(EXPERIENCE MAGAZINE) — Venice, Ca — I like to think that I am a cultured foodie, but then realized I have never tried Indonesian food. I am honored to have had my first taste of Indonesian cuisine with Simpang Asia (in Venice) during Dine LA.
The Dine LA menu had a lot of wonderful vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options! We spoke to the manager, Maya, who noted that the menus for the LA and Venice locations vary slightly, with even more vegetarian and vegan options in the LA location.
Maya started us off with an amazing nonalcoholic wine brand called NON. This brand is based in Australia and contains 0% alcohol as it does not undergo any fermentation. Instead, it is a mixture of fresh herbs, spices, tea, sugars, and salt that, when combined, gives the tanginess of wine! My favorite was the NON 7 because it resembled a cab; instead of tea for this particular bottle, they use coffee, sour cherries, peppercorn, Murray River salt and other spices and forgo the sugarcane to mimic the full-bodied effect of wine. This was a treat given that I am 7.5 months pregnant and miss the occasional glass of wine.
Now for the food. Unfortunately, none of the items on the first course of the Dine LA menu were gluten free, but this was probably a blessing in disguise because I was SO FULL from eating the other 3 courses. Although I could not try the appies, when the Roti Paratha was served – which is bread with a vegetarian dipping sauce, it smelled heavenly! Maya informed us that this is the most popular appetizer, so I would 100% give it a try if you can.
For the second course, I went with the Papaya Salad. It was light, refreshing, and had a crunch to it. At first glance, I thought the base was rice noodles, but the crisp texture of the noodle was actually the papaya! It was unexpected but very delightful. My colleague ordered the Indonesian fried rice, which Maya explains is different than fried rice of other cultures because they use “sweet soy sauce”. Again, this is one that I could not try, although I was informed that it could be modified to be made gluten free.
Out of the 4 main course options, 3 of them were naturally gluten free! The one I went with was also vegan. It was called the Vegetarian Rames which consisted of coconut rice, tofu curry, chili eggplant, and garlic string beans. Every bite was an explosion of flavor.
The curry was a perfect blend of sweet and savory while the eggplant added a mild spiciness to the dish. Furthermore, the green beans were cooked to perfection – not too firm or overcooked. I used the rice as a palate cleanser in between each of the various bites as a reset. The entire dish was delectable. 1000% recommend.
My colleague ordered the Woku Branzino which we were informed is wild-caught. Of note, the manager explained that all the meat served in the establishment is high quality because it is Halal. Back to the dish; the skin appeared to have a delicious crispy skin and my colleague would not stop talking about how amazing the sauce was. The menu does note that it has a bold blend of spices, and they mean it!
Finally, dessert. Both options were gluten free which is so rare and wonderful. I decided to go with the Es Cendol which is an Indonesian sweet drink consisting of coconut milk, palm sugar, and pandan jelly.
I had never heard of pandan jelly before, which was very fun to eat by the way; Maya explains that here it is made of pandan leaves and mung bean flour. The drink was sweet and delicious! It was a wonderful ending to an amazing meal.
If you’re like me and have never tried Indonesian food, I highly encourage you to give it a try. Particularly at Simpang Asia!
