Overall was rather fine. We are newly interested in this cuisine and to be fair we've had few options that were just a bit better. Started with the chicken veggie spring rolls app which is usually a safe bet. These were meh-a little damp and not as sprightly as I would want. For mains the mie goreng was okay, didn't feel strongly about it. Our favorite was the beef ribs w/ rice, which was really nice tender meat that fell right off the bone. As much as we liked the latter dish, two ribs for $25 was a bit pricy for takeout. Probably will continue exploring other options without feeling a need to repeat an experience here. read more

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I think this was my first time having Indonesian food and I really enjoyed it -- already looking forward to coming here again! I got the spicy shrimp with sator beans and my friend who brought me here got the complete noodle stir fry. I will say I feel like the portion of the shrimp and potatoes was a little small for the price, but the food did taste very fresh. We came at 4pm on a Wednesday and there weren't any other groups around. The dining space is has a handful of tables, mostly four tops. They offer a lot of takeout too and have an order kiosk. Service was very friendly! If you have a sweet tooth, try their cantaloupe drink! read more

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We were excited to try this new place in the Spring Garden area. It has a cute vibe inside and easy-to-order-on screens to make life simple. Being plant-based and pescatarian, our options seemed a bit limited. So, we tried the shrimp fried rice and shrimp chips which were delicious. We also did the stuffed tofu which had veggies inside. Most of the menu was focused on chicken and pork skewers, so the options are awesome for those with a more expansive meat diet. For vegetarians and vegans, the choices are less. The people at Satay were very kind and happy to be a part of the area for food options too. read more

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My friends and I came here for an early dinner on a weeknight. We were looking forward to this place from al.tje great reviews. Our waitress was very nice and gave us some suggestions. She double checked before I ordered something that it did not contain nuts which I always appreciate. I couldn't decide from one dish so I got the lamb skewers which came with rice cakes and a delicious sweet sauce. The lamb was tendered and seasoned very well. For entree I got the chicken + pork rice combo. Absolutely delicious. I enjoyed every bite! My friends enjoyed all their dishes as well. I would love to come back another time and try more dishes :) read more

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Came here on a Sunday afternoon and the place was busy! Glad to see an Indonesian owned restaurant that is doing good. I ordered to-go and got: Iga bakar: 2 pieces of grilled beef ribs. The sauce is scrumptious and the meat super tender. It comes with a generous tub of satay sauce that is so good. It's a little pricey ($20 on Uber eats) but is so tasty. I will get it again. Yellow rice with squid in black sauce: the portion of the squid is a bit small, but it's still good. I love the sambal ijo (green chili paste) that comes with it. read more

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Expensive and flavors were okay. Proximity was biggest plus. South Philly has much better Asian food read more

Satay Bistro - Indonesian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Came on a Saturday right at opening time. The place quickly filled up, but they had some bar style wall seats that a large group was able to grab and stand around. My group of 3 sat down at a table and then went up to the order kiosk to look at the pictures and order/pay. The food is already cooked and out on the buffet, but the drinks (a cantaloupe drink and mango smoothie) were made to order. The smoothie was thick and good, made with no dairy. The food came at the same time and we dug in. We had to ask for plates to share, though. Would've preferred bowls, as the curries over rice would be better suited in that arrangement. Beef rendang had some good texture and flavor in a regular sized bowl. Our veg curry was a very flavorful coconut soup with tons of eggplant, carrot, squash, and green beans in a small portion. The meat skewers were great on their own, and we loved the lamb peanut sauce. The rice cakes and rice were both good for the curry and beef. Also tried the lotus crisps which were a nice texture in between bites. At the end of the meal, you have to clear your own table of trash and plates, cafeteria style. No access to free water in sight, though. Considering the portion sizes and serving style, feels like take out would feel more worth it, but the food is undoubtedly delicious and a welcome sight on Spring Garden. read more

