Ramayani

Indonesian! WOW!

Atmosphere: Peaceful, homely (in a good way), quaint.

As you enter, there's barely a person in the restaurant. Granted, it was almost 10pm, but still. Hence it was quiet with a background buzz of some strange island music one the speakers. When I looked around, I realized that this restaurant was really just as much a home as it is an eatery. They've got photos of grandkids, little shrines, and what appears to be a regular apartment kitchen in the back. Cute, colorful, laid back.

Service: Initially undecided, Finally extremely satisfying.

The wait staff seems to consist of about 5 indonesian relatives milling about the back of the restaurant as described above. They finally seat us and the waitress (a kind faced old indonesian lady) seeming to have a tendency toward asians, speaks barely a word to Kyle and turns to me expecting that I order for the both of us. When the food comes out, I indicate that we were planning on sharing the food and the waitress proceeded to bring us 2 plates, another pair of chopsticks, another spoon, and another fork. Wow. And more than once, more than twice, we were checked up upon. In addition, if I ever needed anything, at least 2 of the 5 continued to linger around the "kitchen" area.

Food: Tasty exotic treats -- all of it.

Coconut curry noodles with shimp -- an every so slighty spicy delicate dish, with its coconut flavors really coming through.

Sampler plate (as I'll call it) -- Corn, peanut fritter, curry beef, green beans+tofu, rice topped with eggs strips and chili peppers, beef jerky+red pepper sauce, and more. It's a good way to go to begin understanding indonesian food, i suppose, but more importantly it really gets you to LIKE the food.

Lime soda -- lime juice, sparkling water, and vanilla syrup = deliciously sweet and refreshing.


I loved it. Close to all you westwood kids, I'd say it's worth the trip. And at about $10/person it's not a bad deal considering I left feeling light and refreshed, then ended up full and satified about 15 mins later.

Ramayani Westwood
1777 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024-5607
(310) 477-3315


Special notes: For all who were at Mindy's potluck and had my "black jook," they had that dish on the menu at Ramayani! I've never seen it anywhere else on a menu, not even in Malaysian restaurants. WOW! There's also a great cheap zagat rated lebanese place right next door.