Borobudur Cafe

[Pan]

I see that there's no thread about this restaurant, which has been around for several years. At least until today, I had never heard a rave about this restaurant (a former flute student who used to live on 3rd St. said they were fine for takeout but nothing special), so I hadn't ever tried it. Now that I have, I intend to be back, and it will also join my rotation of delivery places if the quality of the food proves to be consistently good.

I started off with Gado Gado ($5.95), a classic Indonesian salad of mixed steamed vegetables (I believe this rendition had among other things tofu, lettuce, bean sprouts, potato slices - which I've never had in Gado Gado - and krupuk [shrimp toasts]) in a peanut sauce that could have had more hot pepper (that's a personal taste, I think) but had a nice touch of galangal fragrance. I enjoyed it. It was fine, though I suppose not special. On the other hand, the main dish that my very friendly waitress recommended when I said I like spicy food was quite tasty. It was Ikan Balado ($15.95), described as "Fried red snapper tossed in a spicy hot chilly tomato sauce." It had a nice hot pepper bite and a pleasant sauce, and the fish was nicely crispy on the outside without being from my viewpoint overcooked on the inside. To drink with the meal, I had Indonesian jasmine tea from a tea bag ($1.50), with a free refill of water. The total cost of the meal with a deservedly good tip was $31, but I can easily pay ~$6 less before tip by ordering chicken or meat dishes instead of the more expensive fish dishes.

For most of the time I was in the restaurant (I showed up around 8:30 P.M. and left around 9:50 P.M. after considerable conversation in English and Malay/Indonesian with the waitress and proprietor, neither of whom I had known previously, but who were interesting conversationalists), it was completely empty, and a two-top showed up just at the end. I think this place needs more business. If you're in the neighborhood, consider going there and letting them know you like spicy food. Indonesian food is more about the fragrance of native spices like cloves, cinammon, nutmeg, and black pepper, and less about the bite of hot pepper than Malaysian food, but they clearly agreed with me when I said "Tak ada cili, tak ada rasa" ("No chili, no taste.")

Borobudur

128 E. 4 St. (between 1st and 2nd Avs.)

(212) 614-9082

Open Daily

Sunday-Thursday: 11 A.M.-11 P.M.

Friday-Saturday: 11 A.M.-Midnight

[Bond Girl]

I've been there and used to get take outs as well. It's okay. It would be great if they actually used fresh ingredients rather than dried or canned.

[Krista G]

I always wanted to like Borobudur more than I did. I haven't been recently (I think there have been a couple different owners), but the food was always so-so. However, if I lived nearby (which I don't) I might be more inclined to return.

I'm by no means an Indonesian food expert, but new-ish Upi Jaya in Woodside was more to my liking.

[Pan]

I've been there and used to get take outs as well.  It's okay.  It would be great if they actually used fresh ingredients rather than dried or canned.

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I guess you mean items in the sauce. The fish wasn't canned or dried, and neither were the vegetables.

Krista, I'd love to have a location for Upi Jaya. I would go to Woodside for good Indonesian food. What have you eaten there?

[Bond Girl]

I've been there and used to get take outs as well.  It's okay.  It would be great if they actually used fresh ingredients rather than dried or canned.

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I guess you mean items in the sauce. The fish wasn't canned or dried, and neither were the vegetables.

Krista, I'd love to have a location for Upi Jaya. I would go to Woodside for good Indonesian food. What have you eaten there?

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Actually the squid and the scallops were dried. I can tasted the slight edge in it. Lots of vegetables used there were frozened. With all sorts of purveyors around, this is the kind of thing about a restaurant that pisses me off!

[Pan]

That would bother me, too. I'll have to order carefully and ask questions whenever I do decide to go back. Thanks for the warning, Ya-Roo.

[Bond Girl]

Generally, if you order chicken or stuff like Gato Gato you should be okay. I heard the meat dishes isn't bad either.

