My friend Ben has been raving about lunch at Pondok Indonesia for months now, so when I inadvertently found myself on the Drive at noon, I didn’t waste a lot of time heading over there. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to ask him what the best possible dish on the menu is, so I had to fend for myself. After some deliberation, decided on Rendang Sapi, Orak Arik , which is a spicy beef dish served with stir-fried cabbage and rice, and an order of Indonesian Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce. Accompanied with a cup of coffee.
The beef rendang was near perfect. Stewed in coconut milk and spices until it’s incredibly tender, the beef also has a complex, exotic flavour. Once the tower of rice is smushed down into the sauce and eaten with a bite of beef and a bit of the stir-fried cabbage, the dish loses all of it’s complexity and instead tastes like the kind of home-cooked meal you would be treated to, sitting down with friends in Indonesia.
I love peanut sauce, so it seemed like the spring rolls would be an instant love, but in fact, they were quite bland and oily aside from the peanut sauce. I had to keep dunking and slathering for them to be appetizing.
All in all, the food was pretty decent, served up with a hint of a smile and service that could have been better considering the scant amount of tables, in a simple and unassuming room. Nothing was bad, but it wasn’t particularly amazing either, and if I ever have a hankering for Indonesian fare when I’m home on the Drive at lunch I will definitely stop in, but I’d also like to check out the Spice Islands for comparison.
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Pondok Indonesia
2781 Commercial Drive
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Blast it all, that looks delicious and now I need to make the trek all the way to the Drive to get some. Or at least try to remember about it the next time I’m over there and not get distracted by the Belgian Fries place!
I’m really hungry now.
Wow, you picked exactly what I’d have recommended – the beef anyway. I’d agree the spring rolls are nothing special and since many people start their meals off with them, it unfortunately, sets the meal off on the wrong foot. Unless you ask for it, they don’t always bring it to the table, but Pondak also make the most amazing hot sauce. Deep and rich in flavour, no doubt a factor of the shrimp paste in it, and not too hot, it adds yet another layer of flavour to the meal. My mouth is watering. BTW, their Mee Goering is also excellent as are most other of the lunch menu items, a bargain really at under about eight bucks.
I’m definitely going to go back. It’s miles better than the beef rendang that I had at Jonker Street a couple of weeks ago.
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I went there on July 2007. Since there is no Indonesian restaurant in Winnipeg, I visited twice while I was in Vancouver. I love their batagor.