Soenda Kelapa

Incredible first rijstable experience, if a bit pricy. There must have been twelve or sixteen interesting little dishes on the table, plus two kinds of rice and some shrimp crisps. Standouts included the hard boiled egg in coconut sauce, the chicken in peanut sauce, and the satay skewers. There was also mackerel in sort of a chili sauce, that was definite the most unique of the samplings – I liked it quite a bit but my dining companions weren’t so keen on it. All in all, very solid Indonesian food in a centrally located area of Amsterdam.

3.3 — 3.5. This restaurant was reasonably good. I was in Amsterdam in June of 2012, and wanted to go for Rijstaffel at some point. Rijstaffel seems to be sort of the Dutch equivalent of doing Dim Sum in New York or San Francisco, though with more of a tradition based around the old Indonesian colonies.
The food here pretty good, and service friendly. I like the concept of all the different dishes, as it allows you to sample a large variety of items, rather than hope what you ordered is going to be good. Again, similar to Dim Sum.
I don’t know if I would go back here if I were in Amsterdam, but only because there are so many restaurants in the city, and I am certainly not a local. However, if you are in the area and looking for decent Rijstaffel, this is not a bad option.

This restaurant was exceptional. Good service and amazing Indonesian food. So yummy and so full! Price is fair too.

I had no idea what to expect from indonesian cuisine, but I didn’t get disappointted. At least you won’t need reservation here like in the place next door.

Being in Amsterdam, you have an incredible selection of Indonesian food to choose from. As such, I would strongly advise against eating at Soenda Kelapa.
While this place serves pleasant-​tasting fare, I was not happy by how easily the restaurant wiped out my wallet with their ridiculous prices. With such high prices, one would expect they that they’d at least accept credit cards. Nope. Cash only. Imagine how embarrassed I was when I had to run down several blocks to the nearest ATM just so that I could pay for my meal.
Furthermore, the service is incredibly slow. When I got tired of waiting for my water to be refilled, I had no qualms about going to the service counter, cup-​in-​hand, to request a refill in-​person. Still, I must admit that the service staff was very polite, and at least tap water was free.
For the sake of reference, know that I am not the only person to have rated this restaurant with such a low score, especially due to overpriced food and poor service. See the highly variable reviews on Trip Advisor (
) and Google+ (
).
Just a warning: Because each table has a heating plate to keep the food warm, the restaurant can become very warm. This higher-​than-​normal air temperature combined with some spicy dishes can make for an uncomfortable eating experience, especially in summertime.

My husband and I decided that we needed a good rijsttafel during our trip to Amsterdam last month and this place near Rembrandtplein fit the bill perfectly. We had the Rijsttafel Parahyangen for 27 euros/​person (cash only — there is an ATM across the street if necessary) which came with way, way more food than either of us could possibly finish.
We munched prawn crackers until our soup was served — a scrumptious coconut milk and chicken mixture. Then the food came out in earnest. Yellow rice, white rice, chicken satay, beef in coconut sauce, eggs in coconut sauce, beef in soy sauce, chicken in curry sauce, tofu in curry sauce, fish in chili sauce, tofu in chili sauce, gado-​gado, chicken in spicy sweet sauce, fruit in spicy sweet sauce, pickled vegetables, fried bananas, toasted coconut and more! Yum!
Service was friendly and efficient. This is a true family run place — mom was cooking, daughter was our waitress (her sibling stopped in while we were eating), and dad was doing paperwork in the back when we arrived. There is a large room upstairs that was not in use during our visit but looked like it could easily hold a private party.