With d'bali, Choi struck a balance between her love of food and her obsession with travel, which is clearest in her Sumatran beef rendang ($18). At first glance, the rendang looks like any other ...

The dish: My wife, Cherie, and I were recently staying at Qunci Villas Hotel on the island of Lombok in Indonesia. Each day we shared an entree for lunch. Our favorite was the beef rendang ...

Some suggest the first version of rendang was cooked in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, some 600 years ago. Haikal from Alma said there were different versions.

Instead of the usual beef, Indonesia Cuisine serves up a mean Rendang Chicken Set (S$4). This set includes a thicc chicken drumstick, crunchy sautéed vegetables, a fried sunny-side-up egg and rice.

Dig in: Avila's beef rendang sandwich ($13), topped with giardiniera, fried shallots, cilantro and sambal aioli pays tribute to Italian beef but can also be made with jackfruit.

Asnul Bahar, a petroleum engineer who came to the U.S. from Indonesia in 1997 to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Tulsa, never expected to find himself and wife Indri in the restaurant business.