Simpang Asia

I had about an hour to grab some food before my weekly basketball session on the west side. I need to eat light because my already challenged game takes a nose dive after a heavy meal. I drove to that odd neighborhood just north of Culver City where National takes that zig zag. There's Nopales and the Vegan Joint, just to name a few but I saw "Indonesian Food" and that caught my interest. Simpang Asia is located at 10433 National Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90034, 310-815-9075. It's a cafe and market. They sell not only Indonesian goods but also Chinese and Japanese foods and snacks too. I wonder if that's a reflection of what's popular in Indonesia these days or if their military history is represented here. Anyway, I didn't know what to order so the host was kind to suggest the special, Nasi Besek and a coconut juice. The Nasi Besek wasn't on the regular menu but dishes like it are. The Nasi Besek was a basically a rice bowl but the bowl was a banana leaf. It's a very delicate and kinda cute presentation. On top of the hot bed of rice is shredded beef in a coconut sauce, fried chicken, a thin fried noodle, pickled vegetables, spicy stewed potatoes, and a vegetable curry. Oh yeah, their was a fried hard bowl egg too. The tastes were familiar and not familiar. It was a mysterious meal that kept me wondering, "What an I eating?" In the end, it widened my pallet. I look forward to eating there again. The coconut juice was served in a coconut and was fresh and cool.