Indonesian Restaurants in TO ?

[grandvefour]

We've offered to treat our very special Indonesian neighbours to dinner, to celebrate their daughter's graduation this year from U of T.

Any suggestions for quality food experience at reasonable prices, in location with some ambience ?

[skunkbunny]

I'm a amazed no-one has answered this. This resto used to be here two years ago .. I have absolutely no idea if it still is.

Go down St George... continue on Beverly past college and then take either the first or second left (sorry .. don't remember which.. it's the street with the restos on it.)

About 1/2 a block down on the south side there used to be an Indonesian resto with a small terrasse.. oops PATIO.. had goood lunch specials. And there was that lovely old school chinese bakery across the street.. everything was greasy.....

Like I said it's probably way too late and god only knows if these places are still there.

Good luck

Mike

As a note: I found a listing for a Hakka restaurant Kim Ling 2173 Lawrence East ????

Does anyone have the lowdown????

[jayt90]

Hakka restaurant Kim Ling 2173 Lawrence East ????

Does anyone have the lowdown????

I'll put that one on my list to visit, as I live not too far from there.

There is an excellent Hakka restaurant at Ellemere and Ballamy (northeast strip stores) which receives raves here a lot, called Fredericks.

[evilhomer]

I'm a amazed no-one has answered this. This resto used to be here two years ago .. I have absolutely no idea if it still is.

Go down St George... continue on Beverly past college and then take either the first or second left (sorry .. don't remember which.. it's the street with the restos on it.)

About 1/2 a block down on the south side there used to be an Indonesian resto with a small terrasse.. oops PATIO.. had goood lunch specials. And there was that lovely old school chinese bakery across the street.. everything was greasy.....

Like I said it's probably way too late and god only knows if these places are still there.

I've never been there, but the street you speak of is baldwin and there is indeed an indonesian restaurant there.

[skunkbunny]

Yeah.. baldwin that's it :).

Do you know if the greasy chinese pastry shop is still there.. Hsing wa????? not sure of the name.

I have fond childhood memories of little white paper bags with grease soaking through them and of buying too many sesame balls and tearfully having to get rid of them.

Also, while we're here... what about good Malaysian resto's in TO??

[evilhomer]

Yuet Sing I think is the pastry place. Still there and greasy and cheap, very good. I think of the best things about that place though is of the reviews on the wall there's a joanne kates one from 1978 about chinese food that's well worth a visit in and of itself.

[KMPickard]

I think the place you're referring to on Baldwin is the Mata Hari Grill. I was always been under the impression that it is Malaysian rather than Indonesian; but I could be mistaken. We have eaten there off and on when visiting the city since it opened in the later 90's and we've never been disappointed. It's particularly handy if you plan on visiting the AGO.The room is pleasant - far from a greasy spoon- and the food is an interesting change from Thai. The owners take a genuine pride in the food they serve. If it's any indication of authenticity the clientele is not solely Caucasian, so I don't think the food is "dumbed down" -though, admittedly, I have no basis for comparison.

Kathy

.

[marlowe]

There was an Indonesian restaurant on the corner of Baldwin and McCaul, but it has changed name and I believe ownership over the last couple of years. It is still an Asian cuisine of some sort, but I'm not sure which. I wonder what happened to Ole Malacca, which was the original Indonesian eatery some time back.

[skunkbunny]

Mata Hari it is... it's Malay? ooops. my bad lol.

Am going to try some Hakka food tonight either Fredericks or the other one.

[estufarian]

By the way it's called Federicks (no r) - makes it easier to find in the phone book. And they are VERY busy, you may have to wait for a table unless you reserve. And they have a huge take-out business so don't get into the wrong line.

Nearly all the clientele are Indian - all Hakka cuisine I've tried here is certainly spiced to the Indian taste. I love spicy food (normally emphasize this to restaurants) but at Federicks I'm tempted to ask them to tone it down. VERY spicy. And other than a tendency to rely on deep-frying, it's pretty good.

Kim Ling was empty when I scouted it last time so decided to return to Federicks, which is always packed.

[jayt90]

By the way it's called Federicks (no r)

I missed this completely! How's that for ethnocentrism, or racial profiling.

[skunkbunny]

hey hey,

Just got back from Federicks (my brother remarked on the missing r as well)

we had:

-Shrimp Pakoras: lovely and generous with lots of green chilies and lots of shrimp

- ma po to fu: hmmmmm..whatever, and hey is that chicken in the ma po tofu?.

-crispy beef: yummy strips of deep fried beef with a sweet soy/chili sauce, very good.

-shrimp with lobster sauce: mmm nice, but bland and hey is that chicken again in the sauce?

-chili chicken: excessivly generous portion but not too exciting flavour wise, I was hoping for more chiliness, we added hot sauce and the crispy beef sauce and it was better.

-deep fried bananas: mmmm.. synthetic vanilla ice cream, aunt jemima syrup and a few bits of green chili in the batter.

all this, with rice and two beers for 60$ b4 tax... definitly not a raw deal.

As said the clientele was almost exclusively indian, and big on the take out. The noodles seemed very popular and I would try them next time.

We were four and my god.. soo much food. We didn't find the food very spicy, apart from the Pakoras which, with the crispy beef, were definite keepers.

Thanks for a great recomendation!!!

Edited July 16, 2004 by skunkbunny (log)