Snackspert is a fan: Albert Heijn’s cheese croquettes are seriously great

Eke Bosman, better known as Instagram phenomenon @snackspert, ate his first frikandel as a baby, hates vlammetjes, has devoured at least 1,500 burgers in his lifetime, suspects there is more mayonnaise in his body than blood, and shares his best and worst snack reviews on FavorFlav every other week. This week was a very good week for the expert, who handed out a whole lot of stars!

Crispy chicken sandwich and kimchi croque monsieur from Bonnie, Amsterdam

As you probably know, there are a few places in Amsterdam that I always like to go back to: The Beef Chief, Rotisserie, Sababa, Ter Marsch, Koopman, and of course Bonnie. And with these two sandwiches (yes, sorry, I went twice in one week), I’ve worked my way through their entire menu again, so sorry guys, I won’t be back for a while. Okay, let’s start with the kimchi croque monsieur: phenomenal. Kimchi instead of ham, ama-zing! And the great thing is, you definitely don’t need that ketchup. Kimchi has such a refined flavor (although you really do have to like it) that all other optional flavors become redundant. The Gruyère (thank God they go for quality cheese) combined with béchamel sauce is deliciously creamy, slightly salty, sure, but it really finishes the sandwich. This is seriously sexy. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Speaking of sexy: the crispy chicken sandwich may be just as good. And yes, kimchi again here. But combined with avocado, a flavor that really needs to be completed by salt and acidity, kimchi is very welcome indeed. I did spot one major downside, though, and that is that the chicken is waaaay too salty. Guys, not so enthusiastic! Unfortunately, the creamy sauce can’t get this situation under control, so hopefully next time it’ll simply be less salty. Because then you’ll have one seriously sexy sandwich. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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?: Bonnie, Amsterdam
?: @bonnie.amsterdam
?: 9.95 euros for croque monsieur, 10.95 euros for crispy chicken

Vegan nduja pizza from Pizzabakkers

The well-known pizza chain Pizzabakkers (with locations in several cities in the Netherlands) has finally launched a plant-based pizza. Now you might think: that’s easy enough, just throw some vegetables on tomato sauce and hey presto, it’s vegan. But you also want your tongue to be stimulated just as much as on Saturday night, September 9, 2011, with that one thing—yes, you know the one. That’s why Pizzabakkers now also has a vegan nduja pizza, you know, that spreadable spicy Italian sausage—but vegan. And it turned out really well. Just like the vegan gorgonzola. Very impressive. Only a true gorgonzola lover can tell it apart from the real thing, molto bene or whatever. The downside is that I always find the bases of Pizzabakkers’ pizzas far too thin (especially in the middle); I’d prefer them to be a little sturdier. Perhaps they can still do something about that. Other than that, it’s approved. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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?: Pizzabakkers, several locations in the Netherlands
?: @depizzabakkers
?: 13.50 euros

Oven-baked cheese croquettes from Albert Heijn

Besides Kwekkeboom’s Old Amsterdam cheese bitterballen, there are hardly any good cheese bitterballen or croquettes to be found in supermarkets; most of them were genuinely disappointing. But Albert Heijn has some really nice ones now.
Admittedly, Kwekkeboom’s are still better, but these mini cheese croquettes are also excellent for the Friday afternoon drinks, where Kees-Jan will undoubtedly grab the last croquette again. But that doesn’t matter, because Kees-Jan went home early a week ago because his fire alarm went off. I’m digressing, sorry. The crust on these cheese croquettes is very good: nicely crisp, not too bitter, excellent. The texture of the cheese inside is soggy, but not stale. Lovely and soft; it could have had a higher melt factor, and it’s slightly milder than the aged cheese you’re used to from Kwekkeboom. The Appie version does contain aged cheese, but also Gruyère (you can taste that) and Parmesan (you can’t taste that). However you look at it, these are very nice cheese croquettes. Well done. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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?: Albert Heijn
?: @albertheijn
?: 2.99 euros for 6 pieces

Read also:

• Snackspert is disgusted by Heinz’s new mayo mousse: what a terrible product!
• Snackspert is ecstatic: if you like bapao, you have to try this
• Snackspert has a hot tip: the new toasted sandwich from Albert Heijn To Go