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455 Seventh Ave.,
Brooklyn, NY 11215
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This moderately priced, friendly Indonesian restaurant has been serving the working middle-class families of Windsor Terrace since before the neighborhood became the breeding grounds for Park Slope’s grup runoff. Rijsttafel means “rice table” in the colonial language, and Java’s muted flavors cater to conservative palates. The rijsttafel for two is a belt-busting bargain, with fourteen dishes ranging from codfish to chicken, pickles to skewers, and soup to coconuts, all served on a stainless-steel tray kept warm by a Sterno can. Soto madura, a comforting, tart chicken-noodle soup, comes garnished with slices of hard-boiled egg, marble-size fried-potato balls, bits of fried bean curd, and fried shallots. Not everything works: Chewy beef and chicken sate swim in a mild peanut sauce, and beef rendang lacks the tenderness of the traditional long, slow braise. But Kambing Goreng (lamb stew) is distinguished by a sweet, dark sauce redolent of nutmeg and tamarind. Adventurous diners will likely be disappointed, but the place is a boon for locals without many other ethnic options.
Recommended DishesRijsttafel for two, $45; fried banana, $4
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