If you’ve never eaten Indonesian food, the rijsttafel ($21.50) at Hazzard’s Bar & Grill (1910 S. Dairy Ashford, 281-497-8783) is the perfect way to get to know this exotic cuisine. The meal starts with a cup of soto ayam, a warming chicken noodle soup, with noodles that are the fine glass kind. This is followed by two tasty appetizers: egg rolls and satay beef skewers with peanut sauce. But rice is at the center of this feast. Place a little on your plate, then surround it with some of the many dishes which cover the table. There’s the vegetarian gado-gado, a salad with shredded lettuce, cabbage and bean sprouts topped with a spicy peanut sauce; chicken opor, a curry made with coconut milk; rendang, spicy beef cooked in coconut milk; and nasi goring, the Indonesian equivalent of fried rice. There’s more than enough for two people, so it’s an economical feast as well.
This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2009.