From The Straits Times    |

REVIEW: 8 best food places in Singapore for authentic Indonesian food

Image: 123rf.com

1. Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant
Furama Riverfront, 405 Havelock Rd, tel: 6739-6463

You don’t want to miss the nasi tumpeng here. Originating from island of Java, this coned-shaped turmeric “rice mountain” comes with eight delectable vegetables and meat dishes, symbolising gratitude and good fortune.

2. Pondok Gurame
#01-26, 902 East Coast Parkway, tel: 6348-0982

The popular restaurant returned to Singapore last year with its signature mouth-watering Indonesian cuisine, featuring the giant gourami fish served in various ways and flavours. Yum!

3. Rumah Makan Minang
18/18A Kandahar St, tel: 6294-4805

This heritage restaurant on Kandahar Street started in 1954 specialising Minangkabau (an ethnic group indigenous to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra) cuisine, such as nasi padang (rice with various side dishes), rending (spicy meat dish), and sayur lodeh (soup with vegetables in coconut milk)

4. Tambuah Mas
Various locations

Sample a range of home-cooked Indonesian dishes from Padang, Sulawesi and Java at Tambuah Mas (which loosely translates to “Add more [food], please” in Padang dialect). Try the tahu telur (fried beancurd with eggs), an original family recipe, and the ikan pepes (similar to otah-otah but made of pure seabass fillet). 

5. Pondok Wak Nah
16 Bedok South Rd, tel: 9142-4713

We can’t forget yummy food from our beloved hawker centres! Over at Block 16 Bedok South Road, we hear this is the place to get the best nasi rawon (rice with black beef soup), nasi jenganan (rice with peanut sauce) and nasi sambal goreng).

6. Ayam Penyet Ria
Various locations

Even if you are clueless about Indonesian food, we’re pretty sure you’ve heard of ayam penyet. You can find this “smashed fried chicken” all over Singapore, even at hawker centres. It’s a simple dish but it packs a (spicy) punch. You can also replace the chicken with fish, beef balls, prawn, beef steak or bean curd but we say you can never go wrong with fried chicken. 

7. Bayang
#01-05 Clarke Quay, 3A River Valley Rd, tel: 6337-0144

Everyone’s favourite Indonesian island has a presence in Clarke Quay in the form of Balinese cuisine. Enjoy meat, seafood and vegetables dishes with a touch of tangy freshness at Bayang (which means “shadow” in Bahasa), including its signature dish, bebek betutu (seasoned and baked or roasted duck). We also love their Indonesian-themed decor.

8. Bumbu Restaurant
Various locations

We’ll throw this in for good measure. Bumbu (which means seasoning or spices traditional mixed by using a pestle and mortar) serves Thai-Indonesian food and an interesting pick includes pandan leaf chicken. 

This story was originally published in The Finder