[Krista G]

Upi Jaya is at 76-04 Woodside Ave., that might technically be Elmhurst, whatever. I've only been once so far, but really enjoyed the food. Supposedly, the style is from the Padang region, which is different from other NYC Indonesian restaurants, spicier, I think. The only dish I know that is traditionally Padang is rendang. They do a good beef version (though it seemed slightly spendy compared to the rest of the menu).

I had a jackfruit curry. I'd never had jackfruit as a savory ingredient, it was tangy and similar to bamboo shoots. Very good. I also tried a fried chicken dish smothered in a fresh, moderately hot sambal. Oh, there was also a lamb entree but I can't remember much about it (not that it was unmemorable).

The space is relatively small, and was filled on a Sat. night. The owner seems very friendly. The oddest part was an ad on the menu promoting a kareoke night on Saturdays. There's not really a space for it, and he had the TV and music on the whole evening blasting The Carpenters. Maybe he was trying to inspire someone to start singing.

[Pan]

Upi Jaya is at 76-04 Woodside Ave., that might technically be Elmhurst, whatever.

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Thanks. I can map that on mapquest.com, but do you know what subway is nearest? The R, perhaps?

I've only been once so far, but really enjoyed the food. Supposedly, the style is from the Padang region, which is different from other NYC Indonesian restaurants, spicier, I think. The only dish I know that is traditionally Padang is rendang.

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Nasi Padang is a dish from Padang that I've had. Used to be really popular in Malaysia.

I had a jackfruit curry. I'd never had jackfruit as a savory ingredient

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It's sometimes used as such in Indian food. Some of us have had a chance to be wowed by jackfruit biryaani at the hands of a partnership of brilliant Indian chefs in New York.

Thanks for the report, Krista!

[Krista G]

Thanks. I can map that on mapquest.com, but do you know what subway is nearest? The R, perhaps?

I was fortunate enough to have someone give me a ride, but it looks like Upi Jaya is half-way between the Elmhurst Ave. R/G/V station and the Roosevelt Ave. E/R/G/V/F/7. That's a lot of train options.

I'd be curious to hear a report from someone with more Indonesian food experience.

[Pan]

So, near 74 St. I'll have to check and see if it's a walkable distance. Thanks, Krista.

[Pan]

I was debating whether to post again tonight. I finally made it back to Borobudur Cafe tonight. My first course was Soto (erroneously printed as "Coto," and oddly enough, wrongly spelled in the menupages.com menu, too) Makasar ($5.95), described on the menu as "Beef Tripe, Beef Liver, Investines with Spice Lemongrass Soup." What could be wrong with that? Sounds flavorful and delicious, right? Well, the broth was in fact tasty, but the intestines were overcooked and the liver was both overcooked and didn't taste very good (not such a good liver, I think). The rest of the meal was fine -- a good baked red snapper with a slice of lemon and a nice sauce that came separately (Ikan Bakar Dabu Dabu -- $14.95). When it came out, it smelled a bit fishy, but every part of the fish (and I ate every part except the bones that were too hard and the eyeballs) other than the extreme front of the head tasted fresh and unfishy. A dessert of Pisang Goreng (Fried Banana) served with Chocolate Sauce ($3.00) was very pleasant and cute, as the fried bananas were formed into two hands with the batter. And my tea ($1.50) was refilled twice, and would have been refilled a third time had I not declined the offer, without extra charge. I came out of the restaurant feeling cheerful. The owner and the staff are very nice, and I enjoy speaking to them in sort-of-Indonesian (really Malay with some Indonesian words I remember). But with tip, my dinner was $36, and I think that the food should be more reliable at that price. So I suspect that I will continue to go to Borobudur Cafe only as often as I feel like tasting the locally-available Indonesian food and smiling. For everyday eating, I have the option of a non-Indonesian but spicy restaurant -- Grand Sichuan St. Marks -- which is more reliable and ends up costing me less. I really didn't end up needing the dessert tonight, though.