New York City Review: Minangasli

Minangasli
8610 Whitney Avenue
(Elmhurst, Queens)

718-429-8207

The last time I ate Indonesian food was back in 2007 when I went to Bali, and I was CRAVING some Indonesian flavors.  Just thinking about Nasi Padang or sop buntut made my mouth water.  An Indonesian taxi driver I spoke to one day told me that Minangasli or Mie Jakarta in Elmhurst, Queens, were the best places to go to.  

Minanasli was a tiny eatery with maybe five tables.  The food took quite a while but the wait was worth the while.  I never really ate gado gado growing up but I decided to order it because my friend loves peanuts.  When I ate it I wondered why I always refused to eat it whenever my mum ordered it.  The sop buntut tasted just like how I had imagined, with that familiar and nostalgic taste of the fried shallots.  The first time I ever ate oxtail was in an Indonesian restaurant called Sanur in Singapore and since then I love it! For my friend I ordered the beef rendang (a braised beef dish) because it's a typical Indonesian dish. For myself, I ordered the ayam goreng (fried chicken) with green chili sauce.  The fried egg with sambal was exactly the flavor combination I was craving and the curry sauce for the braised kale was delicious and comforting.  The skin on the fried chicken was perfectly crispy!


The food was overall extremely spicy (it has been a while since the last time something made my lips feel tingly like that) and definitely satisfied my craving for Indonesian food.

Gado Gado: shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, green beans and tofu with a peanut sauce and fried egg

 Sop Buntut: oxtail soup

 Ayam Goreng: fried chicken with a green chili sauce, fried egg, braised kale and sambal