Cafe Restaurant Tjing Tjing 4.39

We’d like to introduce you to a new way of eating out; no more affected pompousness but sheer down-to-earth unassuming good food and friendly service. Tjing Tjing is the first of it’s re-kind in Amsterdam, after a string of oh-so typically boring lounge restaurants popping up like dead fish we’d like you to check back into reality and add some colour and warmth into your life.

South Africa is a nation renowned for many things, and its cuisine is certainly one of its stars. However for South Africans living in the Netherlands, of which there are many, finding examples of their fantastic fare is far from easy, but luckily there’s the acclaimed and widely popular restaurant Tjing Tjing, in the South East of Amsterdam.

It is a relaxed café. Restaurant with banqueting facilities and a beautiful terrace garden situated in the heart of the “Pijp” Amsterdam. Tjing Tjing’s cuisine is a slow cooking fusion-mix making great use of the traditional South African kitchen, giving diners an exotic yet slightly familiar taste of Africa.

Tjing Tjing is not just about the food, which is excellent, but it also allows guests to experience the laid back South African beach atmosphere. And it does so with a social conscience. Tjing Tjing is a place where people come to feel at home and not like a foreigner. The philosophy of Tjing Tjing is simple as it is inspiring. Tjing Tjing: “the moment the sun disappears behind the horizon, the sky bleeds the first or last colours of the night or day. It is a conscious decision to take the time to rest and peacefully approach, the muli-coloured shades of Light”.

Here is a short introduction to a part of the South African Kitchen of which
Cape Malay cooking has a considerable influence on South African culinary traditions and its virtues. Indonesian in origin but influenced by Indian Cuisine. It was the ability to apply the indigenous fruits and vegetable of South Africa to the already known cuisines that was brought to the continent by the different cultures. Fruit preserves & chutneys are French Huguenot in origin.

From the beginning, South Africa has been a melting pot where East meets West. Baked puddings, tarts and biscuits show a strong Dutch contribution and influence to the South African kitchen. In the 17th century, Malay cooks were very much in demand in the predominantly Dutch homes and soon learned to prepare solid Dutch fare such as Melk Tert but added their own embellishment of herbs and spices.
The VOC sailors started another national cuisine when they marinated the meat in salt on their long sea voyages. The South African adapted the same conserving method but added herbs and vinegar and Biltong came about. Eating in South Africa amongst the different cultures is seen as a blessing. It is a time for togetherness and to give thanks for that which we have but also to be aware of the fact that many are a less fortunate. It is with idea that we see eating as a celebration of life and a blessing that we share with family, colleagues and friends. I have tried to put a menu together, fusing all these influences and elements to give you an tasteful and aromatic journey into The Fusion Kitchen of the Rainbow Nation.

Enjoy your meal and your visit.
Michael