Restaurant Blauw Utrecht

Stumbled upon this very authentic Indonesian food place. Always busy so make a reservation if possible. I was able to walk in and get a bar seat 2 hours later.

We got the tasting menu and everything tasted great! The starters were already excellent and then it remained so throughout! Warning: extra spicy sambal was genuinely extra spicy! Be ready to wait a while, and dont eat much before coming here - It is a BIG tasting menu!

Wonderful experience at this cozy well oiled machine with terrific service and excellent food. We had the rice table for two and it was fabulous. I highly recommend it.

Blauw serves up delicious, authentic Indonesian food in Utrecht. It’s located on a lively street near a couple of canals. The food is best for sharing including the rice table, which includes several dishes served with rice. Excellent vegetarian options available. The somewhat small space makes it cozy for guests and occasionally loud. Consider it part of the charm and energy. Definitely worth checking out.

Incredible food, service, atmosphere. Very interesting Dutch / Indonesian fusion, wish I didn't eat so much for lunch before coming here. I think you can't go wrong with anything, but have been recommended the rice table option, and wish I had the appetite to try it!

Excellent Indonesian cuisine. The rijstaffel was amazing, we had it for three of us. It was prepared to perfection. It’s a quite a large amount of food served on many side dishes. Service here was excellent as well. I’d recommend making a reservation, it was full and on a Monday evening soon after opening.

Excellent restaurant. This was our 4th time in multiple years. Even received some items for free considering valentines day. You have to book well in advance, but it is worth the visit. We took the rice table, vegan. Incl. Drinks and dessert we paid +- EUR 100. Acceptable for what you get. Staff is friendly, and portions are excellent.

Popular Indonesian restaurant situated in the city centre of Utrecht, Blauw offers you a distinctive gastronomic experience together with friendly service. We had a three-course menu including a rijsttafel. The starter was delicate, we enjoyed the sticky rice with a taste of coconut. The rijsttafel contains various meat, fish and plant-based dishes, we found most of the dishes had strong flavours and rather sweet. The variety and presentation of dishes were a plus. The dessert was a combination of spicy chocolate and pandan ice cream, decorated with passion fruit sauce. The environment was not ideal due to the crowded space and strong smell. In general, a place worth visiting.

Michelin guide restaurant that is very busy all days of the week! We were so lucky to find a seat for two around 5:45pm at the bar (I think they save these spots for walk ins, max 6 people) - so many people were turned away for not having a reservation. Ordered the rijstaffel (rice table) which allowed us to try all sorts of dishes. It was quite filling. Flavors were strong and several dishes were quite too salty for us, just FYI. Particularly liked the different meat curries. Enjoyed the cucumber since it was a refreshing contrast to everything else. Service was kind and we didn't have to wait too long for food considering how busy it was! Great to try if you don't have much exposure to Indonesian food back home.

It was very close to our hotel, had great reviews, and wasn't particularly crowded. Service was excellent along with the food and beer. With so many places to choose from we all 4 still came back here the next night.

We did not get our food for over an hour and 20 minutes, even though we were seated on time and we were some of the first guests there. The restaurant filled up after us and several tables got their food ( the same thing we had ordered). We asked if they forgot us and we were told it's coming. When it finely came they said sorry. They did nothing to explain why or adjust the bill. The food was good but not enough to make up for the long wait and poor service.

Great Indonesian food, and fun sharing experience! Come hungry. Lively atmosphere and helpful staff.

I can't say enough about this restaurant! The food was amazing, the service, the staff, the snacks! Absolutely everything was great, even the value!

So we were told we have to absolutely have Indonesian food while in Holland. We found Blauw close to our hotel and stumbled in. We didn't have reservations but were able to sit at the bar area right away. We shared a seafood special and a couple of beers. Boy, were we lucky to snag our table. Most people that came after us were either turned away or had an hour wait. The food was delicious! We had lots of different dishes as part of our meal. There were many veggie dishes, shrimp, scallops, fish. Everything came with rice and multiple sides. One item was enough for the two of us. Food was prepared carefully and was full of flavor. The dipping sauces were super spicy but yummy. Overall, we lucked out and had a relaxing, if somewhat rushed, dinner. The decor was red and fun. Service was average but in all fairness it was a super busy night. After we ate we looked up the place and it's one of the highest rated Indonesian places in Holland. score for us!

The food here is extremely flavorful, so you might want to order some water. We came here knowing that Indonesian restaurants are very popular in Utrecht. We found this gem and we ordered the Rijstaffel meals (seafood & beef). It came in MANY little small plates, which is something I wanted. I really liked that they gave us small portions of each so we can try a little bit of everything and it also saved us a LOT of time, rather than looking through the menu! The food here is a bit on the savory and saltier side, so my favorite was actually the cucumber salad because it offset the strong flavors. We also made a reservation at 9pm because there was no other time and it was REALLY busy when we arrived. I wish we were able to enjoy the meal, but the food here was mediocre. I personally didn't like it all that much, but I'm glad we all got a tasting of different Indonesian cuisines.

