Dutch Snack bar: Hamburger

Following on our series of Dutch snack bar options, today were are going to look at what you get if you order a hamburger. And also all the variations you may be able to order, so you get the burger you were hoping for.

‘Hamburger’ or ‘Broodje Hamburger’

If you order a hamburger you may be disappointed when you receive your order and all it contains is a hamburger patty, no bun or sauce. What you needed to have ordered is a broodje hamburger, then you will receive your burger patty in a soft white sandwich bread roll, possibly with a little bit of lettuce.

The hamburger patty is usually 1 cm thick, and around 8 cm in diameter. Ingredient-wise, most snack bar hamburgers are actually made with chicken, usually at least 50% or more, and sometimes they will contain a small amount of pork in them too, but it very much depends on what brand your snack bar uses. Some snack bars also opt to make their own burger patties, which are often made from a mix of beef and pork mince.

If you order a broodje hamburger speciaal, then you will receive a hamburger patty, on a white bread roll with frietsaus, curry saus and raw onions.

A plain hamburger will cost you around €2.50, and a broodje hamburger will cost around €3. If you want sauce on your burger you will need ask when ordering, and expect to be charged between €0.60 and €1 depending on what sauce you want.

A little extra something

If you like a little extra something on your hamburger you will need to check your local snack bar menu as options vary greatly from one to another. Usually they will give their different hamburgers names and a small description of what is on that hamburger. You usually find the options listed under the ‘broodjes’ section of the menu. Here are some of the common options and translations to English.

• Spek – bacon
• Kaas – cheese
• Hawai – cheese & pineapple
• Gebakken ei – fried egg
• Gebakken ui – fried onions
• Gebakken champions – fried mushrooms
• Sla – lettuce

You may also see broodje kipburger and that has instead of the hamburger patty a chicken burger; usually chicken burgers are coated in breadcrumbs.

A real burger

You may also find at larger snack bars the option of beef burger. These will usually be labelled ‘rundvleesburger’ and look for if they say 100% and/or give a weight (usually 180 gr).

They may also offer more luxury bread options, such as sesame seed buns, Italian buns etc. and many of the extra mentioned above will also be available to add to your burger.

You can expect to pay up from €7 for a quality beef burger, more if you want extras like bacon or a fried egg.

Eet smakelijk!

Also in the series – Dutch snack bar top 10 dishes:

1. Frikandel
2. Kroket
3. Bami-schijf
4. Nasi-schijf
5. Kaassoufflé
6. Kipkorn
7. Hamburger
8. Gehaktbal
9. Eierbal
10. Loempia