Restaurant Blauw Amsterdam — Restaurant in Amsterdam

My friends and I had a great dining experience at Restaurant Blauw! There was a little misunderstanding about the booking I made, for I had reserved a table for three persons in first instance and I thought it wouldn’t be a lot of hassle to arrange an extra seat for another friend of ours. Thankfully, everything was going the right direction when a reservation was cancelled, do we were able to take place along decent tables for four persons. We ordered Terong Madu (cooked egg plant in honey sauce), Iga Bakar (calf ribs in a delightful Indonesian bumbu sauce), Ajam Madu (chicken thigh filet in soy sauce) and Daging Rendang (spicy steamed beef with coconut and cinnamon). The main dishes came along with a variety of side dishes: Sajoer Lode, Atjar Tjampoer, different kinds of rices, Seroendeng, Taugé (soy bean sprouts) with Emping (nut crisps) and satay sauce and of course the extra Sambal (red chili peppers) sauce. We also got some Kroepoek (prawn crackers). I also ordered an extra side dish of Satay Udang (fried prawns in hot satay sauce).

The chicken thigh filet was so soft and tender and the spices were magnificently layered up, so I could really taste all the flavors.

My friend Walter had a wonderfully cooked beef. The spices were so much drawn into the meat, that he had a spectacular taste sensation while he was eating from his dish, bit by bit.

The calf ribs were also a success according to my other friend at the table. The fresh Indonesian spices and the tender meat cooked to the bone really made a great impression to him.

Indra had her cooked egg plant, which had a mouthwatering crunchy layer on the outside and bathed in a delicious honey sauce.

All the portions were exactly the adequate size, so there wasn’t anything left at the end.

As a compensation for the miscommunication in the beginning, we received an extra portion of ‘Spekkoek’ (Indonesian multi-layered cake) and Spekkoek liquor shots. We ordered the following as desserts: Spicy chocolate fudge (dark chocolate with avocado, pistachio and piri piri), ice cream sorbet, together with some coffee. The chocolate fudge was a magnificent explosion of tastes in my mouth; I could really taste the pistachio with the avocado at the background and at the end there was little thrill on my tongue of the spicy piri piri. The other desserts were also very fresh and made with love. The Spekkoek was so soft and tender and the taste was heavenly; it must have been made on the same day.

We had an amazing experience again and we won’t hesitate to book this restaurant again when we get the...

Tried the Meat and Fish Rijstaffel

It has quite a lot of dishes — Beef Rendang - The rendang ‘gravy’ was good - it had a paste-like consistency, fragrant, and slightly spicy. The beef itself was very tender.

Lamb Gulai - The gulai was also of the paste type rather than the gravy type. It also had a very tender meat and fragrant paste.

Chicken Curry - The curry was also good. The chicken was well cooked and tender.

Sayur Lodeh - This was good - but it is more like stir fried vegetables with coconut milk.

Sate Ayam, Beef, and Padang - Each of the satay was good. Each had their different sauce — the ayam was peanut-based, beef was with kecap manis and some sambal, and the padang was very tasty.

Nasi Goreng - The fried rice was very Indonesian-like. It was spicy, with hae bee flavor in it.

Egg Kuning - The kuning sauce was slightly like curry. The egg was hardboiled.

Sambal Goreng Kentang - Deep fried thin potato sticks were tossed in a slightly spicy sauce. It pairs well with rice and is actually quite addictive.

Gado Gado - The vegetables were not overcooked and the peanut sauce was very thick. It also had emping belinjo topped on it.

Udang Balado - The prawn was not overdone and was relatively fresh. The balado sauce was spicy, seasoned beautifully, and had some tang to it which made it addictive.

Ikan Pepesan - The smoked fish was cooked in a gravy. It was good.

Ikan Mentega - The mentega/margarine sauce was sweet. The fish was coated in batter and deep fried.

Acar Ketimun - Cucumber slices were pickled in vinegar with red onions. It was good, but would have been even better had the slices...

Advertised as a traditional Indonesian restaurant, their specialty is a “rice table” which is a sampling of various small plates. Unfortunately, having lived in Malaysia, we found the food to be very average at best and not remotely close to the style advertised.

Beef Randang is supposed to be a rich brown coconut treat which this was not. Spices add heat but not flavor. Satay is nothing close to the deliciousness you get in Singapore or Indonesia. Fish dishes were bland and they way overdid the veggies to keep the cost down. Even though it’s not cheap

Atmosphere is rushed and claustrophobic. They send you an email demanding you reconfirm even though they send you several reminders as if they’re Gordon Ramsay’s top restaurant. Then they ostracize you if god forbid you arrive late because you couldn’t get ample WiFi on the street you were on to reply.

When we arrived we were rushed to our table and the unfriendly server wanted to know what we wanted before anyone could even read the long list of dishes included in the rice table. It was blazing hot inside despite it being 15 degrees on the night we were there and tables are so close together it reminded me of living in San Francisco where almost all restaurants are cramped and noisy.

If you’ve never had Indonesian food, we recommend finding a place in Amsterdam that serves satay which is quite good in many locations but I’d avoid this place unless you really need to sample a touristed version of food that’s not as good as the real thing. Oddly, it’s recommended as one of the better traditional Indonesian restaurants. I guess you get ruined if you’ve actually been to Indonesia and know...