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Great, homey Indonesian food and fair prices. We came on a weeknight to grab dinner before a show at Union Transfer. I first came here a couple of months ago with my foodie friends to check it out. Last time I tried the fried stuffed tofu, and the Lodeh mixed veggie curry. I LOVED the fried stuffed tofu, $6 apparently so much that I didn't take a photo either time and got it again this visit. I've never had a stuffed tofu before, it's fried perfectly and it's so simple stuffed with cabbage and carrots, yet so delicious and satisfying! The Lodeh was good too, great flavor - I wasn't a huge fan of the jackfruit but that is just a personal preference. My husband ordered the chicken satay and it was very good, chicken was juicy and he loved the peanut sauce. I tried their rendang chicken, as I've never had the opportunity to try rendang since it's usually beef. The sauce was delicious, I loved the hints of coconut - but I've never had it before so really nothing to compare to. I would only order this if you are used to eating off the bone as it is a very messy eat. As others have mentioned - even if you eat in, you order using the Clover automated machines, pay at the front - and then they bring the food out. I still tip, however I do not tip my usual 20% since I am placing the order myself, serving my own water - but they are still making my food and serving my food, my 2 cents anyway. They've only been open 10 months - their food is worth a try. Check them out! read more

I tried the shrimp with sator and the tofu with tempeh stir fry this time. Both of them were very tasty and true to the original flavor just like when I was back home. The tofu and tempeh had green chilly to add some heat. This is perfect for vegetarians. The shrimp dish didn't have much of the sator, the heat level is medium. Good size of the shrimps. I had them to go. Each of them was put in a paper soup cup. I paid $14 for both of them. I agree with another reviewer that the size of the side dish is rather small and pricey considering size. They added more finishing touches on the wall by hanging pictures of Indonesian dancers. read more

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Good food good mood Love the food, the taste was good and authentic!! Service was great and kept checking in at appropriate intervals.

A quaint restaurant at the corner of 13th and Spring Garden. You can easily find this place and won't have too much trouble finding a parking. Not sure if the place will be able to fit a lot of customers at once, so definitely try to rsvp. This is a great addition to the neighborhood by bringing/introducing Indonesian cuisine. Although, I have to say I'm a bit confused. This is supposed to be a sit down restaurant, but they are serving us to go plates and utensils, excluding the sate platters. The small items were served in a to-go containers... those took away the authenticity of the establishment. We weren't served any drinks (water) until my friend asked for it and they gave us bottled water. Okay, now let's go to the food. Sate -ayam: their peanut sauce needs to be more authentic (incorporating real ground peanuts) and have more kick to them. Can tell that it's from the jar PB -babi(pork): taste not so bad, but sate babi typically is bigger and packed with flavors. When they first came out, I thought they were chicken sate Lilit(minced chicken): my first time having this so I cannot comment too much, but one thing I can say is I don't understand having the lemongrass as substitute for the skewers....just odd to me. Flavor is okay. Rendang: a bit on the dry side and needs more sauce Ayam Rica: good flavor but nothing to die for Es Campur: I like it. Just enough sweetness and stuffs inside Es blewah: i wished they would take out the chia seeds and keep it OG. Also, it was warm when they gave it us. Had to wait for a few minutes so the ice can cool it down.... With that, take into consideration that this place was recently opened. I would absolutely come back again because I know improvements take time! read more

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We really lucked out with Satay Bistro opening in this part of town! It used to be we'd have to go to South Philly for Indonesian food, but not anymore! Satay Bistro's menu is much more extensive than some of the more well-known Indonesian restaurants in town. A few of us grew up eating Indonesian food, and the flavors are authentic and really hit the spot. Since this was our first time checking out Satay Bistro, our party of 6 wanted to taste as many different dishes as possible, so we ordered a bunch of dishes a la carte. We got three types of satay skewers (beef, chicken and lamb) -- a total of 12 skewers, the black ink squid, the red chili eggplant, the goat curry, half of the fried chicken, the gado gado, the beef rendang, the mixed vegetable curry, the fried noodles (mi goreng), and fried rice (nasi goreng). Everyone loved the satay. The chicken satay served with a peanut sauce was incredibly tender. The beef and lamb satay were good also. I can't recommend one over the other and would definitely get them all again. What I loved most is that the satay came with Indonesian rice cakes. Indonesian/Malaysian restaurants in the U.S. do not always serve these rice cakes. Growing up, I took these rice cakes for granted and assumed satay was always served with them. I was in for a rude awakening when I moved here. Seeing Satay Bistro make these rice cakes really makes me so happy. Really, everything we ate at Satay Bistro was delicious. It exceeded expectations. I may be biased, but I also recognize that authentic Indonesian food like that doesn't come by often, and they most definitely do not come by Spring Garden. read more

