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Restaurants and Meals in Amsterdam
Bami Goreng, Nasi Goreng
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 And now, lest we leave the impression that everyone in Amsterdam eats a cold lunch, we'll turn to an especially popular, noontime warm dish. Although many Amsterdammers have a normal meat-and-potatoes meal for lunch, several thousands of them head instead for an Indonesian or Chinese-Indonesian restaurant and order a heaping plate of "bami goreng" or "nasi goreng." While these items are available for dinner, too, they carry a much lower price tag at lunch, when they are consumed in great quantity. Indeed, in a few dozen restaurants, you can have a three-course bami goreng or nasi goreng meal (starting first with chicken soup—"kippensoep"; then an eggroll—"loempia"; then the bami goreng or nasi goreng)!
And what are these strangely-named concoctions? In their purest Indonesian state, "bami goreng" is a heaping plate of buttered noodles mixed with little strips of meat, while "nasi goreng" is a plate of rice with meat. But the Dutch have added other embellishments: a fried egg atop the pile, a slice of ham or pork underneath, some crisper noodles along the side, the whole garnished with lettuce and pickles. It tastes better than it sounds, it provides a whopping big meal that you won't be able to finish, and it is—as we noted —incredibly cheap.
Every Indonesian and Chinese-Indonesian, and even a few Dutch, restaurants serve an inexpensive bami goreng or nasi goreng meal at lunch, and we'll list a few, categorized according to the area of town in which they're found.
On the Damrak, leading up from the Centraal Station, you'll discover the Wah Nam Restaurant at 32 Damrak, serving kippensoep (chicken soup), nasi or bami goreng, and coffee at lunch (a more elaborate nasi or bami goreng dinner in the evening).
On the Nieuwendijk, a shopping street that runs parallel to the Damrak, the Djakarta Restaurant, 89 Nieuwendijk, charges few dollars for a four-course nasi or bami goreng meal, as does the Chinese Canton Restaurant, 65 Nieuwendijk, closer to the station. At that point where the Nieuwendijk curves into the Singel, the Restaurant Ton Sing, 1 Singel, for inexpensive a lunch-time nasi or bami goreng (including coffee), but raises the price at night, when a "loempia" (eggroll) and other goodies are added.
On the Damstraat, which runs off the Dam Square, the place to visit is the Insulinde Restaurant, 18 Damstraat, where the lunchtime meal (served only from noon to 3) consists of kippensoep, a loempia, bami or nasi goreng, coffee or tea and costs few dollars.
One block from the Leidseplein, the Far East Restaurant, 5 Lange Leidsedwarsstraat, offers soup and nasi or bami goreng, and is a fine place to have it.
On the Rembrandtsplein, the Indrapoera, 40 Rembrandtsplein, serves a 3-course bami or nasi goreng lunch.
In the area of the Stedelijk Museum, the Restaurant De Orient, 21 Van Baerlestraat, a fairly expensive place.
On the Oude Zijds Voorburgwal, a short walk up from the station, the Restaurant Tai Pang, 47 O.Z. Voorburgwal, serves a three-course b-or-n goreng lunch (including soup, eggroll and coffee).
And finally, for your most numerous collection of restaurants serving this inexpensive specialty, head for the Binnen Bantam-merstraat, fairly near to the railroad station, which forms the heart of Amsterdam's district of Chinese restaurants. There you'll find at least four restaurants (including the Ling Nam, 3 Binnen Bantam-merstraat; the Azie, 9 Binnen Bantammerstraat) serving a three-course lunch of this sort.
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