On a Crusade for Asian Food in Alkmaar

The murtabak is slightly different from the Malaysian styled cousin which is flatter and contains less ingredients. The Indonesian murtabak (on the left) is like a cake with vegetable and chicken filling inside. The prawn cracker on the right is huge and could be a meal of its own I believe!

Here is my meal served on a plastic plate with plastic spoon. I guess this is as close as it gets to economy rice in Malaysia. Well, though, I would not mind dining with fine china too!

Yet again on a foggy, windy day, I was tempted away from a simple, homemade sandwich for lunch and opted instead to go out to eat Asian food in Alkmaar. Having called a friend, we decided on Vietnamese. There is a Vietnamese stall in the Dagmarkt (Day Market). The food is delicious but the opening hours are erratic. It seemed like the owner is only doing the business for side-income.

We did take our chances but unfortunately the stall was closed. So we decided with either Indian or Indonesian food. We opted for Indonesian as the Indian restaurant was really dark and I did not feel like eating in the dark. By the way, lots of restaurants in Holland are really dark and only candle-lit, yet this one is notch darker.

I am for pleasant eating scenarios where I can see my food clearly. The Indonesian café (not so much a restaurant as they mostly cater for takeaway but foodies are free to sit and eat there if they wish) was just around the corner from the Indian restaurant. It was lunch hour and it was extremely crowded given that the space inside was long and narrow. Just like a typical Chinatown house setting.

We had to wait to order. Basically you can choose from the twenty yummy dishes. It is like economy rice/noodles in Malaysia. The plus here is that the food is reheated for you in the microwave so your dish is brimming hot.

There were meat varieties, vegetables, bean-curd, murtabak, prawn crackers and even rice dumplings (ba chang) to choose from. I chose rice with curry chicken, bean-curd and mixed vegetables. My friend and I decided to share a murtabak and prawn cracker to top it up.

The meal was delicious. I enjoyed it a lot. The interior had rattan chairs and wooden tables. It could however only cater for a maximum of ten people eating due to lack of space.

So after the meal, with a full belly, it was back home for housework with revived energy!