When I used to live in Outremont I’d occasionally walk past this restaurant and want to go there. I recognized some of the Indonesian dishes—Laksa soup, satay, nasi goreng salad, but then I’d notice the pricetag and think, “I’ll just go make my own instead…” And then I’d find recipes and look at all the oil, salt, sugar and give up entirely.
Torotno spoiled me for affordable ethnic foods of all kinds. In my head a meal shouldn’t cost over $20, but that’s really not fair because you should be paying for the same quality ingredients you’d expect at a locavore, market-fresh French restaurant in the city. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, even at seemingly market-fresh French restaurants…
You’re also paying for service and ambiance, and Nonya has those in spades. Because I finally went (I had a Vie Urbaine discount coupon), and dining companion and I took the million-course prix fixe that usually costs $45 per person but with the coupon was almost affordable (and it’s not BYOB like most Asian places).
The portions are small and meant for sharing, so despite the huge menu we were very full but not horribly stuffed at the end of the meal.
First was the small bowl of yellow curry laksa soup with coconut milk, quail egg, chicken, deep-fried shallots, rice noodles, green onion, beansprouts, and shrimp. It sure doesn’t look yellow, but maybe they added more cilantro stems to ti that night (that’s where Thai and Indonesian green curries get their colour). It was wimpy in terms of heat, but that’s what most Montrealers want, explained our server. I requested some chili paste and my tongue got happier.
Then came the gado-gado peanut salad with a lumpia—a spring roll.
Indonesian food has a lot of sugar in it (blame the palm trees and an abundance of natural sweeteners) but it needs lime, tamarind or another source of sourness to balance. This dish was all sweet like a peanut butter chocolate bar. I just had the salad (lumpia is wrapped in a traditional flour-based dough like Thai springrolls and Chinese wontons). But I got two because my companion traded his salad for my lumpia. Gado gado salad is supposed to be a hearty meal in itself. It’s made of fried tofu, boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, fried shallots, bean sprouts, cucumber and sometimes (my favourite) boiled green beans. With a thick coating of roasted peanut sauce (oils, peanuts, sugar, tamarind/lime, shrimp paste, coconut milk, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, chilies). It should taste fresh and vibrant. This one was thick and sweet. I ate it all, of course, but the thick sauce was threatening to stop me in my tracks by the third course, which was:
Deep-fried rice cake stuffed with something on more sweet, sweet sauce. Fortunately I couldn’t it because of the panko breading (gluten). It was cute because the waiter brought it specifically because I couldn’t have the lumpia (also gluten). My companion tried it. It’s beautiful, at least.
After a fairly long wait (we’re stretching into hour 2 of dinner already here and we’re 4 courses in), all the accompaniments for the tapas-style main dishes to come appeared at once. The generous basket of Jasmine rice with fried shallots served in (and maybe steamed in) pandan leaf, the yellow curry tofu, Asian eggplant in tomato sauce, tapioca and shrimp crackers, deep-fried tempeh (soybean) cakes, peanuts with anchovies, and pickled vegetables. The yellow curry was bland. Too much coconut and nothing else. The tofu was… bitter tofu. The peanuts and anchovies were awesome—total umami, but so, so sweet and glazed like headache-inducing candy. The two pieces of eggplant were nice. The shrimp crackers, made with tapioca, were great! I think they made them in house, but they had a creaminess from the sweet tapioca ad just the tiniest bit of salt and depth from the shrimp. See shrimp sadness story below, though. the Jasmine rice hit the spot. The pickled vegetable were the sweet pickled type, but that was exactly what we needed to cut through the richness of the crispy duck that showed up later:
Then the mains:
Grilled chicken with yellow curry sauce, grilled shrimp, fried calamari. The same yellow curry didn’t do anything from the chicken, but by itself the meat was tender and juicy. The shrimp were, sadly, wonderful. I normally wouldn’t eat the large, farmed shrimp for ecological reasons. The situation is even sadder because the shrimp may have actually come from Indonesia where flood-reducing and environmental diversity-promoting mangroves are being destroyed to support polluting shrimp farms…
Then tilapia cooked in banana leaf, and crispy duck leg. I normally wouldn’t eat farmed tilapia, either, but at least it’s a vegetarian fish and wasn’t fed wild fish harvested with questionable methods. It did, however, probably eat corn, soy, and other often mono-crop, large-scale grain products, which I’m not too comfortable with either. The crispy duck was hot and shimmering and delicious, though. I was told it was gluten-free, so I’m hoping there was no soy sauce. I did have a stomach ache after the meal, but it could have been all the rich food rather than food intolerances.
I tried to keep off the stomach sadness with some tea:
Beautiful, isn’t it? The little saucer of sugar (as though I needed it. I think my teeth were bleeding sugar already) and a teapot of mint tea (plus a sprig of mint in the teapot spout for garnish) all served on a wooden tray.
Then a refreshing dessert tray (thank goodness I couldn’t have anything rich to end or I really would have overdone it. But for those in love with creme brulée, coconut milk and panda leaf, you’re going to want to leave room.
I enjoyed the fresh rambutan (the spiky red fruit that has a lychee-like interior and is hard to find ripe or let properly ripen), grapes, longan berries (also similar to lychee, though less floral, and with a thin pale yellow skin. Also rare in Montreal unless you go to Chinatown or the right grocery stores or suppliers):
In the middle is the black glutinous rice pudding with sweetened coconut milk. That coconut milk was so good. Warm and comforting, and I somehow made room for all the rice in my stomach. I knew if I ate all the coconut milk I’d regret it though, so as with any sweet indulgence, I tried to show some restraint. Boring? Maybe. Less sick? Yes.
The price tag is completely justified, I’m convinced. Did you see all those presentations? Everything was just so. It was a 3 hour meal, and there are only a couple of menus per evening, but with so may dishes coming out of the kitchen at so many different times it’s quite a theatrical, well-choreographed dinner. Sure, the yellow curry could use some work, the sweet-sour-spicy-salty balance is a little slanted occidentally, but it was a beautiful evening of interesting food I never would have made for myself. And Toronto doesn’t do it any better for less.
So I give it an enthusiastic 7 1/2 out of 10. A meal is $45 plus tax, tip and a glass of wine or beer (all in ~ $70/person). I’m glad I finally made it. but I will admit I like the Atwater Market’s Satay Brothers’ version of laksa and gado-gado better. They sure don’t deep-fry duck, though, or glaze peanuts in sugar and anchovies, or puff shrimp crackers with tapioca…or do tea service with a sprig of mint. Service, however, is equally lovely.
Nonya Indonesian Cuisine
152 Bernard West (west of St-Laurent)
514-875-9998
Hours: Tues-Sat 5:30pm-11pm
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