Café Samabe

good quality, good value cooking

In the building where V&D once established itself at the beginning of the last century, Café Samabe has built a wonderful establishment in the heart of Haarlem. With its beautiful black-and-white stone floor, abundant woodwork, and tropical plants, we feel transported to an Indonesian atmosphere and experience the nostalgic charm of the old days. On pleasant weather days, you can enjoy sitting outside on the terrace and take in the characterful city center. The menu offers many specialties such as rendang, breaded chicken thighs, and large prawns, but it is difficult to make a choice given how extensive it is. Hostess Brecht van der Putten recommends opting for a rijsttafel so you can sample almost all the specialties that way. Paired with a generous glass of Verdejo from Gran Cardiel winery in Rueda, chefs Jiani Gritzalis and Hozan Kassem serve excellently prepared spring rolls with duck and prawns. Wonderful alongside the homemade, spicy chili sauce. Saté Samabe combines two types of satay: Rica and Guling. These are respectively spicy and mildly seasoned Balinese chicken pieces from the charcoal grill. Then comes the rijsttafel. Truly, nothing more needs to be said. We feast on Balinese chicken thigh, urap-urap, breaded white fish in a spicy balisaus sauce, sambal goreng telor, sayur lodeh, gadogado featuring crunchy cucumber, saté ayam, served with nasi kuning and fresh fruit. The rendang simmered in coconut milk is buttery tender and delightful in both aroma and flavor. Everything is perfectly prepared and beautifully balanced. Finally, the bill is very reasonable. Enjoy your meal!

After their adventure in Bergen, Richold Bakker and head chef Jiani Gritzalis have taken over this beautiful nineteenth-century building. Inside, we see a cosmopolitan atmosphere featuring high ceilings, large windows, classic floor tiles, and vintage wooden tables. For an aperitif, we have a Bobby's gin with orange, accompanied by a small bowl of prawn crackers with spicy peanut sauce, which we'll see again on the bill later. Anyway. The menu offers a wide range of Balinese dishes, making the choice of the rice table highly tempting for sampling many different items. As a starter, martabak with deliciously spiced minced meat and leeks, served with a spicy chili sauce. The house-made spring rolls are cut diagonally and generously filled with tender duck, shrimp, and crispy vegetables. We finish our gin and tonic with the starter, which pairs beautifully thanks to the citrus in the gin and the lemongrass in the dish. Soon the dining room fills up, but the staff continues to serve guests calmly and without rush. The rice table features classics such as daging smoor, butter-soft rendang in coconut milk, breaded white fish in a spicy Bali sauce, sambal goreng telor, urap-urap, sayur lodeh, tender Balinese chicken thighs, gado-gado, chicken satay, along with side dishes of white rice, nasi kuning, and fresh fruit. Delicious dishes that stand out for their pure flavors and perfect cooking. A refreshing Bintang beer goes perfectly with the generously portioned plates. The bill reflects the excellent quality. Welcome to Lekker.