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.
_______________________________
Pondok Indonesia
2781 Commercial Drive
Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don't miss a single bite.
Around Vancouver in 52 Restaurants
