Java Restaurant

I really really miss this place. I wish I could find the owners or family that can cook the spicy chicken & fries to perfection like they did. They are truly missed here !

you are missed darly, java!!!
any info on the owners???
must get in contact with them!!!
miss jenny too:-(
please any contact information would be appreciated!!!
the whole Rivera Family misses you!!!

I’ve loved coming to this place for years. The owners are so nice. This is one of those places where you would get a good bang for your buck. The food is good and they always serve you warm tea.
Is it really true that they are closing? I sure hope not =(

First of all, this is an Indonesian restaurant, not Thai.
Secondly, is it true that they’re closing or have already closed? If that’s the case, it’d be a real pity. A group of us just had a nice meal here and would love to go back to try more dishes.
We ordered the paratha/​pancakes, fried chicken, wonton soup (our toddler loved it so much, he almost finished the entire bowl himself), barbeque chicken (yum!), mixed satay (chicken, beef and lamb), spicy eggplant (flavorful), okra sambal, fish curry (delicious), and some fried rice. Most of the dishes were rich in flavor, and we stuffed ourselves with satisfaction.
At the end, we ordered the barbeque chicken and the fish curry «to go» for dinner that day. The prices were so reasonable — we couldn’t resist.
WARNING to parents of small children: they do not have high chairs. Bring your own, or do not bring your toddlers there.
SUM: Please let the rumor be wrong… don’t close!

hmm i thought it was an Indonesian restaurant.
It is so sad that Java will be closed before end of this week. A friend of mine had invited us for dinner gathering at Java restaurant before to try something new. I was hesitant about it at first because I’ve never seen it busy before. We ordered the beef skewers and spicy fries, it was absolutely delicious. the skewers were juicy and perfectly marinated. the spicy fries were a bit sweet and sour.
last weekend, we went back there to eat again after we found out that they were closing. We ordered the skewers, fries, noodle in peanut sauce, stir-​fried calamari and curry fish. The lamb skewers were not as good as the beef ones for sure. Calamari was very yummy and let me tell you about this curry fish! we weren’t sure what to order so the owner/​waitress told us to try the curry fish. It is a very light tomato based curry with chopped up cilantro, tomatoes, onions, green onions with cod. the curry really brings out the sweetness of the fish, delish!
I am thinking of going back there once again before it really closed down forever. I heard the owner is retiring so it might be the last time to taste those yummy fish again! oh and the beef skewers. :(

After doing some shopping, we were trying to look for a place through Unilocal.We were a bit hesitant to check this place out because of some of the reviews. But sometimes we gotta take a risk so we still tried it.
The lady was really nice. She had good customer service.
The food had good prices for big portions!
Pranatha was good and filling.
Chicken over noodle, i think it was curry, i liked it!
My friend had the fried chicken and she liked it also.
Must try spicy fries… there were two girls who ordered the fries for to go. It must be good. I gotta bring the hubster erhere since he’s a fry boy.
The bathroom was clean too! I love restaurants that has a clean bathroom!

I spotted Java Restaurant while walking back from the ridiculously crowded Burmese restaurant down to the road and decided to give it a try. Seeing that half the menu was Chinese food was a big warning sign to me, but I ignored it and went ahead with trying it with my parents anyway.
— Won Ton Soup: I have no idea why my dad ordered this, or why they had it in the first place. Surprisingly, though, it was not bad at all. Well flavored broth with pretty tasty dumplings.
— Indonesian pancakes (forgot the real name): Very tasty and perfectly grilled, just like the ones I tried back in Singapore. The sauce that came along with it was also very nice.
— Satay combination: Definitely not the best satay I’ve had but not the worst. A good combination of chicken, beef and lamb, on tiny skewers, with 6 pieces in total. Most of the meat was barely marinated, so it lacked a lot of flavor. The peanut sauce that came with it tasted like it came from a jar of Jiffy; probably one of the worst I’ve ever had.
— Fresh prawns: This dish was basically prawns in curry sauce. I gotta give them a thumbs up for putting so many delectable prawns in this dish. However, the curry sauce was way too bland and just didn’t do it for me.
— Combination dish: Completely forgot the name of this one but it featured some rice and a 3 of their most popular dishes. Most of them were prepared pretty well, but just like the prawns, they lacked flavor.
Overall, this restaurant really has some work to do if they want to compete with places like Jayakarta in Berkeley. However, they offer a pretty good selection of dishes as well as drinks. There was one server for the whole restaurant, who was very kind amidst the rush that she was facing that night. For that, I’ll spare them a 2 star review.

