Vlaamsch Broodhuys is a chain of cafes with 19 locations all around the metropolitan Netherlands.

But of course, I didn’t know that when I arrived! Like I told you guys in earlier posts, I am more of a “walk by and see what’s going on inside” level researcher 😅

No, I was under the impression that I stopped in a cute little hipster/industrial warehouse style, one-of-a-kind bakery and cafe 😆

It was actually impressive that they still had visitors, considering they were doing work on the road between the cafe and the canal. But it still had some cute small-town charm, sitting in one of the older-style buildings in the town.

I’ve been told by my Dutch friends that Schiedam is a pretty typical town in this country, but as it is my first introduction to the Netherlands, I was actually really impressed by the architecture and the town planning. It’s just so cute. 😍

It reminds me of a town where I used to work in New Hampshire called Portsmouth. And similarly to The Friendly Toast, this cafe chain does a great job of masking that it has multiple locations and marries itself to the style of the neighborhood it is in.

Once you look past the street construction, you see a cute, modern bakery 🍞

As you enter, you are immediately met with artisan-style baked goods and bread, as well as shelves filled with homemade nut spreads, jellies, and more.

Some of the pastries are even overcooked (in a good way) giving the impression that there is just one old man who works in the back and wakes up at 2am every weekday to prepare the croissants and, oops, he slightly over-baked this batch, but the brown bits just make the sugar in the pastry more present…

A tart made with love 💖

As in every Dutch establishment, the woman behind the counter was extremely sweet and switched to English as soon as she saw my confused face. I love the Dutch and I’m sorry I couldn’t speak the language!

🤷🏼‍♀️ I decided to order an apple tart, a cappuccino, and the smoked salmon toast with horseradish. A bit too much food you say? Please refer to the name of this blog. Also, this was going to get me through my work day!

Though there were at least a half dozen people already in the place and it had just opened around 10 minutes ago, everyone was receiving their orders pretty fast.

I mean I’m no cook, but I am also no idiot - all they have to do is grab my order and compile it onto the plate 😅 BUT the speed and efficiency were still a stand-out that I appreciate.

…As you now probably know, THIS was the smoked salmon that started me on this blogging journey, and it truly was remarkable.

I don’t know if it was the atmosphere, the fact that the last smoked salmon I had was a leftover in the crew mess on the ship, or that I was starving, but at this moment, this was the best smoked salmon I had ever tasted 🥺

I’m no foodie, so I’m not going to go into the details about where the fish came from, why farm/stream fish is better, or whatever it is professionals talk about. I’m just here to tell my story.

…The fish was good, you should try it.

The apple tart instantly brought me back to my childhood around the fall time, when my dad/mom would make an old family recipe we call “apple koo-gen”…

…Which, after my time in Germany and studying the language, I’m thinking was actually apple kuchen, which just translates to apple cake 😂 But I swear it’s more interesting than that.

🍏 Just like how my dad would make it, the tart had a pastry bottom with the apple slices candied on top.

…Again, I’m not great with the food descriptions. Hopefully, that will come with time.

10/10 would recommend.

On my “Top 10 Tarts I Ever Had”.

Though not top 5.

Does that help?

🥱Anyway, between the location, ambiance, and tasty food, I would definitely recommend this to any food fan like myself. If you find yourself in Rotterdam, be sure to take a short ride out to Schiedam, or find one of the many other locations!

The Smoked Salmon🍴