Best Other Asian 2012

GOLD: SPICE ISLANDS

Silver: Bo Laksa King Bubbles and Bits  |  Bronze:  Café Kathmandu |  Honourable Mentions: Seri Malaysia Restaurant & Banana Leaf

Hushed tones and warm service welcome at Gold-winner Spice Islands, where chef/owner Joseph Boon’s Indonesian fare is infused with Indian, Arabic, Dutch, and Chinese influences. “Save room for the spekkoek, an Indonesian take on the Dutch multilayered butter cake,” advised one judge. The menu at Bo Laksa King Bubbles and Bits (Silver) expertly traverses Malaysian, Singaporean, and Thai cuisines, but it’s the Burmese dishes that sing, like the fermented tea leaf salad (lahpet thoke), a buzzy mix of pungent tea leaves, tomatoes, fried garlic, crispy lentils, and cabbage. Abi Sharma is a charming guide to Nepalese food at Café Kathmandu (Bronze), where you’d be smart to order khasiko maasu, goat meat simmered until tender in a rich curry, or kaauli, an earthy dish of turmeric-infused cauliflower with fenugreek potatoes. Seri Malaysia and Banana Leaf (our judges liked the consistency of food and service at the original Broadway-at-Willow location) earned Honourable Mentions.

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