Café Kadijk

The Indisch bordje on a 1727 corner by the Entrepotdok: a family eetcafé where the rijsttafel comes as one plate.

Kadijksplein 5 is a 1727 house that Stadsherstel restored in 1997, notorious in the sixties as Café Confianza, and for about twenty years now it has been Café Kadijk, a family café whose kitchen cooks Indonesian family recipes. The idea is that you come for a drink and end up eating: the Indisch bordje at 25.50 puts rendang Padang, smoor daging, ayam boemboe Bali, gado gado, rice, krupuk and atjar on a single plate, a rijsttafel without the ceremony, and around it sit Indische makreel in a hot sauce, lamb gulai, saté ayam and eitjes à la tante Bea. Johannes van Dam's Parool review years ago is what first filled the room, and the room stayed full; Tip de Toko's 2024 test scored it 7.5 and noted it was packed on a Wednesday with quick turnover. No reservations, a café-style interior with a bar, and a large terrace plus a covered heated one on the square, which on a summer evening is one of the nicer places to sit in the eastern centre. Two honest caveats: the flavours are gentler than a toko purist wants, and the site itself says the bases are prepared each morning in a kitchen in Noord and finished on the spot in the evening, so this is a family prep kitchen rather than a wok behind the bar.

Open daily 17:00 to 01:00, no reservations, so arrive before 19:00 on weekdays or expect a short wait at the bar. Order the Indisch bordje and a saté ayam to share, with a Bintang.

Photo: Café Kadijk