Minang Asli Restaurant

This restaurand has closed.
The restaurant has been closed for business. No longer there.

Visiting Elmhurst has always been on my list of things to do, hearing from my fellow Unilocaler Geordie E. we decided to stop by. Staffed by Indonesians, it is one of a handful of places in the city you can get authentic indonesian food. Minang Asli has some very good Sop Buntut (or Oxtail Soup) @ 7.45 a bowl. We also tried the Ayam Goreng Sambal Ijo (Fried chicken with green chili) @ 6.95 a plate w/​a service of rices & veggies. All in all it was a great palce to stop, eat some food and practice my Indonesian language skills. There is some metered on street parking, but just up the road there’s free parking.

This spot has changed owners a few times in the last few years. so consistency in flavor changes. Its all good but very different from the past and original owners. Im not vegetarian BUT DO TRY the Kale in coconut milk. or the Sayur Nangka: green unripe jackfruit, yes, in a spicy coconut tumeric sauce! Remember, Indonesia is mostly muslim so dont expect pork or beer. Another thing… the food is TRADITIONALLY spicy as hell.
(please dont request not spicy. this isnt manhattan ok)

Neither very good nor very bad. Staff were nice enough but food was too heavy. Would not recommend going out of one’s way to eat here.
kale in coconut milk was good, but the sauce was too rich and thick.
ayam goreng fried chicken was nuked and dry and drenched in a very heavy, sticky sauce.
fried shrimp in chili sauce ordered as a main was thick and sticky and came in a criminally tiny portion.
Overall, an utterly forgettable meal.

My boyfriend and I both live in Elmhurst, so this place is close by, and we go to Lao Kou Wei all the time. I really wanted to explore the other places around us that we haven’t gone to, such as Minang.
Of course, I read the reviews as I was waiting for him to come home from work. Some were good, some weren’t, but I was willing to give it a shot.
We rolled our way down Whitney to the Land of Plenty, Whitney, going towards Broadway.
I made sure to ask them to make everything spicy, the way it should be. Just because I look white doesn’t mean I can’t handle my heat. Besides, it was so hot yesterday, the spice would probably help us sweat off the heat and humidity, yuck.
We got the Pempek Palembang (fried fish cake with egg) as an app, I read it was good, and it didn’t disappoint. The sauce was spicy, peanutty. We both really enjoyed it.
The boyfriend ordered the beef rendang and I got the ayam balado: fried chicken in a hot and spicy chili sauce. The beef was wonderful, really strong, delicious. I wish there was more of it. I was calling it beef jam, if I could I’d put it on toast!
My chicken was good, dry, which I heard (as in, I had to gnaw it to get it off the bone). When given the choice of dark meat or light, I asked for dark, then was told later they didn’t have dark. For some reason when I order stuff or am looking for something particular, is the one time they don’t have it. Unless you prefer chicken jerky (which again, I’ve been told is the way it’s made), go for dark meat. Save your teeth!
Finally, the rice was standard, tasted like Carolina rice, and the kale was SO GOOD… until I found a hair in my dish. That was the deal breaker for me.
I’m usually pretty mellow with stuff like that, and you have to if you want to eat really great food around here. It’s very unpretentious. But I also see all the health code grades around the neighborhood (Minang’s letter wasn’t up, interesting). I can deal with dry chicken, but the hair? Come on, not cool.
So sad, because I liked the elements in the food so much I’ll have to explore more Indonesian places nearby. Elmhurst has some great, authentic places.

As far as I’m concerned, the fertile crescent extending from Woodside through Jackson Heights and over to the western part of Elmhurst is the Promised Land of delicious food, and Minangasli is one of the true stars. It’s a small, no-​frills hole in the wall with unbelievably delicious Indonesian food. Some people might not appreciate a restaurant where the staff hang around in the dining area watching Jeaopardy during their down-​time, but for me it just adds to the charm. Oh, and did I mention the food? I’m salivating just thinking about the shrimp in Indonesian sweet soy sauce with toasted coconut, and the candlenut chicken, and the beef rendang that’s so soft you could eat it with a spoon, and the satay with rice cubes, and… okay I’m going to have to plan a trip back over there pretty soon. The staff are really nice, too, and would always slip in some complimentary desserts (also delicious).
Word to the wise, though — if it’s bright red, it’s way hotter than you think. I once made the mistake of tossing an entire shrimp in a thick, bright red hot sauce in my mouth, and ruined my taste buds for the rest of the night. Given what I was missing out on, it was a true tragedy.

