Food Delivery Services In Amsterdam
Until recently, the Shallow Man lived happily in Amsterdam Zuid. One of the great things for a man whose cooking repertoire is like a Dutch woman’s wardrobe, severely limited. Was the huge choice and number of options available from food delivery services in Amsterdam which brings me to the subject of today’s post. Food delivery services in Amsterdam, the good, the bad and the bloody cheeky.
The reviews below are based on my personal experiences and taste. So don’t shoot the exceptionally well dressed messenger.
The things I do for my readers!
As it says in the Bible, ‘man cannot live on food delivered by Deliveroo or Thuisbezorgd alone’. While the selection of food that’s available to order via Deliveroo and similar services is fine. Unfortunately, like seeing too many Dutch men in blue suits and brown shoes when walking around the business district of Amsterdam, it can become a bit repetitive and dare I say unhealthy. Which is why I tried out some of the following:
Hello Fresh
The first food delivery service I ever tried in Amsterdam was Hello Fresh. Well, in my humble opinion they’d be better of renaming themselves ‘Hello Cheeky’. The concept sounded great. They would provide fresh food, along with easy recipes and ingredients from which you could make tasty healthy meals. So far so good, but the reality, was somewhat different.
The Good
The recipes were easy to follow even for me, which is really saying something.
The Bad
If you love potatoes, then Hello Fresh is for you. There was certainly a hell of a lot of potatoes and veggies but the size of the protein portions was like tips left by diners at Dutch restaurants, small. The first time I received a delivery and checked the ingredients I thought they’d made a mistake but as I was to find out as I continued using the service, the portion sizes of meat and fish were generally smaller than an ant’s hotpants.
The Bloody Cheeky
The price! Sorry, but incredibly, I’m able to download food recipes from that online thingy, the internet, and for that price would rather go to a market and buy the veggies and protein myself, at least that way I can get a decent sized balanced meal. I’d also add that cancelling with them was like the Eagles classic song Hotel California. “You can check out any time you like but you can never leave”.
“I know there’s some meat in here somewhere”
Albert Heijn Allerhande Box
The Good
The price, (ja ik ben lekker ingeburgered) is fair. With the AH Allerhande box, you definitely get what you pay for. The delivery time options are good and if you order your groceries with AH at the same time you can also save money on the cost of delivery.
The Bad
Like a bad Tinder date, the food was just not to my taste. The Albert Heijn Allerhande box has a similar concept to Hello Fresh where you select your meals for a week and you receive the ingredients and pretty damn good instructions on how to prepare them. But finally, what you actually get is often homely Dutch dishes which are pretty basic and shall we say an acquired taste.
Sprout stamppot with meatballs
The Bloody Cheeky
Nothing at all. As I’ve said, AH provide average meals for a fair price.
Marley Spoon
Firstly, great name. Being a lover of Dickens I like to think that they’re named after Scrooge’s ghostly partner Jacob Marley. Or perhaps they’re named after the late, great Bob Marley, which would explain why some of their desserts have jam in. (Sorry!).
The Good
Apart from the great name, Marley Spoon has excellent recipes and ingredients. I loved their creativity and selection of ingredients. The portion sizes were like an American tipping 10% of the price of a meal at an Amsterdam cafe, incredibly generous. Some might say naive, but that’s for another discussion.
They have some great recipes
The Bad
Perhaps this is more a reflection of my cooking skills or my ability to follow a recipe, but I found the Marely Spoon recipes far too long-winded. It simply took too long to prepare a meal. I mean there were times when looking at a recipe that claimed a preparation time of 30 minutes where I had to ask myself, “30 minutes for who? Gorden Ramsey?”. The meals when finally completed, were always excellent, but simply took me too long to prepare.
The Bloody Cheeky
Without wanting to sound too Dutch, I also found them too expensive. Or perhaps that’s just a sign of how well I’ve integrated into Dutch society. The delivery time windows are also shall we say ‘generous’ but for Marley Spoon rather than the customer.
Marleen Kookt
Firstly, somewhat surprisingly, Marleen actually exists and yes she does cook. The concept of Marleen Kookt is that they provide healthy complete meals which are delivered in porcelain bowls that you simply have to heat up following the instructions they provide.
The Good
The price, starting from 11,50 including free delivery per meal is pretty damn reasonable. Instead of ordering for a week, you can actually simply choose the meal you’d like on the day and order it before 11 am. You can then choose a thirty-minute delivery window between 16:00 and 20:00. The menu changes on a weekly basis and the food is bloody tasty. They also have food for those who simply like a basic traditional meal, (yes they have stamppot) and meals for those who want to eat something fancy. A vegetarian friend of mine ate one of their dishes and managed to wolf the entire meal down without a single complaint. Not that I’d have the audacity to claim that vegetarians are fussy eaters. Neeeeeee!
Even vegetarians like their food
The Bad
Well, their desserts are so good that it’s a test of willpower and discipline if you can resist ordering them. Especially when they have one of my childhood favourites on the menu from time to time, English Trifle. What makes matters worse is that they only charge one euro for desserts.
Temptation without the island
The Bloody Cheeky
Nothing to report here.
The reviews above are as I said based on my own personal taste and experiences. Depending on what you like one or all of them could be perfect for you if you’re incredibly busy and would like to eat healthily but lack the time to do the shopping and planning yourself.
No Bob Marley fans were hurt during the writing of this post.