Ended up going to Satay Bistro with 2 other people on a very cold weekend in December. We ordered a ton of food via the touch screens on the counter. We ended up getting kale curry which was always amazing. Then we got some chicken satay. I really liked the peanut sauce that coated the chicken satay. I ordered the BBQ Pork Noodle Soup and let me tell you, that is the best soup I have had in a long time. The soup had meatballs, a ton of pork, and noodles. A ton of crispy items were put in the soup and really added to the dish's texture. We also got a beef dish. The beef dish was pretty tender. My favorite part of that dish was the green chili and the sauce put on the hard boiled eggs. The sweet soy pork belly rice platter was pretty filling as well. It had a fair amount of pork belly and it also had this delicious red chili eggplant. I highly recommend this sweet soy pork belly rice platter. The final dish we ordered was a stir fried tofu tempe string bean. The tofu was perfectly crisp and the string beans really went with this dish. Service was quick and the lady behind the counter was so friendly. read more

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This is my 2nd time here. It is a very casual dining resturant. There is a kiosk to order your food , or your can get your food ordered from a waitress. I believe the place is BYOB. The first time I came and tried the skewers and they were really good! I decided to try one of the speciality/rice dishes. I ordered the fried fish and the fried chicken with rice. The fried chicken was sooo small for the price and the fried fish was raw on the inside, but they happily made me a new fish one when I pointed it out. Fish was a little burnt. My partner was not full after eating his entree. It is a little pricey for the amount of food you get but still very good! read more

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Some of the most flavorful food in all of Philadelphia. The gravy on the beef and chicken was out of this world. Mopped up every bit of the sauce with the flavorful yellow rice. The meat itself was super tender and plentiful. Highly recommend. read more

Satay Bistro - CYO Rice Platter (chicken and beef dish) - Indonesian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Authentic Indonesian cuisine From tempe fermented soybeans,beef Rendang/coconut beef stew,chicken curry,lemongrass basil chicken or Rica2,black ink squid,shrimp with sator/stinky beans. The Sate/satay Meat skewer From Lamb,pork,chicken and beef with their own sauce Yummy read more

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Sate Kambing/Lamb Satay and the Yellow Rice Ayam2 (Lemon Grass chicken) platters were amazing! Wonderfully priced too. I wouldn't say we were full but we were satisfied which was perfect! The white rice that came w the Lamb Satay was a little spicy because of the peppers that came with it (I never find anything spicy bc that's all I eat). The Es Campur and Es Teler were perfect to have alongside to tame the spice! Personally loved the Es Teler more because i'm a heavy on the avocado and coconut person! Can't wait to come back :) read more

Satay Bistro - Ayam rica rica / Lemongrass basil chicken Sate Kambing / lamb satay Es campur & Es Teler - Indonesian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

We love Indonesian food and recently found ourselves in the area so we made a point of coming here. The restaurant itself was quaint and the staff was very friendly. We did find that they closed a bit early for our taste (8:00 PM on a Friday night) so we arrived earlier than we would normally have for dinner. We're unsure why, but the menu delivered to us tableside seemed to differ from the menu posted on the wall for carryout service. Strange. In any case, we ordered the beef satay with white rice. While the beef was tender, we found the sauce (and there was a lot of it) to be pretty flavorless. In retrospect, we wished we had ordered the satay with peanut sauce. The nasi goreng had good flavor and there were chunks of chicken throughout. We were a bit disappointed that the dish did not come with a fried egg though we were told that only came if ordering "complete," which has chicken and shrimp. Overall, we were pleased with our food. Seeing that there are other Indonesian restaurants in Philly, we probably would try another before returning here. read more

