Rollende Keukens

I love food trucks. So mobile and you can put so many in a small area. Therefore, great variety in one spot.
I heard that it gets crowded at the Rolling Kitchens, but I still wasn’t prepared for the mass of people during a national holiday. There were some areas that you were literally shuffling through. But we went again on a gloomy-​had-​been-​raining-​earlier-​and-​scared-​everyone-​away Saturday, it was lovely. Not warm, but not too chilly either. Lots of people, but not enough to create lines at each food stand/​truck.
Over the course of two days we had Paella, jerk chicken, BBQ, shaved ice with fruit, other pulled pork on a waffle, dim sum, fresh rolls, Surinamese Bara with chicken, then Italian Ice on a pastry with chocolate. Loved the variety… hated the price. 4 euro for 1 fat fresh roll? A plate of misc BBQ that was delicious but very small for 12 euro? 1 portion of pofferjes for 4 – 5 euro? Not cool. But I guess that’s what happens when people are there to eat.
One of the jerk chicken places (there were a few), had a menu posted where everyone could see it. They listed the meat pastry, then we got to the front of the line after waiting 15 minutes and they didn’t have it. It wasn’t what they were serving. They gave two choices and that was it. That’s fine, but don’t advertise that it’s part of your menu. (And no, I don’t think it’s because they ran out)
Suggestion: Bring your own water or drinks with you. I doubt it would really hurt the business for them, but some of us just are not willing to pay festival drink prices when you are already paying festival food prices.
Also, you can bring a blanket and find a spot to picnic.
It is fenced off, so you can enter from the bridge by the Bakkerswinkel or it looks like you can come in from the back area near the train tracks over a temporary bridge across the man-​made canal.
This festival is HUGE! The entire grassy area behind Westergasfabriek has many rows of food trucks/​trailers/​mini structures, then it runs the length of the pavement where Pure Markt is held, and then there’s even a grassy area at the end of that with a smaller amount of food. An area I didn’t even know existed!
Music is everywhere. Literally everywhere. One guitar and one singer in front of a food truck. A one-​man band on top of another. Main stages, a Blue Grass three-​person band near the BBQ, there are so many! Some of more chill than others since there’s no theme to the music.
Overall: Great festival. Love that you don’t have to pay to get in. Can’t wait til next year… so I can save up for the price of food.
Music is a great touch. Love the variety. Love the venue. Will bring my own water bottle next year. Bring cash!

After a few years attending this, I think I have cracked the recipe for a successful Rollande Keukens tour.
Here it goes
Don’t come with any expectations or major appetite. Both of those will have you scurrying around to find the perfect meal and eventually miss out on all the great fun to be had.
The event is expansive, almost covering the entire usable part of the park. There are food trucks in all shapes and sizes, with the staple storey high poffertjes truck somewhere as well. There are huge lines for the better stuff, but it is generally easier to get food if you arrive in the mid-​afternoon or on the last day (Sunday).
Kids enjoy it as do people of all ages. My favorite stop is the Dutch weed burger stall that somehow keeps getting bigger and better year after year. This year they even had a Starbucks-​esque name/​reservation system.
Most of the food centers around the Dutch staple of crepes, waffles, beers, and juicy burgers. There is exotic and ethnic stuff as well, but be prepared to spend a pretty penny if the event is going to be the sole source of one or more of your meals.
All in all, this is an event that makes me glad to live in the neighborhood.

