Originally published Friday, December 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Dining Deals
Julia's Indonesian Kitchen feels like home
We wandered into Julia's Indonesian Kitchen on a raw, wet day looking for sustenance and craving something warm
Special to The Seattle Times
Indonesian $ Julia's Indonesian Kitchen
910 NE 65th St., Seattle; 206-522-5528; www.juliasindokitchen.com
Hours: lunch daily 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; dinner 3-9 p.m. Friday-Sunday (beginning in January, Tues-Thurs. as well.)
Drinks: Indonesian-style fruit drinks and shakes, coffee and tea; American soft drinks; wine and beer license pending.
Cards: Visa, MasterCard
Access: not wheelchair accessible.
Rating: recommended
Itemized bill, meal for two
Lumpia $3.95
Martabak Telur Bandung $4.95
Ayam Goreng Kremes Tante Julia $12.95
Wedang Jahe $2.00
Teh Tarik $2.00
Tax $2.40
Total $28.25
We wandered into this narrow bungalow on a raw, wet day (is there any other kind in December?) looking for sustenance and craving something hot. We found just what we needed, starting with a bracing cup of ginger tea. "It's good on a day like this, but there are many reasons to drink it," said Rudy Tanumihardja, who suggested the drink, as he set the freshly brewed topaz infusion in front of me. The first sip stopped the shivering.
A slight, soft-spoken man, Tanumihardja is as soothing as that cup of tea. He was our server — and our tour guide — explaining the unfamiliar items on the short menu, patiently helping us pick and choose from among the Indonesian specialties prepared by his wife, Julia Suparman, and her daughter-in-law, Yusi Sasmitra.
Indonesian cuisine is influenced by many cultures, thanks to the early spice traders and centuries of European domination.
Rijstafel, a multicomponent feast with rice as its centerpiece, is a remnant of Dutch rule, and you can experience a version of it here. A miniversion is offered at lunch ($7.95); the full rijstafel is available at dinner ($48.95 for four) for now only on weekends. But beginning in January, the restaurant will open for dinner Tuesday-Sunday.
Simpler entrees, also paired with rice, feature curried or fried chicken, beef or vegetables.
There are noodle soups as well, and starters such as, lumpia, risoles (deep-fried crepes enfolding creamy chicken and vegetables) and martabak (a beef and onion omelet). Prices range from $3.95-$7.95.
The biggest splurge — Ayam Goreng Kremes, a whole fried Cornish hen that feeds two ($12.95) — is also the best bet.
Beverages go way beyond hot tea and coffee. Among the exotic array: a creamy avocado shake; an herbal tonic made with grass jelly and jackfruit; and an iced concoction sweetened with pink coconut syrup that blends shredded coconut, agar-agar and palm seeds.
Julia's two small rooms are homey and comfortable, softly lit and prettily done up with batik prints and Javanese puppets. It's a sweet refuge for an inexpensive meal whatever the weather.
Check Please
Lumpia: Four fried spring rolls filled with chicken and vegetables deliver crackle and crunch with every bite.
Martabak Telur Bandung: This egg pancake is billed as a starter but would be a fine light lunch. Egg is mixed with a savory mince of beef and spring onion, browned to a gentle crisp and cut into squares for serving. Sweet pickled vegetables make a wonderful accompaniment.
Ayam Goreng Kremes Tante Julia: This small, whole, deep-fried chicken is the got-to-go-for item. The crisp-skinned bronzed bird is cut into quarters and buried under "extra crispy bits." Delectable crumbles made with flour moistened with chicken marinade and deep fried to the color of mahogany. For more pizazz, count on the house special chili sauce, sambal terasi, a complex condiment that teeters between searing and sweet on a fulcrum of fermented shrimp paste.
Wedang Jahe: This ginger tea is not on the menu right now so you'll have to ask for a cup of the fortifying, sweet and spicy topaz elixir.
Teh Tarik: This milky black tea is also fragrant with ginger and sweetened with pandan sugar.
Providence Cicero: providencecicero@aol.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
We're awash in great fish-and-chips spots
Dining Deals: GreenGo Food: "fast food with a conscience" in Ballard
Happy hour | Union offers fine dining at happy-hour prices
Guest bartender Mike Meinke at Vessel

2009 fireworks time lapse
With strict parking rules enforced at this year's July 4th celebration on Wallingford Ave North, less cars and more spectators filled the streets.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Tax tips for new independent professionals
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sports car/coupe? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
nwhomes

Find a new home or condo that fits your lifestyle.
Search New Developments
Builder Directory
- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Shooting unveils very different sides of McNair
- Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
- Former NFL MVP McNair killed
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
- Seattle may allow homeowners to build backyard cottages
- Confessions of an Idol Addict | "American Idols" on tour: Live coverage from opening date
- Quincy Jones remembers "the biggest entertainer on the planet": Michael Jackson
- Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox: 07/05 game thread
247 - Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
181 - Hatred for the NBA runs deep, but don't take it out on the players
138 - Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
129 - Former NFL MVP McNair killed
113 - Property taxes: Appeals shoot up is King, Snohomish Counties
109 - Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
107 - Anti-tax rally in Olympia attracts about 1,500
69 - Mariners did their part, now they need help
46 - Megachurch pastor Rick Warren addresses US Muslims
36
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Seattle may allow homeowners to build backyard cottages
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- The People's Pharmacy | Estrogen mimicker found in sunscreen
- Researchers stunned by inmates' success raising endangered frogs
- Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
- Toyota's Toyoda scolds execs for emulating U.S. car companies' mistakes
- Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise








