Warung Pojok

my favorite spot to eat indonesian food. it tastes almost as good as the authentic one. a bit pricey but totally worth it.

They have the best mie ayam, soto betawi, and nasi goreng!

I had the gado gado, which the peanut sauce was not salty enough. It had a nice kick to it though. Shrimp chips tasted fresh. For a salad without any meat, it was a bit pricey. Overall, it wouldn’t be something I would order again. The sweet tea was good for the summer, I mean, fall heat wave.

Visited this place earlier today and I can’t wait to go back! Food was delicious, authentic, simple, and priced well. You can order fresh food like Nasi Goreng and Soto Ayam, but I personally like ordering the plethora of side dishes in the express line :) So much faster and I am always horrible about waiting!
I got the 3 item plate: half nasi uduk (coconut rice) and bihun goreng (fried rice noodles), with ayam pangang (grilled chicken), sayur tempeh (sautéed tempeh), and chicken gizzards. So so good! They even offered me sambal terasi (extra good but no very spicy) and there was kecap manis on the side. The boy friend got something simple– nasi goreng (fried rice) with chicken. We both shared an order of sate ayam (Indo chicken kebabs with peanut sauce). I also indulged in Es Cendol :)))))
I assume they get busy sometimes, especially during lunch time, but we came around 2pm and were the only patrons there. The owners were there and they were so nice! Our bill came to under $ 30. Definitely will be coming back!

Amazing delicious and family friendly spot. Had the three item plates and dessert. Everything was delicious and so cheap. I will be hitting this spot from now on.

I decided to try Warung Pojok for lunch when visiting Garden Groove for work a couple of days ago. I’ve only been to a handful of Indonesian restaurants in LA (Tako Rame and Simpang Asia immediately come to mind) so I was curious to see what Warung Pojok had to offer. Warung Pojok is located in the corner of a typical L shaped shopping plaza whose parking lot was completely packed at peak lunch hours but I managed to get a spot in a corner on the far end. It was about half full at the peak lunch hour which I took as a good sign. Warung Pojok is also a steam table operation similar to many Indian buffet or Chinese fast food places which was a surprise as I was expecting it to be more of a sit down restaurant. I walked over to the steam table and checked out the food that was laid out. As none of it was labeled I asked the mild mannered gentleman behind the counter who walked me through a couple of dishes on offer.
I decided to get a two item combo ($ 6.89) with half rice and half noodles (similar to how you would order in lets say a Hong Kong Express) and selected one chicken and one beef item. Taste-​wise the chicken in red curry had the skin on which I am not a very big fan of, but it slid off effortlessly exposing a nice juice piece of bone-​in chicken. The beef was a little tough but not chewy. Both the dishes were definitely an acquired taste that you would need to build over a period of time.
Pricewise it was comparable to a two item combo in a Chinese fast food place so it was pretty cheap. What I did not like was that I did not know the Indonesian names of the dishes that I ate except that the primary protein was chicken or beef. It would have been nice if the food in the trays was labeled so that you know what you are getting but most places don’t do that as their primary repeat customer base knows what to order by just looking at the food (e.g. Filipino turu-​turu places are also notorious for not labeling their trays). Overall I think this would be like a perfect 3.5 star rating that I’m rounding up to 4 starts. Warung Pojok would be a good option to change things up once in a while so if I was local to Garden Groove I would probably add it to my lunch rotation.

full disclosure: this was my first and only experience with Indonesian food, so I have nothing to compare this to. my review is based on this sole experience
I found this place on Unilocal and decided to try it because I was hungry, was not craving anything in particular, and have the desire to try everything once.
When I came in, everyone was speaking Indonesian. To me, this is a good sign of authenticity. I walked to the counter and the cashier greeted me with a smile. I told her I’d never had Indonesian food before, and she happily explained what everything was (this is a food-​to-​go type establishment).
I asked for recommendations on which items were the most common/​popular.
She pointed first to the soy bean cake, but warned me that some people love it and some people hate it and have me a sample. I loved it. This was my favorite item by far.
I was also recommended the tofu and egg. It had almost a curry flavor to it. I also liked this a lot.
Although I meant to only order a 2 item combo, it struck me that I had no meat, so I added an item and went with her third recommendation which was this beef thing. I did not like it at all. The sauce seemed like it was made of gizzard or something.
All in all I went 2 for 3 in the items I chose and will probably be back to try other items, although I’ll be cautious as to which friends to take. The food quality was OK, but it’s a food-​to-​go place for crying aloud.
It’s a 3.5 star, but the friendly service is why I chose 4 rather than 3.

