Satay Sarinah

Becomes One of my favorite restaurant in Virginia the food is SOOO delicious, we ordered rijsttafel and nase goren which were so yummy

Awesome food. Must visit. Perfect blend of spice and flavor. A good menu where each dish perfectly defines the cuisine.

I don’t know what authentic indonesian food tastes like, but I’d like to imagine it’s something like this. Love the appetizer sampler and the goreng entrée with beef satay.
COMFORT FOOD, BABY! COMFORT FOOD!

Well, I’m by no means as experienced as others who have lived in the culinary capital of southern California or who became experts while backpacking in Indonesia. The last Indonesian food I had before this place was… this place. The service is great and so is the laska. The rice platter was delicious. It’s inexpensive. I dig it. But what do I know? I’ve lived in Germany and northern California.

All dishes were delicious! Egg rolls with fabulous peanut sauce. Inexpensive and great portions! We will eat here again

Great Place and good food. However I think the staff needs to be educated about their food as they don’t seem to be knowledgeable. Try their Beef Satay. it was really flavorful and I would come back again to try the chicken & lamb.
Also, to those who only eats HALAL food. this place actually serves All Halal meat. spoke to the chef. However they serve alcohol on premises as well.

Two of us came here today for lunch and were pleasantly surprised. This restaurant has been here FOREVER, and I’ve never tried it. I was happy to stop by today!
Upon walking in, the restaurant was very casual and clean. There were several open tables; we were greeted by a friendly woman and seated right away. We ordered the corn fritters, coconut rice filled with chicken (meat bundle), fried rice with shrimp and beef satay, chicken with rice and chili sauce, juice, and fried banana. The corn fritters were a great deal for the price, amount, and flavor! I loved the amount of corn in them, and the peanut sauce accompaniment was a nice touch. We asked for extra sauce, and out waitress happily obliged. The meat bundle wasn’t so great. I loved the concept, but the chicken was dry and tasteless. The rice was alright. I think this appetizer needed some sort of sauce and/​or spice. My companion enjoyed his fried rice — he said it was interesting to have a whole egg on top instead of minced and mixed in with the rice. The flavor of the dish was different and good. He really liked the beef satay! I liked my chicken dish a bunch, but I wish it didn’t come on the bone (this was unexpected) or with the lettuce and tomato salad. The salad was unnecessary and in the way. The chicken tasted really good and hit the right spice level. The chili sauce, though, tasted a tad like it came out of a jar. Even still, I enjoyed the dish overall. The juices were very refreshing — guava and mango. The fried banana (three pieces) at the end was decent as well.
I would like to come back to try the satay-​focused entrees. There is also a $ 28 plate that had ~10 items — it looked like a great deal! It was interesting to see how some entrees had a mix of meats, whether it was chicken+beef, beef+shrimp, etc.
Con — they didn’t have the avocado and chocolate smoothie or the authentic Indonesian dessert with rambutan, other fruits, shaved ice, and condensed milk. On such a hot day, we were looking forward to trying both of these items but couldn’t. Secondly, there weren’t many vegetarian dishes at all! Lastly, and I’m not sure how you’d fix this, there were a couple of flies/​gnats at our table throughout the meal. They were annoying.
Bottom line: if you are interested in trying a different style of Asian cuisine, Satay Sarinah may hit the spot. However, this place is good for meat-​eaters; if you’re a vegetarian, there is only one food option.

I am originally from Southern California where the international food is plenty. Here in Virginia I am lucky if I find a quarter of the restaurants that Cali has to offer. I absolutely love Indonesian food and there is a place in Bellflower, CA called Toko Rame that has some of the best Indonesian food I’ve ever experienced!
So, I was ecstatic to find this 1 Indonesian place where I could yet again experience my favorite Tamarind soup and Salted fish… However, I was very disappointed with the meal I purchased. They didn’t have the tamarind soup or salted fish, they didn’t really have any of the authentic meals I’ve tried and loved on the menu.
I really had high hopes for this place due to the reviews I saw but I am pretty sure the people raving about this place have never truly had authentic Indonesian food. I felt $ 12 was too high of a price for the amount of food we received. Maybe I need to try other dishes to really give this place a fair review but the Vegan platter dish we ordered is so easy to make and should have definitely tasted better than it did.
I gave this place 3 stars because although the dish my husband and I tried was mediocre at best, the service was awesome and our waitress was very nice and very attentive. I just wish the food was as good as the service.

I ate at this place about a week ago and I was not impressed. The place is kinda junky looking inside. One wall is all plywood. It looks like the windows got busted out and they are waiting to replace them. I ate the rendang «beef stew.» It was pretty good. Tasted like pot roast with a kick. Mom had nasi raimes «rice platter.» She didn’t really like it and the satays were small and didn’t really have any flavor. I was very surprised about that because the website makes it look like the satay is the thing to order at this restaurant. For the price, the portions were kinda small. I would eat here again but only if somebody else suggested it.

