Mr. Sate — Restaurant in Los Angeles

[Review from an Indonesian] There is a reason why you don’t find many Indonesian restaurants in the States. Mr. Sate has unlocked the taste and (more importantly) the smell that come from hours of preparation, to release rich essential oil from tropical spices that will bring you to an authentic culinary journey

Nasi Bungkus: it’s the BOMB. The smell of banana leaf, followed by turmeric and galangal will hit you softly, even before your eyes can digest the festive you are about to savor. My favorite part of the dish is the fried chicken, it’s juicy, flavorful and crispy. It comes with a lot of side dish (beef rendang, egg balado, veggie curry, sambal and chips). I wish I would have asked for extra curry, I prefer the dish to be more saucy then dry. Tho it might seem a lot, but none of the components overpowers the overall dish. It's nicely balanced, but is not shy to express the bold taste we have back home.

Corn fritter: it surprises me for 2 reasons. Firstly, there is a very subtle hint of herbs hidden in between the crunchiness and sweetness of the corn. I think it’s turmeric, it is not very common (at least in where I am from) but it matches the taste so well - again the smell induces your appetite before you eat (I am salivating as I type this review). Secondly, the secret black sauce. I will not reveal what it is, I let you fantasize. It is original Indonesian style of … sauce. For a new olfactory experience in enjoying a food, this place could be...

First visit and here's what i ordered: Gado Gado, it was ok but the portion was small and very less peanut sauce. Almost all kind of satay skewers and honestly they're just xoxo and not something i would be craving for. The meat on skewers were tiny and very less sauce as well. Soto Ayam, it was ok but not that much tasty.

I was kinda disappointed since there were not many choices on the menu and the concept is tapas which does not fit for this restaurant. I probably expected too much since i saw those images on their Instagram look so delish. I understand this is a new restaurant but they need to improve the menu quickly in order to compete with other asian restaurants in that area especially Simpang Asia. I used to live in Indonesia for years and years so i know how great Indonesian food is. I really want this restaurant to survive and grow bigger so manager or whoever manage this restaurant please do something with the menu....make the portion bigger (raise the price a little bit but still worth it), adding satay combo (comes with rice cake, garnish and please bigger meat), adding rice combo for daily order, add more Indonesian food. Btw..i think you should print out your daily special menu and attach it with regular menu cos if i didn't see your whiteboard i wouldn't know you had special menu. Trust me this restaurant has a lot of potential to grow bigger.

I will update my review later after...

First visit on a weeknight before 8p. Not crowded so service wasn't slow. I started with some a la carte items such as the Gado Gado salad (cooked vegetables with peanut sauce and shrimp crackers) and the corn fritters. Thumbs up on the corn fritters -- prepared very well and delicious. Not a fan of the Gado Gado because they combine cooked kale with cabbage, string beans and other veggies.

I tried Combo #2, which came with a huge bowl of either Chicken clear noodle soup or beef egg noodle soup (I chose the chicken); 3 skewers (2 chicken and for my 3rd I chose the beef potato), a small mound of rice. They were out of the perkedel meat patty so they asked me when I placed the order if they could give me another corn fritter as a substitute (I can't turn down fried corn :-)) Chicken sate skewers were very tender. Not too salty, but they provided a small dish of Indonesian soy in case I wanted to make it more savory. Beef and potato skewer was good too with a fresh sambal like red sauce.

Menu is not too large, but the have daily specials. I'm looking forward to coming back on Saturday when they offer the Nasi Kuning rice plate served on a banana leaf.

Cash or Credit card.

Parking lot with entrance on Palms -- they're 3 parking spots set aside for Mr....