Bali Cafe on Geary (at 3rd Ave)

Has anyone been to this Indonesian place? I tried their $9.95 dinner special and thought that it was not a bad deal - choice of 3 small entrees out of about 12 and a soup or gado gado (get the latter.)

Minor quip - sauce on the gado gado and satay had too much coconut milk and too little peanut flavor. Was otherwise good for the price.

I am curious as to whether this "Bali" cafe has any BALINESE food. Gado-gado is normal Indo fare, and I'm guessing you're talking about standard satay, not the Balinese one (satay sampi).

I am really frustrated with the number of places using "Bali" as a cutesy name, when they have NOTHING to do with Bali. I recently spent an afternoon in Vancouver tracking one down, only to be sorely disappointed.

I guess it's just an IMAGE to them. Like naming a diner "Maui Burger". Still, one can always HOPE. I *really* want to find at least ONE Balinese-food joint in the US (along with Chejuano and Okinawan-besides-in-Honolulu). To be honest, Indo food is a lot better than Balinese, but after years of deprivation, one develops an occasional craving for the latter.

If you get a look at their menu again, please inform us whether they have "babi [pork] guling", "[chicken or duck] betutu", "lawar", or "bubuh injin" [black-rice pudding]. These are 4 indigenous Balinese dishes, along with the aforementioned quite-different-from-standard-Indo-style satay.

Nope - I'm pretty sure it's Indonesian fare, satay and all. I don't remember seeing any of the dishes you mentioned, but if I walk by it again I'll take a careful look at the menu.

The people that run it are Chinese from Indonesia, although I didn't ask them from which part.