Where To Eat

Many restaurants of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) make various outlandish claims, many of them, however, are almost completely without merit. 

Putting an Italian, a Frenchman, an Australian or a Swiss national in a set of white, linen dungarees and popping a tall, white cap on his head does not, necessarily, make him a cook and, certainly, it does not make him a chef, but the owners of quite a number of restaurants in the HKSAR make statements to the effect:  

‘Today, we are proud to announce to have engaged a top-notch, European chef who has had more than 20 years of experience in European capitals.’ 

Now and then, however, a restaurant actually does hire top-notch cooks and chefs from far afield and this is easily ascertainable on sampling the food that they create at the establishments that are paying their wages. 

One such eatery that, actually, does tell the truth about the food that it serves, is 1968 Restoran Indonesia, located at Number 139, Queen’s Road, Central, Hongkong Island. 

On Sunday, January 19, 2014, TARGET (泰達財經) visited this restaurant in order to sample what it claims is authentic Javanese food. 

Well, friends and neighbours, this restaurant does serve genuine Javanese food and this was proved, quite conclusively, because one of this medium’s employees just happens to come from this part of Indonesia and confirmed the authenticity of the cuisine. 

On the day of TARGET’s visit, these were the dishes that were ordered: 

Kopi Luwak
印尼頂級麝香猫咖啡
$HK168 

Indonesian Herbal Tea
$HK38 

Soups 

Sop Buntut
$HK58 

Sop Ayam
$HK58 

Satays 

Sate Ayam (Dua Tusuk)
Chicken Satay (2 Pcs)
雞肉沙爹(兩支)
$HK48 

Sate Lulur Dalam (Dua Tusuk)
Beef Tenderloin Satay (2 Pcs)
牛肉沙爹(兩支)
$HK48 

Sate Kambing (Dua Tusuk)
Mutton Satay (2 Pcs)
羊肉沙爹(兩支)
$HK48 

Roti Kering
Indonesian Crispy Bread
酥皮煎餅
$38

Main Courses 

Nasi Santan
Coconut Rice (Per Person)
椰香飯
$HK28 

Rendang
Beef Shank Rendang
巴東牛肉
$HK108 

Cumik Sakar
Grilled Jinsaran Squid
醬燒尤魚
$HK118 

Ayam Panggang
Grilled Chicken with Javanese BBQ Sauce
爪哇醬燒雞
$HK168 

On scanning the menu, it was very apparent that 1968 Restoran Indonesia is not the place to visit if one enjoys good wines, one is looking to have a romantic evening with a lover, or where one can dally for a few hours while one thinks about the problems of the day. 

But, if one is interested in titillating those taste buds with unusual and interesting tidbits of food, this could well be the place to visit. 

As TARGET Subscribers, no doubt, realise at looking at the number of dishes that were ordered by this medium on the Sunday of our visit, this review team did not go to this Indonesian restaurant in order to fill the vacant spaces in the stomachs of its reviewers, but to sample, as wide as possible, the dishes from Java. 

Java is an Indonesian island  with a population of about 135 million people. It is the world's most populous island . It, also, is one of the most densely populated  places in the world. It is the home to about 60 percent of the entire Indonesian population of the country.  

The cuisine of Java can be very spicy, but not all dishes have the ability to burn one’s throat, as did Mount Kelud when its volcano erupted on Thursday, February 13, 2014, causing some 76,000 Javanese to leave their homes for fear of being turned into ashes. 

Sates are very common in Java and so TARGET ordered all three versions on offer: Chicken; beef; and, mutton. 

The accompanying sauce, poured over the morsels of meat, was spicy, but according to our lone, Indonesian food reviewer, the spiciness could only be considered as being of moderate strength. 

The restaurant is not stingy as to the quantities of the meat that are impaled on the bamboo skewers just before being seared so that three sates are is just about all that a normal person can eat at one sitting. 

The sates were among the best that TARGET has sampled for some time. 

On the negative side of the equation, however, the two soups that were ordered – the Sop Buntut (oxtail soup) and Sop Ayam (chicken soup) – did not fare well because they were both served lukewarm. 

Turning to a very spicy dish, the Ayam Panggang (grilled Chicken), it was very tasty, but people who are not used to eating very spicy dishes would be advised to ask the cooks in the open kitchen to moderate their use of the ‘hot’ spices. 

All in all, if one were to assign points for the food at 1968 Restoran Indonesia, with 10, being the highest possible score, this eatery would rank in the high 7.50-plus points. 

Not so for the service, however, because that left a lot to be desired. 

Aside from the problem of communication, the Javanese serving staff, for the most part, is not at all friendly or even polite and, in some instances, some of them are sloppy. 

TARGET’s Javanese reviewer was treated very shabbily, with our waitress, looking down at this young lady in spite of her, speaking the perfect dialect of the island.  

No points for the staff.  

If one is willing to disregard the problems, relating to the untrained and inefficient serving staff, and one only is interested in sampling genuine Javanese cuisine, this restaurant is the place to visit.