Having heard much about Indonesian food in the Netherlands, it was high time I tried to find out what the fuss was all about. So we chose to go here. Considered one of the best Indonesian restaurants by the locals, they have two branches, one in Utrecht and, one in Amsterdam. It's very popular by the looks of it as, getting a table before 8:30pm on a Monday night was not possible. The menu has a number of starters and mains and then you get an assortment platter with a number of small dishes per person based on meat, fish or vegetarian. We decided to go for a meat one and a veggie one to share. Shortly after we ordered the dishes started pouring out of the kitchen and we had a table full of dishes to try. Having eaten a lot of Indonesian food in Asia this was slightly different as most dishes were too sweet for my palette and some were brilliantly spiced :-) The beef rendang was amazing as was some of the chili sauces. The satay sauce was too sweet for my liking and I was on a sugar high by the end of the meal. Service is very friendly but not very attentive. Be prepared to flag down staff after the food is on the table. All in all a good experience and I will probably be back here again. Value for money is also ok.

I've lived in Asia for 6 months and will have to admit the food at Blauw was probably one of my favorite Indonesian meals (not including the meals actually from Indonesia). I ordered a meat Rijstaffel for 1 and it was delectable- a mix of chicken, tofu, peanut, and other veggie items. The waitress was incredibly accommodating and they swap out dishes if you have any dietary restrictions (ie I wanted the beef replaced with chicken for one of the items), Would recommend making a reservation should you be interested; they were packed on a random weekday evening and they placed me at the "bar" (which worked in my favor as a solo patron), but may not for larger parties :)

Brilliant. Excellent service. Great food served with a smile. Excellent variety of dishes. Tasty food with a delicious range of different flavours and textures. Nice presentation too. Definitely head and shoulders above the rest of the restaurants in Utrecht. Definitely coming to visit this place again!!!

This is supposed to be the "best" Indonesian food in the Netherlands. We saw great reviews on Trip Advisor and went for it! However, we didn't eat ANY of it! It was all fried and greasy. The house wine was also vinegary. They urged us to get the variety dish, I believe it's called the "rice table". There were SO MANY dishes for each of us that we thought we'd like at least some of them!! But they were all deep fried and too salty or sweet. Maybe the location in Amsterdam is nice but the one in Utrecht was disappointing! It came up to 64 Euros for the 2 of us (85 USD) in addition to parking. By the way Utrecht is a crowded and ugly city. Don't even go there. 2 stars for the ambiance and service.

Awesome. Great subtle flavors, much better than the other rijstafls I enjoyed in Utrecht and Amsterdam. I was with a group; we tried both the land a sea menus and both were outstanding. Will definitely return.

By far the best Indonesian restaurant in Utrecht! On the expensive side, but when you taste the food, you don't mind the price! Excellent location to celebrate with friends too!

We shared a Rijstaffel across 4 of us and a bottle of wine, and the food was perfect. A dozen (or more) dishes for sharing, and you get a taste of everything, and everything is amazing. There wasn't one "miss."

We found Blauw quite by accident while searching for a restaurant that would be open on a Monday night. Did not make a reservation; instead, the three of us arrived at opening time. The wait staff were wonderful. On hearing that one of us had a few allergies, they showed a page at the back of the menu listing various common allergies in Dutch - and in English! We quickly took a photo of the page and used it to good effect during our entire stay. The food... what can I say? It was fabulous. On the waitress' recommendation, we didn't over-order; we all got the smaller rijsttafel. I would highly recommend the goat satay and the tofu dishes, by the way. Our allergic person was given a few different dishes, and for dessert, beautifully arranged sorbet that made me wish I had allergies, too! Nice and quiet, as well, even though we were seated toward the center (but against a wall). My only complaint was the water. We'd been travelling for two days and were all dehydrated, but we could not get tap water. Instead, we had to pay for their version of still water, bottled especially for them. It wasn't terribly expensive until you noticed that the water carafes weren't nearly full, and the bottoms were made to look like they were full of water when they were not. That was our only objection to the dinner. I wish we had a Blauw in my own neighborhood; I'd be there every week. As it is, I'll look forward to going back soon. By the way, regardless of what one of the previous reviewers said, Utrecht is quite a beautiful city. You just have to walk in the right areas.

great food, the closest to Indonesian taste across the whole country! Love it. the place was a bit crumpled, but all in all the food makes up for it. the people are also nice and friendly.

We were shocked at the service we received at Blauw. The first time, the waiter trying impinging on us the rijstafel, when we explicitly asked if we could see the rest of the menu. The second time, we still had half an hour left until the end of our reservation, and when we asked to see the dessert options, the waitress rudely told us that we wouldn't have enough to time for it. Really?! Even if this were factually true, their waiters really should get some politeness training. The food was alright, but the service spoiled it all.

The food here is good.. First time coming it was a long wait for my food, about an hour. But the second time, waited over two hours and still didn't get my meal. I just paid for my appetizer and left. Got a burger down the street which only took 10 minutes.

Our experience was so different from the other English review. We had the meat rijsstaffel and it was wonderful. Great service and great food. We had the house red wine, which went beautifully with the food. I have had maybe four or five rijstaffels in the Netherlands, in Amsterdam and Leiden, but this was by far the best. By the way, we also love Utrecht--rated one of the best places in Europe to live with good restaurants and nice streets. Yes, it's an active college town, but very comfortable too. I guess different folks have different tastes, but Restaurant Blauw and Utrecht surely match ours! Oh, and reservations are suggested--we managed to get a table on a Monday night without one, but the restaurant was full.

Friendly, welcoming service, and delicious food. We chose Blauw based on the recommendation of a local and were not disappointed. We ordered the Rijsttafel in order to try a variety of dishes. Most were not particularly spicy. The goat sate (sate kambing) was especially tasty. Highly recommended. We might even go back again before we leave Utrecht.