Saturday, October 08, 2005

Cafe Asia Virginia

After a rainy evening and starving for hours, my friends and I hopped into Cafe Asia. We were seated, once again, in the backroom, where the decor is non-existent and tables very small. I wonder if we should have requested to sit in the front room, there were definitely open tables for four.

Appetizer: to start with, we ordered Crazy Rock and Roll (sushi rolls) for the table. This item is under "Cafe Asia Special Rolls", not under appetizer.
menu description: Salmon, smoked salmon, eel, tune & avocado. $10
The appetizer came out in 8 small pieces. I'm not sure if I saw eel, it looked more like we only had salmon and tuna with avocado. In any case, the tuna/avocado roll was delicious.

The menu for Cafe Asia is rather extensive. Although I've been here many times, I don't remember ordering the same dish twice.
Entree: This evening I was drawn to the Nasi Uduk. $10
menu description: Indonesian coconut rice platter with spicy beef, crispy anchovies, pickled vegetables, emping, chicken satay, gado gado and spicy prawn sauce.
yes, I didn't know what half those ingredients were until I came home and googled them.
satay-A dish of southeast Asia consisting of strips of marinated meat, poultry, or seafood grilled on skewers and dipped in peanut sauce.
gado gado-An Indonesian salad of mixed vegetables dressed with a peanut and coconut milk sauce.
emping-I still don't know what this is.


Now onto the review. I found this dish to be rather spicy, especially after I mixed in the beef and anchovies in my rice. The chicken kababs were tender and spiced. Too bad they only gave me two skewers. I probably would have liked more. The anchovies are sweet, crispy, and spicy. They added crunchiness to the rice. I don't remember too much about the pickled vegetables, although they were probably good. The dish is definitely filling, a good experience with Indonesian dish.

Cafe Asia is not far from the Rosslyn metro station. Keep walking until you reach Wilson and turn right. For those of you who know where the Safeway is located, Cafe Asia is across the street from it. Enjoy the variety of Asian cuisine there!

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