Love letter to the roti shops of Amsterdam

Surinamese food is unbelievably varied, full of flavour and a rare export outside the Netherlands, which once colonised this small South American nation. With a population mostly descended from (often enslaved) labourers brought from Africa and Asia, as well as its indigenous Amerindian peoples, modern Suriname has an almost unmatched cultural and culinary hybridity. In no other cuisine will you find altogether the rich, aromatic spices, fluffy breads and curries tracing back to South Asia; Javanese-influenced delicacies from sambal to nasi and bami (check our descriptions of key dishes, at the bottom of this article); creole dishes bursting with root vegetables, salted meats and fish; and Cantonese-influenced sauces, vegetables and slow-cooked duck and pork. All this culinary diversity can be found today in a wealth of unique, authentic and ultra-affordable Surinamese eateries in Amsterdam. 

Floor’s Catering

Tucked away in residential Oud-West, this longstanding Surinamese caterer and takeaway is still overseen by 80-year-old Floor – but it was built and is sustained by popular demand. After her homemade satay sauce quickly sold out, Floor began her own catering company here in this former paper wholesaler in 2002. As delicious smells began wafting into the street, neighbours and passersby came knocking. For two years, they constantly asked to buy her food – until Floor gave in and opened up shop.

Now, Floor’s is widely known and loved for her unique spin on delicacies across the full spectrum of Surinamese cuisine – and, in her catering, even beyond it. “We do pasta, sometimes even stamppot – with a flavourful twist”, her daughter Hannah explains. For regular customers, notable bestsellers are the solid roti and the borrelbox: a hefty selection of snacks, including her favourite, a pastry roll stuffed with bakkeljauw (saltfish). And Floor herself is something of a local figurehead, known by neighbourhood kids as Tante (Aunt) or Oma (Grandma) Floor, for hosting annual street parties and for counselling her regulars: “I’ve saved two marriages”, Floor recalls proudly. “Usually, after 70, you have no energy left. But I have the energy!” she laughs. Floor is constantly trying out new things – including recipe ideas from TikTok – but always returns to the classics that made her roti queen of the borough. Long may she reign.

Floor's Catering | Wilhelminastraat 182, Oud-West

Rotishop Gieta

Not for nothing does Baarsjes takeaway Gieta attract visitors from around the world: the roti here deserves its title as the best in Amsterdam, perhaps even the Netherlands. Since 2008, Gieta herself has handcrafted every one of these sumptuous, highly affordable meals the old-fashioned way: painstakingly rolling out each roti pancake from a chickpea flour dough made from scratch. It’s well worth the effort, with the resulting bread so flaky “it melts on the tongue”. Anything less would never be served here: “If I can’t be here to work in the kitchen myself, we don’t open”, Gieta insists. So precious is this food, in fact, that one seriously ill customer was even brought here from hospital to eat her favourite meal, still lying on her stretcher.

Among many other varieties, the handheld roti roll with curried chicken is the crowd-pleaser. And Gieta has since added to the menu varieties of bami and nasi she learned to make directly from a Javanese expert, besides a few classics from pom to bakabana. But the real secret sauce is Gieta herself: a warm, formidable lady as serious about people as her food. Catering portions to individual taste, hosting numerous local events and running the now-famous “Guess how many baras are in the bowl” competition, Gieta has shaped this local gem over nearly two decades with her own hands and a lot of love.

Rotishop Gieta | Balboastraat 15hs, De Baarsjes

Other highlights in West & Nieuw-West

• Aarti 2 - This roti shop churns out takeaway meals at an industrial pace from a colossal menu. Order here for some of the best veggie fillings out there.
• Warung Rahayu - This unassuming local has surprisingly cosy indoor seating and a spectacular stuffed bara. Don’t miss the bakkeljauw filling: the juiciest saltfish snack in town.
• Warung Redjo - A Javanese-Surinamese / Indonesian takeaway with rolling daily specials that often sell out. Come for hearty portions of meat- and fish-heavy rice and noodle dishes.
• Ram’s Roti - A Bos en Lommer classic with a few cosy tables and a variety of options for veggies and carnivores. Try the fiery, caramelised sambal kip (spicy chicken).
• Surinaams Eethuis Rose - This corner stall, tucked away inside Osdorpplein shopping centre, boasts unexpectedly decent saoto soup and a range of other Surinamese staples.

