What to eat in Rotterdam
One dish was invented in this city in 2003 and the whole of the Netherlands eats it now — and its name means hairdresser's salon.
- Kapsalon
- Delfshaven, 2003
- The Markthal
- Stalls open 10 to 8
- Katendrecht
- Fenix — beer
In Rotterdam you eat what the people who live here brought with them: Surinamese roti, Cape Verdean cachupa, and the kapsalon, dreamed up in Delfshaven in 2003 by a Cape Verdean hairdresser. For lunch there are two halls, the Markthal in the centre and Fenix across the water in Katendrecht, and from a street stall there is herring.
The kapsalon, and where its name comes from
The dish was dreamed up in 2003 by Nataniël Gomes, a Cape Verdean hairdresser in Delfshaven, who asked the El Aviva shawarma bar next door for everything he liked in one tray: chips, spit meat, melted cheese, then salad and sauce on top. Once other customers started asking for "the kapsalon one", the name stuck — kapsalon is Dutch for hairdresser's. From that bar it moved to the snack bars nearby, and from there to the whole country.
The Markthal and Fenix
You go into the Markthal for the painted ceiling and stay for the stalls beneath it. Fenix in Katendrecht is a smaller version of the same idea: a covered market of Rotterdam makers in a former dock warehouse, where the beer is from the Kaapse Brouwers brewery, the cheese from Booij Kaasmakers and the bread from Jordy's Bakery. It is shut on Mondays.
What to order
- Herring — hollandse nieuwe, young herring with at least sixteen per cent fat, from a stall. Eaten from the hand, held by the tail.
- A croquette from the wall — a machine of hot croquettes behind little glass doors. Pay at the machine and the hatch opens.
- Roti and bara — Surinamese dishes. Roti is a flatbread with curried potato and chicken; bara is a savoury fried doughnut.
- Cachupa — a Cape Verdean dish of maize and beans, with fish or meat. Most of the Netherlands' Cape Verdean community lives in Rotterdam, above all in Delfshaven.
Where and when
- The Markthal — the stalls open 10 to 8, until 9 on Fridays, and on Sundays only from noon to 6.
- Katendrecht — the old dock quarter across the water; restaurants ring the Deliplein square, and Fenix is on the quay.
- Witte de Withstraat — a street of bars and restaurants in the centre, for the evening after dinner.
- Delfshaven — a canal with a few small restaurants, in the quarter where the kapsalon was born.
What not to order
- Pancakes from a tourist stall. Poffertjes and stroopwafels are made fresh at the market; anything wrapped in film is what the supermarket sells.
- "New" herring in winter. The hollandse nieuwe label applies from mid-June to September, to herring caught that year; anyone offering it under that name in January is selling something else.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What is a kapsalon?
Chips, spit meat, melted cheese and salad in one tray. A Cape Verdean hairdresser in Delfshaven dreamed it up in 2003, and it kept the name of the hairdresser's salon.
Where do you have lunch in Rotterdam?
At the Markthal by Blaak station, or at Fenix in Katendrecht, which is shut on Mondays. Some of the Markthal's restaurants keep their own hours, different from the stalls.
When is herring season?
Hollandse nieuwe is sold from mid-June to September; it is herring caught that year, with at least sixteen per cent fat.
Ready for Rotterdam?
Where to next
Where to stay in Rotterdam
→In Rotterdam you do not choose a room by its distance from a canal but by its view of a city built after the…
Delft · 13 km
→Vermeer's town, which does not own a single Vermeer
How well does Rotterdam suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
Leave your email and we'll let you know when a new destination or story goes up.