dhnoho "This Indo Gal Loves Food"

Came here on a Saturday morning and luckily the place was not busy.

I order a double macchiato (yes it was that kind of a morning) and a chocolate croissant (I wasn’t feeling adventurous enough just yet). Both were good not out of this world.

Then a friend ordered the Japanese Cherry Tea and a Cherry Scone – oh wow now those were delicious. The scone was perfectly well made, the tea was awesome. They do have other savory and sweet scones including Polenta, hhm I don’t know about Polenta as I am not a huge fan.

I really like the ambiance of this venue, it’s peaceful, great vibe unlike the Starbucks in every corner…

Great place to start the weekend mornings.

This is not a restaurant but it is a destination spot for all Indonesian food lovers.

The fair is held on Saturdays only in front of the Duarte Inn. It’s across the Ralph’s shopping center and at the end of the driveway of the shopping plaza shared with the Duarte Inn.

You will find booths with an array of Regional Indonesian dishes – ranging from the regions of Javanese, Sumatran, Menadonese. I was told that most of these vendors are accomplished cooks, caterers or folks who once owned a restaurant.

What I like about the fair versus dining at a restaurant, is you have the option of buying from different vendors as each of them offer different dishes although some may have the same dish, somehow one will taste better than the other.

We would share our meals therefore it is cheap and a way to sample all of what is offered.

I do recommend getting there early so you can sample all the selections. Parking is fairly easy, you may park anywhere in the plaza or right near the fair.

Here’s a history bit of my culinary heritage.
Indonesian cooking is also influenced by the Europeans (Portugal and Netherlands) that came to monopolize the spices. However it was the Dutch that dominated the country since the 1600’s. Then we were occupied by the Japanese during WWII which ended the Dutch ruling. Japanese occupation lasted 3 years and we finally declared independence in 1945.

Hence some of our dishes are derivatives of the many cultures.

What a charming little place. My sister held a surprise birthday party for her husband, there were 16 of us. Although the venue does not open til 5:30 pm, we were allowed inside due to the nature of our purpose. There was already a line forming outside of the restaurant at that point.

As we were setting up in the private room in the back, we were offered a four-course meal and the
chef asked what we had wanted to try and we said everything. So glad we did and it was more than
four courses. Each dish that was bought out was delicious and unique. The wine menu consist of
wines mostly from local (California), Italy and France, draft beers and liqueur aperitifs, but we had
bought our own bottles of wines (total of 10) – corkage fee is $15.00

They are known for their Pizzas and I can see why. Their crusts are thin, crusty and crispy but the
combination of toppings – so creatively and deliciously merged. Gosh, I am still mouth-watering after
a few weeks of dining there.

This what we had and they gave us twice the portion of the below items. Price wise with what he had
was a steal at $70 per person including tip. Oh and they did prepare a few dishes omitting the meat
toppings for our vegetarian friends with no extra charge. Their menu is different every night but you
can always ask the chef early enough if you have a favorite dish.

I would give it a five star rating however after we paid our (huge bill) the busboys started taking away
our water glasses but I had asked for more water since we were still talking and finishing our wines
and dessert, and he was told by our server to not give us any more water – what was up with that?
Up to that moment, service was great but then we were basically ignored by our server and we could
not have any more water – we still laugh about that.

Appetizer
- Complimentary Bread and Butter
- Oyster shells
- Dungeness Crab Cakes

Salad
- Wild Arugula frisee with mint leaves, almond or walnut, pecorino cheese and fruit (can’t remember
which one)

Antipasti
- Papardelle Noodles with fried sage and sausage and brown butter sauce – my favorite, it must have
been the fried sage, it gave it light mild crunch.
- Butternut Squash Ravioli with honey butter sauce

Pizzas
- Margherita with Clams
- Wild Nettle with Sausage
- Brocolli Rabbe with Sausage
- Pancetta with Peppers, Parsley
- Squid with tomato sauce and aioli – my favorite, can’t quite describe the taste, but it was delectable

Dessert
Can’t remember what they gave us but I think one of them was a lemongrass mousse?

I had dinner here with my auntie as she told me it is one of the better Chinese restaurants south of SGV. She was right. They are known for their dim-sum sadly we were too late, nevertheless, the food was good, service was great and they were friendly.

The restaurant is pretty big, with lots of round tables. Ample parking, it is in a plaza shared with Sam Woo, but dine here at China Garden not there….

We didn’t wait long, probably 5 minutes as there were only two of us.

For those old enough to remember, the title of my review is from “Alice”

Do you ever get the midnight hungry pangs and craving something perhaps simple and familiar?

Well Sitton’s NoHo diner is the place for you. It is the epitome greasy-diner food, less expensive than Jerry’s Deli in Studio City and Fred 62 in Los Feliz and offer a variety of comfort foods. Portraits of old Hollywood Stars are plastered side by side, up and down with big leather booths and tables occupying each floor space.

