Indonesian Cuisines are NOT Only from Ayam Penyet Ria, M Nasir, and Tambuah Mas [Food]

Whenever people in Singapore mentioned about Indonesian cuisines, residents or tourists, somehow their association to it will be somewhere quite well-known places i.e. Ayam Penyet Ria, Tambuah Mas, or Warung M. Nasir. Well, in my opinion those places are fine, but if you want to find somewhere that not really mainstream, perhaps you might want to try these following five other places that I tried before.

1. Warung Lele

With their wide various choices of menu, actually you can try something new that you never heard before (even for some native Indonesian). Located just outside the exit of Tanjong Pagar MRT, Warung Lele is quite convenient for commuters, and not really that crowded whenever I came there during dinner time. So if you thinking to book a place with big group for a dinner, actually this place is one of best choices due to the availability. Price-wise, usually I will spend about 8-15/each person. It really depends on how many menu that you ordered, since the style is more to a-la-carte, or in Indonesia we usually call it "menu tengah" (center menu). Their menu varied from Ayam Kalio to Es Teler.

2. Ayam Bakar President

The name of the shop itself literally means Chicken Grill President. Located in Lucky Plaza, I think they want to perceived that they have a top notch quality in their grill stuffs, which I am kinda agree. This place has the same style with Ayam Penyet Ria. I usually spend about 8-10/person in this place. My favourite menu will be Empal Bakar, Nasi Goreng, and Avocado Juice.

3. Sinar Pagi Nasi Padang

In Singapore, usage of "nasi padang" phrase is overused island-wide. Some of the stalls in hakwer centre use the phrase without any kind of understanding the different between Malay cuisine and Padang cuisine. Well, it is true that Padang people indeed are Malay people, but it does not mean that all Malay people are Padang people, and it applies to food as well. First time found this place was during my internship, and it all thanks to SGEntrepeneurs co-founder, Ms Gwen who brought me here. Located in Circular Road, with nearest MRT will be Raffles Place or Clarke Quay, this place passes my standard as a true blood of Padang people (both of my parents are from West Sumatra, practically Padang foods are my daily food back then in Indonesia), or even I can say one of few places in Singapore that serves good-quality of Padang cuisines. If you come here alone, you always can order "nasi campur" (mix rice) like what I ordered, but if you come here with a group of friends, I will recommend you order "menu tengah"-style. Normally I will spend about 5-11 SGD/person, it all depends again on how much you want to order. Just take note for sensitive stomach person, some of their foods are spicy, although they already tried to adjust it to local standard taste.

4. Resto Surabaya

I tried the branch in Far East Plaza before, but according to hungrygowhere, there is another branch in Lucky Plaza as well. This place has an interesting menu called  Ayam BumbuSate (Chicken Satay Sauce). Well, the satay sauce is not really that Indonesian taste I can say, as they try to adjust it with local taste as well. Perhaps, they could make it become 2 different type of sauces, because in my opinion there will be some people who prefer Indonesian-style of sauce (talking about myself indeed). Price-wise will be similar like Ayam Penyet Ria or Ayam Bakar President.

5. Pondok Jawa Timur

Well, if you know about Indonesia map well, at least Java Island, you might wonder why so many people from this island use city/province names as part of their restaurant names. Well, for Indonesia restaurant, most likely the owner itself is from that location, not because the foods they sell are the cuisine from that region only. Pondok Jawa Timur used to be located beside Plaza Singapura, but the last time I ate here it was relocated to Wilkie Edge, a mall after Pomo, behind School Of The Arts (SOTA). After tried some places around Singapore, the satay here is the one that really close to Indonesian satay taste. The portion of each skewer is quite big, which justify the higher price, on top of the taste of it as well. Beside the chicken satay, you might want to give a try Bakwan Jagung as well. But if you are ordering a set meal, Nasi Kuning Komplit will satisfy your tongue and empty stomach.

Well, the numbering in this post doesn't mean anything, and all of the write-up above are only based on my experiences and my own judgement, so it might be different to others. Hopefully, it will give you more places to go for dinner/lunch next time you are in town! :)

[Food] Where Should NTU Students Eat in Jurong Point?

After wrote a post about what I ate during my internship and the fact this post is considered popular among the post I wrote so far (top 10), with support of another fact that my friends sometimes inquiry to me about where should they eat in Jurong Point (JP), I decided to write this post. Basically, below are the eatery places that I consider nice place and food for you to try and my judgement is a bit subjective, so feel free to comment if you think it is not as nice as I state here. The order is in ranking mode, with number 1 as the highest rank, while number 5 as the lowest rank. And you will notice, I option out foodcourt, but I do eat there of course. :)

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1. Ayam Penyet Ria

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If you go to Ayam Penyet Ria at basement level nearby old FairPrice (old Jurong Point), you should try their Ayam Penyet, Empal Penyet, Soto Ayam, and Rawon. The fact that I am Indonesian might cloud my judgement about this ranking system, because I am still proud to be Indonesian and want to promote Indonesian culture, food and others at my best efforts. But if you like spicy food, you can really enjoyably take the chilli as much as you can, and the chilli is really the spicy. The beverages that I would recommend will be Indonesia Avocado Juice, because the way Indonesia serve it, we put in condensed chocolate milk on top of it or around the inside glass. Deliciously sweet! :)

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2. Ambush

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Located outside challenger, level 2 of old Jurong Point, Ambush will offers you quite wide variety of sumptuous western style dishes. If you happen go here, you should try their Meatball and Chip. The meatball is really nice, which I think it is their made-in-house meatballs, not really frozen meatball from supermarket. But if it is the latter case, then I should ask them where they buy it, because it is nice!

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3. Old Town White Coffee

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The location of Old Town White Coffee is a bit hidden, at Level 2 of New Jurong Point but located all the way behind nearby FairPrice (cant really describe the location well, but you can always ask me if you need help to find it). This resto is come from Malaysia, so you will expect of local and Malaysia food fusion together, which in fact I think both are quite similar. If I go here, usually I will order their nasi lemak, because it is quite filling and the complement dishes (small portion) are quite nice. One of the nasi lemak variation will be Nasi Lemak Special. For the beverages, can try their Spirulina Orange. But well, you can taste the orange since the taste is really strong, but not really for Spirulina. But the temptation to try something new (from the drink name) couldnt be resisted for me. Beside it, you can try their (something) hot chocolate, the taste I can say beat Starbucks hot chocolate, for real!

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4. Bakerzin

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Bakerzin and Old Town White Coffee are actually in the same position in my ranking preference, but since Bakerzin price is slightly higher, so I mark it down (budget-conscious customer). I know Bakerzin should be a place you enjoy your cakes and desserts, but I had meals here before and it was quite good during my visit. Their pizza is quite nice, since I prefer to have thin crust pizza and their pasta quite filling and tasty as well. I tried their Mushroom Carbonara Sauce Pasta where the sauce was just nice.

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5. Thai Express

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This resto can beat Bakerzin if only they can upgrade their service. Instead of Thai Express, they should call themselves Thai Snail I can say. Regardless of their slow service, which I will recommend if you are not urgently hungry and want to have longer chat over your meals, the food are nice and suit my taste, esp their dessert when I ordered their set menu.

So, do you think any other resto that better than those 5 I mentioned above in Jurong Point, if yes, let me know, and I will make some changes if I agree with your opinions. For a moment, enjoy to try all of the above! :)