New Fusion

New Fusion lives up to its name: a modern crossover of cuisines, old and new staff and local culinary history. Despite its new name and ownership, this De Pijp restaurant has changed little since it began almost 25 years ago. After years of running traditional Dutch-Chinese restaurants in neighbouring provinces, Emily took over – but has left untouched everything that keeps regular customers flocking here. The old sign is legible underneath the new one, and even the menus bear the former name and a broad list of dishes still cooked the same way: surprisingly complex, tasty specialities spanning Surinamese, Chinese and Indonesian traditions. 

Amidst the unassuming, canteen-style dining room, these dishes are prepared laboriously and faithfully to local culinary traditions. The Albert Cuypstraat once had ten such Chinese-Surinamese spots, but now only New Fusion remains. With typical Surinamese dishes increasingly selling best among visitors, locals favour Surinamese-Chinese classics like moksi meti, typical Chinese recipes like char siu (slow-roasted pork) and Emily’s favourite, tsiu yim ha (crispy prawns). Many include meat cooked faithfully to Chinese tradition: marinaded over several days before slow-roasting in the colossal, barrel-shaped barbecue oven out back. Then, Indonesian and Surinamese elements complete the fusion: ketjap sauce, bami noodles and nasi rice. The results are mouthwatering and nobly preserve a special, dying breed of unpretentious, affordable cuisine.

New Fusion | Albert Cuypstraat 47, De Pijp

Other highlights in Zuid

• Warung Mini - This Javanese-Surinamese eatery counts over 30 years on the Van Woustraat and is best known for its sumptuous saoto soup.
• The Old Soul—While Surinamese food includes plenty of veggie options, this unusual, cosy restaurant adds a contemporary twist to its all-vegan menu and rolling daily specials.
• Tjin’s Toko - Come to this international food store at lunchtime and prepare to contend with a long line of regulars waiting for lunchboxes bursting with Surinamese and Javanese classics.

New Draver

This bustling Amsterdam institution predates all others on this list by far – and may outlast us all. Over more than four decades, New Draver has attracted visitors from across the Netherlands with its authentic Creole food, warm service and good vibes. Today, August and Marcel run this emphatically family business with more than a little help from August's daughter Michelle, who has been involved “since being in the womb.” Together, they continue preserving this community buurthuis: a haven for regulars and new visitors alike to meet and be merry.

It’s easy to see why so many make their pilgrimage here. The food is seasoned with love and tradition: “It’s made authentically, the same way our ancestors made it 100 years ago”, Michelle emphasises. Regular staples nasi, bami and soups accompany rolling daily specials: on Friday, there’s heri heri, and today’s version of crowd-pleaser moksi alesi features salted beef, smoked chicken and plantains. But it’s more about the atmosphere. It’s constant laughter from regulars at the corner bar, the football trophies in the window, the messages scrawled all over one wall. It’s a promise to any guest: “If you want to try real Surinamese food, have a good time and find positive vibes”, Michelle insists, “then there’s always someone here with a smile”.

New Draver | Tweede Oosterparkstraat 2-4, Oost

Ricardo’s

Don’t be fooled by its slick furnishings: Ricardo’s is a tried and true local gem with deep roots in Amsterdam’s Surinamese cuisine and its local Indische Buurt. Ricardo himself has been cooking since the late ‘70s and opened this restaurant in 2014 after two others, in De Pijp and on the nearby Celebesstraat. Over years of developing his business, the recipes have nevertheless remained faithful to the food he grew up with: “Cooking now, I still have memories of my mother. I see her standing there, making soup”, he explains. As we speak, Ricardo looks proudly around the spotless dining room, where his daughter spoons out small containers of homemade yellow sambal from an enormous bowl, and his son flits between tasks. “But it’s not only about that feeling. Food is a gift: it comes from inside!”

