Padang Meal
How do you eat nasi padang in Indonesia? Seetoh shares his yummylicious experience.
The stories abound – “eh, you know all those masakan padang stalls in Indonesia ah, they recycle their food one you know! If you don’t finish the dish, they sure put back and sell again.” Which I thought was why Restoran Sederhana had so many dishes on display as I approached the place for lunch. It was recommended by our been-there-done-that and know-it-all driver, Mazlan – a potential makanmata.
But upon looking at the food displayed, passion engulfed me and I lost all rationality and next thing I know, 18 dishes were laid before me ready to be filtered through a plate of soft, hot and fluffy nasi (rice). (Note: when eating in a padang restaurant in Indonesia, do not order your food. Simply sit down and they will send you the complete experience – all the dishes they suspect you are capable of eating will be plonked before your eyes! Just go wash your hands and tuck in like the local folks do – with your fingers. If that scares you, scream….and fork and spoon will be provided. You pay for what you consume.)
The restaurant was spartan, long tables that had holders filled with serviettes, some forks and spoons. Also laid out were a bunch of bananas and keropok (crisps). The front window displayed all the dishes they had for the day which looked in excess of 50 types.
There I was, in the heart of Jarkarta, a kilometre from the Shangri-la Hotel and face to face with a feast. The same feast I suspected that someone else had attempted but failed to finish just minutes ago!
Firstly there was the grilled kampong (local farm) chicken, done in spices and very tasty with no fats and a resilient texture. This alone with the green chilli sambal would have been a meal by itself. But there was also the dried beef liver and chicken gizzards tossed in chilli and potatoes…yowl…..yum! Plus the stewed spicy eggplant, the lamb curry, the sweet potato leaves, the petai sambal with prawns, the curry chicken, the plain grilled kampong chicken minus skin and fat (a fat-watcher’s fave), the sayur tempeh goreng, the chilli eggs, the huge plate of sambal….the list goes on and they will refill any dish if asked. They understood how easy it was to get completely engulfed in tucking all that away.
They also somehow knew that I didn’t care if that curry lamb was served to someone else earlier on. It was just too yummylicious for such paranoia. I knew my latitude for such fears was wide as it was not much different from eating out at a cze cha stall (street restaurant) back home with guests and friends devouring the dishes together.
Which was why I totally enjoyed the meal. The three of us tucked into all but two of the dishes – we gave the otak curry (mutton brains) and stewed hati (hearts) a miss, and we re-ordered the chicken. I certainly will recommend this experience to you and here’s the best part – all that cost us only US$7.!!
Oh yes, as I left the restaurant happy and stuffed, I did not bother to turn around and see if that remaining piece of grilled chicken that we had was put back on the rack.
The place: Restoran Sederhana, Jln KH Mas Mansyur 86, Jarkarta Pusat, tel; 325589.
Credits: words and pictures by kf seetoh.
