Garage Café

Finding good indonesian at decent prices is a little bit of a task here in Melbourne. The Garage is a great place and parking is not an issue as you can drive into the restaurant. Good range of indonesian dishes and always someone willing to put up with my bad indoesnian language skills which is a bonus!

You gotta look hard for this place, because you’ve surely passed it a time or four!
It really is a garage. Tucked between MelbUni and the hospital, down a sidestreet amongst the old warehouses (most of which are on their way out).
It’s a café, Indonesian restaurant and place to show off some stellar cars. The guy that owns it has a beautiful Audi S5 that he has turned into the white batmobile, just about. So cool.
My favorite is the Soto Ayam. Tastes really similar to when I was in Bali, and gets added to the list of «they can make it hot enough for my tastes»!

You’d think it would be pretty grimey turning a garage into a café but you have to take your hat off to the people behind Garage Café for turning it into a very cool little spot. It’s fairly airy, has a pool table and some very comfortable garden furniture making it more back garden than garage (with the exception of the sun granted). Specialising in fairly cheap and cheerful Indonesian cuisine, the food is actually really good. My favourite is the noodles with minced chicken. It is delicious and very reminiscent of a dish I always used to have back in KL. My only gripe would be that it never is enough. I always feel like I could have another bowl. That’s why I would often order an entrée with my meal.
Garage Café is not as cheap as many of the other student options around and about (Don Tojo comes to mind with $ 7 – 8 bowls of Japanese goodness and $ 3 beers). Garage Café does meals at around $ 10-​$ 16 and beers at around $ 5. Nevertheless, this really is a good spot for a student hangout.

The Garage is literally a restaurant in a garage with the right side dedicated to a restaurant space and the left side dedicated to cars. I’m not sure if the space is actually used as a garage or if the owners of just love cars. A very industrial feel with what resembles patio furniture, the Garage is a spacious venue with a huge Melbourne University student following.
The menu is Indonesian, cheap, and delicious. No wonder the university students love it — they know a good bargain when they see one. From $ 9 to $ 15, you can order various rice, noodle, and soup dishes. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Indonesian food, but there are always many Indonesians there, so I’ll take that as a stamp of authenticity.
I love their mi goreng — great flavours, not too oily, and love the noodles. On cold days, their soto ayam is perfect for warmth. For the in between class breaks, the Garage also serves beers for around $ 6, so you can have a cheeky one before your next class.