The food can be a hit or miss, but the biscuits and country gravy are awesome and so is their split pea soup. Other diner fares such as breakfast, lunch and dinner are served 24 hours.

Let me repeat, this is diner food and not a 5 star dining nor stellar service, you come here well because either you live nearby or just feel like having a cup of soup or coffee (diner coffee if you know what I mean.) Most of their dishes are less than $10.00, the portions are huge.

Ample parking on either side of the restaurant.

FYI, they advertise “the best eggs and ham in the US” PS I have never tried their ham and eggs.

When I first hear of chicken and waffles back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I thought huh where can we get one of those? Well I used to drive to LA from Orange County and my friend and I were auditioning to be a “fly girl” dancer for the comedy show “In Living Color” we didn’t quite make it, however we did last many cuts, those girls named “JLo” and “Carrie” made it.

We weren’t ready to drive back to OC just yet and thought hey, let’s check out Roscoe’s.

Oh man, those waffles were and still are darn good and the fried chicken was crispy and that is all I order from this infamous joint.

We did see a few people from other popular 90’s shows so my girl and I had fun chatting with them while waiting in the long line. Next stop was the Soul Train auditions….

Reminds me that I have to go back and get my fix of chicken and waffles.

This is a nice looking bistro, small, however charming. Limited tables inside and outside sitting available as well.

My first meal there was not bad. We happened to come in on a Tuesday and it was ‘half-off " of their bottles of wine. We definitely took advantage of that, I couldn’t remember which wine we had, and they did have a nice selection. One thing , I can’t remember if bistros have plasma screens, well this one did, which helped with my ex B’s attention span. Monday nights are 1/2 priced beers another plus and they boast an array of micro-brews.

So come here with no expectations, the servers were great and very friendly and knowledgeable. One of the owners was there also to chat with the diners, very nice touch.

I only give it a 3 stars since it is on the pricier side for a gastro-pub bistro, but worth visiting.

I am Indonesian and I can vouch this is one of the better Indonesian restaurants west of San Gabriel Valley and West Covina. Forget the others in this area and surrounding neighborhoods, trust me.

it is a small cafe with limted seating inside and a few tables outside shared with other businesses. There is an asian market adjoined to Simpang where one can peruse while waiting for their meal. The market is filled with asian snacks, beverages and limited spices and mixes, cookies etc…. and a refrigerator filled with Indonesia’s favorite ready-made snacky foods, such as dumplings, fish cake, spicy beef.

Next to where you order, you’ll find more ready-made snacks of empanadas, lumpia, croquettes, cupcakes etc….They also have a variety of shakes and smoothies as well liquid desserts and shaved ice desserts.

If you want to know what’s good, just ask me, I practically know their menu. If you’re a first-timer, the menu can be overwhelming, hey I get that way with Jerry’s Deli menu. Lol

I give it a three star because of the parking situation. It’s in a small plaza and shared with other businesses, however, if you are in a hurry, you can call in your order and they can even come out if you can’t find parking, or just block a car and most of the time, the car will belong to one of Simpang’s patrons and they will not get angry with you since they will do the same thing.

There are street parkings nearby, which really is not that far.

If you have not been to this venue, go NOW! :-)

This is the essence of a Korean style pub-grub that offers lip-smacking delicious foods (especially the spicy wings), a variety of beers (bottled and drafts) as well as a full bar. There is a private room upstairs that can hold up to 25 people.

This is such a great place to hang out and the best of all, it is cheap, my groups loves cheap good food! Between 11 hungry savages, we ordered 3 plates of spicy wings, 1 regular wing, plate of fried chicken, Duk Bok Gi (korean rice cake) with squid, leek pancakes and 2 pitches of Hite (Korean Beer), each of us only paid $13.00 with tax tip, holy chicken wings, that is cheap and we were all full and satisfied. Big portions, the regular wings were plain tasting and they serve it with a side of what tastes like sweet marinara sauce.

The spiciness of the chicken is apparent, but eat a few daikons in between and the coleslaw and you’ll be fine, that’s why the pitcher of beer is there also.

Parking is available at their lot closer to Vermont or street parking.

I did forget to ask the meaning of their name, ah next time.

I took a group of my non-Indonesian friends to this place and some have never really tried Indonesian and I was really curious if they liked it or not. Most told me they loved it, some I couldn’t tell if they did or not, no matter though, I still love it :-)

The best dish was the lamb satay, it was perfectly seasoned, flavorful, tender and just oh oh good.

Another dish that is not the typical Indonesian food was the shrimp in creamy cheese sauce, hhhmm, I don’t know why the owner manipulated me in ordering this, it’s basically can I have shrimp with my velveeta cheese.

This is family owned and they will take care of you, if you don’t understand an ingredient, they will do their best to explain it to you.

The parking is shared with other businesses, a video store, small philipino bakery or market, a chinese/japanese storefronts.

If you’re in the area, definitely stop by and you won’t regret it.