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| sambal chicken. |
We've been there for lunch a few times now, and we always order from the daily bain marie offerings. At the moment, $10 gets you a plate of rice with two meaty selections and one vegetable dish. They also have a set menu where you can order nasi goreng, mie goreng, bakso padang, sate padang, and soto padang, just to mention a few. So far, we've only tried the gado-gado from that menu, or maybe it was the ketoprak, but we weren't a fan - the sweet and salty peanut sauce, for us, lacked richness and complexity, and the crackers on top were alarmingly pink. We're definitely still keen on trying the other menu items, though!
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| this was either gado gado, or ketoprak. |
Meanwhile, the bain marie items have yet to fail us. The home-style methods do occasionally cause a little inconsistency - for example, the curry chicken, which we frequently order, has ranged, at times, from being slightly oversalted to exuding absolute perfection in a glorious harmony of spices. But overall, we've always enjoyed our meals and found them to be great value.
Here's a little snapshot of what we've had this year... P.S. I'm not tremendously familiar with Indonesian food, and the bain marie items are not labelled, so I've given them my very simple best guesses. If anyone knows the correct or traditional names of the dishes featured here, please do let me know!
Curry chicken. Green beans with tempeh (a traditional fermented soy product).
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| lovely curry chicken, and green beans with tempeh. |
Fried fish with sambal.
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| sambal fried fish. |
Sambal chicken. Curried kale.
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| Another type of sambal chicken, and some sort of kale curry. |
Beef tendon curry.
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| tender, chewy beef tendons in curry sauce. |
Oh, and for some extra heat, don't forget to help yourself to their deliciously spicy sambal ijo / sambal lado mudo, a green chilli sambal popular in Padang cuisine, on the side of the counter. That's the good stuff, right there.
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| scrumptious padang-style green sambal. |
Such fascinating cuisine, and so different from anything I've ever experienced. I'm glad you addressed those alarmingly pink crackers, I was having fun imagining what they could be, but didn't come up with much aside from watermelon. Which would have been gross.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a nice affordable place with plenty of yummy options. I think it sounds kind of quaint that the dishes vary a little from visit to visit:)
Ha, yes, I'm a little wary about neon-coloured stuff.
DeleteIt is indeed an easygoing and quaint place. Actually, I believe my parents mentioned that the grandmother does the cooking. You know how grandmas are, a pinch of salt here, a shake of spice there. ;)
I love indonesian food, I was traveling around Indonesia a couple of years ago and I loved each meal. This dishes on your pictures look simply delicious. Looks like a good place to eat.
ReplyDeleteOh, I can just imagine how enjoyable it would be, to eat in Indonesia!
DeleteUnexplored territory to me as well, both by cuisine and by suburb! Looks very home cooked, I likey!
ReplyDeleteYes, very very home-cooked in style!
DeleteOh my gosh, kale and tendon! Love places that don't dumb down the flavours or ingredients :D
ReplyDeleteYes, it's great! I like it when traditional dishes aren't reined in for the perceived preferences of the general public. :D
DeleteSounds so good! That first sambal chicken looks like my idea of heaven.
ReplyDeleteI do remember it being pretty yummy... :D
DeleteUp until a couple of months ago there was an Indonesian restaurant in our area. The 15 min. trip was always so exciting and filled with anticipation. Unfortunately the owners moved to another country. :(
ReplyDeleteHow I miss them.
Awww no. I hope another fabulous Indonesian restaurant opens up near you.
DeleteOmg AMAZING stuff!! And it is funny how your parents are showing you places to eat haha. This is one of those places that I enjoy eating most. Exotic Asian flavours with generous servings of rice, for a cheap price haha! Will def check out this place next time I'm in the area. We should totally catch up then so you can show me around all the great places in your "hood" haha!
ReplyDeleteYes yes! We can go to this place for lunch sometime if you like. :D
DeleteLol!! Those pink crackers were scary pink!! All that food makes me want to head back to Bali!! I loved the look of the Chicken Sambal! I have already eaten but now I am hungry again :(
ReplyDeleteHaha! And yeah, the sambal chicken is pretty delicious!
DeleteHmm, maybe I should try this place! I have consistently struggled to find good authentic Indonesian food since coming to Melbourne - I really should just learn to cook. By the way I'm guessing the tempeh and beans are sayur lodeh, and the kale is actually kangkung :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it's sayur lodeh, as they already have that on their a la carte menu, and usually that has vegetables other than just beans in it. And it's definitely not kangkung, while I'm not that familiar with Indonesian food, I'm Malaysian so I know my kangkung. But thanks for giving it a guess! :D
DeleteHahaha love it that you're being "shown" places to eat by your visiting parents! My mum never comes to see me :(
ReplyDeleteAh totally! Tell your mum to visit more often, with airfares so cheap these days! :D
DeleteAll the flavors in these dishes look so exotic! I like trying out different cuisines and this would be a place a i would really enjoy :)
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely a showcase of Indonesian flavours. :D
DeleteHow cool are your parent that they are showing you the places to go! Love it.
ReplyDeleteThis food looks lovely, I don't know of many Indonesian restaurants here in Sydney but I would love to go to one..
They are very cool indeed! Indonesian food can be delicious, try a good place when you get the chance.
DeleteI love everything sambal but yet to try the green kind. Is it made with green chilies? Which one is spicier? I found that Indonesian food and Malaysian food are quite similar to the taste. Is there a way to tell the difference?
ReplyDeleteYes, it's made with green chillies (and green tomatoes as well, I think). I think how spicy they are depends on the type of chillies used (more bird's eye chillies will make it hotter).
DeleteAs for the difference between Indonesian food and Malaysian food... I'm thinking perhaps Malaysian food has more Chinese and Indian influences, but I'm not familiar enough with Indonesian food to really compare.
This all looks delicious! gorgeous photos for in a restaurant too!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenny! :)
DeleteHello Leaf :) Sorry for not dropping by lately ~ work has been CRAZY hehe lol isn't it funny when your parents actually go out more than you do an dthey know places better than you do :P
ReplyDeletegreat find though everything looks so authentic hehe
Ha, yes, and I think the trend will continue! I look forward to more of their introductions. ;)
DeleteOh, I adore Indonesian food, especially after our honeymoon. So glad there's a place closeby to us! (Well, closeby when we move into the new place next week)
ReplyDeleteOh, hope the move goes well! Yay for being close by to this place. :D
DeleteThat dish is gado-gado, though I've never seen a gado-gado garnished with such bright pink crackers before!
ReplyDeleteCould also possibly have been ketoprak, as they are quite similar. It does look more like gado-gado in that photo, though I thought I did order ketoprak, hence my own confusion. :p
DeleteThe food looks very appetizing and delicious. It is not easy to find good authentic padang Indonesian food where I am living.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there are plenty around here, either, lucky there's this place at least!
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteWow ! This looks amazing.This is great do you have a catologue if so I would love one to share with friends and family. thank you. i love it.
baine-marie cooking
indonesian food is the best
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ReplyDeleteBreakfast Prahran