Kapsalon · Rotterdam Alexanderpolder

Build your own
kapsalon

Pick the meat, the size, the cheese and the sauce. The price updates as you go.

1 Pick your meat
2 How big?

Regular is one solid meal. Large is for sharing — or not.

3 The cheese
4 Sauce — first one included
5 On the side

Background

What is a kapsalon?

A kapsalon is a tray of fries topped with shawarma, buried under grated Gouda that melts in the oven, then finished with fresh salad, garlic sauce and sambal. It is not a complicated dish. It is a dish that a lot of places get wrong.

Where the name comes from

It was created in west Rotterdam around 2003. A hairdresser ordered the same thing every day from the shawarma shop next door — fries, shawarma, cheese, salad, all in one tray. Staff started calling it «de kapsalon», Dutch for hair salon. The name stuck, the dish spread across the country, and Rotterdam has been quietly proud ever since.

Why most kapsalons disappoint

  1. The salad goes on too early. Add lettuce before the oven and you take a tray of warm, limp leaves out of it. Ours goes on after.
  2. The cheese is not cheese. Pre-packed cheese sauce melts more easily and tastes of nothing. Grated Gouda does the work.
  3. The shawarma came off a bought-in cone. Then what you taste is mostly salt and fat. We build our own spits.

How to eat it

Immediately. A kapsalon has a shelf life of roughly twelve minutes before the steam softens the fries. Picking up? Ask for the sauce on the side and it holds a little longer.

Cross-section of a kapsalon: fries at the bottom, then shawarma, melted Gouda cheese and fresh salad on top

Kapsalon prices

Shawarma€ 11,00 · large € 13,00
Chicken€ 12,00 · large € 14,00
Lamb€ 12,00 · large € 14,00
Vegan€ 14,00

Salad and one sauce included. Delivery from € 2,50 with a € 20 minimum — pickup has no minimum.

Kapsalon questions

How many calories are in a kapsalon?

Roughly 1000–1800 kcal depending on size, cheese and sauce. For a lighter one: regular size instead of large, chicken instead of shawarma, sauce on the side. We are not going to pretend a kapsalon is a salad.

Can I have it without sauce or without onion?

Yes, anything can be adjusted. Add it in the notes field of your online order, or call +31 10 455 5780. For allergies please always call rather than typing a note.

Does a kapsalon survive delivery?

Reasonably — but honestly, it is at its best within ten minutes of the oven. We pack it so steam can escape, which keeps the fries firmer. If you live close, pickup is always the better kapsalon.

Built it?

Order direct for 10% off — and yours only gets made once you order.

Order online — 10% off