M and I woke up groggy and confused to the ringing of my cellphone. Ever since he lost his Blackberry in New York celebrating my 23rd birthday two weeks ago, his parents/friends/relatives have all been calling me. 8:23 am.
After breakfast in bed, we finally realized it was daylight savings so went back to sleep. Last night’s “Zombieland” and cupcake spree had apparently left us exhausted. Suddenly, 1:30 pm. M’s parents were supposed to be over at 3 pm and the apartment was still littered with clothes from Friday night!
Furious cleaning was followed by an afternoon snack with two episodes of Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food.” An utterly disgusting show. Watching a man down Alaska’s “Kodiak Arrest” – a gargantuan crab, salmon cake, reindeer sausage extravaganza served on a door mat – is just sick.
M’s parents arrived around 5 pm and decided to take me to Borobudur, an Indonesian restaurant on the corner of Post and Jones, as a late birthday dinner.
I honestly have pretty much no idea what we ate, but the pescatarian options were numerous. M and his parents all decided to do the “Rijsttafel, a Complete Indonesian Rice Table Dinner” that starts with an appetizer and soup, and then serves up six tastings of their entrees with rice, finishing with either a dessert of vanilla ice cream or black sticky rice with coconut milk. (Thank goodness Borobudur has a website.)
I asked the server for an “interesting, weird Indonesian drink” and he picked the “Es Teler,” a sweet, milky coconut drink with canned slices of jackfruit, coconut and something else at the bottom. It was good, a little too sweet for me, but the shaved ice was a nice touch. The corn cakes (upper left) we started with could have been hotter, but the flavor was Indian curryesque with a Thai twist and delicious with the garlicky peanut sauce.
I tried some of their tofu and soy bean cake saute (left) before my salmon entree came. The tofu was yummy although I thought the soy nubbins were gross. The texture was grainy and tasted slightly fermented. I have had tempeh before and liked it – this was not the same. My salmon was cooked in Sumatra chili sauce and arrived with the side of coconut and lemongrass flavored rice I ordered as well. The rice was so fragrant and lemongrassy I could have eaten a whole bucket alone. The salmon was cooked well, but I do not think I liked Sumatra flavored food. Either that or it was just too salty.
Overall, I thought it was an interesting dinner and would like to try some of their other offerings. Thanks Mr. Fokker!
On our walk to Borobudur, we had noticed a little storefront in a recessed alley and decided to check it out for a nightcap. Le Colonial turned out to be quite an impressive Vietnamese/French restaurant decked out in safari, rattan and Persian rugs. The bar was in the upstairs area where our waitress said they have live bands five nights a week.
Their cocktails all looked delicious, but we finally decided on a Cucumber Gimlet with Hendrick’s gin for me, two Pura Vida concoctions with pomegranate tequila for M and Mrs. Fokker, and Mr. Fokker got the girliest drink of all – a Costa Azul. I do not remember what was in it except that it was neon blue. Everyone agreed a dinner at Le Colonial is a must in the near future.
One of my best friends is coming to visit this week which means we will be trying lots of new places!
xoxo,
Jenn
P.S. M’s stomach is making the scariest rumbles next to me right now and I am afraid it will explode.
