Often, when we go travelling, our usual main lookout is for food. And unlike our fellow non-Muslim friends, we usually have to look out for Halal food especially when we travel to countries like Europe. I was in Holland last week and am happy to share that I found this authentic Pakistani/Indian Cuisine restaurant in town. The restaurant is halal certified and is fully air-conditioned and I was glad to have a chance to dine there.

The restaurant is cozily located along the streets of Rijswijkseweg and is accessible by tram or by taxi. As my hotel was not that near, I took a taxi there not wanting to take a chance to be lost in the city. It was barely 10 minutes drive from my hotel (Mercure Den Haag City Centre). When I stepped in the restaurant, I almost forgot that I was in Amsterdam! The ambience of the restaurant and its décor made it felt like I walked into a restaurant in Little India with the soft music filling the air. It was a Thursday night, so it was not very crowded. The staff who attended to us was very friendly and recommended us a few dishes knowing we were not local.

The menu consists of what I would say a typical Indian restaurant locally would have – Naan, Curries and pratas but they had more that I thought. They had several different kinds of curries, different kinds of Naan and even several types of Briyani. Interesting! After much contemplating, I finally chose to have Naan with Madras Chicken Curry. The dish did not take long to arrive, barely 15 minutes later, my dish came. The portion of the Naan and Madras Chicken Curry was enough to feed three people, I think! It was huge and worth it for money. The bread was soft and not to mention, the curry is not like what we have here in Singapore, it was really nice. However, it might not be suitable for those who cannot take spicy. Fuh! I got to know that the Madras Curry Chicken is actually a South Indian dish J

Madras Curry Chicken

Talking about other dishes, they had different dishes served with either chicken, lamb, prawn, fish, vegetables. Oh, and usually their curries dish are served with salad and basmati rice. It’s like a meal thing.

If you are the type who loves spicy food and won’t mind getting your ears burnt for it, then I would suggest that you try out their Vindalo dishes. I tried the shrimp Vindalo and almost jumped out of my seat! But being a person who loves spicy, I must say this dish rock big time!!!! I can never find a dish so close to perfect with the combination of being VERY spicy and VERY tasty at the same time so far (yet).

Shrimp Vindalo

You can also choose an appetizer to begin your meal with – from mushroom soup to samosas  and I must say their tandoori chicken is something you should try too if you are there!  They also have a wide range of deserts which I did not have a chance to try out while I was there.

Tandoori Chicken

The prices for the dishes range from about EUR 11 – EUR 18 (approximately about SGD $18 – SGD $29) per dish/meal. A bit pricey, I must agree.

For those of you who might not have time to travel out to the restaurant, the best part is this restaurant actually does delivery to your hotel. All you have to do is go to their website, do the online ordering and just wait for your order to be delivered to your doorstep! It’s free delivery if your order exceeds EUR 25 (about SGD $40). Take note that the restaurant is closed on Mondays though. I was smart enough to do an online order on a Monday and realized they were closed!

Overall review: 4/5

Type of Food: Pakistani/Indian

Plus Point:  Variety of curries from non-spicy to spicy, good service, ambience, comfortable seating.

Minus Point: The restaurant was located a bit far from the city centre.

Address:

Rijswijkseweg 331
2516 HG The Hague
Tel: 070 390 67 15

Suryanie Ismail