The Favorite Foodie Spots at the Beverwijk Bazaar
If you only know the Beverwijk Bazaar for black leather jackets with zippers and car radios with a very short cord, then it’s been a while since you last visited. At Europe’s largest covered market (yes, really!), you’ll find not only the most bizarre kitsch for your home, but also fan-tas-tic food. These are our favorite foodie spots at the Beverwijk Bazaar.
The market is spread across enormous halls, and each hall has its own specialty. Furniture, jewelry, second-hand clothes, outlet stores? It’s so big that seeing the entire market isn’t possible in one day. Check the map and make a plan. As a true foodie, you really can’t skip Mihrab and halls 30 through 34.
Spinach gozleme
Mihrab has not only all kinds of shops, but also a food court with food from all over the world. You can buy something to eat at all the mini-restaurants and enjoy it in the middle of the square or in the special winter garden. Sushi, biryani, babi pangang or hamburgers: name it and you’ll find it here. By the fountain, you can buy gozleme, a Turkish flatbread baked here on an authentic hot griddle and filled with whatever you fancy. Recommendation: spinach and white cheese.
Baklava, but not too sweet
Across the way, you’ll find the perfect dessert – or take it home with you. Tarboosh’s baklava is packed with nuts and isn’t too sweet. How do they do it? Nobody knows. Tip: künefe, pastry made with mozzarella and a sweet semolina topping. Addictive!
Figure out what to do with it at home
If you walk from Mihrab to the halls across the way, you’ll pass the enormous vegetable stall. It is currently set up outside – corona times. Get ready to carry, because you won’t find vegetables this cheap and good anywhere else. A whole bag of pomegranates? A box of fresh figs? Four pineapples for next to nothing? Large bags of bell peppers? Definitely take them home; you can always figure out what to make with them later.
Ottolenghi, everything is here
In the food halls, it’s best to start at the spice square. Stacks and stacks of containers filled with fresh spices, everything you need for your next Ottolenghi experiment. You won’t leave without a container of garlic pepper, the stall’s specialty, and you won’t regret it. At the neighboring stall, where all the spices are displayed in large baskets, you can also buy beautiful tagines and serving dishes. In a small, dark shop on the spice square, spices are freshly ground for you. Just bear in mind that your curry will turn out considerably spicier when the spices are this fresh and fragrant!
Rosewater ice cream with pistachio
Sit down for a moment with a coffee and an… ice cream? Yes, those white peaks you see passing by in a bowl are Afghan ice cream. It’s made the old-fashioned way, in metal buckets placed in a large container filled with ice and salt. The ice cream is made with milk, sugar and rosewater, then sprinkled with chopped pistachios.
Shopping bag filled to the brim
From the Afghan ice cream, you can walk straight through to the fresh market. At the exotic vegetable stall, you can buy the wildest things. Small eggplants, bitter melon or trays full of bird’s eye chilies – pack them up. After an extra lap around the fresh market, your bag will certainly be filled to the brim with fresh herbs, tomatoes, bell peppers and fruit. Passing the butcher? Those merguez sausages are irresistible.
Falafel first!
Are you already heading back to the train or the parking lot? No, you still have to eat that fantastic falafel at Mihrab. On the corner, beside the rainbow of pickled vegetables and peppers (fire hazard!) and the garlic sauce. Add a nicely browned pita and you’re all set. And what will you eat tonight? Pick up a large container of butter chicken or chicken tandoori from Indian Delight (from a real tandoor, for sure), with a garlic naan on the side, and that’s sorted too. Fancy a cup of mango lassi? It’s already chilled and waiting for you here.
Half a suckling pig
By now you’ve probably eaten a few bites too many and your bags are overflowing, but on the way to P1 you’ll pass the largest Asian supermarket in North Holland, so you don’t want to skip it. Pick up ready-made dim sum from the freezer, browse the beautiful porcelain from Japan and marvel at the duck tongues and chicken feet in the refrigerated section (there was even half a suckling pig recently—always handy when you’re expecting guests), and then you’ll know: I’m coming back next week. Because next time I want a rice cooker, a rug and maybe one of those black leather jackets after all—because they’re actually pretty cool, aren’t they?
