Much of our time in Amsterdam was either rainy or threatening rain. The first day was the wettest--we were drenched to the skin and looking for somewhere to eat dinner. Of course when you're looking for a restaurant all the shops around sell clothes and that's where we were. I was on the verge of losing it--cold, wet, hungry, tired--and wasn't going to walk too many more expanding circles.
Then, the most amazing sight--an Indonesian restaurant!
Indonesia was a Dutch colony for a long time. We spent time at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, which documents the colonial period with wonderful artifacts and interpretive exhibits. There seems to be some acknowledgement that it was wrong to have treated people as they did--I didn't pick up much of an apology but there was passing mention of some sad incidents and the many wars and rebellions that eventually led to independence of these colonies all over the world.
So, back to the story, top priority on my Amsterdam list was a rijsttafel, a sort of buffet of numerous Indonesian dishes. I've missed Indonesian food every day since we left that amazing country a year and a half ago. We ate our way across Indonesia and I am always longing for more.
We entered Sama Sebo, which turned out to be a pub and restaurant. They seated us on the pub side, then started bringing the rijsttafel, about 25 dishes of it. We were in heaven and delighted in many of the dishes we recognized: satay ayam, gado gado, krupuk, rendang, nasi putih, mie, maybe nasi goreng (it was hard to tell whether the yellowed rice was supposed to be that favorite). Yes, Dutch Indonesian food was a sad and bland shadow of the fabulous flavorful food we loved. I had to put sambal on everything to give it some flavor (I, who had gone through Indonesia only eating the tidak pedas (not spicy) foods). But, I have to say we devoured every bit of that dinner (we left 3 overcooked string beans) with great joy in the memories of what the food should have been.
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