Upi Jaya

Meh! I’ve bookmarked this place for a long time and when I finally made the trip here, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about the food or the service. I really looked forward to a hearty delicious Indonesian meal, but I think my expectations exceeded reality. It’s a small place, and not many servers, so expect slow service. Food was just OK.

Dried tuff meat that was over cooked in the microwave is your thing, then go for it. Don’t go, try Sky Café instead, not the best as Philly but better than this place.

Excellent! Im from Holland my Mother and family is excellent at making Indonesian food. There is a lot of Indonesian restaurants in Holland. I didn’t eat the food for one year so I missed it. I went to this Place for the first time, I have to say The food is really good and Authentic! The spices are right! I love the Rendang, soto ayam soup and Saté Ayam Just everything is good there! I recommend this place! It’s not a Fancy restaurant just normal inside! X

Last night the four of us had dinner. Started with three appetizers, batagor, lemper and rezoles. First the help forgot the rezoles, which ended up served late at end of meal. Main course was Nasi goreng, Soto ayam, Rendang Padang and Panggang ayam. While the food was okay, totaling around 84 bucks. They have the audacity is to tabbed us with a 20% tip included in the bill. Service was just below par.
I find this audacity way too much. Tips should be up to the customer. Maybe they did this because we prayed before we started dinner? Who knows.
We won’t be coming back, that’s for sure.
Oh btw, when my wife was ready to bite on the soles, she found hair sticking out. Gross. The waiter said she would deduct it from the bill.
Never happened!

Barbecue chicken is absolutely the most delicious chicken I have ever had! I even try to unsuccessfully replicate the recipe. The ambience is very modest-​a family run business with the husband being the chef and wife being the only waitress (occasionally the daughter helps out). The food is absolutely a gem. The service might be a bit slow as usually just the wife handles all service, food serving and money collecting. Cash only. If you have a big group better call ahead to make sure they open. There are a couple of times that they closed when I planned on taking my friends. The hours of opening might not match what’s on the website/​Yelp.

My Indonesian friend took me to try some food here. This was quite different than the Indonesian food I had in Medan or the food my dad cooks. Possibly because my family is Chinese-​Indonesian and they brought us food more suited to our Chinese tastes? Not sure. The food was good, but unbelievably spicy.
Favorites:
— Tahu Isi (fried tofu stuffed with vegetables)
— Gado Gado (indonesian steamed vegetables served in a tangy peanut sauce)
— Sate Padang Pakai Lontong (spicy beef skewers covered with chef’s special sauce made or rice flour & served with indonesian herbs & spices) — This was my favorite because it was served with this delicious white rice cake covered in sauce. The texture was so soft. Never had a rice cake like that before.
Not so favorites:
— Ayam Goreng Padang (padang special fried chicken) — I don’t remember much about this dish, except it was a little dry.
— Ayam Goreng Balado (deep fried chicken smothered with hot chili peppers) — Oh man, be careful of this dish. The chili peppers really pack a punch. I couldn’t taste anything after eating this and needed a lot of rice to put out the fire in my mouth.
— Rendang Padang *(traditional indonesian beef dish, tenderly cooked in hot spices over low heat) — The flavors for this was good, but it was far from tender. The meat was extremely dry and hard to swallow.
We also ordered a Teh Botol juice box. This was my first time having this Indonesian tea, woah the taste was unique. The other person who tried it with me agreed it tasted like the smell you get when visiting a horse’s farm. Apparently, the box we received must have been really expired, because I tried it again later and it tasted nothing like the first time.
I think I felt the beginning of indigestion, but thankfully nothing happened. I like my dad’s cooking better, but I’d like to come back to try more of their dishes.

A good place. It’s not much to look at but that doesn’t really factor into the review. There are tons of great restaurants that don’t look impressive but serve world-​class food. We got the beed rendang and nasi goreng. But dishes were really good. The cuts of beef were generous and the sauce was delicious though the meat itself was tougher than expected. I’m used to beef rendang falling apart in the mouth but this required a knife and fork. The nasi goreng was mild and very good. I’d go back again.

Important — this place is cash only! Located on a quiet street in Woodside, but pretty well known among Southeast Asians as a couple of famous Indonesians have eaten here. I got the rending padang (basically curried beef — so spicy, a little dry, but very flavorful). Also got the ayam goreng (fried chicken, wasn’t as big of a fan of this as it was just fried chicken and didn’t has much spice with it). And of course, you have to get the Es Cendol, the traditional Indonesian drink with your meal.
Overall, three dishes between my friend and I came out to about $ 30. A really good deal for how full I was.

