Simpang Asia — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Ordered the Martabak Telor, Chicken Nasi Goreng, Mie Tek Tek, and Es Cendol. The Martabak Telor is a great starter dish, tightly packed and holds its shape when you pick up each piece. The flat bread is like a crepe wrapping the ground beef, eggs, green onion, onion, and pickled cucumber. It's not too dry and the sweet chili sauce helps with adding a slight kick. You can taste each of the ingredients in each piece, solid choice. The Chicken Nasi Goreng was a great default choice if you're looking for a classic southeast Asia dish. The rice here is very plump and absorbs the fat and oil of the dish really well, the chicken were all evenly sized and the egg bits all had a nice golden brown to them. Garnished with some pea sprouts, green onion and large cracker, this was a filling option for one or to share. The Mie Tek Tek is great too if you're craving a classic dish but with noodles. This is a vintage Indonesian street noodle style using egg noodles, chicken breast, eggs, cabbage and Chinese greens. The chicken pieces were also tasty evenly sized and the larger egg pieces retained their golden brown finish here too. There are some Chinese greens and cabbage in here though it's still light on greens. Like the rice, the noodles here also absorbed a lot of the delicious fats and oils that make a fried dish taste so delicious. The portion is here is better for one or to be shared family style. The Es Cendol is a very fun hawker ice drink made of coconut milk, palm sugar and pandan jelly. It's a visually amusing drink with squiggly noodles of pandan jelly on top of the drink. The drink itself is quite smooth and tastes refreshing on a hot summer evening, not too sweet. Location is in a very busy corner plaza that runs out of parking really quickly. Consider street parking in the surrounding area, note that many streets have parking meters and time limits. The location atmosphere is great and busy, there is patio/tent seating outside or you can dine in too. On a warm summer evening, the outdoor patio/tent is a great option. Service can be fast and a little slow but no one felt rushed to leave. Staff are really nice and courteous with delivering meals and offering...

We stopped by on a Sunday for the first time to and picked up an order to go. We were excited to try this Indonesian place and got the following:

Kroket (3 pcs) - these tasted like they were reheated, but not done properly, so it was not really warm, and the outer batter was kinda soggy. It was kinda like frying something, putting it in the fridge for a few days too long, and then reheating it in the microwave and trying to eat it. We could barely eat half and left it... "Delicious potato balls. Battered w/ light crisp bread crumb and ground chicken filling. Served w/ side of homemade peanut sauce."

Martabak Telor -I was looking forward to trying this one bc I make something like it at home. Unfortunately, you can tell this wasn't fresh either. It did have a subtle flavor and I kinda liked it but I couldn't eat more than a piece... Stuffed flat bread with ground beef, eggs, green onions, shallots, and onions

The #8 Nasi Bungkus -I liked this dish the most, it just tasted like home cooking, but we are back to the food not being fresh, bc the next day, I went to eat some from the fridge and it was already sour and rotten...that's a good test to know if something was made fresh or not. This one wasn't. Also, the chicken was like regular boiled chicken, you didn't really taste the curry, and there was only a tiny piece of beef. It was mostly the chicken and veggies. Experience tradition in one wrap. Chicken curry, coconut beef steak (rendang), sambal egg, vegetable curry (contains shrimp paste) and rice wrapped in banana leaves. Spicy level: regular, medium, spicy. (gluten-free)

Would we go back? They have really interesting menu items and I would want to try more things, but the freshness thing is a big deal and most of this meal went to waste unfortunately, so...

Simpang Asia - I was impressed! Period.

Mojito $13 - soju, fresh mint leaves, line juice, and soda water - I loved it! It was sweet but fresh and the soju paired perfectly with the other ingredients.

Chicken Sate (4) $8.50 - Grilled chicken skewers served with peanut sauce - very good. The meat used in the skewers is dark meat.

The #8 Nasi Bungkus $22.95 - Experience tradition inside a wrap. Chicken curry, beef rendang, sambal egg, vegetables curry and rice wrapped in banana leaves - Note: I removed the sambal egg. - I was skeptical because this dish has a lot going on inside those banana leaves, but, B-A-B-Y, it works. The chicken is not as flavorful as i would like, but, the curry sauce gave the chicken life. The vegetables were delicious and so was the beef.

Mie Tek Tek $15.95 - Vintage Indonesian street noodles. Egg noodles, chicken breast, eggs, cabbage, and chinese green. Also very good.

All three dishes and my Mojito were slamming.

Pros Customer service was great!

Issa vibe. It really is. Quaint. Quiet. Low key but full of zing with the soft melody music in the backdrop and beautiful plants that surround you. A beautiful mural on the wall.

Food is epically delicious! Loads of flavor.

Outdoor seating is available in the parking lot. It is covered.

Cons Parking lot is small so that poses a challenge. On Sundays there is a farmer market so take note for parking consideration. I was still able to find parking inside the lot - believe that!

Other things to note: It's a small restaurant (I prefer that), why a con, because I don't see this as a walk-in/up restaurant because of limited parking and seating limitations. I recommend reservations.

This was my first time trying Indonesian food and I'm hooked. I highly recommend Simpang...