One thing I didn't really realize about Amsterdam before I started going for work was the plethora of Indonesian restaurants. It's not the type of SE Asian cuisine that you see a lot of globally - it's usually more Thai or Vietnamese. But since it used to be a Dutch colony it all makes sense now. I haven't really eaten Indonesian food since I was in Bali but there's only so much Dutch food I can take.
I hadn't seen Vik in a really long time and through the power of social media I found out he was in Amsterdam at the same time. We picked a local Indonesian place that was near my office and met up for lunch. We split the lunch Rijsttafel - which is basically a sampling of a bunch of different small dishes for 2 people (17 euros each). It's a great deal and it allows you to sample a little bit of everything. It included white rice, chicken satay with peanut sauce, beef cooked in a "spicy" coconut sauce, green beans in black sauce, steamed vegetables with "spicy" peanut sauce and shrimp crackers. I put the word spicy in quotations because none of it was spicy at all. Most of the food was simple but tasty but we both commented on how it could have used more flavoring and heat to it. I wasn't sure if they dumbed it down for us or if it was not spicy in general but it was definitely missing something to it.
While there wasn't anything specifically to complain about the food, it reminded me of why Indonesian food isn't the most popular. It just doesn't pack the same flavor punch as the other SE Asian cuisines but if you're tired of meat and fries, it's worth checking out while you're in Amsterdam.
Photo Credit: Yelp
Restaurant de Utrechtsedwarstafel Utrechtsedwarsstraat 107-109 1017 WD Amsterdam 3.5 Forks
Yes, that is quite the Dutch restaurant name. I feel kind of bad that all my reviews lately have been pretty lukewarm but that's kind of the way things have been in Amsterdam food-wise this 2nd go round. While I love the city and think it has a lot to offer, only on very rare instances have I been absolutely blown away by the food here. Most of my experiences on this 2nd trip were honestly adequate at best.
We came here for a partner dinner and we pretty much took up the entire space. It's quite cozy and seemed like it was family run - the owner clearly took a lot of pride in the food and wine.
It was a pre-fixe meal given how many people there were, so I didn't get to choose my meal but most of dishes that came out were dishes that I probably would have ordered anyways: duck rillette (quite good and the best part of the meal), sliced tuna steak with beefsteak tomatoes (well balanced) and veal cheeks with kale (cheeks were too thinly sliced). The food itself wasn't bad but what was not great and brought the rating down was the wine. I felt so bad because the owner was clearly super proud of his collection and brought out this one red that was just so funky that none of us could put it down. My client, who isn't shy about things, made a clear icky face while drinking it. They ended the meal with a meringue dessert that was a good palate cleanser but also not anything super creative.
This place is definitely a bit more local and off the beaten path, which I totally appreciate. Maybe it's all these pre-fix meals I've been having with large groups that skews the experience but it's still didn't feel up to the level of food I am normally used to in NYC.
Photo Credit: Yelp
Tujuh Maret Utrechtsestraat 73, 1017 VJ Amsterdam 4 Forks
This isn't a normal place I would give 4 forks too but I feel like I've been super harsh lately and needed to give some love. Comparing this place to the other Indonesian restaurant, I definitely enjoyed this meal more.
We walked in right at noon and the place was just being set up for the lunch hour. There was literally one man doing everything - and when I say everything I mean everything. From taking the chairs down, to taking our order, cooking the food and then finally serving us. It was kind of crazy and as much as we complained about the slow service, it was very understandable. A few people actually did walk out because they couldn't take it. But once we finally ordered, the food came out relatively quickly. I got a hard boiled egg in a sweet soy sauce as an appetizer, split the shrimp skewers that came with the same sweet sauce and then got as my entree chicken in a coconut sauce with green beans and fried noodles. Similar to the other Indonesian restaurant, the dish was too mild but it still had better flavor to it, which is why I'm not going to ding it as much. It honestly felt like I was eating in someone's living room (in a good way) and it was just nice to eat some white rice and Asian food for a change.
Photo Credit: Yelp
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