Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine — Restaurant in Alhambra

In search of delicious hot soup? You'll have Laksa luck here!

Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine is a charming, intimate Indonesian/Malaysian/Singaporean & Bornean fusion restaurant, centrally located in the heart of Alhambra. Being a cold & rainy February, my culinary radar instinctively wanted soup. After browsing the nearby eateries on Main, my luck would have me turn onto Garfield and stop in front of this establishment.

CASH ONLY!

Borneo's most popular soup, laksa comes with 3 noodle options- Laksa Bee Hoon Singapore - bihon/vermicelli noodles Laksa Mee Singapore - housemade noodles Laksa Kew Tiau Singapore- flat noodles

The Laksa Mee & Laksa Kew Tiau are priced the same, with Laksa Bee Hoon being slightly cheaper. Knowing that whenever something is housemade, I should go for it, I went with the Laksa Mee Singapore.

Laksa Mee Singapore- Shrimp, fish cake, tofu, egg, chicken, bean sprouts, green onion & fried shallot in a spicy coconut milk & shrimp broth. A symphony of exquisite, complex flavor sensations melding together in harmonious union. The decadent broth creamy with unctuous coconut milk, had a moderate amount of heat as is, of which I personalized by adding a dollop or 5 of chili sauce. Ramen lovers would heartily enjoy the LMS. The housemade noodles were perfectly al dente, each noodle having a slight curl. The protein were just in the right amount, so as to not overwhelm everything else. My only complaint being when I licked the bowl down to the last drop & knowing my wonderful lunch was over.

I dined here for lunch on 2 occasions. For the second visit, I thought I would go with the Borneo chicken curry, but when I was told it didn't come with noodles (noodles can be purchased on the side), I decided on the LMS once again. I didn't mind having another round at all.

Service was good. I sat at the same table near the window both times. Borneo is a tiny hole in the wall, with table seating for about 20-30 people. Parking is via the parking structure immediately behind the restaurant on 1st, or at Alhambra place across the street. Once again, CASH ONLY!

Borneo bowled me over with their laksa! The LMS hit the spot each time, the taste lingering hours later when I arrived back home. There are not a lot of choices for Indo/Malay/Singaporean/Bornean food around where I live, so I won't hesitate to say, if I was ever in Alhambra or the neighboring area again, there's a high probability I'll poke my head inside Borneo. Only question is - will I venture into another dish, or go with ol' reliable & order Laksa Mee Singapore again?

Highly...

Let me preface this by saying I have eaten here about 15 times over the past couple years. I really enjoy many things on the menu including the noodles, satay, and soups. The food has never been an issue.

With that said today was a disappointing experience.

First, it took about 15 mins to order when we had let the waitress as we were being seated we were ready to order. Tried to flag down the waiter and waitress a few times only to have them either walk by in a hurry or stare at the floor as they walked.

Second, about 15 mins after ordering our typical dishes one of the waitresses came out and informed us it might be a wait. (At this point everyone who had ordered around the time we did had their food). After letting us know that our food would be taking longer I asked about how long.. 5 min, 10 min, 15, 30 mins? She would not give us any idea how much longer. I mean my thing is if they ran out of something just say it. Or if it's something that needs more prep then just give us a time so we are not sitting around wondering if it would be another 30 mins. At this point it was a little upsetting so we just told her that it's ok and we would just go some else tonight.

All in all bad experience tonight. Hopefully just an anomaly. They do need to work on their service and communication with customers. I do feel like after they bought out the space next door and expanded that they really don't have any kind of system in place to make sure they can handle the extra customers. Seems like they have the same or less people...

Located in Alhambra, California is the unique Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine Restaurant. It is near E Main Street and N Garfield Ave with free covered parking only a block away. The restaurant is humble but quaintly furnished with brightly colored door motifs and interesting knick-knacks depicting the Indonesian lifestyle.

The restaurant is small but very clean and the staff make you feel immediately welcomed. As we reviewed the menu, we discovered that many of the food items look very familiar to other Asian dishes; however, after trying them, it was enjoyable to discover that their flavor profile are very different from those other dishes.

We started off with the “Es Cendol” dessert drink and “The Tarik” iced milk tea with grass jelly. Both drinks were sweet and refreshing. Next, we tried the Roti Prata, which is advertised as a pan-grilled pancake with a Borneo inspired dipping sauce. The dipping sauce is similar to yellow curry but with a nice kick to it. The Roti Prata is light and flaky. We also ordered the Nasi Rendang. This is a savory beef dish where the beef has been braised in coconut milk, herbs and spices until it turns a rich dark brown loaded with flavor. This dish is served with tofu, boiled egg, coconut rice, and other tasty side items. Additionally, we tried the Kwe Tiau Goreng Borneo, a very popular fried flat noodle dish. All of the food that we tried was a unique and satisfying experience. This is an excellent place to try a cuisine that is refreshingly different from many other offerings...