Questions below are based on the following restaurant review and letter to the editors.
THE BARONG GRILL
Service ** Value *** Weekday evenings $$$
Atmosphere *** Food **** Weekend evenings $$$$
120 Stanhope Street
Open 6-10 Tues-Thurs
6-11 Fri-Sun
Tel: 236-4274
This new Indonesian restaurant, located in a building that has housed a Mexican and an Indian restaurant in recent times, seems headed for success. The restaurant has been completely remodeled and decorated with fascinating Javanese and Balinese artifacts. Indonesian gamelan music plays in the background. Indonesian favorites, such as satay (grilled meat on a skewer), gado gado (spinach salad with peanut dressing), and nasi goreng (fried rice) are specialties here. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, a rijstafel (a Dutch word meaning "rice table") is served. This is a magnificent feast involving dozens of exotic Indonesian dishes. My only complaint was the service, which was a bit slow the night I dined there.
Ratings guide:- -Price per person:-
Poor-*-Less than $10-$
Fair-**-$10 to $20-$$
Good-***-$21 to $35-$$$
Excellent-****-$36 to $50-$$$$
Best in town-*****-Over $50-$$$$$
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Editors:
I enjoyed reading the review of the Barong Grill which appeared in last Friday's newspaper. The Barong Grill is one of my favorite restaurants in the area. I worked in Jakarta for several years and I had been missing Indonesian food.
I have to agree with the reviewer that the service at the Barong is slow, sometimes painfully slow. That may partly be because the restaurant is so busy these days. However, the food there is so good that it's worth the annoying wait!
I believe the reviewer must have visited the Barong Grill at least a month or more ago. Prices for the weekend rijstafel have gone up. My wife and I ate there last Saturday night and our bill for dinner came to over $100. However, they now offer some wonderful live Indonesian music on weekends. Personally, I'd now rate the Barong Grill as "Excellent" when it comes to atmosphere.
I'd recommend the Barong Grill to anyone who likes good food and an intriguing atmosphere!
Frank Van der Griff