Name That Resturant

Are you perhaps thinking of the ReisTafel? (Rice table) which would be any restaurant that serves Indonesian food. The rice table includes 28 dishes served with rice..

I agree with Joan that he was at a rijsttafel restaurant. I went to one the first time I was in Amsterdam as a student--I even got a postcard! There are lots choices and even locals like to go occasionally. My Dutch went to one with me. I you googled the best rijsttafel in Amsterdam and got a link to a TripAdvisor post, a great link to a discussion of a reijsttafel is and a recommendation, and a link to someone's best Indonesian restaurants in Amsterdam.

Pam

We liked Kantjil & de Tiger for rice table--conveniently located near Spiusstraat.

Be aware that it can be a frustrating experience -- they really want you to order the rice table at these places and make individual dish ordering expensive -- but the rice table is often full of dishes you are less likely to want (like a dozen ways to serve chopped cabbage and other less desirable foods) It is probably worth doing once but once you have some favorite dishes it would be good to have a place that wasn't just running tourists through the process.

Be aware that it can be a frustrating experience -- they really want you to order the rice table at these places and make individual dish ordering expensive -- but the rice table is often full of dishes you are less likely to want (like a dozen ways to serve chopped cabbage and other less desirable foods) It is probably worth doing once but once you have some favorite dishes it would be good to have a place that wasn't just running tourists through the process.

Our experience ordering rice table was not all like the above response. The waitress explained various dishes and a half option was available--about six or seven (small) dishes for two people sharing--all very good. It is a good idea to check out restaurants and menus online and also look at Trip Advisor, Yelp, etc.