Restaurant: Simpang Asia
Location: 10433 National Blvd #2, Los Angeles, CA 90034. (310) 815-9075
Date: September 2, 2022
Cuisine: Indonesian
Rating: Super tasty!
A quick lunch with Oliver at a flavorful favorite of his.
I’ve actually driven past this a million times. Plus the original Yamakase was across the street.
The interior is cute, minimal, and contemporary.
A good sized list of Indonesian staples.
Risoles. Indonesian crepes fried pocket with chicken, carrots in cream sauce with peanut sauce on the side. Delicious, like an Indonesian Mozz stick, but better.
Grilled Fish (Ikan Bakar). Flash fried prior grilling whole tilapia with special soy garlic sauce. Very sweet, tangy and crispy.
Turmeric Chicken (Ayam Goreng Kuning). Turmeric fried chicken, tasty w/ hint of garlic. Light and delicious.
Laksa. Seafood curry noodle soup; Yellow noodles, shrimp, squid, fish ball, tofu, green mussel, bean sprout, cucumber, & cilantro. The weakest dish, but we ordered it mild. In general I love Laksa, and this certainly wasn’t bad, but it also didn’t have the depth of curry punch I was looking for.
Cah Kangkung. Stir fry water spinach with garlic belacan. Available in spicy level (not spicy, lite heat, medium, spicy.) Very tasty and savory (salty).
The #8 Nasi Bungkus. 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. This was really awesome, like a rice already drenched in yellow curry.
Very spicy sambal and curry sauce.
Overall, I really enjoyed Simpang. I fact, I’ve ordered Postmates from here (usually the Venice Blvd branch) several times since. Indonesian isn’t as common in LA as Thai or other more “mainstreamed” Asian cuisines, and it is carb forward, but it’s also totally delicious.