Restaurant Indonesia in Paris

In Paris, there are two Indonesian restaurants….I wrote about the other one already (located near the garden of Les Halles). This restaurant has good ambiance, good food, and reasonable prices given the quality of the place and the food. Lately, though, I have been going to the other restaurant, located on the other side of the river Seine near the théâtre Odéon (and the garden Luxembourg) on rue Vaugirard (website: www.restaurant-indonesia.com). This restaurant is called, simply, Restaurant Indonesia.

This restaurant looks less fancy than the one in Les Halles….smaller and decorated in traditional things (paintings, batiks and bamboo on the walls), but the menu is no less extensive. You could get complete plates (You get a plate on which you find the staple rice or noodles accompanied by satay, gambas in a sauce, fried egg, and a small salade in sweet and sour sauce….) called Nasi Goreng (Fried rice) or Bami Goreng (Fried noodles). Then of course there are also the rijstafels a dutch word for rice table….they have several choices that would allow you to sample many many dishes (they are served on small plates and you get a piece of each dish which is excellent for getting acquainted with Indonesian cuisine). The choices combine cuisines from different régions in Indonesia. Remember that Indonesia is huge and spans islands with different cultures, languages, and cuisines that range from very spicy to less).

Restaurant Indonesia has an interesting history : it started as a coopérative that included Indonesian political refugees (in the political climate of the 1960s) and their French sympathisers. It has obviously been successful as the restaurant is still there and seems to be doing good business, and it is still a cooperative. This may be because the food is good and the price is extremely reasonable (a complete dinner with drinks rarely cost more than 30 euros per person). More important, I feel that the food is quite authentic...