My bf and I arrived in Amsterdam on June 1^st and were lucky enough to catch the last day of the Rollende Keukens 2014 food truck festival at the Westerpark!
It was an easy bus ride from Amsterdam Centraal, and we weren’t exactly sure where to go after getting off the bus, but then we just followed to crowd to… the most amazing food truck festival ever! Well, I’ve never actually been to one, but this one was pretty good for my first experience. And I’m so glad we caught the last day of it, as it only happens in Amsterdam once a year.
There were lots of people, ample sunshine, bands playing live music, and of course, plenty of trucks serving all kinds of food. We were almost paralyzed in awe with all the food selections and couldn’t decide which stands to hit up first – everything looked so amazing!
What struck me the most was that a lot of the food trucks appeared to be quite gourmet and were not just your average hot dog and burger stand. The food trucks (AKA «rolling kitchens») were also quite fancy and quirky. One of them looked like a giant pot! Completely different from food trucks you see on the streets of Los Angeles, where it’s more function and food over creativity and presentation.
At first, I was thinking we should try to go for Dutch food, as we were tourists in Amsterdam, but finally the foodies in us overruled, and we just went for what looked GOOD.
We first hit up De Appelchiller for some fresh lemonade that came out of a garden hose. Their truck was cutely decorated in a country cottage theme, and they even had a carousel next to it for the kiddies to ride. They had an old-​fashioned apple corer for the kids to peel their own apples by hand cranking, too.
The Jamaican food looked delicious, but the line was way too long, and we didn’t want to wait, so we didn’t get any.
But we did have:
— Yummy BBQ spare ribs from Smokey Goodness.
— The BEST burger we’ve ever tasted in our lives from The Beef Chief (the Classic Cheese beef burger on a lovely toasted brioche bun).
— Some strange sausage and egg things on round toast from the French cuisine truck. Had no clue what they were called, so we just pointed to them on the counter to order. They were pretty tasty.
— A pinkish Dutch rhurbarb spirit that was sweet and tasty.
— A mediocre gigantic freshly made stroop waffel. This was the last thing we stood in line for, and I was so excited, because I LOVE stroop waffels… but this thing was a bit soft and mushy and not as chewy as I would have liked. Perhaps because it needed to set up a bit for the caramel to cool down? Dunno. I was a bit too impatient and chowed it down while it was still warm.
And of course, we drank beer! Unfortunately, since we don’t know Dutch, we didn’t realize that there was a deposit per cup, and we left our first cups sitting on a table at the Smokey Goodness truck and then had to pay extra for fresh glasses when getting rhubarb spirits.
I guess the rules and regulations were clearly written out on giant signs above each bar, but we didn’t know what they said because there was nothing written in English. So hold onto your cups, folks!
All-​in-​all, this was an amazing event with some awesome food. Highly recommended if you are a foodie and can catch this event in Amsterdam next year!

I’ve missed RK last year but I made it up by visiting it 4 days in a row this year. Not that I’d planned it but Rollende Keukens comes but once a year.
So here’s the things to consider when you go there:
GEZELLIG
+ free entrance
+ no munten required = big plus
+ huge food choice, a lot of lekker eten to try
+ moderate prices
+ delicacy stalls where you get to try unusual food like grasshoppers
+ live music
+ free after-​party
ONGEZELLIG
— beware of the black sheep stalls with questionable cooking standard (look out for drunk staff, especially when it comes to the chef)
— it gets very crowded very quickly = long lines at some stalls
— big differences in value for money, lukewarm food, wannabe specialities
— mostly cash only in PIN-​land and no geldautomaat far and wide (at least some places offer the great substitute bank service of money for PIN)
— you don’t get the deposit back for the solid plastic cups
— extra toilet rip-​off, no flat rate

So I’m no spring chicken to food trucks, food festivals, or eating. This event was great in theory but meh in practice.
Price: snack and meals are somewhere between 3.50−17 Euro. Some items are great values, re: chicken wings (!) corn on the cob, and bulgogi. But oh man is some of it overpriced or strangely too conceptual.
Crowd: like, woah. Seriously crowded. It’s free and everyone in Holland was there, and their mom.
Food: mostly good. but did you guys notice an «American» food trend? I use quotes because it was oddly Dutch.
Drinks: next year, I’m bringing my own drinks (and cups!). Cheap beers and 1.50 for your own cup… Dude.
Next year I’ll go (again) early and BYOB.

This year was my virgin experience with Rollende Keukens and before going, I prepared my stylish yet hideable stretchy pants ready to tap everything hot, new and sexy!
But don’t let my innocent eyes fool you. I’m no virgin to food truck festivals. Let’s just say my mouth has been pounded with fantastic mobile grub so much that I’m not sure my jaw fully closes anymore…
Anyway, I think RK is a nice venue when the weather is nice and you go early enough so it’s not too crowded. I went a little after lunch on a Friday which ended up being perfect! No lines for beer and small to unnoticeable lines for the food. On top of that, you are in the middle of Westerpark, so you can easily move the food par-​tay train over to the grass and chill out in het zonnetje with a chilled bottle of prosecco!
So why three stars? Although I love the venue, the food selection, and creativity of some of the trucks… most of the food is beyond mediocre! It is quite possible that among the bulgogi taco, mexi nachos, north african meatballs, fresh mini donuts, bbq banana with choco and marshmallow with rhubarcello to wash it all down, I had bad luck in selecting trucks with good food. Luck or not, I have a feeling that chefs were trying to be creative, but a fusion of different cuisines doesn’t put flavor beyond the average threshold. Alas, after so many flavor misses, I gave up and my stretchy pants will have be expanded on another day of binge eating.
I would tap RK again next year, but more for the atmosphere and only if it’s not crowded and for sure bringing some beer and wine in my backpack next time.

