SukaSukaSaya

🇮🇩 INDONESIA
📍 3087 W. Pico Blvd., Harvard Heights, Central Los Angeles
🅿️ Very small parking lot
🥤 No Alcohol

In Indonesia, if you heard the three words that make up the sing-song name of one of Los Angeles's newest restaurants, it could roughly translate to "just the way I like it." This seems to be the mentality of the new owners, who focus their menu around the famous Indomie packaged ramen that comes from the country, creating dishes just the way they would want to eat them.

Certainly everyone reading this must have attempted to create their own versions of hearty and delicious soups at home based on their favorite packaged ramen, maybe sautéing some vegetables, boiling an egg, and even adding meat to join the dried noodles and delectable powdered MSG packets. But chefs that were willing to start a restaurant based on their own creations warranted an immediate visit when they recently opened just south of Koreatown.

A few influences seem to be included from that nearby neighborhood, with bulgogi making an appearance in at least one dish and Korean ramyeon available for substitution with Indomie. Certainly this is not traditional Indonesian food, but that is not the goal of the proprietors, who have created a variety of rice and noodle dishes as well as many types of drinks.

Appetizers seem to use Japanese inspirations, with edamame, gyoza, tempura, and katsu among a range of options. Some of these show up stuffed into burritos with Indomie as well. Everything arrives by friendly robot (above), including drinks like lemonade ($4.50, below) infused with lychee or passion fruit.

If you want to add bulgogi to your noodle bowls, feel free, but it seems that the main reason to come here is to experience what they can do with Indomie. And to be clear, people who have no space in their heart already carved out for Indomie might not see the fun in a menu that concentrates on the product. If your cabinets at home are full of packets, head here immediately.

A good place to start is the seemingly simple bakmie sakaw Jakarta ($12.47, above and below), a fully loaded bowl of dry ramen, served with ground chicken, chicken and vegetable gyoza, a hard-boiled egg, greens and crispy bits. Stir everything together and dig to the bottom, making sure to pull the meat's juices up into your noodles. It is surprisingly tasty and comforting.

Since the bakmie sakaw is delicious but has no heat, eat it first when you pair the dish with Indomie goreng SukaSuka original ($11, above), which uses the spicy mi goreng ramen and adds plenty more chili. Corned beef is one of the options for protein (their term), and seems like a no-brainer. It comes with a side of very spicy sauce, but this seems better for the bakmie sakaw or maybe a burrito.

Speaking of which, the opportunity to eat a burrito stuffed with delicious Indomie absolutely could not be passed up. While you should not pass on this opportunity either with a chicken katsu ramen burrito ($8.90, below), it will become clear quite quickly that Indomie is better in its more natural state, straight from the packet or in creations like those above. But it does feel good that Los Angeles is no longer a city where it is impossible to find a burrito stuffed with the best packaged ramen in the world.

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