If you’ve ever wanted an excuse to dine out in Los Angeles and sample multiple dishes at once, then Dine LA is the event for you! From Jan. 23 to Feb. 6 this year, hundreds of participating restaurants in the LA area are offering smaller tasting courses of their menus for a reduced fee. These days, when an entree alone might cost you $25, you might be interested in visiting a participating establishment and ordering a couple of different items for the same price.
Simpang Asia is one of these restaurants, located on the edge of Culver City and only a ten minute car ride from UCLA. Indonesian fare can be difficult to find in LA, but here, you can satisfy that craving with traditional Indonesian food as well as menu items with influences from Malaysia and Singapore. This cultural blend also seeps its way into similarly inspired decor with palm tree murals and leafy, tropical plants scattered throughout the dimly lit space.
For Dine LA, they have adapted their menu. During lunch, they are offering an appetizer and a main for $25, with two choices for the appetizer and four options for the entree.
The first appetizer choice was the roti paratha, which is a flaky flatbread served with a small dish of curry. The paratha itself was exceptionally buttery to the point that you could smell it once it landed on your table and it had such delicate layers that it snapped easily between the teeth. It could almost be likened to a croissant. The curry it was served with was creamy with a distinct, well-spiced curry flavor that was both warm and rich with the herbs.
Alternatively, you could get the vegetable egg rolls–called lumpia in Indonesia–with tamarind sauce. The texture of the wrapper was incredible, a beautiful blistered brown with visible air bubbles and a slight sheen of oil. While the filling was not too flavorful, consisting mostly of unseasoned cabbage and carrots, they were delicious once dipped in the tamarind sauce, soaking up the sweet and fruity flavor. Though there were only two rolls, they were decently sized, each half requiring two or three bites, which is better than the petite one-bite appetizers that have begun to dominate starting courses at many restaurants.
As the first main to arrive, the nasi bungkus came with much fanfare. A traditional mix of chicken curry, beef rendang, vegetables and coconut rice, the meal came wrapped in a large banana leaf to be unfolded. The portions were generous, especially for today’s economy. It came with both a chicken drumstick and a thigh, as well as a half-egg covered in an Indonesian chili sauce called sambal. The coconut-forward curry was not lacking in flavor, as it was very creamy and had a little spice creeping behind the initial bite. Since everything was braised in a plentiful amount of sauce and marinade, the chicken and beef were both very tender. The vegetables added a nice textural contrast to the rest of the rice dish while retaining the curry flavor it was cooked in.
However, it could have come with more curry since it was not dispersed evenly over the rice, and the sambal egg came boiled, yet the skin had the texture of a fried egg which was a little off-putting. Additionally, for such a traditional meal, the nasi bungkus could have come spicier, as the level of chili, especially in the sambal, was a little underwhelming.
Promoted as the “addictive” national dish of Indonesia, Simpang Asia promised to elevate nasi goreng into a signature entree for Dine LA. It certainly had a striking appearance, arriving at our table topped with a fried egg, yolk still glistening and a fried wonton standing like a soldier at the top of the rice dome. Digging a spoon into the giant mound of golden grains felt comforting and indulgent and the first few bites were full of soul-soothing sweet soy flavor.
However, the kecap manis used to stir-fry the rice was fairly similar to the tamarind sauce for the lumpia, making the meal, as a whole, feel rather one-noted. Originally a novel and delicious dip, the sweet taste quickly got old when it dominated the nasi goreng. The sprinkling of greens atop the rice was too small and too bland to affect the flavor profile, and this issue repeated with the egg – they both quickly disappeared and you could barely notice their presence. Even the chicken satay skewers were on the sweet side, lacking the traditional peanut sauce that would’ve welcomed salt to the dish’s flavor profile.
Though the slightly sweeter take on fried rice is enjoyable and easy to eat, it leaves you wishing for a savory or spicy palate cleanser. This is one of the advantages to exploring Dine LA with a group, since you can sample your friend’s entrees if your own meal doesn’t satisfy your cravings.
Dine LA is supposed to be a gastronomic deal, the equivalent of Amazon Prime Day for foodies in Los Angeles. Simpang Asia’s tasting courses were hit or miss when it came to meeting this expectation. Both appetizers were excellent but also weren’t too expensive on the regular menu, so the value of the meal really came down to the entree.
The nasi bungkus was the standout selection with impressively large portions and punchy flavors. With chicken curry, beef rendang, vegetables and an egg, the nasi bungkus allows you to sample the best of Indonesian cuisine in a dramatic and fun fashion. On the other hand, the nasi goreng was a surprisingly simple dish, and not necessarily in the “less is more” way. Besides a few onions and scallions, there were no vegetables to vary the bites, leaving a heaping pile of plain fried rice which you can eat happily but not without wondering what you paid $25 (plus tax and tip) for.
It’s up to you to make the most of Dine LA at Simpang Asia. If you want the best value, go for the nasi bungkus, which is normally $24, so with the Dine LA deal, you’re essentially getting a free appetizer. However, their other entrees are still delicious and it’s difficult to choose between the roti paratha and lumpia, so you may want to bring your friends in order to try more of the menu.
Ultimately, Dine LA is an opportunity to explore the best of LA’s culinary diversity, trying new cuisines and going out to different areas of the city. Simpang Asia offers both of those benefits, especially to UCLA students due to its convenient location along many bus routes departing from campus. Whether you’ve been searching for the best satay spot in LA or you’ve never even heard of rendang, Simpang Asia is sure to be an exciting foray into the Indonesian food scene of Los Angeles.
