UNF! You know what they say about being in Rome and all. Well, when in Haarlem the saying is, "When in Haarlem, eat delicious Flemish fries." All right, maybe I made that up. But it's still true!
I came to the Netherlands having been instructed by my Dutch friend to try some fries with "special sauce." I had no idea what a "special sauce" was, but suspected it had something to do with mayonnaise (I was wrong!). Regardless, when I spotted this wee chip shop in town with a steady stream of customers, as well as a cute location close to the grote markt, I added it to my must-visit list!
By the time we actually got round to visiting after a long cycle, we arrived to find quite the line of like-minded individuals. Despite the queue we had placed our order in no time to the friendly guys behind the counter: one order of the most gargantuan fry cone I've ever clapped eyes on + special sauce. With fry cone in hand, we ambled off to savor our prize. And let me tell ya. This five-star review was well deserved. Those were some GOOD fries. The special sauce turns out to be some kind of tomato-based sauce with onions, and that coupled with the most perfectly crispy-soft fries made for the perfect snack. (Really, more of a meal for us, considering the size of the cone!)
I wish that I could transport this fry shop to my current homebase, because I think I could easily sample every other sauce/fry combo they had on a daily basis. I'm particularly intrigued by the "Amerikain" sauce on offer. I don't know what that is, but it probably tastes like freedom.
A must-visit when in the lovely city of Haarlem, hands-down! (Not necessary but also quite fun: standing in the gigantic wooden clogs just next door to take a cringe-worthy tourist photo while holding your prize. Not that we did that. No way!) read more