Rabab Indian Restaurant Amsterdam - Reviews
After recently posting various articles and photos about Indian restaurants in Amsterdam, a follower replied that the best place (in her opinion) was The Indian Kitchen in Amstelveen. My expectations weren't high (I went to Basil on the recommendation of another follower and had quite a disappointing meal) but there was something about his words that stuck with me. My first time to go was last Saturday, when I was in Amstelveen for some other reason during the day. I also happened to have a friend who had a car, which made the journey all the more fascinating in this endless February rain and wind.
We were asked if we wanted the curry spicy, so naturally we said yes, and once they really were. With the small but mighty green chilies, they blew our heads off but never hurt the flavours.
We arrived after 7 pm and the place was heating up, as was Indian Street Food & Co next door. The waiter serving us didn't speak Dutch, and I had the British-Indian accent I'm so used to from London; I took it as a good sign. Clearly when it comes to Indian food, Amstelveen is the place to be - and I seem to be missing a trick. The menu was unnecessarily long as every other Indian restaurant menu, and I didn't recognize many of the names of the dishes, so after much deliberation we settled on a few that we liked.
Foreground: Stuffed Capsicum. Background: Hara Bhara Paneer Tikka.
First was the so-called Hara Bhara Paneer Tikka – essentially a skewer of paneer cheese and vegetables, grilled in a tandoori oven and served with a dipping sauce of mint and coriander. It sounds simple, but you can taste the tandoori grill in paneer, while the sauce tastes as fresh and green as it looks. Our second starter was a whole red chili, made with a spicy, potato-based filling and baked. The sauce it came with was sweeter than tomato, but creamy and sometimes a little