Garage Cafe

Berkeley Street and Grattan

Carlton

Price: Inexpensive-ish

In our very midst and with a name not exactly brimming with cultural connotations, the Garage Cafe is a unique little Indonesian cafe with some authentic tastes. Run by friendly staff, this place is actually housed in one of the parking garages on Berkeley--as which it moonlights. A new concept for a drive-in! But the gado gado here has as nice a peanut sauce as in Bali or Java, and the ingredients are authentic too. Even the mounds of nasi putih are as one would be served in the archipelago nation. Atmosphere-wise, it manages to dispel the parking lot aura with nice chunky Balinese furniture and ornamental umbrellas and the like. And if you are craving Teh botol, well, they have it here. For my money, a much nicer place than that old Indonesian dump on Lygon Street.

'reviewed by keithk'