Surinamese Food in Amsterdam
My favorite spots from eating around the city
Sara,
Hope you had the best time visiting home! I always look forward to your trips so I can get pics of all the New Orleans food! A whole guide is next level. The grilled oysters from Casamento’s… and the collard greens! A great reminder that I need to try making them at home from the Turkey & the Wolf Cookbook.
As you know, I’m getting ready to visit you in London in a few days (!!) and try everything on your London guide. But first, sending you some food highlights from my Amsterdam trip a few weeks ago. First shout out, goes to Febo - the Dutch automat chain that was positively everywhere. Now this is a solid savory little snack option. All items are 3 Euro(!), ranging from fries or burgers to a great vegan chicken sandwich, and many different shaped croquettes like the Frikadel (goopy sausage filling) or Sate (Indonesian peanut sauce). I wanted to try everything!
When I travel to another city, I love seeing what kinds of food I can get there that aren’t common in New York. The two that really stood out in Amsterdam were Indonesian and Surinamese, both countries there were colonized by the Dutch. Indonesian food and culture I was more familiar with but admittedly knew very little about Suriname, a small country in the north east part of South America which gained full liberation in 1975. The population is a huge mix of cultures including Indian, Indigenous, African, Chinese, Javanese, Indonesian, West Indian, and others.
In New York, we have some Indonesian restaurants and a few places that serve some Surinamese dishes, but there was only one, now closed sadly, restaurant in Queens - Warung Kario. A week ahead of me, I ventured to try all the Surinamese places I could to see what New York is missing out on. Here are three places I got to try:
Simz Exotic Food (Jordaan)
Prinsenstraat 19H, 1015 DB Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tucked away on a charming street in Jordaan, this restaurant was filled to brim with different Surinamese snacks, sauces, sodas, and of so many cases of foods to pick from. I went with a heaping lunch plate of stewed cabbage, green beans, saucy lamb stew, spicy boiled eggs, all served on a layer of bami. Bami are sweet and salty Surinamese style noodles flavored with tons of garlic, sugar, and soy. The menu here had a ton of variety but leans into the Indian influences in the cuisine.
Warung Rahayu (Oud West)
Rhijnvis Feithstraat 51, 1054 TW Amsterdam, Netherlands
This small spot also had a massive menu with more of the Javanese options. I asked for the house favorites were and had the perfect meal. I got the Saoto, a Surinamese chicken soup, that I still dream about. You get a bowl of fragrant, gingery broth filled with a textural dream combo of shredded chicken, fresh herbs and beansprouts, crunchy fried noodles, and a boiled egg. On the side comes steaming white rice and a bunch of spicy sauces (more on those below). After devouring this, I had a lumpie, a log shaped rice roll filled with shredded chicken and coconut. So good!
Warung Spang Makandra (De Pijp)
Gerard Doustraat 39, 1072 VK Amsterdam, Netherlands
My last meal in Amsterdam was at Makandra, which came highly recommended. I opted for one of their giant platters, the Indo plate. This came with sweet beef rendang, spicy grilled seitan, coconut fried rice, fresh vegetables, and rice crackers. On the table we had three sauce, which I had encountered in my other Surinamese meals and could not get enough of. One was a tangy, sweet habanero based hot sauce (Sara, this pikasaus recipe looks close because I know you can’t resist making a hot sauce) and my new love - ketjap. Ketjap is a spicy, syrupy, salty, soy sauce and I need to find a bottle of it here ASAP.
Between much eating, I went to the Wereldmuseum (Linnaeusstraat 2, 1092 CK Amsterdam) which is the Anthropology museum, where I was able to see their exhibit on Surinamese history through clothing. It featured array of beautiful headscarves, like the one below, that depicted Surinamese culture and folklore, colonization, migration, and liberation. This was a museum I really needed a few more hours at but was happy to be able to learn a bit more about the culture beyond all of the incredible food. For additional reading this article, dives into the history of migration and current challenges faced by the Surinamese population in the Netherlands.
So much more to say, read, and eat, but will stop here. Meet me in Amsterdam one day for Saoto? And before then, see you in London very very soon!
A running letter between long distance friends who love to eat
Do you miss your best friend? Are really hungry you right now? If the answer to either of these is yes, you know what to do.