After having cambodian the other week, E and I got to talking about all the hole-in-the-wall places in south philly. And I told her about Hardena, a little indonesian joint that kind of does the rijstafel. I hadn’t been there in years, but still remembered it fondly. It was definitely time to go back. The place is tiny and basic. Your food comes out on styrofoam plates. You eat with plastic forks. But you don’t care because the food is so good and cheap. Behold, the satay. This one is chicken, but you can also get beef. It’s only available on weekends. It’s only $6. It’s only… delicious. And it comes with a little veggie salad too. Crunchy and refreshing, with some bites being a bit spicier than others.

Basically, they have a bunch of food made, and you pick what you want. You get a big ol heap of rice, and they’ll put three dishes on top of it, literally, of your choice. And it costs you $6. That’s it. So here’s one plate of delicious slop. Here we have some chicken and tofu curry, some lamb stew, and a hard boiled egg curry dish. All delicious tasting, and all different. The chicken curry was not coconut milk based. The lamb stew was coconut stew based. And well, I like hard boiled eggs, but some people are not into them.

On to plate number two! We have some collard greens, beef rendang, and fish curry. I didn’t try the greens but E enjoyed them very much. The beef rendang was great. The fish curry was also good, and tasted very different from the chicken and tofu curry. E’s plate definitely looked the most well-rounded. Oh, and the little dollop of hot sauce you see on the side? No joke, that shizz is damn hot.

My plate, as a whole, looked kind of disgusting. Ha! But fear not, it tasted just fine. I got the eggplant, which was just delicious. If you like eggplant, and I certainly do, you will be very happy with this. It had just a tiny hint of spice. I also got the lamb stew, which was very tender and not gamey at all. I also got the salted squid stew, which comes with whole teeny little squids. Ok, although this was good, it was a bit too salty. Which really, as the name would indicate, shouldn’t have come as a surprise. But it was a bit too salty for me. So shame on me. But hey, for those of you into really salty dishes, go for the salted squid!

So the last time I was here about a couple of years ago. Well, nothing much has changed. The food is still delicious, and it’s still $6. The only thing that’s changed is that they have a cute yellow sign outside now, instead of that crappy 7-Up sign. And when we got there on sunday, they were slapping on a fresh coat of colorful paint outside. Really, you can’t get a better deal than this. And the neighborhood is just fine. So go get yerself a plateful of delicious indonesian food, stat!

Hardena Restaurant
1754 S Hicks St
Philadelphia, PA 19145
(215) 271-9442

Before catching an amazing band in fishtown, we decided to get some pho. I’m someone that can eat pho any time. And I mean any time. Morning, noon, night, cold weather, hot weather, rainy weather. Who cares, it’s always a time for pho. So if someone suggests it, chances are, I will agree!

I have a few favorite spots for pho, and one of them is definitely Pho Ha. I just love a place that is purely utilitarian. The place is harshly lit with bright flourescent lights and just lined with unattractive tables. They just try to get you in there, feed you as quickly as they can, and turn the table over. It’s not a hang out. It’s not an experience. It’s just to put delicious food into your belly.

Then when I got there, I totally had no interest in pho. I don’t know what happened to me. I didn’t want anything hot. I didn’t want soup. I didn’t want noodles. I didn’t want anything beefy. It was strange. So instead, I got the grilled chicken rice plate. Hands down, it’s the greatest non-pho dish they serve. Both C and I ended up getting the same chicken rice plate, which also comes with a spring roll. Even though they were the same dish, our garnishes were so uneven. You always get some veggies with a rice plate, and I got some cucumbers and some pickled carrots. C got tomato, less cucumbers, and some carrots and some daikon. As if we got two separate dishes. But the chicken still rocked. It’s a huge piece of perfectly grilled chicken… juicy and flavorful… enough to feed a small family. And I love broken rice. I mean I know it’s just plain old rice, but for whatever reason, at least in my head, broken rice tastes better than plain whole rice!

I had dinner with my mom the other night, and instead of going to a proper sit-down place, I just kind of wanted to go to the H Mart food court instead. I was definitely feeling korean, but wasn’t sure what kind, so I wanted all possible options to be available. I wanted noodles. Typically, I would get the jjamppong. It’s just what I do. But I wasn’t feeling it that night. I wanted chajangmyun instead. Now, I could have actually gotten a combination of both. They have these bowls with two chambers, and you get chajangmyun in one half and jjamppong in the other.  But I wanted to go pure this night.  So I got chajangmyun instead. But then as I was waiting for my food, I saw some others eating these enormous bowls of jjamppong and I got jealous. And I began regretting my decision.

The particular one that my mom made me order had the noodles and the sauce come out separately. For that, you pay an extra dollar, and my mom said this one tastes better.  Sure mom. She also said it had lots of shrimp in it. Or so she thought. It ended up not having any shrimp in it at all, just the normal beef, but it tasted great. I didn’t regret my decision at all.

My mom got dolsot bibimbap. There was something off about this dish on this particular occasion. Neither of us was sure what it was, but there was just something that tasted funny. In the end, we think one of the veggies was just not right. And we don’t mean rotten or anything, just off. And that kind of made the whole dish taste off. We still ate it anyway, but it’s been much better before. We’re hoping this was just a one time deal.