The Rollende Keuken 2016 Amsterdam, Westergasfabriek.

Last week in the Netherlands was very Summer-like with temperatures of 25+ degrees and all the Dutchies were enjoying these fine days to the fullest. What’s best was at the end of those sunny days was the start of the food festival ‘Rollende Keuken 2016’ in Amsterdam. The timing of it was just right for us to enjoy the ‘outdoor food fest.’ My sister and I made arrangements to go to the festival and enjoy an evening of streetfood. 

When we arrived at the Westerpark-area it was packed with, Expats, Young Professionals and Students. I think most of them are there for the drinks and alcohol in addition for the nice outdoorsy weather to chill out. Food probably isn’t their priority, but it was one of ours. We had walked around to find food that suited our likings and stumbled on a Hot Mama stand with Korean style burgers.

  

The left pic shows a steamed bun with lettuce, kimchi and pulled pork meat that was made on the grill. It was good, just a bit expensive but everything was expensive.

The burger on the right was a beef bulgogi burger with lettuce, cheddar, some sauce and a tomato infused red bun. It was good, but not too special for my taste.

  

Our hunger was still not stilled and we wanted some more food. Paying more for overpriced food was not something we wanted to do, so we went for food that we both liked as well as being reasonablely priced. 

Most Churros found in Amsterdam are very bad, fatty and too sweet. All the bad stuff in one dish. The stand at the fest was making them fresh and from organic ingredients. So we tried it, it was incomparable with other churrosstands in Amsterdam. The Churros felt light in fat and it was not that sweet like the others, ‘those churros were your teeth would fall out instantly by having one bite.’ It was the best Churros up till now that I had in Amsterdam.

After that we still wanted something and just went for dessert. You can not go wrong with ice cream from Metropolitan, a food-truck stand of the shop in the center of Amsterdam. The shop is a regular place for me and my housemates. Chocolate, ice-cream and various sweets a place for all sweet-tooth’s. We ended with that and got picked up, to go to her place for me to borrow her car for the weekend.

30th Company Anniversary at Van der Valk Schiphol A4.

Sunday was the day of the event, dress code: Ties and Dresses, a banquet and a day of anniversary enjoyment. I took the car and went to pick up my passengers to the event. The event was held at the Van der Valk Hotel near Schiphol at the highway A4. We arrived at the location and already saw flags hanging out with the company logo. As we were rolling over the parking lot we were seeing packs of Asians moving towards the entrance. Everyone, the guys wears nice suits, shiny shoes and a tie, while the ladies are all made up, wearing dresses and on high heels. It was different to see all my colleagues dressed at their best, very different from their regular wear.

Once entering the building we were welcomed by familiar faces, who would give us our name tags and brought us to our seats. The setup was big, because every branch in the Netherlands was their to celebrate the 30th year anniversary. The program of the day was mostly speeches, first and foremost a speech of the company founder, eventually every regional manager made their talk. Later in the afternoon a play was done by the founders about the founding of the company as well as a quiz-show with all the branches competing against each other.

At the turn of night was the start of the banquet, tbh. I expected better quality of food, but I give them the benefit of a doubt. The reason was that we were with over 600 people at the event. The dessert was the best I had that day, see the picture below. It isn’t an Asian celebration with out a prize rain of lottery prizes. Too bad I didn’t won anything, maybe next time.

All in all it was fun! What’s more to come? I don’t know, but I will Keep Experimenting!