counter service, more time to eat) but even that isn’t a guarantee.

Categories: Food, The Hague | 2 Comments

Five Guys Burgers and Fries (Or: I am jealous of Utrecht)

Marco had the good luck of being in Utrecht recently, although he wouldn’t describe it as good luck because he was there for work. But he did have the good luck to be able to visit the recently opened Five Guys Burgers and Fries. This American fast food restaurant opened its first location in Arlington, Virginia back in 1986. You can read more about the history of Five Guys.

I think for me the appeal is the simple menu. They mainly sell burgers and fries (duh) with a few hotdogs and sandwiches on the side. Of course they need to have a grilled cheese (tosti) to cater to the Dutch crowd.

Here is the menu in English:

Five Guys in Utrecht - English menu

(Did you see that in the milkshakes section they encourage you to add bacon to any shake?)

Continue reading

Categories: Food, Utrecht | 1 Comment

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