Don’t we all like a great comeback story? A situation when things are spiraling downwards, then out of no where it turns around ending with victory! That’s a bit how my experience at Little Sister Portland played out.

We visited for their Winterlicious prix fixe ($45 per person) and was seated at the worst booth on the main floor: above us was an air vent blowing cold air (in the winter) and beside us was a speaker blasting music. Needless to say, we were shivering and shouting.

Luckily, before we ordered, the booth behind emptied. When asked if we could shift over, we initially received pushback from the hostess but bar manager, Robin Wynne, heard the exchange and stepped in to help facilitate the transfer. Hurray! We can now enjoy the music and I’m no longer a popsicle.

And boy did we enjoy the music – a combination of 90s and millennium hits that hadn’t been over played, yet still popular enough to bring back a sense of nostalgia.

For someone who loves vegetables but dislikes salads in the winter, the charred green bean salad was perfect. The charred beans provided a smoky aroma studded with sweet peas and fragrant pops of lime leaf and lemon grass. Despite not having much of a sauce, the vegetables were well flavoured from the herbs and a mellow heat from the chilis.  

The sapi bakar is Little Sister’s steak frites with an Indonesian Dutch twist. A hefty portion flank steak gets marinated in a spicy and sweet soy marinade and then crusted with a lime leaf and galangal sauce. The beef was flavourful and cooked to a decent medium rare.

If only the kitchen took the time to double fry the rendang-spiced fries they would be hotter and less dry. Oh well, at least there was a bit of crunch. They did pair nicely with the fresh tomato and red pepper sambal, which tasted like juicy spicy ketchup.

While I stuck with my own meal – a safety measure during the winter to avoid getting sick – sharing works best at Little Sister. Dishes are so flavourful that a few bites are generally satisfactory, and the portion sizes generous enough to go around. Even their Indonesian spiced cake arrives as two slices. The fluffy dessert topped with whipped cream and sitting in a lovely pineapple rum sauce.