There are few places in the centre of Amsterdam serving delicious food at a reasonable price. The place is filled with tourist traps and if you don’t know where to go then it’s likely you’ll end up paying over the odds for subpar food. However, there are little gems like Samba Kitchen where you can enjoy genuinely delicious Brazilian food that won’t break the bank.
Samba Kitchen really is something special, serving mouthwatering meats cooked on skewers. This method is called rodizio, and the skewers are rotated above a coal fire, giving the meat a lovely smokey taste.
The price is set at €29.50 per person for bottomless rodizio and the waiter brings around skewers of meat, cutting slices for guests. There are 12 different cuts of meat on offer, including delicious, juicy sirloin steak and chicken wrapped in bacon, cooked to perfection.
In addition to all of the tasty meat, there’s a salad bar and a buffet table filled with Brazilian side dishes like the staple feijoada, which is a meat and bean stew and the traditional moqueca fish stew. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Save room for dessert because it’s divine at Samba Kitchen. There is no better way to end a meal than with a creamy mousse de maracujá (passionfruit mousse) or pudim de leite, which we call crème caramel in English.
You’re bound to enjoy yourself in the warm atmosphere created by the owners and waiters who you can see clearly care a lot about their guests. This atmosphere, combined with the incredible food is what makes Samba Kitchen a favourite amongst Amsterdam’s sizeable Brazilian community.