What an amazing festival! Everywhere you turn they have great food!!! Because the portions are relatively small, you have the possibility to try multiple things at this place.
Be aware though that the prices are quite high, but on the other hand: quite worth it also :)
This festival would have gotten 5 stars from me if it would have been just a tiny bit less busy. This is not something they can do too much about, I guess it just comes with their huge success :)

Attended on Friday after work and Saturday right when it opened at 1:00 pm. Enjoyed it both times, but the experience was different each time. Friday evening the event was quite full so you needed to plan strategically to make sure you weren’t waiting in lines without something to eat or drink. I did see some folks with their own beers or wine. This may be a great strategy to follow as the beer tents are a bit spread out and very popular!
Going Saturday right when it opened afforded a smaller crowd, but things were not really fired up yet. It was nice to be able to walk right up and order what you wanted and it was a bit easier to see all the different stands. So, you’ll have to decide which way might be right for you.
There are some carnival rides and several bands playing all different kinds of music throughout the venue. For those that know about State Fairs, it feels like a kind of State Fair atmosphere, without the rodeo, livestock judging or the deep fried butter…
As far as the food goes, there is something for all tastes from vegetarian gyros to a full rack of ribs to sushi and everything in between. While nothing was out of this world, it was a good mix of different street food and it was all pretty tasty.
This event seemed less formal than other food festivals I have been to in Amsterdam, but it was just as fun! The laid back atmosphere is great!
I sampled pulled pork, curry, Korean tacos, Mexican burritos, duck, a hamburger, fries, mini-​donuts and crepes. All was tasty and with the different bands playing, really made both times I attended a lot of fun.
Another event I’m looking forward to attending next year!

Loving the concept, hating the crowd.
On a lovely Friday eve it was jam packed, shuffling your way from one queue to the next, hoping the person in front of you is not getting the last piece of whatever you had in mind to eat, is really not motivating. But again the concept of different kind of food (not quite though, saw a lot of burgers and potatoes (and potato heads, but i am digressing)) is appealing, but i prefer to go during the day when the young & the restless are getting their beauty sleep, and you can actually pick n choose from one of the many many stalls/​cars.
I had me a Korean pork belly on a salad (the last one available, yay!) and some «bloempie’s», pastries with some mashed stuff: looks cute but is just not impressive. I would’ve loved to try some other stuff, but i couldn’t be bothered.
All in all, there’s a good vibe, enough to eat and drink, there’s bands playing, the only thing they need is some crowd control. As the food fair starts at 13.00, i suggest you start your frenzy at 13.01. Bön appetit!

I really liked the idea of ‘Rollende Keukens’. A lot of food trucks together so you can eat all sorts of stuff. Awesome! BUT. yes a biggg but because this place was crowded! Like omg crowded. Probably because it was a free festival and it was kinda understandable that everyone wanted to check this out but this was just no fun. Often there were huge lines for the trucks and don’t even think of getting a beer if you don’t want to wait 20 minutes before you even reach the bar. LAME. Also the food at most trucks was just to expensive. Not cool.
So, the idea was fun, the food trucks were fun, the food was okay but expensive and you should bring your own drinks because there are just to many people to reach the bar.

I really enjoyed the Rollende Keukens! What I really loved was that each stand had it’s own really cute, unique theme — it’s own music, outfits and cute vintage RVs! I was impressed how big the turn out was, but it’s true what Nick F. said — there were a lot of the same stands too — lots of burgers; everyone should make smaller, less expensive portions, so you can really go around and sample more. But it was great that it was free and had a couple live music stages.
My favorites included moules frites and homemade donuts stand. Would definitely go again next year or when ever they have it again.

It’s fun!
IDEA:
— Food Stands that normally stand on festivals and more… all together.
FOOD:
— All sorts!
— Half a lobster (€ 15)
— Bottle of wine (€ 20)
— Spicey Meat Balls (€ 6)
— A Fancy Burger (€ 3,50)
— 4p Sangria (20)
PROBLEM:
— On a festival, the best food is a food cart/​van/​stall with real food… but when you get them together? 80% is mediocre…
BUT?
SURE! THERE IS A MAYOR BUT: …
…IT’S FUN!!!

I could not believe how big this place was, so many booths to pick from. Also nice that it was free to enter. The only issue that I have with things like this are the prices. These type of things are supposed to be so you can go around an sample all kinds of different food. It is certainly possible to do but you would go broke in the process.
Also, there were a lot of places to pick from but lot of them had the same style of food. Over-​represented included coffee and tea stands especially, burgers, and Asia.
I ended up picking a pulled chicken BBQ wrap that was pretty decent.
I would go back again for sure, I just wish there would be some kind of policy that nothing could be over € 3-​€ 4. This way you could go around and eat small things at a bunch of different places.