In April, I reconnected with a college friend, Ian. After graduating from Syracuse, he went to pastry school in Paris. Ian then lived in Indonesia and China working at his friend’s bakery and teaching bread making classes. He recently moved back to the States earlier this year.
Ian suggested going to Queens for our next hangout. To put this in perspective, I’ve been to all five boroughs, but I hardly travel to Queens. When my family still lived in Brooklyn, we would often visit a relative who lived in Rego Park. Now that I live on SI, Queens is at least 2 hours away by public transportation. The last time I visited Queens was to watch my TRX instructor compete in an amateur MMA competition. FYI, she won. However, I’m trying to break my routine and explore different places while I still have the luxury of time to do so.
Living in a borough that’s almost isolated if there weren’t 3 bridges is tough. I’m either early or late and definitely am the friend that has to travel to you. Hence why I need to have flexible, patient, understanding friends. I was 30 minutes late in meeting Ian, since my dermatology appointment lasted longer than usual.
Ian wanted me to try some Indonesian cuisine from a market he’s frequented before called Indo Java. We weren’t traveling to Queens just for the cuisine. We planned on eating in one of the smallest restaurants in the city—Warung Selasa. He found out about this place watching a YouTube video from a food publication. Ian told me the name means outdoor restaurant. The night before, the restaurant posts a photo onto their Instagram with a description of the dish they plan on serving the next day. We had lunch on a Tuesday, but I overheard the cook say someone else runs the restaurant on Thursday.
When we entered the market around 2PM, the staff was so happy to see Ian. I felt like I was dining with the mayor of Queens. The restaurant is toward the back of the store, where there are two bright yellow tables. Each table seats up to 2 people. We lucked out and snagged the last table. Once you are seated the cook will greet you, tell you what’s on the menu, and ask if you’re okay with what’s being served. Then she’ll ask how much spice you can handle. If you don’t like spice, then what the heck are you doing in an Indonesian restaurant in the first place? The cooking area is behind a rack of food and there’s also a restroom. I didn’t use it, but the gentleman at the other table requested to do so and the cook showed him it was behind the kitchen area.
This was my first time having Indonesian food and I thought it was pretty good. I enjoyed the presentation of the banana leaf at the bottom of the plate. Ian mentioned it was placed there if you wanted to eat with your hands instead of using the utensils provided. I wish the fried chicken would’ve been crispy, but flavor wise it was delicious and the jalapeño sauce wasn’t too spicy. The shredded beef was on the sweet side, but I liked it. If you’re not the type to like your meat sweet, you may not be a fan of the cuisine. According to Ian, the cook is from Java and their cooking tends to be sweeter. I loved the lemon grass stewed egg covered with sambal. It was my favorite part of the dish! The vegetables were fine, but the coconut was too sweet for me. I tried to eat as much as I could since I was raised not to waste food, but ultimately couldn’t force myself to clean my plate. A plate at Warung Selasa is only $10 and you pay at the register at the front of the store.
If I’m ever in the area and like what I see on their Instagram, perhaps I’ll eat there again. Until then, let’s make bets (non-monetary ones, of course) on when I’ll be in Queens next.