Aaaaahh, this Padang restaurant with a Chinese influence is an old time favorite. And also as I am married to a Padang family, this restaurant is a must! There were times when my MIL used to send me their food twice a month :) well I’m not complaining as long as my tummies happy, oh how I miss those days!
Okay, I’ll go straight to the point. I only have 2 favorites in this eatery, and both are chicken. Not that the others aren’t good, it’s just that they all taste quite similar to other Padang food. They all are good, but not outstanding like those 2 winners.
First will be the ‘ayam bakar gulai’ or ‘grilled chicken curry’ (the English version doesn’t sound right, huh?), but some people just call it ‘ayam panggang’. Well whatever the name is, this thing is abso-fu****-lutely delicious. Pardon my language. It is just that I have an obligation to express my true feeling hehehe. The sauce, oh my gawd, is soooo rich and savory, you could eat it alone with a bowl of rice. Seriously. It’s sweet, salty, and you get a hint of coconut flavor from the santan, and although it’s rich but it’s not that heavy (well it would be heavy if you eat more than 2 pieces, duh!). And the chicken is grilled to perfection before they pour it with the sauce, notice the burnt and caramelized parts? Aahhh those are my favorite. And the chicken flesh is sweet, not artificially sweet because of sweetener and all; it is just naturally sweet and savory (maybe because it's a free range chicken).
Second is the ‘ayam goreng’ or ‘fried chicken’. I can’t explain well why this baby is also a winner you just have to try it! This is one of those simple dishes that can get you addicted. Warning: seriously addictive, you’ll lose count on how much you’ve eaten. To be honest about the taste: simple yet addictive. Those 2 words represent the chicken very well. Well yeah, it’s crunchy, well yeah the skin is crispy, well yeah the meat is tasty but all in all they are a-d-d-i-c-t-i-v-e. If people could eat a bucket of KFC then I could eat a bucket of these babies :) Be sure to eat it while they still hot!
Beware that during lunch time this place is packed and also beware these 2 dishes sell really fasssttt. I used to come really early at lunch time around 11. If not I may not get a seat. You should eat-in because it will taste different if you eat it at home, especially the ‘ayam goreng’.
Sorry for the bad picture.
The first time I ate this I was sold. The second time I ate this I was in heaven. But after the 3rd, 4th, 5th and so on, I'm no longer satisfied. This is the most inconsistent thing I’ve ever tried. When it’s good, it’s delicious; you’ll get the chewiness of the mochi with a hint of green tea flavor filled with sweet red bean paste that’s not overly sweet, plus an additional green tea cream. Wow! A perfect combination I’d say. But when it’s bad, it’s a real dissatisfaction, I’d say the mochi’s texture is still fine, but the filling, oh the filling is a bummer, you can taste the bitterness out of it and a hint of sour-y flavor which is odd. I warn you that this mochi expires real fast so you have to keep it cool. Car temperatures make this things go bad fast!
Oh, it also has the strawberry daifuku flavor with real strawberry inside. You should try it :)
Please ignore the thumb, it’s not mine though, yeah it’s yours, Syiw!
I'm always curious about shaved ice with syrup as it tends to be sooo popular in Japan during the summer and within my manga (*cough cough: nerd). I tried to make it myself but ‘blah’ it is nothing more like a syrup-with-ice, and you really need to have a good ice crusher to have those smooth shaved ice.
But then, on one of my weekly routines to Cosmo Supermarket in Wijaya, I noticed a beautiful ice machine and ‘hurraahhh’ it was a machine dedicated to shaved ice!! And wow, I mean, this yet has to be my fave! The ice is so smooth it melts in your mouth within seconds and the syrup is very different, it’s fresh and has a Calpis-y taste, and not too sweet. I love it. You can have 2 flavors at the same cup. My favorite is grape :) And also this is quite big for you to finish by yourself; you can share this with 2 other friends. If you love silly and simple ice thingy you will come to love this too.
We’ve been a frequent eater here since our friend Joey (not the real name) introduced this place to us. You could say we’re hooked instantly.
Our must is the tori karaage, the chicken dish. I never miss out this number on every single visit. It sure is a joyful thing that meant to be shared. Such a simple dish yet very subtle and addictive. The exterior skin is very crunchy and the interior flesh is very moist. It has this garlicky flavor that is not too-much-it-bothers-you, it is just plainly good. It is also accompanied with a salty pepperish dusty thingy (maybe a mixture of salt and pepper); kinda remind us of a fried pigeon dish.
Because we love the tori karaage so much we also tried the jigoku tori kara. Basically it is the same with the tori karaage but with added jigoku sauce which is spicy yet sweet.
But of course, the main star is the ramen itself. There are many varieties of ramen; you will have a hard time choosing hehehe especially for Librans like us. But there are only 2 types of noodle: straight or curly. Please eat them while they’re still hot because cold soup is a no-no.
The safe choice is always the Shoyu Ramen. Everybody loves it. Shoyu ramen never tastes too complicated. It hit us with its simplicity. The flavor is light but tasty, you can taste the shoyu beautifully when you slurped the soup. In this eatery, shoyu ramen is my comfort ramen.
Then comes the star, the Jigoku Ramen, the salty, hot and spicy ramen. This jolting dish comes with several level of spiciness which are 38. To be honest we can’t imagine eating Jigoku Ramen with the maximum level, because for us, number 4 is HOT enough to make our body sweat bullets, LITERALLY!!
The Miso Ramen is a downer for me; it is still good, but not as expected. Maybe because the flavor is too much; so much that it confuses my tongue hehehe. I’ve been a fan of Miso Ramen everywhere because it is a ‘safe’ ramen for a Moslim like me. Sing Sing Ramen in Wijaya still serves the best Miso ramen so far.
The dark horse definitely is the Goma Kara Ramen. It is unexpectedly good! It is so yummy that I emptied the bowl instantly. As you can see the soup is heavy looking and not clear. It consists of minced chicken, lots of it. By judging the picture you’ll guess that the taste will be too heavy and complicated but the truth that it is not, the ingredients blend together so well. You can taste a little bit of miso, and of course, sesame flavor in it.
Please take notes that, there’s a slight difference between each branch. Like the topping for instance, in Melawai, they don’t have the ’chicken’ topping, they only have ‘beef’ topping, in the other hand, Pondok Indah has the ‘chicken’ topping and if you want the ‘beef’ topping you have to request it. Also in Melawai the shoju ramen comes with half an egg but in Pondok Indah it comes with 2 slices of ‘chicken’ topping.
For you moslem people, please do ask the waiter for halal food, if not the possibility of the food containing pork would be soooo high.
If you still have rooms for your stomach you should try the shaved ice. There’s nothing special about the taste, truthfully it reminds you of ‘es shanghai’ minus the entire topping, yes, it is basically only shaved ice with syrup and condensed milk. But it is so fun to eat them together with friends. Get the extra sweet condensed milk for double fun. Sweet, cold, light and silly; a perfect combination for summer hangout (always summer in Jakarta!).
+ free flow of water
+ free konyaku jelly
-small place, very crowded during lunch and dinner time
-tax is high
tori karaage 28000
jigoku tori kara 30000
shoyu ramen 40000
jigoku ramen 45000
goma kara ramen 45000
Price not included 21 % tax
