New food cart Bakoel Djakarta brings a taste of Indonesian street food to Eugene

Em Chan, Salem Statesman Journal
·2 min read
Owner Terre Astryani, left, and Mudi Mulyati at Bakoel Djakarta at the Cedar Tree Food Court in Eugene.
Owner Terre Astryani, left, and Mudi Mulyati at Bakoel Djakarta at the Cedar Tree Food Court in Eugene.

At Bakoel Djakarta, you can find the typical street food of Indonesia in Eugene.

Owner Terre Astryani, originally from Jakarta, had worked under her mom's catering company since she was little. She is also friends with I Gusti Bagus Suryantara, the former owner of Bali Kitchen, which closed last year. Astryani was encouraged by her mom and Bagus Suryantara to start the food cart, as she could bring Indonesian cuisine to the community.

The food cart opened at the beginning of May at the Cedar Tree Food Court.

Indonesian street food offered at Bakoel Djakarta in the Cedar Tree Food Court in Eugene.
Indonesian street food offered at Bakoel Djakarta in the Cedar Tree Food Court in Eugene.

Bringing a taste of Indonesia to Eugene

Before Astryani moved to Eugene with her husband five years ago, she ran a catering company. She is attending Lane Community College for culinary arts.

Astryani runs the food cart with fellow Indonesian friend Mudi Mulyati, who she also met at a community Indonesian gathering a few years ago. She said despite her schedule plus two kids, working at the food cart is her "me-time."

The food cart name "bakoel" means basket of rice made from bamboo. "Djarkarta" is the spelling of Jakarta the Dutch gave the city when they colonized the country.

Some of the food choices at Bakoel Djakarta in the Cedar Tree Food Court in Eugene.
Some of the food choices at Bakoel Djakarta in the Cedar Tree Food Court in Eugene.

Savory and not too spicy food

Indonesian food is quite savory and isn't very spicy, Astryani said. The food typically has a lot of lemongrass, turmeric and other herbs and spices.

Most of the items offered at the cart are street food dishes and come from recipes from Astryani's mom.

On the menu are a mix of noodle and rice dishes, plus deep fried side dishes including fritters. One dish that may be familiar is mie goreng, or stir-fried noodles.

Shrimp chips come with garo garo, which includes cut meat with vegetables. The dish comes with peanut sauce, which is to be poured in, mixed and eaten with the chips. The round, white chips usually come with all street food in Indonesia, Astryani said.

If you do swing by, Astryani recommends the rendang, a popular meat and rice dish.

Hours: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday to Friday

Address: 1591 W Sixth Ave., Eugene.

Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at echan@gannett.com, follow her on Twitter @catchuptoemily or see what she's eating on Instagram @sikfanmai.ah.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Food cart Bakoel Djakarta brings Indonesian food to Eugene