Well worth the trip from Manhattan. I have dreams about the shrimp with chili sauce (udang balado), which is way better here than at Upi Jaya. I also love this place for introducing me to jackfruit (sayur nangka), which I’d never had before and am now obsessed with. The kale is a big hit too. For something sweet, get the avocado juice (more like a milkshake) and black rice pudding.
I’m not into gado gado, but have enjoyed everything else I’ve ordered.
I once did a little Whitney Ave food crawl and hit up Minang Asli along with Mie Jakarta and Lao Bei Fang Dumpling House without even having to cross the street. All great food, just thought I might explode.

I have only had Indonesian food a few times before but I have usually enjoyed whatever I tried. This place was one of the places that gave me a good experience. It is very small inside and only has a few tables. The place seemed to be run by an Indonesian family. For the appetizer, we had the gado-​gado which is a vegetable salad that is supposed to be a popular Indonesian dish. It was fine, and we couldn’t get enough of the peanut sauce that is in it.
Then, we shared two dishes that came with rice and a balado egg.
One was the Nasi Rames Ayam Balado. This was a fried chicken dish with was cooked with chili, so it had a nice spiciness. I liked this one alot, but don’t expect it to be some new, amazing thing. It was not worlds apart from American fried chicken. The other was the Nasi Rames Gulai Kikil, which was beef with lemongrass and coconut milk. This was reminded me of Thai food. It was also good.
The only negative part of our experience was with the Indonesian drinks we ordered. I had an Es Campur (it is a fruity drink with condensed milk). Indonesians have these fruity drinks that start with Es, like Es Cendol and Es Teler that are similar to some Filipino drinks. My friend chose Just Apukat, an avocado juice with chocolate. I had a sip and it was delicious. The problem was that the drinks were not brought to our table until AFTER we had finished all our food. See, it was obvious that they had ran out of the ingredients needed for the drinks, because we saw them send someone outside to the supermarket to buy stuff to make our drinks. We were slightly annoyed at this, but we still enjoyed the meal in the end.

We stood out front for a while on a cold day, looking at the menu that was mounted on the glass front door. The waitress saw us and brought us menus out front. I always try to prep myself with what I want to order, if possible, before I enter the restaurant. This is due to the fact that many places will rush you to order, but that was not an issue here. The door and menu states that they accept credit cards, but there is a semi-​permanent sign on the register that says the credit card machine is broken. So bring cash.
The hot or cold tea is complimentary and has a smokey flavor. I also ordered a Jeruk Nipis ($ 2.25), which is a fresh lemonade that can be served hot or cold. Me being a Floridian, like it cold and would not have it any other way. It was fresh tasting indeed and I almost ordered a second serving, but had to stop myself.
We started with the Chicken Satay ($ 6.95), which you can order as a meal or as an appetizer without rice. They add one more stick when you do not order rice or rice cakes in the dish. It is a little pricey, however you are served double the amount that you would receive at most places. The chicken was fairly tender and the sauce was thick and poured over the top instead of served on the side. It was excellent!
The Ikan Balado ($ 7.95) is deep two deep fried fish filets covered in chili sauce. The fish was tough and the sauce was various jarred sauces combined, it was difficult to eat. I recommend ordering their whole fish dishes if you are ordering fish. We also ordered the Ayam Goreng Saos Mentega ($ 7.25), a deep fried half chicken covered in a mix of kekap manis and butter. It was very rich and tasted amazing. The sauce was like liquid gold and you wanted to put it on everything.
I also ordered a side of coconut rice that was a generous portion and I highly recommend. At the register there are various homemade or repackaged snacks, we tried the spicy yuka chips. The waitress recommended their Beef Rendang and stated that it is their most popular dish. But, I have eaten that dish too many times and wanted to try something new. If we come back in the future, I will definitely try a noodle dish, water spinach, and another chicken dish.

I suspect the low (by Unilocal standards) average review is a reaction to this place’s having been reviewed by the NYT. Whatever the failings of the Times and its dining section, and there are many, it should be noted that some reviews here don’t make a compelling counterargument.
1) I would not trust the counsel of someone who insisted that my taco needed tomatoes and sour cream.
2) I would not trust the counsel of someone who pooh-​poohed a dish because the Thai «version» is, to his/​her palate, superior.
The less cynical read, however, is that Minang Asli just happens to be located in one of the best food and restaurant neighborhoods in North America. If you lived in most other places (like I do now), you’d talk about a place like this until your parents told you to stop calling the house. But I’ll readily accept the proposition that this place isn’t even in the top 10 of Elmhurst restaurants.
I thought Minang Asli was nice and fresh, though. It seemed pretty clean. (Caveat: I grew up in New York, and experienced the occasional cockroach in my parents’ uncomfortably neat and tidy kitchen [and at an early age, witnessed two rats copulating enthusiastically on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which is reputed to be, like, the most romantic spot ever]).
My kingfish was a little overcooked, but I’m a sucker for anything served with abundant fresh hot red chili. It worked well with bitter greens. These were served in a peanut sauce that was neither as industrially goopy as most restaurant versions nor as aggressively flavorful. I was really happy to have bought a bag of homemade chili yucca chips for the drive back to Brooklyn.
I am literally uncomprehending of complaints about price. I suppose the accepted norm has shifted so far in the direction of excessive portions that a reasonable meal now looks scant on the plate.

