Astoria is lucky to have the Wafels & Dinges truck – the sole representative from the new generation of gourmet food trucks – in the neighborhood. It is parked on the west side of 31st Street near the Ditmars N/Q stop on Sunday mornings (sadly, the LIC Food Truck Lot, home to a number of gourmet food trucks, is having to scale back). Bert Meyfroots, operator of the truck and resident waffle master, chose this spot about four months ago, and Belgian waffle loving Astorians couldn’t be happier!

wafels-and-dinges-nutella-spekuloos-astoria-queens

Waffles come in two styles – the Brussels, which is light and crispy, and the Liege, which is soft and chewy. Both can be topped with various spreads, fresh fruit, nuts, ice cream (made by their friend Benoit Gerin, who was a former pastry chef at Jean Georges and currently owns of Mont Blanc ice cream), whipped cream, and even just butter. And yes –Nutella and Spekuloos. The question is: which is better?

Well, we’ll just come out and say it – both are wonderful on a waffle. It’s true, and yes – we’re also being diplomatic. Nutella is certainly more familiar to the majority of us, and holds that beautiful combination of chocolate and hazelnut (one of the best flavor combinations out there), but Spekuloos has a tremendous appeal as well. It’s made of ground up spekuloos cookies, a kind of spice cookie popular in The Netherlands and Belgium. The cookies are pulverized and mixed with oil, resulting in a delightful spread. It is a little reminiscent of smooth peanut butter in texture, and is sweet and lightly spiced. This is hugely popular in parts of Europe.

Spekuloos-spread

Image Source:  Flickr

And never fear, Forest Hills and Elmhurst folks – the Wafels & Dinges truck visits your neighborhoods once a week, too. In Forest Hills you’ll find the truck on Sundays from 9am-11pm on 71st Ave between Queens Blvd and Austin Street, and in Elmhurst on Mondays from 8am-10pm on Queens Blvd near Queens Place. A full schedule of their locations (Queens and otherwise) can be found via the Find Us link on their website. You can also keep up with them on Facebook and twitter (often they’ll tweet secret passwords for free toppings, so keep an eye out!).

NYC-Wafels-&-Dinges-truck

Image Source: Flickr

If you’d like to do a taste test yourself, ask for your waffle spread with half Nutella and half Spekuloos. Give it a try and let us know which one you prefer!


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