I love satay, when I found out they had an Indonesian restaurant, I was thrilled. So came here and ordered the satay ayam (chicken) and Soto ayam to go. The satay wasn’t to my expectation. The satay sauce was more like kicap manis (sweet dark soy sauce) mixed with peanut sauce-​kind of watery. It did not look like the peanut sauce that I grew up with. I even showed my Indonesian friends the pic (of the satay sauce) and they said it looks nothing like what they have had. Could it be that’s how the owners ate the satay back home? Who knows. The Soto to be honest, I don’t even remember how it was, in plain words-​nothing special. It was ok. Would I order it again, no. Though not too impressed with my food, I’d still give them a try for other dishes. Hopefully second time around it would be better.

Well it was not bad. But being born and raised in Indonesia, i have a certain benchmark my indonesian lunch need to meet. I had the combination plate. Soto ayam was bland, gado gado taste weird, the peanut sauce is much worse than one prepared in boxes. Rendang, satay, and kare ayam have soft texture but taste was mediocre. Lumpia and acar was blah. Lemper was okay. Nothing special. The sauce coming with each of the dishes taste just wrong
The vegetable curry, spicy egg, and pisang goreng (fried banana) was good. I’ll give em that. But that was three out of the 13 – 14 dishes.
Like other reviews, the krupuk was good. But could you couldnt f#%k krupuk up.
I wont be coming here again. That’s for sure. My cooking taste better and i dont think it’s worth the $ 35 i spent for a single meal

Very good vegan platters — the tofu satay was excellent. Our corn fritter appetizer was delicious, could’ve eaten several more servings. The hostess was gracious, attentive but not overbearing. The only drawback was the temperature — felt like it was in the low 60s. This may have to do with the outside temp — 21! — but, still, I like to be warm when I eat. I kept my winter hat on and was okay. I would try it again based on the delicious food and good service.

I really enjoyed the food here. It was flavorful and interesting. We had a ton of different dishes starting with a soup that had chicken and tomatoes in it. Very good. There was beef and chicken satays. A dish that had fish chips, veggies, and what tasted like a curry sauce of sorts. The sticky rice that has small pieces of chicken in it… loved that too with a bit of the red chili sauce offered at the table. Our friend says there’s a more authentic place up in Philly, but still, I really enjoyed the food here. I would go back and I live all the way in Columbia, MD. I think they have drinks too but I didn’t get to see that list on this visit.

I was quite interested to go here since it has been a while since I’ve eaten at an Indonesian place. It is located in a strip mall. I got a lot of food since I knew I was probably going to be taking some home. I ordered the corn fritters as an appetizer. They were crispy with little bits of corn and mostly batter. The peanut sauce with it was pretty good and the pickled vegetables were interesting and quite tasty. Then I got the Laksa, the spicy chicken soup. It was disappointing that I could not get a smaller version of this and could only get the entrée portion. The was mild and tasty. I wish there was more chicken in the soup. I had seen the lamb curry on Unilocal,so I asked for it, but it appears they got rid of this entrée. So, I got the Kari Ayam, the chicken curry for my entrée. It was ok, not as flavorful as I expected. It was not as spicy as I would have liked either. I then got the Es Campur for dessert. It was very refreshing, just wished for more fruit. Over all it was ok, but not sure it is worth a trip back.

Had a vegan platter. Fantastic. I’d eat vegan way more often if I could get a meal so flavorful and fresh.
Hostess is very gracious. The llumpia is spot on as well. Theirs is made with chicken and bamboo.

Overall: 3.5
I was pleasantly surprised. Get over the simple décor and the fact it’s in an unattractive strip mall (some of the best meals I’ve ever had follow that example).
The satay was legit. Delicious and complex peanut sauce.
I also loved the soto ayam (chicken soup). Brought back childhood memories (I spent 5 years in Jakarta).
My nasi goreng didn’t look impressive, but it tasted great. Sure, it didn’t blow me away, but it would not be fair to call it bland (especially when you add the sambal).
Finally, service was great. Kind, gentile, prompt, and smiling. Another fond reminder of the Indonesia I know.

