We first ate at this restaurant in 2003 on the recommendation of friends. Having wanted to try another rijsttafel since my first trip to Amsterdam after college, Kantjil was the perfect place to order this Indonesian classic of fried rice and many small plates of meats, vegetables and condiments. Actually the meal isn’t purely Indonesian, but is a hold over from the days of Dutch colonization when colonials were offered tastes of dishes from many different islands. It became so popular in Holland that it’s a staple of the Dutch diet to this day. In 2003 we ordered the Nasi Rames a simplified version of the rijsttafel consisting of 8 dishes and found that several were not to our liking (hard boiled eggs in curry sauce and a vegetable dish in particular), but some were delicious and we went back a 2nd evening to eat our favorites and try a few more dishes. On this visit, after reviewing my 2003 travel notes, we ordered the perfect meal.
One always starts with Nasi Goreng (fried rice). This one was particularly simple with only rice and green onions. The first condiment we ordered was the Seroendeng consisting of fried coconut and whole peanuts, exceptionally good. I think I used it on just about everything we ate and then polished off the leftovers .
To start with, we ordered fried won ton, called Pansit Goreng that had a pork and shrimp filling. Anything with goreng in its name is going to be fried. The sweet and sour sauce that came with it seemed to have a Chinese influence and in truth, it was Chinese immigrants who brought this dish with them to Java and introduced it to Indonesia. Oops, this photo on the right depicts the vegetable dish I hadn’t particularly liked. Pumpkin was in the description on the menu and I was thinking of the familiar deep orange colored vegetable. It seemed the most interesting vegetable dish being offered, so we ordered it and I wish there was a photo of my expression when the dish was presented at the table. I ate a token spoonful and can truthfully say I still don’t like it. While investigating the translation for Laboe Siam, I came upon a link that makes me believe that the squash referred to as pumpkin may actually have been chayote.
Let’s discuss the favorite dish of the evening, so I can get the taste of vegetables out of my psyche. On the menu Smoor Babi is described as sweet pork, braised in onions, clove, nutmeg and soy sauce. That it is, but the description fails to convey the depth of flavor of this sweet, salty dish. It was so satisfying in not only flavor but in texture. It was cooked to that “fall off the bone” perfection one seeks when ordering braised meats.
Sate Babi is the pork satay while Sate Ajam is the chicken satay. I’m not certain which is which because I wasn’t paying attention as I placed them on my dish. What can be verified is that the peanut sauce was as good as I’ve ever eaten, and I’m no stranger to satay. The top right photo shows another of our small plate selections, Loempia Semarang. Yes, it’s lumpia, or perhaps we should call it eggroll, since it was another import brought in by ethnic Chinese. Next to it on the plate is Katjang Goreng, a beautifully spiced fried nut dish usually made with peanuts, but including onion, garlic, coriander, peanut oil, salt and pepper; in this case it was cashews. Again, I could have eaten the entire bowl myself.
As long as we’re enlarging photos, here’s another clear winner on the menu, Rendang. It was made with pork braised in a spicy coconut curry sauce. That did not deter any of us from adding more coconut and peanuts on top, in the form of the Seroendeng. The full size of the eggroll is revealed in the last photo. I believe there were five in the order for about $7.50 All the food was fairly priced. Each meat dish was about $9.75, the vegetables were a galling $8.25, but the big surprise was the cost of the chicken satay; it cost $11.25 and made me wonder if there was a chicken shortage.
Here you go, one last photo of this extraordinary meal. I highly recommend the restaurant and also the meat dishes and condiments of cashews and fried coconut. When we go back to Amsterdam we have every intention of going back to Kantjil En De Tijger for another meal.
| Spuistratt 291-293 Amsterdam, Netherlands 020-620-0994 |
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