Borobudur Review

This restaurant review needs some context. The day after our gathering at Indonesia Restaurant I went to put on my glasses to see the projection screen at a lecture but found I didn't have them. Thinking back, the last time I remember having them is when I put them on the table at Indonesia Restaurant the previous night. I called Indonesia Restaurant and it still had them. After much internal debate about how soon I needed them -I generally don't wear them- I decided I still might as well go into the city that day and pick them up. And doing so was a good excuse to stop by the Indonesian restaurant half a block up the street and see how it compared. So out into the rain I ventured...

Borobudur was unarguably better than Indonesia Restaurant (IR). While the food did have a similar number of dishes with peanut-based sauces, the sauces generally did have different spices as highlights, producing dishes that were more individually distinctive than at IR. Most of the dishes at Borobudur were better than the ones served at IR, although I think the best two dishes at IR were better than anything at Borobudur. (It is hard to judge, however, because they might just have seemed so good by contrast with the rest of IR's simply okay dishes.) In short, if I returned to Borobudur I'd be happy ordering the large collection of dishes again, but if I returned to IR I'd pick a set that's mostly different.

In addition, Borobudur had a nicer, more upscale decor. It also decorated its dishes more than IR, placing a daisy (with red or yellow petals and a yellow center) and parsley on many dishes. (It's a minor conundrum: Do I take the daisy out to get at the food easier? If so, where do I put it? My plate? The table, and get the table messy from the sauce on the bottom of the daisy? ;) )

But there are some ways in which the restaurants are similar. The prices are comparable. They both have friendly wait staff. And, at each restaurant, while I was eating dinner a bum entered the restaurant to ask for change (before being chased away by the staff). That's the tenderloin for you.

At Borobudur I ordered the rijsttafel, a many choice dinner offered at many Indonesian restaurants and an analogous meal to what we ordered at IR. Again, it was an absurd amount of food as you will see. Here are the details on the particular items (in arrival order) and how each stood up by itself and against its counterpart at IR:

• Lumpia Semarang. Spring rolls. Similar contents as IR's (carrots, chicken, tofu) but a more normal size and less greasy. Decent. Served with peanut sauce.

• Peanut sauce. Borobudur's basic peanut sauce, like IR's, is pretty good, though I think I have a minor preference to IR's for a some taste reason I can't well articulate. Incidentally, Borobudur's sauce is a bit chunkier.

• Gado Gado. Salad of steamed vegetables, spinach, tofu, and chips with a little peanut sauce. IR's version of this dish was overwhelmed by peanut sauce; this one was a nice milder mixture in which the flavors balanced. The vegetables also seemed fresher here, but that might simply be because I could taste them.

• Chips. By chips in the last entry, I mean some kind of cracker. It wasn't obvious to me what type these were (IR has shrimp and bean) but these crackers were milder in flavor than either kind served at IR. I therefore liked them a little more because I wasn't thrilled with the flavors at IR.

• Soto Ayam. Soup, very redolent of lemongrass, of boiled egg, shredded chicken, bean sprouts, potatoes, and noodles. Decent.

Then came an impressive platter bearing six dishes:

• Chicken Satay (skewers). Good. The chicken had been marinated and was quite tasty. Had a minor hint of ash (from charcoal?). Served with peanut sauce but the peanut sauce was unnecessary and I ignored it. (Contrast with IR's chicken satay in which the the chicken didn't have much flavor on its own and needed the peanut sauce.)

• Kari Udang. Thin mild yellow curry with shrimp, red peppers, baby corn, carrots, and zucchini. Aside from the selection of vegetables -I preferred these vegetables more- the dish here and the one at IR were identical in texture and flavor. (Both were decent.)

• Rendang. Similar to IR's, a brisket in a spicy brown sauce that seemed to combine tomatoes and red curry. But we really liked IR's rendition of this dish; Borobudur's wasn't as great: the spices weren't quite as on nor had the interior of the meat hadn't soaked up as much flavor. All the same, this was still a good dish.

• Tahu Goreng? Oseng Tahu Tempe? (I'm trying to guess from the menu descriptions.) Tofu strips in a spicy sauce. Decent, but I definitely had to take some of this home because it was too strong to finish all at once.

• Tahu Balado. Slab of fried tofu with a chunky spicy tomato sauce. Pretty good. When I had someone else try the leftover, the sauce was identified as a likely mixture of diced or crushed tomatoes and an asian hot chili garlic sauce.

• Sambal Goreng Danang (?) (This is a stretch; I'm trying to guess from the menu descriptions.) Short ribs with meat that fell off the bone, served in a red curry like sauce with a tang to it (which might be from peanuts?). Very good. Make me think of the Indonesian equivalent to barbecue.

• Vanilla ice cream (to end the meal with). Good quality.

After the meal I took my leftovers -five small boxes worth- and headed home. Asking the waitress, she said no one has ever finished the rijsttafel in one sitting.

Incidentally, the waiter at Indonesia Restaurant had treated my glasses quite nicely when I stopped by to pick them up, having placed them in a safe place wrapped in a handkerchief.

Original Announcement

Since Borobudur was the result of serendipity -myself leaving my glasses as Indonesia Restaurant the previous night and, on my way to retrieving them, being hungry and realizing there was another Indonesia restaurant a block away and so deciding to take the time and do a comparison-, there was no original announcement.

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