Walking around town all day long can make a person hungry. Sometimes your hunger is best satisfied with a nice salad or a grilled vegetable sandwich. Other times you need something a bit more, how do I say it, substantial. Something that’s warm, a bit more hearty, preferably deep-fried. Something that’s quick and easy. Because let’s be honest: time spent eating is time you can also use for shopping, drinking, dancing. Ah well, you know what I mean.

So, to save you time and energy searching the streets of Haarlem for the best street food, I present to you my top 5 favorite easy and most of all tasty snacks that you can eat while walking around. And, happy side note: they are not all as bad for you as you might expect!

1. Börek from Turkish bakery Kartal – Botermarkt 24a

Let’s start with one of my all time favorites: börek from Turkish bakery Kartal at the Botermarkt. Börek is best described as a flat bread filled with things like lentils, spinach, feta cheese or potatoes. The börek are sprinkled with sesame seeds and best eaten warm (so do ask them to warm them up for you!). For only €2,50 a börek fills you up properly and as far as street food goes it is actually not that unhealthy too. My favorite is the spicy potato version!

2. Organic fries from Friethoes – Kruisweg 43

Ok, so there are fries and then there are organic fries from Friethoes. This little shop is conveniently located right next to the train station, so you can either start or end your visit to Haarlem with some smoking hot Friethoes fries. Don’t be fooled: this is not your ordinary Dutch snack bar. Besides fries, you can order a Dutch kroket, but that is about it.

3. Vietnamese dumplings – Grote Markt (on Saturday)

People that know me may find this third suggestion a bit odd: I am super allergic to soy and really can’t eat any food containing soy. And dumplings contain soy. So I have to be honest: I have never actually eaten a Vietnamese dumpling from the food stand at the Saturday market. I have been caught though standing close to it, to at least catch a bit of that delicious smell and giving envious looks to people who are actually ordering these little deep fried snacks. Please, if only for me, try one.

4. Fried fish from the market – Botermarkt

Luckily, I can eat fish. So after I am done drooling at the Vietnamese stand at the Grote Markt, I usually continue my walk to that second market of Haarlem at the Botermarkt. Here, you find one of the best fish stands of the city. My favorite is called kibbeling, which basically are some deep fried pieces of white fish served with a sauce of your choice. Yummy!

5. Hema sausage – Kruisstraat 51

This last one is a Dutch classic: sausage from Dutch department store HEMA. This sausage is great when eating with mashed potato stews, but they are just as nice eaten on a fresh white roll and die hard fans even order it without anything but some mustard. I think it is the only Dutch snack that has got its own T-shirt and sweater. That must say something!

This is Haarlem is on Instagram and Facebook. Follow us for more inside tips!