Indonesian Restaurants

[anisette]

We've been to Spice Island in Kerrisdale and Pondok on the drive, but are there any other Indonesian restaurants in the Vancouver or outskirts area? My MIL was born on Sulawesi and is looking for non-Javanese (I know! PICKY!)

But any and all recommendations would be very much appreciated.

[grayelf]

We've been to Spice Island in Kerrisdale and Pondok on the drive, but are there any other Indonesian restaurants in the Vancouver or outskirts area? My MIL was born on Sulawesi and is looking for non-Javanese (I know! PICKY!)   

But any and all recommendations would be very much appreciated.

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It seems like Indonesian restos of any description are really thin on the ground here right now (demise of Ruma Bali and Tak Sangka didn't help). I only know of one other besides the two you mention, and I haven't been: Sate Satu 3488 Cambie (604) 709-8150 dinner only, closed Mon and Tues.

If you're downtown and looking for a quick bite, the former owners of Tak Sangka have an Indonesian-Thai fastfood outlet at Harbour Centre called Bali Thai (604) 876-0121 closed Sun. Again, I haven't tried it. Good luck on your search and do let us know if you find any others!

[anisette]

Thank you so much Grayelf for your help. Funny, I'd never heard of Sate Satu before, until today while asking around and someone mentioned the name. Let's say they did not get a glowing report.

I guess we'll go back to Spice Island.

I wonder if the burbs hold some hidden Indonesian treasures?

[fmed]

We've been to Spice Island in Kerrisdale and Pondok on the drive, but are there any other Indonesian restaurants in the Vancouver or outskirts area? My MIL was born on Sulawesi and is looking for non-Javanese (I know! PICKY!)   

But any and all recommendations would be very much appreciated.

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anisette, can you describe the differences between Javanese and Sulawesi cuisine. I am intrigued.

[grayelf]

Thank you so much Grayelf for your help. Funny, I'd never heard of Sate Satu before, until today while asking around and someone mentioned the name. Let's say they did not get a glowing report.

I guess we'll go back to Spice Island.

I wonder if the burbs hold some hidden Indonesian treasures?

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I actually had a peek around on the web to see if I could find anything in the burbs but I didn't do any more than that.

I'd be interested to know about the regional differences too.

[Gregsem]

Fmed,

Java and Sulawesi they are different island, Sulawesi cuisine are more spicy than Javanese, South Sulawesi has famous ribs serve with soup and eat it with rice cake call "Konro Soup" mostly they boil the ribs till tender with spices like cinnamon, black pepper and other local spices. But North Sulawesi they use more chilies in their cuisine and they more options on the meat choices.

While javanese cuisine less spicy and tend to sweet and little bit oilly and use a lot of coconut milk in their cuisine.

Hopefuly will help you

[fmed]

Fmed,

Java and Sulawesi they are different island,  Sulawesi cuisine are more spicy than Javanese, South Sulawesi has famous ribs serve with soup and eat it with rice cake call "Konro Soup" mostly they boil the ribs till tender with spices like cinnamon, black pepper and other local spices. But North Sulawesi they use more chilies in their cuisine and they more options on the meat choices.

While javanese cuisine less spicy and tend to sweet and little bit oilly and use a lot of coconut milk in their cuisine.

Hopefuly will help you

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Thank you Gregsem. I did a bit of Googling and Wikipedia-ing on this topic but found nothing substantial. I ended up at Amazon to purchase Indonesian Regional Food and Cookery by Sri Owen.

[anisette]

Thank you Gregsem for your insight. I actually had no idea what the differences were since all my MIL told me is that the spices they use are different. I will pick her brain tonight and see if she can give me a more definitive answer.

[Gregsem]

Thank you Gregsem for your insight. I actually had no idea what the differences were since all my MIL told me is that the spices they use are different. I will pick her brain tonight and see if she can give me a more definitive answer.

