Gajah Wong

If you like a drink or two before dinner, steak and potato, mild food or being a the new "hot" spot to be seen, this is not for you.
Gajah Wong is an Indonesian Cafe in Northside at 3935-37 Spring Grove Ave. Cincinnati 45223. Phone 513-591-3935. It is an attractive, sit down restaurant, at street level, in two buildings next to the BP station at the north end of the Ludlow viaduct. In the summer they have an outdoor patio which allows them to grill. In the winter the grill items are dependent on the weather. Alcoholic drinks are limited to beer and wine.
We went there the other night, with a friend, and found a very pleasant place with good service and interesting food, most of which is Java inspired. This is another take on Asian vitals.
The three of us shared everything, which turned out to be more than enough. I can't use the Indonesian names but what we ate tasted great in any language.
We started with a soup containing "vermicelli" thin rice noodles, bean sprouts, egg, shrimp crisps and other items. A side plate contains rice, peanut slivers and other "additives. This was followed by salad of potato's, bean sprouts, scallions, eggs, tomato's, green beans, tofu, and ch oped lettuce or some other leafy green. The two main courses we split were "Colossal Prawns", 4 bites or more to each on a bed of chopped vegetables and a beef dish, my least favorite, of slices of "pot roast' in a brown spicy gravy, served on a bed of cabbage along with steamed water crest and orange colored, from the spices, pan cooked potato's. A side is served, for the table of 4 sauces which can be added to everything or nothing, or even some.
This plus my beer and the ladies coffee and a 20% tip came to $28 each. The food is very flavorful and the service adds to a very pleasent evening.