Roti kip is Amsterdam's Surinamese flatbread dish: a soft pancake-thin roti wrapped around curried chicken, potato, kouseband bean stew, hard-boiled egg, with sambal on the side.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Roti came to Amsterdam with the Surinamese-Hindustani community after 1975. The Amsterdam format derives from Indo-Caribbean roti as it evolved in Suriname: a thinner, more pliable wrap than its Trinidadian cousin, served deconstructed so you assemble each bite at the table. Spang Makandra in De Pijp has been the city's reference room since 1978, the warung where most Amsterdammers first encounter the dish.
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg
Warung Spang Makandra has been the De Pijp Surinamese reference since 1978: roti you assemble yourself, saoto soup, almost nothing on the menu over 15 euros.
Signature: Roti kip, Saoto soep, Moksi meti
Order: Roti kip with the dahl and a side of the bean stew.
Tip: Walk-in only. Order at the counter, sit upstairs. A second Spang Makandra branch in Nieuw West takes the overflow.
Why locals love it: Small Ceintuurbaan counter most guidebooks skip for the more famous Spang Makandra; this is where locals come for the city's best saoto soep.
Tip: Closed Mondays; arrive before 13:00 for the proper lunch service.
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