I’d heard a lot about this place but I felt a little disappointed after trying it.
We started with an appetizer of murtabak. That was the most delicious dish of our evening. It was fried crispy and its filling of ground meat was really flavorful and tasty. This was the definite winner.
The lamb satay was also very flavorful but the meat was quite tough and it didn’t have a strong taste of lamb (which is what I prefer) but I suppose some folks like that.
The beef rendang was very tough and stringy, definitely not the well-​braised, melty texture I was expecting.
The mee bakso (egg noodles in a clear broth with meatballs) had good flavor in its broth but was otherwise not very memorable.
Overall, I’d expected to be more impressed by my meal but I left feeling like it was just passable.

Holy deep fried hard boiled egg in spicy sauce!
Minang is the best authentic indonesian I have had in NY. Actually it might be some of the only indonesian Ive had in NY… but it is off the hook!
Cute, little, BYOB, super friendly, and pretty cheap (7 – 10 $ entrée).
Appetizers:
Tahu Isi — fried tofu skin — delicious, super deep fried and filled with stuff, kinda like an indonesian samosa
Martabak Telor — little pancake — flat deep fried strips with a tasty sweet and sour dipping sauce
Siomay Bandung — fish dumpling with egg and potato! — its the indonesian version of samosa chat. Put everything on a plate and douse it with the most delicious peanut sauce ever!
satay with Padang sauce — Pa-​Dang that sauce is gross! These were delicious beef satay covered in a lemony custard sauce. Kinda reminded me of the greek lemon soup. weird.
The main dishes got the Nasi Rames Rendang — braised beef it was really tasty and the Nasi Rames Ayam Balado — spicy chicken which was super deep fried and mega tasty. The only thing is if you get the Nasi, dont expect a lot of meat. Its a big mound of rice, a little greens and a tiny hunk of meat. very cute but not for meat lovers.
Oh and for sides —
Rice Cubes — this is exactly what it sounds like. Sweet condensed rice cube. !!!
Spicy Egg — I wanna come here and eat spicy egg all day long! They are deep fried hard boiled egg coated in spicy sauce!
Sambal Terasi Spicy Sauce — order a side a spicy sauce — its super spicy and they give you so much you probably wont finish it.
Then there is a tasty tamarind type maple syrup on the table.

Went to Indonesia with bf last summer, and assumed that I could find someplace in NYC where I could relive the magic of gado-​gado, martabak, avocado milkshakes with chocolate syrup… But it turned out to be harder than expected. So finally we made the trek out to Elmhurst… and it was totally worth it.
It’s true the gado-​gado didn’t have potatoes or carrots, but as I understand it there are many regional variations of the dish. To me, it’s all about the bean sprouts, hard boiled egg, cabbage, and green beans, and of course that lovely peanut sauce. As another review mentioned, it was pretty saucy, but that just made us want more nasi putih to soak it all up.
Ayam goreng (fried chicken) was pretty hot considering you’re in queens, with red and green sambal, some sauteed kale in coconut milk, and the ubiquitous white rice and hard boiled egg. The chicken and lamb satay were perfectly cooked (also swimming in sauce, but again, that’s what rice is for…)
The one flaw in our meal was that the martabak was a rather small portion for the price, especially compared to the reasonable prices of most everything else (we totally pigged out, got 4 dishes and lemonade and that avocado milkshake, and our bill was $ 36).
Yes and that jus alpokat with the chocolate syrup is not to be missed. And to think I don’t have to fly Garuda to get one!