I’ve never had an interest in Indonesian food but I would give it a try since I watch a lot of Travel Channel. When I heard there was an Indonesian restaurant near where I worked I was pretty excited since there’s not a big Indo population in SoCal, at least I’m not aware of anyway.
The store itself is in a plaza with plenty of parking and next to the other food shops if this is not your thing. First thing you notice is its like your typical Asian restaurant where the owners kids are hanging out in the front. The food is displayed and you can pick and choose which you want but from what I hear the menu changes everyday so some things you might want you won’t be able to get depending on the day. I ended up getting half coconut rice, half stir fried noodles, some meat peanut thing, spicy chicken, and egg tofu. First thing I noticed was it tasted very homey, like something you would get at someone’s house. The other thing I noticed was the familiar taste, even though it was present in a different way it was good, different, but familiar since I’m south east Asian myself.
The worker was very nice and asked if I was Indonesian and how did I hear about Indo food. They also give you free ice tea when you check in on Unilocal,don’t know if its for first timers or for everything you come in though. You can pay with cash and now credit card/​atm via Square, don’t know how much they charge for using Square but if its 3% it would just be a 3 cents for every dollar so its not a big deal. Would come again if I feel like getting some home cooking.

Escaping from the convention center, we took a $ 5 Über a few miles away. Small family owned, hole in the wall, door open, fan swirling, I felt I could have been in Indonesia. Cheap family cooking and pleasant service. We were stuffed.

had a craving for some SE asian home cooking and Unilocal recommended this charming spot while I was on my way to Disneyland. super friendly service, every dish was explained to me, and I chose the chayote (veggies), beef in coconut milk (rich and tasty) and the chicken in soy sauce with coconut rice and a couple of fried eggs… all yummy! (and yes, I was very hungry)
didn’t get a chance to try any of the desserts, but I’m saving that for next time. small selection of Indonesian snacks and stuff, too.

I brought my Mom here last week for some good, authentic Indonesian food. She is 100% Indonesian so she knows what this type of food is and what it’s supposed to taste like. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the dish she ordered but she did finish it and she said it was definitely authentic. I ordered gado gado, kroket and risoles and I ate it all. Even the orange smoothie I ordered was tasty too and didn’t have that phony taste you usually get. My only gripe would be that I wish they would be open until 9. Sometimes it’s really tough to get over there by 8 without walking in as they are finishing up for the night.

Came here with my friend who’s from Indonesia, but the first try in this place for both of us. And it’s even the first Of my life for Indonesian foods.
Honestly, I don’t know if the food is authentic, but my friend said it’s pretty close.
However, one thing is for sure, the food tastes homey!

I drove all the way here from San Diego just to fulfil my craving of authentic Indo food. I wasn’t too disappointed nor too satisfied with the taste of the foods. Growing up in Indonesia makes me have high expectation about the taste of Indo food and this place did not meet it. Their foods were just OK to me. However the service was good. If I happen to be in the area again I might go back.

This Indo place is the real deal! It’s like being invited to this Jacarda family’s home. The longtong sayur, beef, tofu & egg served with rice cake in a light curry broth, the flavor is delicious. The 3 item combo we got, eggplant, spicy chicken & tender chicken gizzard came with tasty coconut rice & mi goreng. Finished off the meal with cendol and added some grass jelly. They’re very similar to Indo Ranch, worth the drive from Mission Viejo.

Excellent food, service! The best Indonesian food in USA!!! Must go if u haven’t been

