Last weekend was a busy end of the week or better yet end of the month. November has ended and the Festive month starts. So in hindsight it was a nice way of ending it fun and joyful with my siblings. Last week program was The FoodFestival Amsterdam at the RAI and on Sunday was The 3rd Japan Market (Fair) at the Lloyd hotel, both in Amsterdam. (I am kinda slow on posting.)
The 3rd Japan Market (Fair)
As you might know in my previous post the weather in the Netherlands sucks at the moment with lots of rain, wind and greyness. Nevertheless, I had a rather relaxed and laid-back morning with some steamed buns for breakfast. However it was a bit to laid-back and I had to change-gear from ‘zero-to-100’ for the ‘Metro’ (subway) to Amsterdam Central Station. The meet-up with my siblings was at 12:30 p.m. and I was just in time to get the 12:10 Metro to ‘Centraal’. I was the first one to arrive, my sister, brother and his girlfriend were next up and right on time. Then we took the tram to The Lloyd Hotel were the event was held.
It was the first time that I was at the Lloyd hotel. It was not a fancy new hotel, but a more traditional styled one. The hotel from within has been renovated to modern times, with an open spaced lunchroom and a stairway to multiple plateaus. These plateaus-areas can be used for various occasion, like holding small events or place to retreat to for some reading or doing things on the laptop. This time it was The 3rd Japan Market held at this location. The event was divided into two parts the non-food and the food part. The non-food part was set up in two small rooms on the first floor of the hotel. There were various small booths selling Japanese items or handcrafted works from people who studied under the Japanese art style. Some of the remember-able booths were: The butterflies that are made of ties, The handmade pottery-works following the Japanese style, The modern ‘kawaii’ (cute) handmade stuff made for girls and young-womens. Others are Japanese forged steel scissors and various Japanese arts inspired craft works.
Next up is the plateau area or food area. Multiple food-stands are selling their Japanese cooking-arts or just food. Stands were selling Onigiri, a triangular rice ball with fish or vegetables in it and covert with a ‘nori’ paper (processed seaweed.) green tea stands, sushi-boxes and home made sushi. Sweets stands with matcha-muffins, Doriyaki’s (Doreamon’s favorite), mochi’s and the fish shaped cake Taiyaki. We bought some of those treats and had them for lunch. The Japan Market was nice and may they become a bigger event in the future.
Food Festival Amsterdam
Before we went to the Food Fest at the RAI, we wandered a bit at Central Station and nearby IJ-burg. The thing was that we were still full from the lunch and could use a walk. So we went for a stroll or shop-hopping…. uhm, yeah shopping at the IJ-passage at Central and grabbed something to drink near IJ-burg. At around 5p.m. we hopped into the car and headed over to Amsterdam RAI for the Food Festival.
The RAI, Amsterdam largest event location and a place for holding these kinds of grand happenings. The Food Festival was at it’s last day, it started three days earlier on the 26th of november. The four of us walked to the main entrance and were saluted by the security for a look in our bags. It is supposedly not allowed to bring in any food or drinks. In the voyeur was a DJ-Truck playing loud music too welcome the visitors of the event. On the left was the way to the conference area but it was closed off and was not part of the event. On the right side was the road to the large hall were the Food Festival was held. It was huge place and filled with different kinds of people, foodlovers ‘Foodies’, parents with small children, students, expats and many more. The venue was compiled of foodtrucks, the trucks were laid out in a rectangular encirclement having an outer ring and an inner ring. Between the two rings were tables and benches for the visitors to sit and dine. There were two token-shops, where every visitor had to buy tokens in order to buy the food they wanted to consume. One token was €2,50 and the prices at the stands were mostly around 2-3 tokens. However there were some restaurants stands that offered a whole menu or a 3-dish course. Those were more on the expensive side with 4-9 tokens. Drinks can be bought at drinking booths, one token for the ‘souvenir’ drinking-cup and a minimum of one token for the beverage.
So what did we ate that day? Multiple things. (from left to right)
The BAO-burger or Beef-Pork-Chicken-Shrimp-patty on a bun. It was an Ok burger, but if you were not familiar with a mix of multiple meat types, it might taste a bit odd. Having something like this is not in everyone’s taste so I would not recommended it for try-out outside of home.
The slow-cooked pulled Pork meat with lots of fried stuff and spring onions on a steamed bun. This is mix of slow-cooked pulled meat and Asiatic soft steamed bun makes it a combination of the modern fusion food. A tasty grub and a change from the regular burger or other fast-food.
The Potato-twister and chicken skewers. A parties favorite that is looks fun, curled up and twisted on a stick. This fried potato on a stick is easily sharable with family and friends or just have it for yourself.
Fresh young coconut, very simple and yummy to have. Sipping the coconut juice and eating the young coco-meat.
A Savoury waffle with beetroot and bacon. An odd combination, but who does not like bacon. With waffles you mostly think of sweets, but savoury dishes can also be made. Same with pancakes or crèpes, it can be sweet or savoury, definitely worth a try to make some savoury pancake or waffles.
Below are three pics of Saturday, when I also went to the Food Festival. (two days in a row how about that :p)
A pulled pork sandwich, followed by a beef meatball and a beef-burger. A meat-lover must-try meal and a lot of ‘punny’ comments to add. Get a taste of these ‘meaty-buns’ and make sure to ‘sandwich’ it while sharing. Have a lick or a bite of the ‘juicy spiced balls’ and make sure to have this threesome of meat.
Some bite-sized fried snacks, good to go with some beer or drinks. It was seafood flavour, but a meat version was also possible.
Orange Punch and Green Power Smoothies to boost your daily fruit and veggies needs.
That’s all folks, it was a day of treats for the eyes and stomach. For the next time I try to post it more on time, cause now it is way after some time. Nevertheless up to the next Food experience! I hope you like it and Keep Experimenting!


