It has been a few years since I have had some Indonesian food, basically the last time I was backpacking through Java and kicking it on a Gili Air beach. Oh, how I have missed some of my old favorites Nasi Goreng (Indonesian friend rice), Gado-​Gado, and of course spicy curry fish soup. So when I discovered Satay Sarinah, Imade my way there as soon as I could
As soon as I walked in the door, I knew what I wanted and placed my order as my waitress/​hostess asked me to take a seat. «I will have an order of Gado-​Gado and a Bin Tang beer if you have it.» She informed me that Gado-​Gado was no problem, but Indonesia’s national beer was not going to happen, I consoled myself with the fact that they had a variation of fish curry soup and placed my order… oh, what the heck, throw in an order of Indonesian dumplings (hey, it’s been two years o’k. Don’t judge me.)
I sat at my table, so eager, so hungry, so hopeful. Reliving the memories of my three previous trips to Bali, I waited for what I hoped would be a culinary trip down memory lane. I was certain that if everything was just right I would hear the ocean lapping at my feet with my first bite of Gado-​Gado; however, when it came, I was sorely disappointed. The peanut sauce on the green beans was somewhat bland, and I wasn’t really that happy with its mix of veggies. As soon as I was done with my salad, a pale cousin to the delicious Gado-​Gados I had tasted in Bali, my fish curry arrived. I took a sip or rather a slurp of broth and truly tasted a bit of Bali… Yup, I could hear the ocean again. Currytastic!!! Although not perfect, it was very close to the curry soup of my favorite Warung, a family run restaurant. My dumplings were equally savory, and the weak Gado-​Gado was a thing of the past, causing me to rate my meal as follows:
Gado-​Gado 2 stars
Curry Soup: 5 stars
Dumplings 5 stars
For Indonesian food this really is the only game in town. Fortunately, the game here is pretty good, so I will visit Satay Sarinah again. And in all fairness to the Gado-​Gado, unlike Chinese or Thai food, it is pretty difficult to get some of the key spices that go into the making of Indonesian food. Still, this spot serves as the perfect preparation for my next trip to Bali this summer, for in The Land of a Thousand Gods fish curry soup rules!

I hate to be the one to completely contradict the other reviews. However, the food was not impressive. My husband spent months in Indonesia and was very disappointed. He ordered the chicken, beef, lamb satay and I ordered the chicken with coconut sauce and we got cone fritters for appetizer. The fritters were greasy and packed with corn. Like too much corn.
Then the satay was not flavorful, the meat was like jerky and there was very little sauce. The salad was mediocre.
The chicken with coconut sauce was very spicy and flavorful but a watery sauce. It had tofu and carrots and potatoes which was pretty good. The salad was nothing special. They could have given more rice.
The service: there was one waitress for the entire restaurant and one cook. Service was slow.
I’m disappointed overall. We won’t be returning.

I had this restaurant on my list for a while — I was super duper excited to finally try this place out for dinner tonight! The place is opened only during the dinner time (they open at 5PM) during the week; our server was Ms. Yvonne, and she was extremely friendly, very sweet, and so awesome. For appetizers, we started off with Kroket Kentag, which were potato croquettes stuffed with beef, vegetables, and potatoes that came with a side of peanut sauce; we also ordered the Bakwan Jagung, which were corn cake fritters filled with sweet corn, coriander seeds, cilantro, and scallion — these were sweet from the baby corn, but still, a good fried appetizer — I definitely liked these better than the croquettes as the croquettes were a little too mushy for my taste. For our entrees, we ordered the Nasi Goreng Sarinah, which was the house fried rice that came with a fried egg on top, white meat chicken, shrimp, scrambled egg, and a side of beef satay, shrimp chips, and Indonesian pickled pickles/​cauliflower/​carrots. I loved this fried rice as it wasn’t too salty, and it was a nice balance between Chinese/​Thai fried rice — I loved the fact that it came with a skewer of beef satay; the shrimp ‘chips’ were good, too (kind of like the Asian snack, Saewooggang chips that you get from Korean stores). We also got the Chicken & Beef satay — the chicken was breast chunks and it was good, but I preferred the beef as they were cooked wonderfully (I asked it for it to be well-​done) — it had a nice bbq/​charbroiled flavor to it; the sauce really didn’t do much for it, so I might ask them for the sauce on the side next time; it also came with a side of Jakarta salad that had some cut green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers and a bowl of jasmine rice. For drinks, we had the Teh Botol, which is an imported Jasmine sweet tea from Indonesia — luckily, there were only 2 boxes left, so I jumped on those — I loved the floral hint with this sweet tea, and even though it was literally a juice box that was served, it was cold and refreshing! I could literally drink these all day! The restaurant itself is very cute with its decorations (I love the acrylic painting on the eastern part of their wall), and I am so glad that I was able to try this restaurant at last — I would love to come back for their fried rice and the beef satay, as well as try their other menu items (like their famous Kopi Luwak coffee, Es Campur/​desserts, and Indonesian dumplings). The restaurant is halal as well! Plenty of parking in the lot as this is in the plaza off of Van Dorn. Check this place out!
+halal
+shrimp chips!
+Beef Satay: D
+Teh Botol (YUM)
+ask for Ms. Yvonne: D

Three and a half stars. Attentive service, clean bathroom. A few touches to the basic décor, some light ethnic background music. We started with the appetizer sampler platter and weren’t particularly blown away by it. Lumpia was pleasantly light and the croquettes were interesting, but the siomai were pretty basic. Corn cakes were almost sweet enough to classify as a dessert.
Meats were cooked to proper tenderness and both dishes had a decent amount of flavor. Rice was pretty fresh and not too fluffy. Despite the spice request, the lamb curry actually had less heat than the rendang. It seems in retrospect that the onion chips were forgotten from the first plate, and tomatoes were neglected from the second salad. Despite some consistency issues, we’ll probably be back for entrees.