Finding good Indonesian food in the Netherlands is not hard, but finding a place that feels both upscale and still very rooted in traditional Indonesian cooking is a little rarer. Café Samabe ended up standing out more than I expected because dinner felt less like ordering a single meal and more like slowly working through an entire table full of different Indonesian dishes over the course of the night.
The restaurant is known for Indonesian and Balinese dishes, especially their rijsttafel menus, which are basically designed for people like me who want to try approximately everything on the menu instead of committing to one entrée. It also feels very different from a casual Indonesian takeaway spot. The atmosphere is much more date night, slower dinner, special occasion energy while still feeling relaxed.
If you’re planning time in Haarlem, my Best Things to Do in Haarlem Netherlands guide pairs well with this since Café Samabe works very well as a dinner stop after walking around the city all day.
Café Samabe is an Indonesian restaurant located inside a historic 1899 building in Haarlem with tall ceilings, classic Dutch architecture, and a more elevated dining atmosphere compared to a lot of casual Indonesian restaurants.
The restaurant focuses heavily on traditional Indonesian flavors and shared dining experiences, especially rijsttafel.
If you’ve never had rijsttafel before, it’s essentially a large spread of smaller Indonesian dishes all brought out together so you can sample a huge variety of flavors throughout the meal. It turns dinner into more of a long tasting experience instead of a standard appetizer-and-entree situation.
Samabe also has a strong reputation behind it. Owner Richold Bakker and Chef Jiani Gritzalis previously earned seven Michelin Bib Gourmand awards at their former restaurant, and Café Samabe Haarlem has now earned Bib Gourmand recognition twice as well.
For the quality, that made the pricing feel much more reasonable than I originally expected.
We did the rijsttafel, which I would absolutely recommend if it’s your first time trying Indonesian food or if you just like variety in general.
Instead of one main dish showing up, the table slowly fills with tons of smaller plates, sauces, rice dishes, curries, meats, vegetables, sambals, and sides. One minute you’re eating slow-cooked rendang beef and the next you’re reaching for peanut satay, coconut chicken, fried noodles, pickled vegetables, spicy sambals, or rice layered with sauces you can’t stop spooning back onto your plate.
The flavor combinations changed constantly throughout dinner. Some dishes were rich and coconut-heavy, others were sweet and savory, and then a few dishes immediately humbled me in the spice department.
It also ends up being way more filling than it first looks. At one point our table looked like we ordered for six people. Which apparently is just part of the rijsttafel experience. I'm here for it.
Even though we did the shared menu, the à la carte menu also looked really good.
Some of the more popular dishes include:
The menu felt large enough that you could easily come back and order something completely different the next time.
The atmosphere was one of the biggest things that stood out to me.
The restaurant felt upscale and a little sexy without becoming overly formal. The historic building gives the space a lot of character with high ceilings and classic Dutch architectural details, but the lighting and overall setup still felt warm and comfortable instead of stiff.
Since rijsttafel naturally turns dinner into a longer shared experience, the whole restaurant had this slower pace where people were sitting around talking, sharing dishes, and staying for a while instead of rushing through dinner.
It felt like a place that worked especially well for date nights, group dinners, special occasions, or even just people wanting to try Indonesian food for the first time. The shared-style dining naturally makes the meal feel more interactive, especially if you enjoy trying a little bit of everything.
We went on a Saturday night, so it was busy, but not crazy. There were a mix of couples and larger groups, and the restaurant still felt comfortable without tables being packed on top of each other.
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If you’re driving, we parked at Parkeergarage De Appelaar and it ended up being super convenient for dinner. It was only about a 3-minute walk to Café Samabe through the city center, which made arriving on a busy Saturday night much less stressful than trying to hunt for street parking nearby.
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The pricing felt fair for both the quality and how much food comes out.
Most individual entrées are around €22–€34, while the rijsttafels start around €35.50 per person and increase depending on how extensive the menu is. The larger multi-course shared menus are closer to €46–€58 per person.
