Venue Review: Gado Gado

You're excused for not recognizing the culinary root of the restaurant Gado Gado's name: It's a fairly unknown-to-America Indonesian dish of mixed vegetables with peanut sauce.

Once you know that, you'll be excused for thinking the elegant little Matthews place might be an Indonesian outpost: Nope. It's run by a man from Greece and a woman from China who were vacationing together in Indonesia; over dinner at a place with this name, she said, “Wouldn't it be nice if we had a restaurant like this?”

And once you know

that, you'll be excused for thinking that maybe the menu's going to be Greek and Chinese. Nope: American/Mediterranean, with a few Asian dishes thrown in.

But enough with the misdirection! Gado Gado is a pleasant little surprise with a killer terrace and some fine dishes from a somewhat inconsistent kitchen.

George Poriotis and Dora Lai own the place. Its very bank-like brick exterior (in fact, the building used to be a bank) encloses an airy dining room done in cream and putty colors, with some vivid abstract art and a marvelous garlicky scent emanating from a partly visible kitchen.

The menu is a cross-section of mainstream food: spinach artichoke dip to New York strip to tiramisu. Most of what we tried fared well enough, but a few were excellent.

Shrimp tempura, for one: four big shrimp, butterflied and greaselessly crisp, with a bright Asian slaw. A trio of dips, for another: hummus, tapenade and a rich, roasted-red-pepper feta spread, with thick wedges of pita.

Three discs of fried mozzarella were surprisingly tasty. A thick and beautiful pork chop arrived juicy and fragrant, with a cider sauce that worked wonders. Tiramisu, served in a martini glass, was an attractively simple version.

Less successful was grilled salmon, which – though lush – was a mite small for $20. And its accompanying vegetables were unforgivably dull: cubed zucchini and yellow squash.

A ribeye, also on the petite side, had great flavor and was cooked perfectly. But its sides – listed as garlic mashed potatoes and chopped salad – came as one entity, the vegetables (including corn, green beans and onion) spread all over the potatoes and steak. Odd, and possibly endearing, but only if servers alert diners about the presentation.

Most disappointing was an extremely pedestrian, lettuce-based Greek salad. (Much better is the arugula, perfectly dressed, with goat cheese and the crunch of apple.)

Speaking of servers, ours were charming, though decidedly in the “everything's great” category when it came to recommendations. Poriotis roams the restaurant, chatting up diners in a melodious Greek accent, pouring wine and adding to the hometown bistro feel.

That feel is strongest from a chair on the terrace, looking out over Matthews' main street, enjoying the tones of a fountain and the moderate traffic, along with your wine. Order well, and you have a lovely evening.