Kantijl en de Tijger, Amsterdam

Kantjil en de Tijger (which is the correct spelling, not "Kantijl" as listed) is situated on Spuistraat (291-293) in central Amsterdam.

We were keen to try the "rijstafel" that all the guidebooks seemed to recommend in Amsterdam, but were a little bewildered by the huge number of restaurants offering this Indonesian speciality. We asked the receptionist in our hotel for advice, and she recommended Kantjil.
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...from outside. It is one of the few restaurants we found in the city with separate smoking and non-smoking sections; and as a non-smoker it was very nice to be in a section of the restaurant that was equally comfortable and spacious.

One thing we noticed while we waited to be seated, was that several local people were coming in to collect takeaway they had ordered. We took this as a good sign. The tourists in here were definitely outnumbered ... more

Kantjil en de Tijger (which is the correct spelling, not "Kantijl" as listed) is situated on Spuistraat (291-293) in central Amsterdam.

We were keen to try the "rijstafel" that all the guidebooks seemed to recommend in Amsterdam, but were a little bewildered by the huge number of restaurants offering this Indonesian speciality. We asked the receptionist in our hotel for advice, and she recommended Kantjil.

The restaurant is fairly large, and very welcoming from outside. It is one of the few restaurants we found in the city with separate smoking and non-smoking sections; and as a non-smoker it was very nice to be in a section of the restaurant that was equally comfortable and spacious.

One thing we noticed while we waited to be seated, was that several local people were coming in to collect takeaway they had ordered. We took this as a good sign. The tourists in here were definitely outnumbered by the locals, although the waitresses all spoke beautiful English.

The menu is entirely Indonesian specialities. You can order individual meals, but most people were eating a "rijstafel", which consists of lots of different dishes, with all sorts of different tastes and flavours. At Kantjil, they serve three different combinations of Rijstafel. The cheapest costs 40 Euros for two people, and has 12 different chicken, pork and vegetable dishes. The mid-range one costs 45 Euros for two, and has 13 chicken, fish, pork and vegetable dishes. The one we tried cost 50 Euros for two people, and had 14 different dishes, with chicken, fish, beef and vegetable. It is also possible to order an entirely vegetarian rijstafel.

The food itself was wonderful: the rice (a huge portion) was served wrapped up in a banana leaf in the centre of the table, and the different dishes, placed on every spare inch of table were all unusual and tasty. There were too many to describe all of them, but they included roast chicken with apple and cinnamon sauce (a surprisingly delicious combination), beef satay, prawns in spicy soy, herring in sweet tomato sauce, a very light vegetable satay, green beans with coconut, and a lemon and coconut beef dish. Most of these were quite mild and spiced with lots of flavours, (as opposed to spicy - hot.) There was far more than we could manage between the two of us, but it was really good to be able to have tastes of so many different meals.

The restaurant does serve amazing-looking desserts, but there was no way we could contemplate trying them as we had already eaten far too much. The wine list was decent, and the prices much the same as most other mid-range restaurants in the city.

Overall, I was delighted with the restaurant. The service was friendly and helpful, the atmosphere was pleasant and lively, and the food was delicious and affordable. I would definitely go back, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others.
 

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