Our first week in San Francisco, my wife and I were famished and were walking around the Clement Street neighborhood. We’d heard great things about restaurants here and we decided to play a game we like to play (no, not THAT kind of game, silly) … first restaurant we see, we eat at.
And in we walked to Java Restaurant.
So, our first clue should have been that there were empty tables.
Our second clue should have been the lack of service. (We were there for at least 10 minutes before our waitress appeared)
Our third clue should have been the dirty dish we had in front of us. Since there was apparently no one there to take out order we just exchanged dishes from another table. Hmm, maybe it’ll be like we’re eating at home — we’ll just wash these dirty dishes later…
Our fourth clue — well, the food took about 45 minutes to appear and it was cold. Not warm, not lukewarm but COLD, like it was taken out of a refrigerator … We tried to say something but it took her (see clue #2) 10 minutes to come back out from the kitchen (was she «cooking» too?). TO our complaint she responded, «You wait long time, all food go cold». She left us to mull over our refrigerated food morsels and our grumbling bellies.
Needless to say we were ready to go eat somewhere else. We left $ 18 on the table (we weren’t going to wait another 20 minutes to NOT eat our food and wait for our excellent server to come back and give us our bill) and walked out. 10 seconds later we were being pursued by her waving our bill … it was $ 18.76 … we gave her another dollar in change and never looked back.
The moral of the story: Never play games when your belly is hungry!

Unilocal isn’t kidding when it says the «Price Range» of this place is a single dollar sign. Seriously, the Rijst Taffel, at $ 12 a person offers an ELVEN dish meal. Now, these are generous portions here… realistically, I can’t imagine anyone actually finishing everything.
The food itself didn’t strike me as particularly Indonesian, I’ve had pretty much everything there before at malay/​singapore/​viet/​chinese places before, but it was fresh and decently prepared if not particularly inspiring. The service was nice, the view outside great for people watching, and, seriously guys, for the prices that this place charges, definitely go visit!
3.5 $Stars

I cannot understand how anyone could give this place five stars. I was surprised people were actually there eating, my friend and i speculated, «Maybe they’re first-​timers like us.»
My friend and I ended up here out of curiousity – neither of us have ever had indonesian food. The food here was less than stellar, nay, disappointing. We tried the spicy fries that everyone seems to think is the bee’s knees: What a let-​down. Tasted like Ore Ida fries in bulk from wal-​mart that were soaked in oil and some generic bottled spiced sauce from an Asian supermarket. The samosas were straight out of a box of frozen pre-​made samosas. I tried the mixed veg & tofu coconut curry sauce dish – tasted like they mixed the boxed S&B curry mix with cream.
Three good things: 1) The inside and the bathroom were clean; 2) the waitress was nice; 3) At least I know that whatever indonesian food i have after this can only be an improvement.

«Meh. I’ve experienced better.»
This is watered-​down Indonesian food at best. and a poor introduction for anyone wanting to try it. My grandmother and father were born and raised in Indonesia so I grew up with lots of Indonesian dishes.
So for me, this is not about a single dish — the much vaunted spicy fries — but how real the dishes are and how well they are prepared. In a word: Not.
For our first visit, we tried the Rijst Taffel (Indonesian Rice Table) that is a supposed to have been a grand introduction to Indonesian food and can be a terrific spread, full of spicy, flavorful textures and flavors accenting rice.
True Rijst Taffel is a thing to behold: delicious sampling of many small tasty, pretty, indo-​dishes accompanying perfectly steamed rice.
Java Restaurant’s version was only $ 12 and included 11 items:
1. Lumpia (with peanut sauce, simple cabbage and some tofu inside; not bad)
2. Gado Gado (4 very light krupuk – shrimp chips – surrounding a good mix of curried cabbage, eggs and tofu with a peanut sauce)
3. Java Style Fried Chicken (rather ordinary fried chicken leg that was done dry-​crisp without any hint of what made it Javanese)
4. Satay (Chicken or Beef. We had chicken that was 4 generous skewers of cubes of chicken done over a Hibachi served with a weak peanut sauce)
5. Ayam Kari (Curry Chicken. A very bland Chinese style curry sauce over onions, potatoes and small chicken chunks.)
6. Dagin Semur (Beef in Nutmeg Sauce. Very tender beef pieces and peppers with carrot slices in an overwhelmingly flavored nutmeg sauce. No subtlety here.)
7.Sajur Lodeh (Vegetables in Coconut Sauce. Mostly cabbage, broccoli and other veggies in a very plain, simple white sauce that may or may not have had coconut milk in it. It was the least offensive of the side dishes)
8. Babi Kstjap (Pork and Tofu in Anise Sauce. This was not bad but had none of the real flavors that would have made this a flavorful dish)
9. Sweet & Sour Fish (really heavy batter surrounding two tiny pieces of fish in a good sweet & sour sauce, hardly made this dish Indonesian)
10. Steamed Rice (overcooked – not even as good as standard Chinese fluffy long-​grained rice)
11. Pisang Goreng (Banana Fritters. Hot bananas battered and deep fried, covered with powdered sugar. Actually good if a bit oily.)
The service was attentive and not so slow but I’m not sure it it was genuine (eyes looking everywhere but at you when asking you how things were).
There was too much here that was just not true to the region for me to recommend it. At best, the food was harmless, but there are places with better, more authentic Indonesian food.

