Ram's Roti

Forty years of roti doksa on the Jan van Galenstraat, and the queue still says everything.

Ram's has been rolling roti on the Jan van Galenstraat since 1985, and the queue of Surinamese aunties, cab drivers and homesick West Amsterdammers tells you everything the menu does not. This is a counter, not a dining room: you order, take a number, wait twenty minutes with everyone else, and leave with a bag that steams up the tram windows. The roti doksa, duck in dark curry with potatoes, beans and an egg, is the order that made the name; the lamb runs it close and the vegetarian version is no consolation prize. Every plate comes with a hand-rolled pancake big enough to reupholster a chair. Iamsterdam wrote the city's roti shops a literal love letter with Ram's in it, De Buik keeps it listed, and the neighborhood has kept it busy for forty years, which is the only restaurant award that cannot be bought.

Roti doksa, ask for extra pepersaus, and call ahead to skip the wait; the queue peaks between 17:00 and 19:00. Kitchen closes at 21:00 sharp.