Bandung Indonesian Restaurant — Restaurant in Madison

tempeh is made and sold at the local coops!

mango curry (i chose tempeh as protein) fills my mouth beautifully. it was rich, had perfect viscosity, lovely spice, and a fantastic mix of veggies of different texture shape and size. each bit fun, varied, and absolutely delicious.

nasi goreng (also with tempeh) was a lovely mountain(!!). each bite left my mouth light and happy, whetting the back of my mouth, my body asking for one more bite!

i sat in their patio, surrounded by bushes growing past my head (as measured sitting down). lovely pink flowers in so many varieties of bloom, add light and even more love to an exceedingly practical hedge that blocked the sight and sound of cars on willy.

watching the sunset as reflected in the buildings and sky poking above the bushes, lovely food in every bite, the absolutely phenomenal person working as my waiter, with lovely light wavy blond hair and a super cute necklace was so so so great.

even thought they have a qr code full service menu, they went out of their way to give me water (with pitcher!!!) right away, a physical menu, enough time to order, and was happy to give their opinion on dishes (thank you SO MUCH for recommending the mango curry 💖💖💖💖).

i can later, sitting down at 730. never did i feel rushed, pressured, or like a nuisance to the person working with me or any other staff. when i went inside for the bathroom, two different folks working their gave me clear and kind directions (hallways on the right, past the instrument).

as i sat, eating till 830 (they close @ 8!) they offered to let me keep my water out and stay longer, welcoming me to enjoy the patio and my time.

many many things went better that i could have expected, and i’m walking out of my time at Bandung this lovely summer evening stuffed, cared for, and smiling because of the love i felt in every step and bite of the time i shared with this space and its people.

i had a ton of tattoos and was reading The Mountain In The Sea by Ray Nayler.

i will happily remember this night, and i hope the lovely people i got to share with can too.

thank you, bandung, for exactly what i want when i visit a restaurant. and thank you for the incredible folks working there making it happen through their actions.

i will be back ^~^ peace and love...

Their food is good, but the service is lacking. The place is very poorly lit and food is slow to come. Reading reviews on Yelp, I noticed I'm not the only one who's received poor service. Here's my story:

We've been there are few times and we always order carryout. We've ordered in the restaurant before, but this last time was horrendous. We start to place our order for 3 dishes (two entrees, one appetizer) and in the middle of taking our order, the young lady excused herself and took care of 3 other tasks before coming back to us. It took her approximately 3 minutes to return. After ringing us up, she informed me the wait would be 20-25. I was surprised at how long it was, but went outside to wait anyway.

After waiting for around 10 minutes, some people came in and were seated outside. They placed their order and about 15 minutes later, they got their food. I went in to check on things and was told our food would be ready soon. 5 minutes later, noticing how long we'd been waiting, the other waitress tells us she's going to check on our food for us. After another 5 minutes I got up go in and ask for my money back and the first girl coming out with our food.

We were offered no apology for the wait, nor any explanation why people who arrived after us were served before us. They were not especially busy and the dishes we ordered were simple and should not have taken 35 minutes regardless.

We'll not be going back. There are lots of other good asian restaurants in the city...

Pretty good Indonesian food done up to appeal to Wisconsin. I had tempeh goreng, rendang, and bakmie goreng.

The tempeh was really delicious- deep fried with a thick batter. I had hoped for some fresh sambal or kecap manis to dip, but the peanut sauce was nice. After tasting that sauce, I'd bet their sate is on point!

The rendang was the star of the meal. It tasted very authentic - this is such a good entry point to Indonesian food. The beef was tender and the spices and flavors made my heart really happy - exactly as I hoped.

The mie goreng fell short of my Indonesian dreams. I would have loved some spice... I think if you didn't have expectations (or spice tolerance) it would be delightful. I don't know if they would add some peppers in or not- next time I'm in Madison I will definitely try. I did ask about some fresh sambal but it doesn't seem like that's something they do - in a non shortage time I think they'd give you saus sambal. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Overall this was a great restaurant. I loved the decor - definitely would have liked some gamelan or Indonesian music but I also understand the wider appeal of not. My servers were very nice and attentive despite me coming in later than I meant to (close to closing). Overall a nice experience and a taste of Indonesian cuisine. ♥️ terima kasih untuk sedikit rasa Indonesia 🇮🇩 ...