Food in Amsterdam
Amsterdam and good food
When I know I am going to visit Amsterdam, I am always looking forward to 3 things; French fries with “pinda sauce”, roti from a Surinam place and Thai food. There are of course many different kinds of food you can eat in Amsterdam as people from about 177 nationalities live in Amsterdam. There is a whole Chinese neighborhood right next to the Red Light District for instance, but you will also be able to find traditional Dutch food if you really want.
Friet and patat
“Friet” and “patat” are Dutch words used for French fries and French fries in the Netherlands are freaking awesome! You can get them almost anywhere and in many variations and with different sauces. Ketchup is not really the most common thing to eat French fries with.
The Dutch prefer to eat their French fries with mayonnaise or “curry”, which is a spiced form of a sort of ketchup. The really like to combine the 2 sauces and throw some small bits of onion on top, which then is being called “patat speciaal”. In Amsterdam they might ask you if you want your patat special with curry or ketchup, but this is a region thing because in most places in the Netherlands they make it with curry and not with ketchup.
My favorite sauce is most definitely pindasauce! Pindasauce is made from peanuts and originates from Indonesia as I understood. It’s super tasty and you might also try to combine it with mayonnaise and some onions. The Dutch call this “patatje oorlog”. The word “oorlog” means war and I don’t know if it originates from the time white people didn’t really like brown people, as pindasauce is brown, but so far it is my favorite combination of sauces for French fries. Pindasauce is also what they serve with “sate” (small pieces of meat on a stick) in snack bars and Chinese restaurants.
Roti
‘Roti’ is actually the name of a South Asian bread and is being eaten in places like Pakistan, India and Nepal. But in the Netherlands the word roti stands for a dish mainly made by people from Surinam. As I understood from some Dutch friends, the best place to find roti places is not in Amsterdam but in The Hague. The Hague is also a very nice city and worth a visit, but when in Amsterdam I advise you to find a nice roti place and try it out.
Roti is being served with a pancake kind of bread, which is the actual roti. In most cases this then comes with beans, potatoes, an egg and a meat of your choice. Myself I am a vegetarian and choose to eat it with tempé or tofu but the basics are the same.A good tip might be to be careful with the “sambal” they offer you. It’s a sauce made from red peppers. Surinam people sometimes make it from a pepper called “Madame Jeanette” and it is a pretty damn hot sauce!
Thai Food
Well you might think by yourself that Thai food is not a typical food, but for me it is. The Thai food in Amsterdam is just great. There are many different Thai restaurants in Amsterdam and I have tried most of them as I am big fan!
After a few restaurants I must say that ‘Maesomjaj’ in the Koningsstraat, is my favorite. It is probably the smallest I have ever seen and it looks more like a small canteen then a restaurant. In this place you will find 3 old ladies in the open kitchen talking really loud in Thai and preparing all the food from scratch. Their menu is very diverse and not expensive at all. You can eat a proper meal for about 10-13 euro’s. I strongly recommend the papaya salad they have. But be aware when they ask you how hot you might like it, because those Thai people have a very freaking high threshold to hot food!
