Indonesian Restaurant in Hsinchu

The last restaurant review I wrote was two years ago. Since that time, the restaurant went out of business, was replaced by another restaurant, which also went out of business, and now stands vacant. The life of restaurants here are often very short. One restaurant that has stood the test of years of time is a little Indonesian restaurant shown below. One good reason for its survival is that, despite the large number of Indonesians who live in Hsinchu, it is the only Indonesian restaurant (I know of) in the city. (Although there is another one not too far away in Chupei [Zhubei]).

The storefront, down the street from Sogo.

On weekdays, the restaurant has a small menu, mostly of fried noodles and fried rice. On the weekends, there is a buffet. The price of your dish is based on how much you take. When I first came the this restaurant a couple of years ago, I was disappointed in the food because it was cold. Most Taiwanese that I know aren't picky about the temperature of their food. Many Taiwanese buffets are designed so that the food can be kept warm by keeping the metal containers in a bath of hot water. However, when you go to a buffet at noon, chances are that half the dishes are cold. The best remedy is to (a) go earlier, at about 11 am, and (b) eat a lot of hot rice with your meal.

Over the past year or two, I apparently have gotten more accustomed to cold food, because I have been quite happy with this restaurant for my past few visits. The food wins points for novelty--half of the time I'm not sure what I'm eating. There are also some foods packaged and ready to take home.

Here's the plate from my last visit. The largest object on the left is some kind of fritter. This seems to be pretty popular, judging from other people's plates. Also popular was shish-kebab--when I arrived at about 11 am, they were already all gone. There is always a potato and chicken curry (curried potatoes are on the rice). On the left are some pieces of fried pineapple with fried chicken (lots of pineapple and a little chicken). Another mashed potato fritter is peeking out from behind the first fritter. There are diced potatoes with a tangy tomato sauce. And there are two or three other things on the plate that I can't even describe.

This plate was $110.

The to-go items include dumplings, a dessert made of glutinous rice and congealed coconut milk, and a drink of purple glutinous rice and coconut milk. Imported bottled drinks are popular.