There aren’t many options for Indonesian food in Orange County. The two alternatives to Warung Pojok are Toko Rame in Bellflower and Indo Ranch in Lake Forest.
Pojok is more similar to Indo Ranch in that they both serve fast food from a steam table and homemade Indonesian snacks called «jajanan». Both owners are from Jakarta, although the owner at Pojok has Chinese heritage but grew up in Indonesia. Both places are very small low-​key eateries, consistent with Indonesia roadside stalls called «warungs» with a primitive dining area of only 1 to 2 tables (or wooden benches).
The main difference between Pojok and Indo Ranch is that Pojok’s menu rotates daily. Visit their website to see what they are cooking. During my visit, there were about a dozen classic choices representing the various provinces of Indonesia. Regional dishes ranged from the usual tempeh to the rich braised rendang to the eggs smothered in a coconut curry called gule telor.
I ordered the two item combo to sample the rendang daging (Padang) and ayam rica rica (Manado). The combos are served with white rice and/​or stir fried vermicelli, centerpieces of Indonesian meals. Unfortunately Pojok doesn’t have the yellow rice that Indo Ranch carries.
Rendang is tedious to prepare from scratch at home because it involves marinating the meat in numerous herbs and spices which should be manually pulverized. It is also necessary to simmer the meat in coconut milk and spices for hours to make the meat tender, and then dried for several more hours to soak up the spices before it is ready for consumption. Pojok’s preparation was decent — it’s the traditional dry version where a combination of rich spices soak the beef. The rendang had a sophisticated umami flavor that I was looking for, I tasted hints of ginger and pepper. I thought that the beef was really tough though and served in large chunks, not nearly as tender as the succulent kalio rendang (in gravy) slow-​cooked at Indo Ranch.
Ayam rica rica is a chili chicken from Manado, the home of many fiery Indonesian dishes. Pojok’s rica rica was underwhelming, the chicken was coated with a relatively sweet-​fruity gravy that much more mild on the spice level than anticipated. I didn’t think the citrus-​flavored chicken was a good complement to white rice. It was also served at room temperature. I would skip it next time.
Overall, Warung Pojok is not too bad for a local Indonesian fast food joint. You can get a simple budget meal under $ 10 here and if you check in you get a free sweet tea. Warung Pojok is fuctional during emergency cravings for Indo flavors and when you’re short on time, but just don’t expect much more than that.

They take Cards now! So for those who have no cash prior to coming here, worry not, they take Visa, Master, AmEx, n Discover. Food is delish as always. And they added some new smoothie flavors.

Clean, good foods and the price and portion is very good! The food quality is always constant. Love this place! And double the love cuz ita close by my house!

The mie ayam on the street in Jayapura, Indonesia, was so good it made me risk bird flu (or at least think I was risking it back when no one knew how it was actually transmitted. Little did we know that the jackfruit we were eating was much more likely to kill us — chickens would wander around on the stacks of jackfruit all day, pooping all over their thick, spiky hides.)
I was there from summer 2006 to early spring 2007. Confirmed cases of bird flu hit Jayapura at the end of January. My ex and I decided that it would totally suck if we got bird flu and died right before making it back to the States, so we promised ourselves and each other we’d stop eating the mie ayam (chicken soup) from the street cart outside our office.
We kept that promise for about three days.
The soup was just so good! Shredded chicken, this fat-​speckled yellowish broth, soft noodles, and a deathly orange sambal to dump in. Sometimes, we were even able to stop the guy’s spoon from dipping in his container of MSG, and then it was even better. So simple, and so rich, and such a perfect little meal.
I was expecting this from Warung Pojok — or at least an approximation.
What I got instead was broth that tasted like the kind you get in free sides of wonton soup at delivery Chinese restaurants. The noodles were undercooked and probably came out of a ramen packet anyway. But the saddest thing was the chicken: it smelled like canned chicken. The smell wafted out of the bowl and was the first thing that hit my nose when the tray was set down — ‘where’s the cat food?’ was my involuntary thought. The bakso didn’t help: spammy, all of it.
I was too sad to finish even half, even though I was still hungry.
Their ginger drink is nice and strong and hot — spicy enough to need another drink to chase it — which is what keeps this from being a one star review.

This place is like my second home! When I feel like eating my mom’s cooking, I’ll come here. When I’m really hungry, their nasi goreng is perfect, just like the one you would get in Jakarta, or I should say, even better!!! When I feel like snacking, the pempek is mouth watering. The sourness on the sauce is just refreshing. Mie Ayam, man oh man. Delicious!
Tried their bubur ayam once, and it brought me back to the time when I was in grade school in Indonesia, sitting by the school gate early in the morning before the first class started.
You can talk and chit-​chat with the people that work there, they’re very friendly, so coming to eat there alone, no worries, they’ll be happy to socialize with you.
Even the other customers who goes there are friendly too.
Now my belly is wanting some es cendol. Really, don’t need to come to Indonesia to eat a delicious Indonesian food, and did I mention that their price are super affordable? Yup!