Indisch Geluk
Where? Indisch Geluk (The Hague, Netherlands) Map Menu
When? Thursday June 25, 2026
Who With? Andrew
Food Style? Indonesian
It comes as a surprise to most people that Indonesian food is quite prevalent in the Netherlands, thanks to colonisation back in the 1800s. Moreover, I've heard it's comparable to what you can find in South East Asia, so I'm super keen. I'm also super keen to never have traditional Dutch food again, so there's that. And on top of all this, it's Andrew’s birthday, so we’ve gone for something quite special indeed: rijsttafel, or “rice table”.
The rijsttafel is an impressive display of different Indonesian foods, with the intent to show off a variety of colours, flavours and textures. Depending on the restaurant, the kind of dishes and the number will vary; some of the lavish ones will have more than forty, but today we have a modest twelve. The menu is a funny mix of Bahasa and Dutch, like "sambal goreng boontjes" so I'll need to manually translate everything. There's a bowl of coconut rice and another one for steamed rice, and then our selection of dishes is:
- Ayam bali: Bali chicken
- Sambal goreng boontjes: Sambal fried beans
- Udang peteh: Shrimp with petai beans
- Saté ayam: Chicken satay
- Sambal goreng tempé kering: Fried sambal tempeh
- Sajour lodeh: vegetable curry with coconut milk
- Tumis brocolli: spicy brocolli
- Blado telor: spicy hard-boiled egg
- Daging semur: Javanese beef stew
- Tahu boemboe roedjak: spicy tofu
- Orak arik: sauteed shredded vegetables scrambled with egg
- Roedjak manis: sweet rojak - vegetable and fruit salad
Appetiser
Keropok: prawn crackers and sambal
We got some keropok to start with - a nod to our childhoods.
Mains
Rijsttafel: rice table
Soon after, the rijsttafel arrives. The presentation is spectacular, and it smells classically Indonesian. It’s a huge amount of food, and the waitress methodically explains each dish, as well as the condiments. Some of them are surprisingly spicy, given the Dutch aren’t known for their spice tolerance. The sambal does skew a little sweet though, and I would have liked something a bit more acidic or fresh than the tiny plate of cucumber to counterbalance the heavy flavours, but this is otherwise an excellent meal, and I am thoroughly satisfied. Definitely the best meal I've ever had on Dutch soil.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:30pm on Wednesday July 8, 2026 :: 0 comments :: 