Satay bistro just opened up down the block from us and now I'm going to be addicted. The restaurant is small but quaint. You can sit down or order at a touch screen . The food was seriously delicious. The vegetable and the tofu curry was so good. The skewers were also phenomenal. I Loved the tempe and peanut sauce one. You need to try the shaved ice. I've never had anything like it in my life; the textures and flavors were out of this world good. read more

The food is authentic. I'm Indonesian and it's hard to find the food that tastes the same like back in Indonesia. I'm so glad they provided the foods that not only delicious, also taste the same where I grow up in Indonesia. The service is great, the owners and the servers are very nice people. I have no complaint. The ambiance really nice, it feels relaxing and family friendly. read more

Just came to the grand opening of Satay Bistro on Spring Garden! It's so refreshing to see something finally open in this space since Bufad's closing, especially Indonesian. Came with a bottle of wine and stayed for a couple hours. We each ordered rice platters which are create-your-own, and received recommendations from the nice and upbeat staff. Everything was absolutely delicious - the beef rendang, an Indonesian staple, was top notch and I loved the black ink squid's unique and complex flavors. While most people were ordering takeout, we recommend bringing a bottle before a night out. This was so affordable with a pretty ambience. Can't wait to try the satay next time! read more

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Ordered takeout from Satay Bistro for a quick meal! It's not "fast food" by any stretch but my food was ready less than 10 minutes after I called which was really nice for me as I was in a hurry. I ordered the Pork Satay and the Lamb Curry. Both were flavorful, well seasoned, and felt like an appropriate amount of food for the price (which is very reasonable in itself). After staring at an empty pizza restaurant for the last two years on this corner, I'm thrilled to have a restaurant like Satay Bistro that I can go to for quick and tasty takeout! read more

Cannot explain how good this food is- the flavors are amazing . Super nice staff This is way better than this highly rated places that win awards you read about in magazines read more

The waitress was friendly and attentive. She recommended several dishes, and I chose lamb satay, The satay consisted of five juicy skewers of grilled lamb with a soy glaze. The glaze complemented the meat well. It was the best satay I've ever had.The side of rice was a nice addition. There isn't much ambiance, but the restaurant was clean and the tables were spacious. read more

I am so freaking happy to have an Indonesian restaurant in the neighborhood!!! Delicious food, friendly people, in a cute little spot. Go there immediately and explore all the flavors you probably have never tasted! So, so, so good! I can't wait to go back!!! read more

Flavor was just ok but the servings were tiny. Friendly staff and basic ambiance. Back to Chinatown we go!

Writing this review much later so things are not fresh in my mind, but the satays were very good, and we got a variety. The seasonings and sauces were very good. We, a family, had a very pleasant experience. There seemed to be a lot of people eating there and seems to be popular. read more

Fresh and delicious food. Whole fried tilapia. Goat curry. Chicken satay skewers. Nasi Goreng. All excellent.

Tried this Indonesian spot I saw recently and the food was delicious and the customer service was warm and good. The menu prices are reasonable for the fresh and tasty food, cooked to order. Given that, the food took a lil longer than expected to come out to the table. It's an overall good spot worth dining in or taking out. I tried the veggie fritter, spring rolls for appetizers and they both were good, especially the spring rolls (pretty big sizes). I also had the coconut beef stew with yellow rice and that won me over! I'll be back again for sure and recommend trying it. read more

The food was amazing. We got the coconut beef and goat curry and it was so tender that we thought they have been cooking it for days. will defiantly be coming back. read more

i can't overstate enough just how good my delivery from here was. i went inside earlier in the day to pick up a menu and then went home to doordash it to myself later. the inside seemed clean and passed the vibe check. the food was just so amazing. everything was cooked with love, nice and spicy, and seemed authentic (i'm no expert in indonesian cuisine). i ordered chicken curry half-expecting low quality chicken...nope, it was real chicken on the bone. the beef rendang was just incredible. even the yellow rice was next level. i usually don't finish my rice -- i finished this rice. this kind of place is no joke the kind of spot you see featured on tv. anyone who rates low based on the fact they gave you your food in a to go container or whatever your gripe is about, doesn't need to be eating here. you missed the point. 5 stars, easy. let's hope they stay in business for a long time read more