There is only, I believe, one other Indonesian restaurant left in San Francisco, not counting Rasa Rasa Kitchen, which moved into the former Pho on Bryant space four months ago. But people have been enjoying Joe Sharp and Patty Tang’s food since 2020 at their food truck, Rasa Rasa, which lives at Parklab Gardens in Mission Bay and opened just as the pandemic hit.
Thank goodness it made it through. Denizens of that neighborhood have come to crave the homey, spice-forward comfort food that is the hallmark of Indonesian cuisine — a cuisine that benefits from being part of the largest archipelago in the world, and is therefore influenced by Middle Eastern, Indian, Polynesian and Chinese cuisines.
The new brick-and-mortar space on Bryant has been prettied up, with lovely basket-weave lamps, swirling grey wallpaper, plants and a street food vibe, even while projecting a sort of airy, casual elegance. Joe, our uber-friendly server (who also spends time in the kitchen), informed us that the kitchen here now makes all the food for the food truck.
On my first visit, five of us started out with a trio of sambals — chili sauces, of which there are many, many varieties in Indonesian cooking. Here, the sambals were of shrimp paste, tomato and habanero, and came with a large bag of house-fried crispy tapioca chips. All the sambals were flavorful, with varying degrees of heat, but the habanero one sneaks up on you with a mid-range fury. That did not keep us from scooping it all up and earning a second round.
We wanted the family-style Tumpeng tray, but were told they were out of it. However, Joe said we could order whatever we desired, and he’d make a platter of it for us.
While some thought this beauteous feast might not be enough food, they were greatly mistaken. Clockwise, our tray consisted of gado-gado, padi oat crackers, gulai greens, turmeric fried chicken, pan-fried noodles with tofu, beef rendang, yellow coconut rice, and another little bowl of sambal.
The Rasa Rasa Kitchen gado-gado is a salad of lettuce, par-cooked cabbage, cucumbers, bean sprouts, carrots, tofu and tempeh in a creamy peanut dressing and topped with peanuts, a sliced hard-boiled egg, and garlic chips. I understand that Rasa Rasa usually serves this in a tortilla bowl (a nod to its new Mission home). The crackers, different from the tapioca ones we were served earlier, were padi oat crackers, Joe explained, and are made from the seeds of melinio, a flowering plant native to East Asia, and a typical snack food of Indonesia, with a slightly bitter taste.
The rendang, a slow cooked, “dry” stew,” had wonderful flavor, although Joe freely admits he doesn’t claim their food is authentic, which would probably mean it would be too spicy for most people around here. When ordered on its own, the rendang is served in a sourdough bowl, à la our own Boudin Bakery. Instead, we got chunks of sourdough on the side to scoop up any of the juices; a nice touch, but we didn’t really need them. My only complaint with the rendang was that I found the texture of the beef a little tough/woody.
The fried chicken was redolent of turmeric and lemongrass, a heavenly perfume, with moist and tender flesh, and two large leg quarters were more than enough for the five of us to share. This food smacks you in the face with its zesty flavors.
The pan-fried egg noodles with tofu had a great, springy texture. The fragrant yellow coconut rice may well have been my favorite thing of the evening. Tied with that rice, however, were the wonderful gulai greens — collard greens in a curry, slowly stewed with toasted cumin and cardamom, among other things, which had an almost horseradish whiff for me, akin to broccoli rabe. A bowl of that rice and the greens is now on my list of desert-island meals (and there are literally thousands of them in Indonesia!)
Rasa Rasa does not serve alcohol but, as Joe informed us, you’re welcome to walk across the street to the liquor store and bring back any libation you’d like. A six-pack of Racer X IPA went great with these alluring, complex flavors. We all vowed to come back, especially when we were pleasantly surprised by the bill — $126 for dinner for five.
On my second visit at lunch, Joe explained that the afternoon menu is slightly different — no platters are offered — but no matter, I’d had my eye on the rica rica pork. More coconut rice, of course, and fully planning to take leftovers home to the BF (which I did), I also ordered the chicken soto kediri soup, which came with plain white rice.
Astaga! Lezat! Both dishes were extraordinary in their depth of flavor. Rica rica (pronounced “reesha reesha”) is typically a dish made with chicken, I understand, with ground chilies, garlic, ginger, and shallots. Rasa Rasa’s variation uses pork belly (more commonly known as babi rica), and was only mildly spicy, with a lovely, sweet tanginess. Again, my only quibble is that some bites of the meat were a bit tough (surprising, for pork belly), but overall, this was a sumptuous dish and I’d try it again.
The soto kediri is a traditional Indonesian chicken soup, flavored with that holy triumvirate of lemongrass, turmeric and ginger, as well as lime leaves, with raw shredded cabbage, thinly sliced chicken, and a hardboiled egg half floating in the aromatic broth, soaking up all that deliciousness. This is a soup to cure all maladies, real or imagined.
There is yet more on this menu to explore: Fried cassava, chicken satay, balado (an eggplant and shrimp dish) and, on occasion, the food truck’s shrimp laksa will be served here as a special, I understand. I really wanted to try the roti bakar, a dessert consisting of toasted, buttered bread with condensed milk and chocolate sprinkles. There are also pineapple cookies and milk cookies to take home.
Not having had much experience with Indonesian cuisine myself, I’m so grateful to Rasa Rasa for bringing new and vibrant flavors to the neighborhood. You should all flock here immediately.
Rasa Rasa Kitchen (website)
2200 Bryant St.
Went here last month. The food was very flavorful, but it’s a little on the pricy side for what you get, even for SF standards.
Couple nitpicks: the service was just ok — our server kinda seemed like he was having a bad day…when we said we lived nearby and just discovered this place, he gave us a weird “well it’s about time you came in!” type-comment. Also the vibe is a little weird, not very cozy. Hard metal chairs and no booths or built-in tables makes it seem a little bit like everything is in there temporarily. But would recommend based on the flavors — just wish it was bit more cozy!
This place is great!
I wish these reviews included prices.
For the love of Mary, just go to Rasa Rasa’s yelp page.