Considering this is a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant and the table ends up covered in food, it felt like solid value compared to a lot of upscale dining experiences that leave you stopping for fries afterward.
That was not the situation here.
I’d absolutely go back, although probably more for the experience itself than as my personal go-to favorite restaurant.
This feels like a great place for a fun dinner with friends, a date night, or celebrating something without needing a super formal atmosphere. It also works especially well if you’ve never tried Indonesian food before since the rijsttafel lets you sample a huge variety of dishes throughout the meal instead of just one entrée. The slower shared-style dining also makes the meal feel like part of the night itself instead of just a quick dinner stop.
The combination of the atmosphere, the shared dining style, and the huge variety of flavors made it stand out from a lot of standard restaurant dinners during our Netherlands trip.
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@peacefulsidesocial is what happens when someone builds exactly the restaurant a mountain town deserves. Made-from-scratch food. Craft beer brewed on site. A kids’ play area outside, & mountain views from the patio. ⛰️
It’s casual in the best way, the kind of place where you sit down for lunch and suddenly it’s two hours later and you don’t care.
@cityoftownsend | 📍Townsend, TN
I walked through the gates and immediately understood why people fly back to Curaçao just for this place. 🌴
23 rooms. Private beach. A Balinese-inspired resort built stone by stone by the owners themselves. Buddha statues next to conch shells. Candles lit everywhere at night. Beachfront dining that eats like fine dining but feels like you’re just having dinner on the sand.
It’s currently the #1 resort in the Caribbean and after spending time there, I get it completely.
Full review linked in bio
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I walked down to the beach and immediately noticed how calm the water was. 🐚
It sits in a small cove, so there’s really no waves pushing in. You just walk right in without thinking about it. I grabbed my snorkel (they actually rent them for free at the resort, which I didn’t expect) and went out near the pier and stayed way longer than I planned, because the water was that clear.
Honest caveat: if you need a lot of energy and activity at a beach, this probably isn’t it. It’s quiet, it’s calm, and you’re mostly just... sitting there. Which for me was exactly the point.☀️
Full Baoase review linked in bio. 🔗
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Dinner at Baoase in Curaçao isn’t just a restaurant, you’re walking into a full resort setting where everything feels intentional. The table is right by the water, the food is French-inspired with tropical and Asian flavors woven in, and the whole thing moves slowly in the best way. We sat there for hours and didn’t want it to end.
✨ Culinary Beach Restaurant, oceanside tables, candlelit ambiance
✨ French-inspired menu with tropical and Asian influences
✨ Service that’s attentive without being over the top
✨ The kind of dinner you’re still thinking about days later
Fair warning: this isn’t a casual grab-a-table kind of spot. You’re making a reservation, thinking through your outfit, and blocking off the whole evening and it’s worth every bit of that.
If you’re celebrating something or just want one dinner that feels a little extra, this is where to do it. Full Baoase resort review linked in bio. 🔗
Curaçao has the beaches everyone talks about, and then it has these. The spots that made this trip actually feel like mine weren’t on any resort map. I found them by renting a car, asking locals, and just following what looked good.
✨ Playa Lagun: a calm little cove where the water does all the work
✨ Playa Kalki: rocky entry, but the snorkeling right off shore is worth it
✨ Playa Jeremi: no rentals, no crowds, no setup. Just the beach
✨ Fort Nassau: watched the sun go down over Willemstad and stayed for dinner
✨ Hofi Cas Cora: breakfast on an actual farm and the freshest food of the whole trip
✨ Willemstad Street Party: I had no idea Thursday nights turned into that. Just followed the music.
✨ Playa Forti: cliff jumping and amazing food, talk about dinner and a show!
Honest caveat: if you need everything planned and structured, a few of these will feel a little too unpolished. But if you like the kind of trip where the best parts are the ones you stumble into, this is exactly that.
All 7 spots with full details are linked in bio. ☀️
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Follow @travelwithwendyplummer for Beautiful Beach Destinations, City Guides, Foodie Spots, and Luxury Hotel Recommendations.