Coming from LA, I wasn’t expecting much at all when I went to NY and ate Indonesian food. I was just looking for a decent food and we ended up here because the neighboring store, which had better reviews, Mie Jakarta, was closed before its time due to a sellout crowd which they weren’t expecting on its Memorial day weekend.
Anyway, we walked in to this store and the space was pretty tight, even for 3 of us. There were only about 4 to 5 tables and most of them are mainly for 2 persons, so big crowd, avoid this place.
My friend lives like a couple of blocks away and she told us to stay away from the noodles, because Mie Jakarta had better, so we ended up ordering 3 appetizers and 2 entrees for the three of us.
— Pempek Palembang (fried fish cake with egg) — loved their spicy sauce and how they put it into the bowl, so it could be easily scoopable, portion wise — it’s alright
— Sate Padang (satay) — if you intended to have this as appetizer, tell them that you don’t want any lontong (rice cubes), then they would put a stick or two extra satay on the plate. The sauce was definitely an interesting one, I wasn’t sure what’s it made of but definitely has some weird texture but nice flavor, though I’d preferred regular peanut sauce.
— Gulai Kikil (tendon curry) — They gave us about 3 huge tendons, but 2 of them are filled with big bones, a bit disappointing. The curry however was good.
— Ayam Goreng Sambel Ijo (green chili fried chicken) — I believe this is their signature dish. I really liked this one, came with thigh and breast.
Wished there were more chili.
— Ketoprak Jakarta — this supposed to be a traditional Jakarta food made up with tofu, bean sprouts, sliced cabbage, thin rice noodle (mihun), kerupuk (chips), and peanut sauce. They actually forgot to serve this dish to us until we reminded them. It’s just okay, nothing special about it.
For a restaurant so small with 2 servers and there were only 3 tables with guests that night and our server clearly has her head somewhere else, cause whenever we talked to place the order, her eyes were elsewhere like talking to the other server. We were already hungry and to act like that, forgetting our food and stuff, just made me mad.
Anyhow, if they’re intending to compete against Mie Jakarta, they clearly failed, and from what I heard, the management has changed 3 times, so I guess it’s understandable that everything you ate here in the past would be inconsistent. For me, this is a major let down, food wise it’s okay, but the service was a disappointment.
Beware that space is really small and tight, so group of more than 4 ppl is not recommended.

Minangasli was pretty damn tasty, but none of the dishes were superlative.
I know, I know, that sounds real snobby. But come on, Minangasli: you choose to open shop in the treasure chest of culinary delights that is Elmhurst, you gotta up your game.
We started out with a ton of apps to begin with. Stuffed fried tofu served with peanut sauce was mighty tasty, inside was a little mushy and the dipping sauce was a tad bit sweet. I am usually a tofu fan, so no complaining on my end. Deep fried pancake tasted more like a smaller-​portioned version of korean pajeon — crispy on the outside, soft on the inside with a soysauce-​y dipping sauce. Lamb satay was kind of mind-​blowing. The other Indonesian/​Malay restaurants in the hood do amazing chicken and beef satay, but if you are craving lamb, Minangasli can fill your craving. We liked the satay so much that we ordered another plate — that good.
Main dishes were pleasant, but nothing crazy-​good. Beef rendang was a bit on the dry side (which is supposed to be more authentic, I am told, but I have come to hold Taste Good’s saucy and fragrant version as the golden standard). We got some fish dish too (forgettable) and a noodle dish with shredded chicken on top, served with a side of broth.
Minangasli was definitely good, and it has a more vast menu than neighboring Mie Jakarta (better for groups and for massive sampling). However, if food is the top priority, I’d stick with Mie Jakarta. Or maybe just make Minangasli a pitstop on a crazy sampling tour of Elmhurst (combined with Chao Thai, Lao Bei Fang, Mie Jakarta, Taste Good, Phở Bac, etc).

This would be my first time going to Minangasli as well as with a few of our guests. The cuisine hails primarily from the island of Sumatra where their arrange affair is to cook dishes of small proportions in advance. You sit down, pick the dishes that you eat and the waiter tabulates the plates. Well, it’s not like this here, thankfully.
However, I did expect at least a decent meal and experience. The new owners opted for a darker décor in the main room but had tables for up to four. Our party of seven was led down in the basement where it was very cold despite the space heaters nearby. We ordered the following:
Beef satay padang with rice cubes (lontong) — the beef is boiled then grilled which allowed for a chewy texture. It wasn’t to my liking especially when the yellow sauce lacked flavor nor substance. I’d stick with the lamb satay with the traditional peanut sauce next time.
Gado-​gado — normally I like vegetable dishes but, unfortunately, this also failed. It lacked bean sprouts nor carrots. It’s like having no diced tomatoes and sour cream in a taco. How can this be?
Ikan bakar — red snapper was on the menu but I could only say this was passable. If you look at the picture, it’s as if the chef was just painting the sauce within the fish’s outline.
Tahu isi — this was only dish that was very good. Lightly fried and filled with a chicken and scallion filling, the dish was a favorite of all.
Bubur hitam manis — our dessert to finish our meal. Black rice pudding with coconut milk served warm. Four out of our seven said yay while the rest didn’t.
Our orders came very slowly but gradually became steady. The hot tea was served in a plastic pitcher rather than a conventional teapot. I am going to give the restaurant the benefit of a doubt and try again. Given that there are few other choices for Indonesian eateries, I would hope for an improvement.

