Double Dutch - Northside Cheap Eats

I love it when I discover cheap eats in the city that are also delicious. I stumbled upon an Instagram post on Double Dutch and decided to give it a try after doing some research and seeing it has a 4.6 star rating on Google reviews! I've actually passed by a few times and never thought to go in due to the unassuming storefront.

The interior is surprisingly spacious. The store is called Double Dutch Treats & Meats and it's a mini supermarket and deli that sells a lot of imported goods.

There is a seating area near the entrance with three small tables for dining in. The menu is on a blackboard above the counter, but most of the item names are in Dutch, so it's a good thing there are also pictures.

Most of the items are shown in the pictures below. The menu is very limited, but sufficient for a quick and cheap dining experience.

Before dining, of course I had to pick up a pack of the famous Dutch cookies known as stroopwafel or stroopies. A stroopwafel is a waffle cookie sandwich with a caramel syrup filling. This particular brand ($6.50) was recommended to me by one of the staff. Apparently it's one of the best brands in the Netherlands with a recipe dating back to 1864.

The friendly staff member even taught me the authentic way to eat it — let it sit on a hot cup of coffee for a few minutes to soften the caramel filling before enjoying with the drink. I put this to test at Tim Hortons later that night and can confirm that this makes the filling delightfully gooey!

The patat oorlog ($5), or "war fries" in Dutch, is what will keep me coming back again and again. This is basically a Dutch poutine, and a common Indonesian-inspired street food in the Netherlands. (Did you know that Indonesia was once a Dutch colony? Neither did I, but I got a quick history lesson from Mr. friendly staff member.) So anyway this poutine is what poutine dreams are made of! I thought the taste would be off with no gravy, but honestly and surprisingly I did not miss the gravy at all. The creamy mayo and satay peanut sauce more than made up for the lack of gravy, and the chopped onions worked well with the flavours. The fries were also fried very nicely with a crispy skin.

The nasi goreng ($7) is another Indonesian dish and the name literally means "fried rice". I added a fried egg on top and loved the crispy edges and runny yolk. The portion didn't look like a lot, but it was quite filling due to the oil used to fry the rice and egg. The flavour was good and I liked how it was not overly salty.

The kroket ($2.50 each) was recommended to me as one of the most popular menu items here. It's a fried breaded roll with a crispy shell and a beef ragout filling. It can also be ordered in a bun like a hot dog. This is actually my least favourite item. It didn't taste bad by any means, but I just wasn't used to the texture of the smooth meat paste inside that was similar to mashed potatoes. Flavourwise, the rolls reminded me of taro dumplings at dim sum restaurants. The only difference is that the taro dumpling shells are more fluffy and the kroket shells are harder and more crispy. The kroket were also served with a side of horseradish which I'm not crazy about, but those who like horseradish would really enjoy this sauce.

Overall I was super impressed with the value and quality of the food. Everything in the picture below (excluding the bag of stroopies) was only $18-19 including tax! The staff were also really nice and brought out some hot sauce to go with the food. Will definitely be back again, and seriously you need to try that poutine!