At the back, diners can look out through a huge window, showing off the gleaming kitchen and the family staff busying away. There bubbles a 30-litre pot of Ricardo’s famous maispap, a sweet, spiced corn porridge that he assures is always finished by the end of the day. Other regular dishes – from roti to telo (cassava) and moksi alesi – compete with daily specials, spanning the full breadth of Suriname’s culinary roots and exports. These days, Ricardo, now approaching 70, is taking – or trying to take – more of a back-seat role. But here, surrounded by family and Javastraat neighbours, his legacy seems assured.

Ricardo's | Javastraat 47, Oost

Other highlights in Oost & Zuidoost

• Lalla Rookh - A fire in April 2023 led to the closure of this remarkable restaurant, perhaps the heaviest hitter across the board with its large, consistently delicious menu. Due to reopen soon.
• Papa Aswa - Formerly located in Zuidoost, this Javanese-Surinamese restaurant added a little fine-dining finesse to its authentic recipes and now reopens in Oost.
• Roopram Roti - This popular roti chain originated in Suriname itself before now opening up several locations in and beyond Amsterdam, whose first location is here by the Dappermarkt.
• Toko de Poort - A popular stop for those heading to the nearby Johan Cruijff ArenA stadium, this convenience store also prepares a range of affordable Surinamese dishes.

What to order: key dishes

Roti - The most famous Surinamese dish has roots in South Asia but is a different beast than a typical Indian roti. This fluffy, layered flatbread is made from chickpeas and crumbles as it tears. Always served with spiced potatoes and green beans (or kousenband, yardlong beans) and usually curried meat, fish, tempeh, tofu or vegetables (typically aubergine or pureed pumpkin), it serves as edible cutlery or can be wrapped into Suriname’s answer to the burrito, a roti roll.

Sambal - This spicy sauce is best known in Indonesian cuisine, but several varieties are also commonly served with Surinamese food – especially gele (yellow) sambal, made with hot madame jeanette chillis. If you’re asked if you want “peper?”, say yes.

Pom - Originally introduced to Suriname by Portuguese-Jewish plantation owners as a potato casserole, pom is now made with tayer (elephant’s ear root), chicken and spices, baked into a juicy, caramelised treat that goes perfectly in a broodje (sandwich) or as a side.

Heri heri - This creole dish – with a variety of root vegetables and bakkeljauw salt fish – dates back to times of slavery, and is often offered free during Keti Koti: the annual celebration of Suriname’s emancipation. Read more about Heri Heri here. 

Bara - This savoury fried snack originates in South Asia and has a uniquely spongy texture. In Surinamese cuisine you can also eat them stuffed (gevuld) with various fillings. 

Saoto soup - A Javanese-Surinamese staple, saoto is a hearty, aromatic chicken broth usually garnished with bean sprouts, rice and crunchy potato chips.

Moksi meti - This Chinese-Surinamese dish, translating to “mixed meat”, often includes roasted chicken, pork and/or sausage, with bami noodles or nasi rice.

Moksi alesi - Not to be confused with moksi meti, this creole rice dish can be made many different ways, with different salted or smoked meats or fish, vegetables and beans.

Telo - Cassava is a staple in various Surinamese dishes, usually boiled and then roasted or fried and served with meat or fish.

Nasi - Descending from Indonesian nasi goreng, Javanese-Surinamese nasi rice forms the basis for many dishes.

Bami - Similarly, bami wheat noodles came to Suriname via Java, and are topped with numerous ingredients.

Bakkeljauw - This dried, salted white fish is eaten in heri heri, moksi alesi, alongside telo, in a bara and many other ways in Surinamese cuisine.

Baka bana - This popular Javanese-Surinamese snack is a battered, deep-fried plantain usually served with rich, aromatic pindasaus (peanut/satay sauce).