Restaurant Blauw

The best Indonesian restaurant in Amsterdam, which in a city with this much colonial history and this many Indonesian restaurants is a serious claim. The rijsttafel (rice table) is the thing to order: a parade of 15-20 small dishes served simultaneously, covering the full range of Indonesian cuisine from satay to rendang to gado gado to sambal-scorched green beans. It's a shared feast designed for the table, not the individual.

The rijsttafel tradition exists almost exclusively in the Netherlands, a direct result of the colonial era when Dutch plantation owners in Indonesia would have elaborate multi-dish meals served to impress their guests. The cuisine itself is Indonesian, but the format is Dutch-Indonesian, and Amsterdam is the world capital of it. Blauw does it better than anyone else in the city. The dishes are precise, the spice levels are authentic (not toned down for Dutch palates), and the presentation is beautiful.

Blauw is on Amstelveenseweg in Oud-Zuid, near the Vondelpark. The space is modern and sleek, not the faded colonial decor you find at older Indonesian places. The full rijsttafel for two runs about €45-50 per person. They also do smaller set menus and a la carte if you don't want the full spread, but the rijsttafel is the point. Reserve for dinner, especially on weekends. If you're interested in the history behind the cuisine, the Tropenmuseum in Oost has an excellent exhibition on Dutch-Indonesian relations that adds context to what you're eating.