Doraville, GA
Welcome back fellow foodies!
Today's adventure takes us back to one of Atlanta's little Asian neighborhoods: Buford Highway. Yes, the whole highway is AsianTown. Well maybe not alll of it... but yea. :D I met up with one of my very best friends and we began our little adventure at Tempo Doeloe.
The restaurant is a cute little restaurant located in a relatively new shopping center, right next door to an Indonesian grocery store. The decor is a simple smattering of traditional cultural items and pictures of what I think were the parents or maybe the owners?
Here is the menu just in case you get a little hungry and are interested in seeing what goodies you can pick up!
Based on many rave reviews the both of us had seen online, we decided on the combination lunch plate. Three items and rice for $6.49. Now that was a good deal!
Since the both of us had never had Indonesian food, we ended up getting very similar dishes. I chose the Beef Rendang (Awesome spicy beef), Sambel Terong (Chili Eggplant), and the Sayur Lodeh (Vegetable Curry). My fabulous companion had almost the same but swapped the curry for the veggie fritter. Look at all that food on my plate!
So the Beef Rendang had no description but what I got were nice juicy chunks of tender beef. The seasoning was very unique- a combination that I found very similar to other southeast Asian countries' cuisines I have had before. It was just a touch spicy, but still tasty. The flavors were pretty mild and blended well; I couldn't really pick out any specific flavors. Those eggplants were really tasty though! Just a touch of natural sweetness, a little kick from the chili pastey sauce, and the perfect soft texture. This particular dish reminds me of the sweeter stir fried Chinese eggplant counterpart. Cooked down in hot oil and its juices and then tossed in chili and spices. Mmmm thinking about it makes me want some more... hehe Then came the veggie curry. Lots of chunks of deep fried tofu, green beans, eggplants and some other veggie that I can't quite recall. The curry itself wasn't very strong, quite mild really, but was still satisfying. I hear the fritter was actually quite nice too. It was a bit on the oily side but made up for it with its giant size, flavor, and the nice golden crust. It was deep fried- how can anything fried taste bad?
I really liked the variety in the buffet bar and really enjoyed my lunch. It was a generous portion that came with quick and friendly service. It seemed to be the cool new place to try because a group of 5 came in about 10 minutes after we did saying it was their first time in too.
Overall, I really enjoyed my visit. Good food, good company, in a clean and cozy restaurant. Very family and friends friendly but probably not a great place for a romantic date. There was a little area off to the side of the buffet where they had the dessert menu but I was really craving my bubble tea so we passed on that today. (There is a Quickly right next door so be sure to pop over for some tasty boba!) :)
So How Nuts Are We about Tempo Doeloe?
Food: 4 coconuts. Tender meats, authentic eats :)
Service: 3.5 coconuts. The lady who got our food was nice and polite but there was very little interaction so there wasn't much service" to really rate
Repeatability: 4 coconuts. This will probably be my Indonesian go to restaurant whenever I am in Atlanta. Good portions, and nice warm hot foods!
Until next time, Selamat jalan!
( ＾◡＾)っ
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