Upi Jaya is the first authentic Indonesian restaurant that I’ve ever been to in NY. I got the ayam panggang plate which came with the Indonesian barbecued chicken, rice with sauce, and some greens. It was really great and took me back to Jakarta. We also got the fried banana for dessert which was delicious.

This review is based mostly on service:
came with some friends on a saturday afternoon and there were no customers. there were just family friends eating there. no one greeted us or seated us but that’s ok, we sat ourselves. the ac wasn’t even on until later which was weird cause it was super hot. i understand there’s only 1 person working which may be the boss lady? but at the time there were no customers… so she could have tended to us and given us menus at least. anyways, the food was ok. i had the chicken rengdeng. not much meat in relation to the rice. flavors were ok. a little spicy for people that can’t handle spice. would i come back again, i think so but to try something else.

Came here in a Saturday afternoon for late lunch. Almost all the tables were taken, but only one person working as server, counter lady, cashier, table buster all at the same time. Food were exceptional, ordered rice with chicken balado+curry and mee goreng. Definitely worth our trip all the way from Bergen County, NJ. But the service was kinda slow. We ordered teh botol and she totally forgot about it until we reminded her at the end of the meal. It was really hard to get her attention when we wanted our check.

Food:4 Service: 1
Went here on a weekend and had the chicken fried rice special. Noodles had a good kick to it and wasn’t too spicy. However there was only 1 waitress and it was tough to get her attention and take our order. Ordered an iced tea and never got it until we had to remind her. I would come back if the service was better, but for now stick with Sky café down the block.

5 stars: the beef rendang sauce
2 – 3 stars: the actual beef. Way too tough.
4 stars: the grilled chicken dish my wife ordered
3 stars: the veggies
2 stars: the fish cake appetizer. Don’t recommend.
Overall Upi Jaya is OK. It isn’t bad, and if you’re not familiar with Indonesian food, you probably will like it (especially if you order the right dishes). If you often eat Indonesian, I say pass.

You cannot go wrong with Indonesian food. It’s so good! Beef rendang is one of the best and my fav is dendeng balado. For those who dont know what is Indonesian food, then you have to come here and give it a try!

Decent Indonesian food, good for spicy dishes. Minimal service from the lady behind the counter.

After reading the glowing reviews eating Upi Jaya was a disappointment. Not only was the service poor (we asked for our appetizers to come first instead everything can together after a long wait) but the food itself tasted like it came from a microwave oven. The Mie Goreng was barely warm by the time it hit our table. The celebrated Ayam Panggang was flavorful but the chicken meat was dry. The Beef Rendeng was dry and chewy rather than being tender. I don’t know whether the cook was serving left overs but this was not the dinner that I was expecting.

I’ve been to several Indonesian restaurants but this one outdo them all. Now I understand why ambassadors come here to eat Indonesian cuisine. Food is just out of this world. Beef rendang is a must !
I had the nasi goreng and wife had new goreng! They were kind to prepare it for us even though these specialties are on weekends only. Superb service, extraordinary food, definitely coming back!!!

Amazing… my Indonesian friends all come here for the authentic taste of home. You can order anything and it’s great, so explore away. This is why people rave about the food in Queens.

Indonesian food is one of my favorite cuisines. I absolutely prefer it over Thai and I will never understand why Thai is more popular. Indonesian flavors are complex, multi dimensional, spicy, and just delicious. Upi Jaya serves food that exemplifies this. I could probably eat their food every day. I haven’t been able to try their Indonesian staples like nasi goreng (fried rice) and mie goreng (noodles), served only on weekends, but everything else I’ve had was wonderful.
I absolutely love their beef rendang. You’d be hard pressed to find a better prepared beef rendang. I know, I’ve tried. I do prefer when beef rendang is cut into smaller pieces rather than their big chunks of beef but with that taste and tenderness of the meat I won’t complain.
Try their satay and you’ll wonder what exactly Thai restaurants have been serving you and calling satay. Their fried chicken will leave you sucking on the bones. Honestly I could rhapsodize all day about their entire menu (because it’s that damn good) but it won’t mean anything until you actually try it. I recommend going with a few people so you could sample different dishes, but even picking up takeout is a good alternative.
The restaurant is clean and comfortable, no frills or fancy by any means, but a decent place to sit and have a meal. The service can vary depending on when you go. During the day there’s a friendly young girl who works there but on weekends if you get the older employees you’re in for authentic Asian service, which is to say not rude exactly but mostly indifferent. Don’t let that deter you because the food is too amazing to pass up.

Their food is super, super spicy! Don’t order anything marked as «spicy» here!
They serve very authentic Indonesian cuisine and the atmosphere is cozy. The only bad thing is the size of their food but the price is OK.