Sama Sebo

7.4 /10

A 1969 time capsule of rijsttafel culture amid the P.C. Hooftstraat boutiques.

The oldest dedicated Indonesian restaurant in the Netherlands sits, improbably, between the Gucci bags and Chanel windows of the P.C. Hooftstraat, and it has not changed its mind about anything since 1969. Rattan, batik, brown-café warmth, waiters who have seen everything: Sama Sebo is less a restaurant than a standing argument for how Amsterdam used to eat. The full rijsttafel is the famous order and the tourist one; the sharper move is lunch at the bar, where regulars fold themselves over a plate of bami or nasi goreng that hasn't needed updating in five decades. Is it the city's most refined Indonesian kitchen? No, Blauw takes that belt. But refinement isn't the point. The point is eating gado gado in a room where your grandmother could have eaten the same thing, made the same way. Closed Sundays, like all good institutions.

Skip the full rijsttafel and do the bami goreng at the bar, the lunch regulars' order since forever.

What to order

Full menu

De rijsttafel€42.50
The full spread since 1969, still what most tables order, rendang and satay the standouts.
Het bordje€27
The rijsttafel condensed onto one plate, the smart solo or lunch order.
Bami goreng at the bar
The lunch classic: fried noodles at the bamboo bar, no reservation needed.
Satay skewers
Grilled properly, rich peanut sauce, recur in nearly every positive review.