Just realized the irony of the text on my shirt: "High Hopes" for the food in a particular restaurant and then having it "crushed" after the first bite. And yes, I'm being overly dramatic 🙃, because the food actually tasted good. It just was not prepared the way that I'm used to.
Let me start with the restaurant in question: Nieuw Albina. This place supposedly serves cuisines - yes plural, because of the many ethnicities - from Suriname and Chinese food, hence their sign and menu stating Surinamese - Chinese diner. Surinamese - Chinese fusion restaurant would've been a better term.
First there's the nasi goreng (Javanese fried rice) - remember that it's only based on what we ordered that day - that was Chinese fried rice with (black) soy sauce dominating the flavor profile. There was no sign of ginger, no galangal and no dried (Indonesian) bay/salam leaf, which are prevalent in the Surinamese Javanese nasi goreng.
Furthermore, the chicken served with the nasi was prepared in what I know as Chinese style roasted meat, that differs entirely from the stewed chicken that usually goes with Javanese nasi. This wasn't the end of the world though, because it did taste well together, minus the satay sauce (peanut based sauce) on the skewered meat.
In Suriname we actually use peanut sambal, where the crunchiness of the peanuts and other (spicy) ingredients are at the forefront. In the Netherlands they prefer satay sauce though, which is a watered down version of the sambal.
The saoto (similar to Indonesian soto ayam) soup on the other hand, came very close to the flavors I know for this dish, especially the lemongrass came to the forefront. Only wondered if they also used ginger, galangal, salam leaf and pimento (allspice berries) seeds for the broth. Those ingredients would've given the soup an even more umami and overall taste.
In spite of being disappointed that the food wasn't prepared in the way that I expected and knew, the food was delicious, sufficient, affordable and there were enough condiments on the table to enhance the flavor of the dishes. Especially the hot chili oil was used generously on my nasi plate. Furthermore, the place was neat and clean and service friendly and timely.