I haven’t food in Indonesia so I’m not sure if this is 100% authentic. However, I have had Indonesian food in HK… does that count?
Lack of authentic comparison nothwithstanding…
This place is great! Deep fried tofu, longtong sayur and coconut milk with meat and veggies… all very good.
What stood out the most though were the freshly made sauces. FRESH PEANUT SAUCE! Oh man, so good…

The previous owner did pretty well, everything was fabulous… but after the new owner came… everything seems odd to me… the taste is different, the sauce is more little, the portion seems smaller and something is missing.
I hope they could improve their food quality and service which is very slow and the food takes very long to make. So far, UPI jaya is the best for Indonesian food especially their GRILL Chicken is awesome. I will come back to try something else at this place… and i hope everything will be better.

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to review this place, why I’ve put it off for so long — I’ve been here around a dozen times, I’ve had most everything on the menu — perhaps I’m just waiting for them to «open up» somehow… That being said, I think this place does only a few things and I think they do them all extremely well…
The appetizers are all a bit similar, simple and fresh and fried, but they’re all very good… The entrees are either served in smaller portions (of the entrée) with side dishes of jackfruit and rice and a hard-​boiled egg (all covered in their own amazingly delicious sauces) or (without the side dishes) you get a bigger portion of entrée (for a couple dollars more)… Nothing is very expensive here, but also the portions aren’t terribly huge — but I am not at all complaining…
Perhaps my favorite thing here is the entrée portion of jackfruit — I wouldn’t say it’s the very best thing (because so many things are incredibly delicious) but I love jackfruit so very much and this place does it much better than anywhere else I’ve ever had it.
Also good (extremely so!) is the beef rendang — I’ve had it at least a dozen times and I just can’t get enough of it, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it… Their fried chicken is great, their fried fishes are great, their satays (especially the lamb!) are special, their soup dishes are all special, their gado-​gado salad is terrific… They have a dessert here I really love, a sort of seasoned warm wild rice with warm coconut milk, it’s really good…
Perhaps what I like most about this place (beside the amazing food) is the EXTREMELY friendly service — about 24 months ago I walked in here with a hat and a beard and a few winter-​pounds around the waistline and asked for a takeout menu, then I walked in a few months later without a hat, freshly shaven, and a few pounds lighter to ask for a takeout menu and the person behind the counter graciously handed me a (nother) takeout menu, saying something like «we already gave you one, when are you going to come in and eat?»…
This is one of my favorite restaurants in Queens, and in general one of my favorite destinations for «exotic» eats.

Finally stopped in at Minangasli this weekend. Took me long enough, considering it’s right in my neighborhood and I had never gone, despite all the rave reviews. Had to see what people were talking about.
We met the one of the ladies who does the cooking in the kitchen. She was very sweet and friendly, taking some time out to chat with me and my Mom. The upstairs dining wasn’t full, but we asked if we could be seated downstairs anyway. They got it ready just for us, very kind of them.
We ordered the satay, gado gado and the beef rendang over rice. The satay was above average, much better than you get at most places. Very flavorful, and tender. It was served on top of a bed of rice cubes, which was interesting. I’d never seen that before. Still, I opted to just order some plain rice since I wasn’t really feeling it.
I hate rendang normally. I just don’t like coconut milk. But, I tried some of my mom’s order and wanted to smack myself for not getting it myself. It was really delicious, tender, and not overly saucy! Only thing was that we ordered the rendang over rice, so the beef came in a very small portion. Even so, I would order it again. It came with a whole hard boiled egg, and some jackfruit, which you don’t see very often.
Gado gado was a great veggie side dish. Bean sprouts, tofu, green beans all cooked together and served with peanut sauce. I think it was the same sauce they use for the satay. My main complaint was that although the sauce was tasty, there was just too much of it. Both dishes were drowning in sauce. In the future, I’ll order it on the side bc it was overkill.
I would have given this place 4 stars, but then the unthinkable happened. I looked down at my foot and saw a cockroach walk by. Gross, gross, gross. It kinda killed my meal, since I had really been enjoying my food up until that point. I checked out the open kitchen before I left. It looked pretty clean, no sign of roaches. But, I recommend getting your food to go … nobody wants to dine with cockroaches.