Don’t be fooled by the empty tables– this place is a gem! With recent renovations it has become the best combo of delicious food and affordable dining. I come here with my boyfriend at least once a week for a $ 10 or less meal with beer, appetizers, and entrees. The samosas are amazing and the Indonesian pancakes are yummy, coconut curry is excellent, and the meat skewers are savory. Of course this place is known for the spicy fries– highly recommended.
Great for groups because it always has open tables. If you want an intimate meal that will leave you full and happy, eat here.

Indonesian chef, owned and operated by Chinese people; was not really thrilled by any of the dishes except for the fries and the satay, which was surprisingly juicy. But it was not a cohesive experience and the whole thing pales to Lime Tree just the other side of the park. The menu was littered with non-​Indonesian Chinese-​type stuff. Spicy stuff wasn’t spicy enough. Meh.

Try the fries!
Yes, the fries are delicious. Tangy, with at touch of vinegar and chili, they are just right shoestring style fries. We were given a sample by a kind patron at the next table.
For ourselves, we ordered nasi goreng (fried rice with vegetables and prawns), Javanese barbecue chicken (delicious hibachi style BBQ!), tea, and a fried banana (one serves two), all for $ 19.65 + tip.
I like this neighborhood more every day.

I’m not sure why this otherwise Americanized-​Chinese restaurant is posing as an Indonesian restaurant.
I got the Nasi Rames and the Nasi Goreng to go. I should have known by the odour of the place, of what was to follow.
The food was repellant.

Spicy French Fries. Check!
Spicy Chicken Wings. Check!
Random order of Indonesian Fried Rice. Check!
Raving reviews always get me into trouble. High expectations, ya know?
Spicy French Fries & Spicy Chicken Wings = 4 stars. I thought they were interesting since I had expected something in the likes of cajun seasoning. Instead they use a sauce that reminded me of the sweet chili chicken sauce available in Asian supermarkets. The sauce gives the fries and chicken a sweet tangy spicy taste. I like!
Small plate of fries! Tiny chicken wings! Somewhat disappointing. =(
Indonesian Fried Rice was mediocre. Nothing spectacular. Unfortunately, that bumps the review down to 3 stars.

How did I ever forget to review this place?
I used to come here every now and then during HS. I know that they serve Indonesian and Chinese cuisine, however I normally had the Chinese and always stuck with the same thing. I rather enjoyed their version of fried rice, and sweet and sour chicken, always requesting extra pineapples.
Now a bad place to grab food on Clement as as others will tell you, there’s hardly EVER a wait to get a table. It’s close to home (when I lived with my mom) and the lady who owns it tends to remember the regulars and sometimes gives a few freebies or upgrades.
In fact, it’s been so long that I need to go back so I can leave a more current review.

Dang, it’s 1:30pm and 49 degrees outside, clear, sunny and frigid.
Say yes if you want something a wee bit different.
Today, I ordered the vegetable curry lunch special. I asked if he could add pork and he shook his head, smiled and said no pork, we can add chicken or beef, $.50 more or $ 1.00 more, depending how much meat you want.
I opted for the $ 1.00 more additional meat.
I sure like the sauteed veggies the way they serve them: lightly sauteed al dente and served in a tumeric sauce. The baby corn, carrots, and cabbage tasted good; and you can choose to have this served over rice or noodles. I have come to appreciate tumeric and it’s stomach calming qualities.
The noodles are very refreshingly different from other Asian noodles, slightly sweet and a little chewy. Nice.
You also, get a choice of a beef satay stick or an egg roll.
Be aware that they serve the egg roll south east asian style: covered in a peanut sauce. You can specify, no peanut sauce. Next time I’ll remember! :=)
At lunch time, this place is never crowded and the food is clean tasting and just made.
btw: two light eaters could split the lunch special and enjoy it as a snack.
décor: clean and south east asian inspired. low key pop beats emanate gently.
Customer service: friendly.

The only thing I order there is the chicken wings and the spicy french fries.
For getting frozen fries from Smart & Final (trust me, I know), they sure know how to turn that into a mighty tasty dish.
There is never a wait no matter what time of day I end up there. Truly a hidden gem in the Richmond.

This is not a café, though they do have coffee and espresso. It’s a smokey casino/​den full of tough looking, attractive Chinese men. My mind wanders when I come here: is this a covert gambling network, are there illegal exotic animals in the back, what is this place?!?
Whatever it is, it is the only place to get a cup of coffee on this stretch of Clement. And possibly my next boyfriend ;)