All reader reviews by Erwin

Bintang Cafe

The three of us arrived at the restaurant without booking a place in advance. It was nice of them to let us sit in the back garden provided that we would leave by 09:00pm (it was 06:30pm when we came in). The place looks a bit rundown from the outside, but don’t let this fool you as it has a very nice, comfortable back garden.

Given the place advertises itself as an Indonesian restaurant, and given the two accompanying me wanted to try Indonesian food (& I am an Indonesian myself) I thought it would good to try this place.

So we ordered mostly Indonesian food: Gado Gado (Salad with peanut sauce) and chicken satay (skewered chicken with peanut sauce) to start with. We also had the crispy duck pancake as a starter (Chinese dish).

Being an Indonesian I thought the gado gado tasted a bit odd, as did the Satays. To start with the peanut sauce was not right (it was too bland and certainly was missing the thick, sweet soy sauce – Kecap). On top of that the veggies they put in the Gado gado were not the correct ones either. Veggies like lettuce and carrots do not belong in gado gado. Last but not least you wouldn’t find slices of bananas in real gado gado. The Satay had the curry flavour – tasted more like an Indian food. I guess it had to do with the sauce they put in. You can’t prepare an Indonesian food without kecap!!!

The main course was the Bintang sea bass (grilled over a piece of banana leave) & the rice noodles with king prawns which I guess were more of oriental dishes and not specifically Indonesian. Again, the sauce use had the curry flavour but they were great, nevertheless.

Dessert was great. I had the coconut ice cream while my friends had the banana fritters with ice cream. Again, the fritters were their loose interpretation of the Indonesian fried bananas.

All and all the food was good & the atmosphere was great. The back garden certainly was a pleasant surprise. We spent a lot of money for a meal (£20 per person), but it was a great experience. Service was great and we didn’t have to wait too long to get the food like others had experienced, apparently.

If you’re looking for Indonesian cuisine, I can tell you that they’re not even close to the real thing, but then you might have to go to Indonesia to taste the real thing, so this place offers a great alternative if you’re in London.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 3