Gado Gao, Portland, OR

                                                        Bakwan Sayur with an array of sambals in the back

                                                        Panipuri

                                                        Sausage and shrimp siu mai

                                                        satay kelinci

                                                        tomato curry

    

                                                        smoked chicken lawar

                                                dessert

 This is in my top ten best meals!  Gado Gado offers an exceptional rjistaffel, a Indonesian-Dutch food flex.  This is essentially a tasting menu of fourteen amazing dishes.  Each dish had a unique spice personality.  One was centered on lemongrass, another on citrus notes, one on star anise and on and on.  Each dish was very well balanced with sweet-salty-unami-acid notes and a range of textures, especially crunchy.  The meal is traditionally served with a set of sambals, which used the same way chutneys are used to try different flavor combinations or to add some hot spice.

I didn't include photos of the beef rendang, a staple of Indonesian and Malaysian food; the herbed omelette; the ikan woku, a seafood soup; the clove rice and roti canai, a rice-flour-based bread.

Everything was wonderful.  My favorite dish was the panipuri - a fried ball filled with spicy pineapple and tamarind puree.  

We also had great zero-proof drinks, too.

The portions were perfect for us.  The price was $89, which I thought was excellent for the variety of dishes and the high standard of cooking.  There is also an à la carte menu.  There is a small parking lot, but we found parking on the street.