I was down in the gastronomic dumps regarding the prospect of  discovering an authentic Indonesian restaurant when I stumbled across Sky Cafe on a small side street in Elmhurst Queens. Sky Cafe has been open now a little over a year and every time I visit I am guaranteed to taste delicious Indonesian food (with special focus on dishes from the island of Sumatra) and a fun time talking with colorful local Indonesian patrons. 

This is Lilly, she is the owner, head chef, and the "savior" to many in the Queens Indonesian community of Elmhurst who were hoping (like me) for a terrific Indonesian restaurant to eat and generally hang out and enjoy. Before coming to NYC, Lilly and her daughter ran a very successful restaurant in Philadelphia by the same name, Sky Cafe.  New York Indonesians would visit her restaurant in Philadelphia and "beg" her to open a Sky Cafe in New York. Well, thankfully, this wish came true and Lilly now runs Sky Cafe in the city, while her daughter still maintains the restaurant in Philadelphia.  

On my first visit to Sky Cafe aching to taste the savory rare taste of Indonesian food again . . .  It is important to mention that Indonesia which is made up of 17,000 islands (6,000 inhabited) and over 300 ethnic-minority groups has a vast array of regional tastes.  Lilly's family is from Medan, the largest city on the island of Sumatra and the restaurant produces are some of the true classics of Indonesian cuisine; such as Beef Redang. Beef Redang (photo at top of table) originated from the Minagkabau ethnic minority in Sumatra and is considered by many the most "revered dish" in Indonesia cuisine. The beef has a unique taste to it, spicy, moist, covered in sort of a carmelized curry. The dish on the right is Nasi Goreng, one of the most popular dishes, is fried rice with chicken, cucumber and fish cake (I lived on this during my time traveling in Sumatra). And the dish on the left is one that Lilly insisted I must try is Soto Mei - a special of northern Sumatran, which contained noodles, egg, spring roll, celery and beef broth. Glad she recommended! 

Each time I eat at Sky Cafe I meet open and kind people from Indonesia. The woman on the left is Malassey, she came to the US by herself almost twenty-five years ago.  She is here with her daughter.  I also appreciate Malassey's as she has shown big enthusiasm to my book INSATIABLE (I have a chapter on traveling Sumatra) and plans to share with her church. I had to worn her to not read Chapter 18, however, which is entitled "Singapore Sling: Brothel Gets Nasty."

Sky Cafe like the best of New York's ethnic restaurants gives you a feeling of "transporting" you to the country. The television varies from the stock market report from Jakarta, to a teary-eyed Indonesian soap opera. Indonesian magazines are tossed around for browsing.

My last visit to Sky Cafe Lilly insisted on this "special dish." She is always pushing with such love her "special you-must-try dishes, and I love that she does. This is called "Lontong Sayur" (Rice Cake Soup) It consists of a big bowl of veggie curry with two large pieces of beef redang soaked in coconut milk, with spicy egg, sambal tauco and tpped with colorful rice cake. Spicy, but not searing in its heat, very flavorful. Highly recommend!

The latest in Indonesian Cinema.

Sky Cafe is a true family affair.  Lilly and her husband, with son Eddie run the restaurant in New York. The daughter runs the successful Sky Cafe in Philadelphia.  There are approximately 100,000 Indonesians living in the USA, making it the 15th largest Asian-American community. Los Angeles is the largest Indonesian community.

Indonesian Language lesson - "Good morning/day/evening"  (Selamat pagi/Selamat Siang/Selamat malam)  "Thank you" (Terima Kasih) "Delicious" (Lezat)

Interesting fact - Borobudur Temple located on the iland of Java is the largest Buddhist temple in the world.

Address - 8620 Whitney Avenue  Elmhurst (Queens)   (718) 651 - 9759