Philadelphia, PA 19145
(215) 271-9442
Indonesian food is relatively new to the Philly food scene, and Point Breeze is the burgeoning capital of this hybrid of Middle Eastern and Asian food.
Hardena is a strange experience, to put it mildly. When you walk in, there is a counter to the back left where they have a large number of steam trays full of a colorful variety of proteins and sauces. For $7 you get your choice of three and a side of rice ($8 if all three choices contain meats). Be sure to ask for the sambal (hotsauce) on the rice.
The kitchen looks like someone's Indonesian Grandmother's house – because it probably is.
Below is the gingered chicken, curried egg, and fish curry. All were pretty disappointing, although, I can say that the tofu accompanying the egg was the highlight. It seemed like there was little-to-no effort put into the food. Maybe the menu is too expansive (I didn't even get to order off of the large chalkboard)?
Below on the right is the rendang beef, which is slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices. The picture for that one turned out pretty poor due to weird lighting. The rendang was probably the best thing I ate, but it was far from impressive. The meat was fall-apart tender, but that was the most I could say about it.
The chicken wings were stickily-sauced but lacked the crispy texture with which Korean Fried Chicken has spoiled me.
Overall, I probably would not go back to Hardena, unless I was with someone who desperately wanted to eat Indonesian food. In that case, I would desperately try to talk them into something else.
1 comment:
Only 2 hoagies?? First of all, you missed the greens and the fish curry. Those have to be eaten along with the rendang. And speaking of rendang, maybe you were there on an off day? It happens there, but usually it's great. I love the place.
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