This is a giant free food festival that happens once a year around the Königsallee. If you're in…read moreDusseldorf during that weekend, you should NOT miss this! Most of the food is not necessarily ~*gourmet*~ but there are still tons of tasty options.
Here's what I tried:
- Foodfleet. 3/5. This tent was not based on a brick & mortar restaurant (it's kind of like a food truck), and you can tell. I tried the pulled pork sandwich and it was just alright. No real complaints but nothing to rave about either.
- Grindhouse Homemade Burgers. 5/5. This IS based on a real Dusseldorf restaurant and it's obvious by the quality. I'm gonna say this is the best burger I've had in Germany. It reminded me of In N Out in the U.S., which is so hard to accomplish! The truffle parmesan fries are also nice.
- Bunte Burger. 2/5. One of the many, many burger trucks/stalls/tents. I only tried their "cheesecake" and bottled lemonade. They really shouldn't advertise it as cheesecake, since it was just a tiny paper cup with a few drops of cheesecake and 3/4 full of raspberry sauce. The lemonade was great, but I'm not sure if it's their own brand or if they just sell it.
- AZUL Kaffee. 4/5. I had a plain black coffee and it was strong and flavorful. I would have actually preferred a slightly less roasted flavor for a smoother aftertaste, but it was still a great cup of coffee.
- Original Flammlachs. 3/5. Salmon grilled over an open flame is guaranteed to taste delicious, and it did. I tried the salmon in a crunchy roll and asked for it without the sauce. I'm glad I did, because I saw them using pre-made white sauce from store cartons in the back. Salmon speaks for itself and doesn't need that.
- Don Paella. 4/5. Deeelicious paella. The rice was perfectly al dente, and the seafood balanced with the right amount of lemon. At $10 per serving, this was the most expensive item at the fest and definitely overpriced... but I still got it & enjoyed it.
- Fat Pao. 5/5. Dutch/Japanese owners making modern Brazilian paó de queijo. These little cheesy savory muffins had the most perfect texture (made from tapioca), just as I've tried in Brazil, and probably even better if I'm being honest. I tried the black pepper flavor but wish I tried all of them. The employees were also super friendly.
- Schlossbeck. 5/5. I had low expectations, but this place really surprised me. Their wood-fired flatbread concoctions are just amazing. I had a flatbread with potato, ham/bacon and speck. The ultimate combination of crispy, chewy, salty, cheesy.
- Die Kurve. 4/5. I only tried the Israeli/Jewish white wine, and by that alone I can tell that Die Kurve is a cool place. They ran out of falafel when I was there, but now I'm interested in checking out their restaurant in the city.
- Yomaro. 4/5. This is probably the most popular frozen yogurt place in Dusseldorf, and for good reason. The presentation is better than others I've tried and the toppings are diverse. The only downside is that it's too expensive for what it is, but hopefully the prices lower as more competition pops up.
Dusseldorf has a couple other "street food" festivals, but Gourmet Food Festival is on another level. I will say that it was strange to only see ONE Asian food stall, literally called "Best of Asia" -- that's pretty weird. However, as a European-focused festival, it's giant, it's fun, it's free. It's a must.
