A recent weekend spent judging a high school FIRST Robotics competition had me driving over to Falmouth, ME for the weekend. An unfortunately fact of life of western NH living is that there isn’t any terribly good way to get to the Maine Coast: you’ve either got to go way out of your way and pay multiple tolls to get their via the interstates, or you’ve got to go on a long cross-country jaunt, much of it at 35 mph, taking a more direct route. I usually opt for the latter, since while slightly slower, it’s more fuel efficient, more relaxing, and there are better options for stopping. In this case, I found myself looking at options for lunch in and around Somersworth, NH, which is where I encountered Tasya’s Kitchen.
Tasya’s Kitchen is an unassuming little restaurant on Somersworth’s High Street, right opposite one of the driveways of their school complex. But walking into Tasya’s Kitchen, you can immediately tell there’s a difference between Tasya’s and most other area restaurants, the place is extremely aromatic, with distinct notes of coconut milk, lemongrass, and various spices. And that’s because Tasya’s Kitchen serves up Indonesian food. There are very few places in northern New England that focus on Indonesian food (and the only other one in NH I’m aware of, Bali Sate House, is interestingly also in Somersworth, which supports one of the region’s larger Indonesian populations). I’ll have to be honest, much of my Indonesian food experience comes indirectly, mostly via several trips to Amsterdam (where Indonesian food, particularly satays, have a strong presence due to colonial history), but I’ve always enjoyed good Indonesian dishes like Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Sate (grilled skewers), or Gado-gado (a peanut-based vegetable dish), and the Indonesian condiment, sambal, is a regular item in our own house. So I was really excited to have some good Indonesian food.
Menu-wise, Tasya’s offers up almost all of the Indonesian dishes I’m familiar with, from beef rendang (a dry beef curry made from simmering chuck or similar beef cut in curry spice and coconut milk until tender), to the other staples mentioned above like Nasi-Goren, several Sates, or fried chick, with a good two dozen options. You can tell from the aromatics that they are making most everything here; while they have a few Indonesian beverages and bottles sauces available, they offer up house-made variants of both as well.
As far as the interior goes? Tasya’s is essentially a house converted into a small restaurant where the kitchen and dining area are only partly separated by easy other with a partition, so the overall vibe is “cozy”, almost like eating in someone’s home. And that’s part of the charm, since you can hear, and smell, them cooking everything.
While I was tempted by more than a few of the dishes on their extensive menu (like Mie Bakso, a spiced meatball soup, or Nasa Ayem, a spice fried chicken), I ended up going with a familiar classic that I’ve had at several of my previous Indonesian places: the above-mentioned Beef Rendang. The version at Tasya’s Kitchen is served up as a portion of beef, rice, a spicy egg, vegetable pickles, and a bowl of house-made sambal. This was everything I was hoping for. The beef here was the star: rich, deeply spiced, tender and clearly home-cooked, with strong pepper, coconut, and lemongrass notes. This smelled wonderful. Add in some of the nice pickled veggies and rice with a dab of the almost-smokey and heavily peppery house-made sambal, and you’ve got a nice little forkful of food.
Overall, I loved Tasya’s Kitchen: there’s obviously a lot of great food options to try here, and the beef rendang was absolutely splendid. I’ll have to make sure I come over to this part of the state again to give me an opportunity to try some of the rest of the menu. I’m certain I’m going to enjoy it.