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Anisette

If you need somekind translation on recipe from Indonesian to english for your MIL Sulawesi cuisine, just let me know, since I'm in Indonesia so it shouldn't difficult to find it as long you got the name of the cuisine, but i think if you try to find exact Sulawesi cuisine in Vancouver it will be difficult.

Here's one of the Indonesian recipe site that I found www.indochef.com/index.shtml

Fmed,

That's a good Indonesian cookbook from Sri Owen you have there.

[anisette]

Thank you so much for the offer Gregsem, that is very kind of you! I will ask my MIL for any recipes she may have, the only problem is I don't think she has too many written recipes, just memories of the food she ate there as a child growing up.

Thank you again!

[flowbee]

A new Indonesian restaurant has opened up in Dona Cata's old location on Victoria Drive and 38th (right beside the fire station and across the street from the park). It's called "Sweet Chili Cafe" and is run by the people who used to run the Bali Restaurant on Broadway near Oak. (I never tried their Broadway location)

I saw it on the way home after a party. I wasn't even hungry, but I had to check it out. I got a lamb curry to go:

The couple bites I had were pretty good. Nice tang. The coconut rice was really fragrant. According to their menu, the rice is cooked with coconut milk, lemon grass and pandan leaf. Pandan leaf? Sounds good to me! I'll post more thoughts after I actually eat the whole thing tomorrow.

They just opened 3 weeks ago. Their hours are m-f 11-3 and 5-8, sat 5-8, sun closed. They've got curries, satay, laksa, gado-gado, rojak, roti canai, tahu nyonya, lumpia and some other stuff.

[fmed]

Thanks for the tip flowbee.

[anisette]

Yes thank you Flowbee! That's great to learn there's another Indonesian option out there.

[flowbee]

So, the lamb curry I had from Sweet Chili Cafe was really good! Very strong flavours, just the way I like my lamb curry. We went and tried the place for dinner. They're still pretty dead, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting a table

We had the Tahu Nyonya to start. I've had the same dish in Malaysian restaurants, and this version is pretty much the same. It's ok, not amazing or anything. I think the tofu was the pre-deep fried tofu you can get in any asian supermarket. If it was fried in-house, that would improve the dish.

Then onto some Chicken Satay. Not really impressed... I could swear I could see and taste Shake 'n Bake coating on the chicken. And it was drenched in peanut sauce. Too much. I wouldn't buy it again.

Here's the Laksa Ayam (Indonesian style chicken laksa). It was also so-so. The best laksa I've ever had in the Lower Mainland was at Rasa Singapura at the Richmond Public Market, which is sadly no longer there. Maybe the Indonesian style is supposed to be more mild and coconutty?

Beef Rendang. Now THIS was a fantastic dish. Very flavourful beef. We substituted the plain rice for coconut rice. Their coconut rice is very fragrant and delicious. At first glance, the portion of meat seems really tiny. But after eating it, it was fine. Quality over quantity, right?

If you guys go, I'd recommend the curries. Definitely this restaurant's strongest dishes. I'd come back for the curries!

Note, they should really do something about all the disposable dishware. Besides being a bad choice for the planet, it just cheapens the whole experience. I think the woven plates are leftover from Dona Cata, too

[fmed]

Note, they should really do something about all the disposable dishware. Besides being a bad choice for the planet, it just cheapens the whole experience. I think the woven plates are leftover from Dona Cata, too

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LOL I agree. I ate there a few days ago and I gave them that feedback. The prices were not food stall prices - the "Rice Tables" (more like combos than true rijstafels were in the $7.50 - $8.25). At those prices - they need to use proper utensils and plates. (Hawker's Delight - which serves food in a lower price range manages to do it.)

The Rendangs, Curries, etc are the dishes to get here...very nuanced spicing and very home-style, IMO. It could have been hotter (chili-hot). We asked for "spicy" but it was sill "mild". The roti canai was heavy and not so flakey. The laksa ayam was just OK. The black rice pudding was excellent - they used real pandan leaves to flavour it. The tofu salad had a very nice and tart chile dressing.