If there were one dish that could dissuade me from ordering ayam penyet, "smashed fried chicken," it would be pecel lele (Peh-chel Lay-lay, $8).
Unlike the chicken, which is tenderized with a mallet or pestle to aid in the infusion of a marinade, more likely the skin of "smashed catfish" is simply pricked or scored before the fish is deep-fried. (Too many broken little fish bones otherwise.) The chili sauce is inflected with shrimp paste; the finlike item, in the first photo, is a slab of fried tempeh.
This tiny Indonesian restaurant's regular menu comprises only about two dozen items all told, but on the day of this visit a specials board also listed sayur asam, pempek palembang, and hijau bubur kacang — respectively, tamarind soup, broiled fish cake, and a mung bean dessert.
Asian Taste 86
86-10 Whitney Ave. (near Broadway), Elmhurst, Queens
718-779-8686