Warung Pojok

My “me” time weekend continues onto the next day with a bit of TLC for myself. Yes, age is catching up with me. I have noticed lots of white hair lately; I should qualify that as being in the last 2 years or so.

I really need some coloring and a decent haircut. There is an advantage of having Asian skin, meaning fine lines appear later. But in the hair department, white stands out more in dark hair than in a blond!!! Oh well, you can’t have it all…

I went to Kim Sun Young, same place I had my hair done for the bridal event. Actually this would be my first time using them for regular hair dressing. Not too bad, on a Friday morning, I was practically the only customer there. Everything proceeded efficiently. Now, I think the color is a bit darker than I expected. I asked for dark brown, but I guess there are many shades of dark brown. My natural dark brown is a bit lighter or it couldn’t be due to the white in it!!! Haha.

Afterward, I was searching out an Indonesian restaurant, which I have read on OC Weekly a while back. It is not often you can find an Indonesian restaurant in OC. I think this is the only one. And it is supposed to be nearby in Garden Grove. Warung Pojok is not a true serviced restaurant, more like a catering/take out place with a few tables.

As a small family business, the owners are very friendly and helpful as I have no idea what the food is. They all look very gravy, curry, or dark sauce like. They explained each one to me. Their menu changes daily, and all depends on the chef’s choice. Love that altitude.

So, what is this infatuation with Indonesian food? I guess, to me, it is more because I can’t easily get it. When I was in college, I was first introduced to Indonesian cuisine oh so many years ago. Yes, a best girlfriend at the time, and first boyfriend ever would count as a good induction. And surprisingly in the last week or so, one of the old Indonesian college mate (not the ex), Erwin, found me on Linked-In. Wow, it certainly has been a long time. When I was in Houston, I visited him in Dallas. And he used to work for Arco, which has now been acquired by BP. Small world.

It was good to get connect again. He is a late boomer too, but a bit earlier than me. He just had a baby girl, very cute, looks like him.

Coming back to food, while I was at the restaurant, I had the Mie Ayam Warung Pojok. This is yellow egg noodles with soy-sauced chicken & mushroom on top, bok-choy, and beef meatballs in a soup on the side. It is actually very much Chinese noodle soup like. It was very very tasty.

Then I couldn’t resist purchasing some other dishes to take home with me.

• Nasi Kuning - Yellow rice cooked in coconut juice – love this.
  


• Bihun Goreng - Pan-fried rice noodles mixed with vegetables and ground chicken – Chinese stir fried noodles, tasty but nothing special.


• Rendang Daging - Beef stew in thick coconut sauce – very tender and tasty


• Tempe Teri Cabe Ijo - Stir-fried tempeh and anchovy in jalapeno chili – I may have tempeh before, but I can assure you it isn’t high on my list, regardless how one cooks it. I love tofu, but this is not the same kind of soy…


• Ikan Bumbu Tauco - Fish cooked in salted brown bean sauce – This looked better than it tasted. Not bad taste, but nothing really surprised me.


• Teri Kacang Kentang Goreng - Mixed fried anchovies, peanuts, and julienne potatoes – I got a bucket of this. You can just sprinkle on top of steam rice or eat it as snacks. Yum.


• This grayish looking bowl of something - I can't remember what the name is. It tasted much better that its look. It has mostly vegetables.

One thing I did NOT get is the hot sauce. My Indonesian friends would top everything with the spicy sauce as they pretty much grow up on that stuff. No, not for me, my stomach has never been properly trained to sustain this type of corrosiveness!