Jeanette

I've always wanted to try this Indonesian Restaurant speciality, and I'm hoping someone knows someplace in London for it? Any ideas?

Alec

There is an acclaimed Indonesian restaurant called Melati at 16 Great Windmill St, W1, tel 020 7734 6964. I don't know if they serve Rijstaeffel, but they are supposed to be 'authentically Indonesian' according to Good Food Guide.

Gina

Melati is a wonderful restaurant, but it's not strictly Indonesian--I think it's mostly Malaysian, with some Indonesian and Singaporean thrown in. In any case, I don't recall having seen rijstaffel on their menu during my visits there. It's definitely worth a trip, though. <BR> <BR>My Rough Guide to London restaurants lists only one strictly "Indonesian" restaurant (I'm sure there are others, but this is the only one I can find), the Satay Bar in the newly-hot ethnic neighborhood of Brixton, which offers a 7-course rijstaffel for around 12 GBP. Can't vouch for either the area or the restaurant, but this particular Rough Guide has rarely steered me wrong. <BR> <BR>If you get to Amsterdam, now *that's* the place for Rijstaffel. Alternatively, if you ever visit the Washington DC area, we have a terrific Indonesian restaurant north of the city in a Md. suburb called Wheaton. Sabang serves a fabulous rijstaffel; a friend of mine had his birthday celebration there for many years in a row.

Brahmama

Well, I am bringing this right to the top (for a moment anyway) because it is just what I was going to ask.

AND - Jeanette knew how to spell Rijstaeffel and I didn't!

Anyway - any comments or knowledge of this restaurant or others serving this food?

Patrick

When all else fails . . .use Google.

I found Melati, and after reviewing the reviews, I don't think I'd eat there, but they don't seem to have a Rijstafel offered anyway.

But further googling &quot;Rijstafel, London&quot; and I found two likely candidates -- Bali, Bali on Shaftesbury, and Jakarta in Brent. Lots of hits for them on Google if you want to pursue.

Brahmama

Hi Patrick,

Well, I *googled* and I did find a little bit about Melati and it did refer to a Rijsttafel - but the photos weren't too promising.

But I didn't come up with the others that you did - so I'll certainly check them out. Shaftesbury is a short walk and Rijsttafel is a lot of fun to do.

Heck, I even &quot;Dogpiled&quot; as in dogpile.com. Didn't find much there either!

Thanks for responding and for taking the time to try to help! Your &quot;Google&quot; is better than my &quot;Google&quot;.

Carol

stardust

Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony, therefore 'rijsttafel' is the Dutch word for 'rice table'. I'm not too familiar with Indonesian cuisine, so it might be that in Indonesia they actually spell it 'rijstaeffel' or something, but at least 'rijsttafel' is the correct Dutch word.

sarahkay

Hi Jeanette - I think Stardust is right, and Rijstaeffel is a Dutch take on Indonesian cuisine. I have encountered it many times in Amsterdam but never in London - sadly.

I have eaten at the Melati many times and it's one of my favourite London restaurants, but I wouldn't recommend it for this particular dish.

If you do find a good example anywhere, I would be interested to hear about it!

Underhill

CHeck this out:

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/3709.htm

I seem to remember that years back we ate at a place called Bali, which appears to still be open.

Brahmama

Lost track of this thread somehow.

Thanks for the replies and Underhill, I'll check that out.

When we return (late Oct) I'll update this thread if we find a good Rijstaeffel by ANY spelling!

Carol

flanneruk

If you want Rijstaeffel, you're best getting on a plane to Amsterdam.

Melati now serves good food, but only if you order a la carte. Their nasi lemak, though, isn't that far from a Rijstaeffel, since you get a lot of different stuff on top of your coconut rice, and a pretty good range of condiments and pickles. But it isn't your 51 different dishes. If that ever was authentically Indonesian, it's a cuisine that's never made it here.

BUT, you can get excellent Malay food there, as well as at Makan in Portobello Rd and Champor-Champor in Weston St, SE1. And the set Malay lunch at Mawar, in Edgware Rd, is outstanding value. It's also worth trying Nyonya in Kensington Pk Rd, which is, I think, the only place in Europe specialising in Singapore's distinctive Nonya cuisine.

With so many excellent examples around of cooking from the SE Asian countries we colonised, it does seem a little perverse to chase food from a country that we hardly ever got involved with. Except to let the Dutch keep the Indonesian island of Rum in return for our getting some wasteland north of Virginia.

Manhattan or something, it was called. But we've never really managed to foster a decent American restaurant either.

A good rule of thumb in London is to trust cooking only from countries we've administered or liberated in the past hundred years.