1. Subscribe Now
  2. Follow Us
  3. Follow us on Facebook Follow us at Twitter Subscribe to our global feed
  4. |
  5. Advertise

Cheap Eats 2007: Satay Sarinah

Reviewed by Todd Kliman , Ann Limpert , Cynthia Hacinli , Don Rockwell , Michele Kayal

Satay Sarinah

512-A South Van Dorn St.
Alexandria, VA 22304
Phone: 703-370-4313

Cuisines:
Malaysian/Indonesian

Opening Hours:

Wheelchair Accessible:
Yes

Nearby Metro Stops:
Van Dorn St.

Price Range:
Inexpensive

Dress:
Informal

Noise Level:
Intimate

Reservations:
Not needed

Special Features:
Delivery, Kid Friendly

Website:
Click here to open in new window.

Best Dishes
Potato croquettes with beef and vegetables; sweet-corn cakes with scallions; lamb satay; fried chicken; spicy beef stew; pickled vegetables; chocolate/avocado smoothie; fried banana with vanilla ice cream.


 

Reader's Rating:
No Reader Reviews

Indonesian cooking is unfamiliar to most Americans, one of the few Asian cuisines that has yet to cross over. This well-kept restaurant—the region’s best representative of the cuisine—has been on the scene since the mid-’80s, but eight years ago the owners shuttered the original Sarinah Satay House of Georgetown and decamped to an Alexandria strip mall.

The multipage menu will seem both familiar (curries, satays) and exotic (belinjo nut crackers, shrimp chips). The temptation is to order the rijsttafel, the five-course feast with the Dutch-sounding name and the Texas sense of scale. The dishes span the menu but are prone to unevenness. Better to put together your own spread. Try the sweet corn cakes called bakwan jagung; a Bogor-style batter-fried chicken; a coconut-milk-spiked chicken soup; an assertively spicy lamb curry; the fried rice called nasi goreng jawa studded with shrimp and bits of egg; and a beef satay, a standout with its roasted-coriander-seed rub and crackling edges.

The shrimp chips­? Called krupuk, they look like pink, misshapen rice cakes, and they’re utterly addictive.

Open daily for lunch and dinner.

Click to download our new iPhone mobile app

 

Follow Us Follow us on Facebook Follow us at Twitter Subscribe to our global feed
Get the Magazine Washington Lives By

It's your source for dining, nightlife, news, health, shopping and more in Washington.

Subscribe to Washingtonian

Washingtonian Magazine provides the best insights on:

Subscribe today for only $29.95 for 12 issues.