Waroeng Penyet

I was looking for some place around the Marine Parade area for lunch and a quick search on the food blogs led me to this Indonesian eatery just a few minutes walk away from Parkway Parade. I was in a mood for some good ayam penyet (Indonesian-inspired smashed, deep-fried chicken), especially after my recent dinner at Ayam Penyet Ria at Orchard Lucky Plaza proved to be a less than impressive affair.


Waroeng Penyet is situated close to a coffeeshop and opposite the neighbourhood's polyclinic. I kinda like its (cartoon) chick mascot, pretty adorable. I would seriously consider buying a small plush toy of it if they had one haha!

Ayam Penyet Set: 4.25/5


The (lunch) set comes with a bowl of soup, a plate of white steamed rice and the all-important fried chicken, accompanied with fried tofu and tempeh (a popular Indonesian side dish of fermented soybeans). When the food arrived, just one look at it and I knew this was going to be really good.


The chicken was very well-marinated and cooked, and was juicy without being oily at the same time. I like the crisps of batter that they added on for the extra crunch, while the tofu and tempeh helped to balance an otherwise all-chicken meal. It would be good if there was more to the chilli, though at least it isn't as numbingly spicy as the one from Ayam Penyet Ria. My verdict: Probably one of the best ayam penyet in Singapore, but I have to note that it's rare to find the chicken being true to its "penyet" name - even here at Waroeng Penyet, the chicken was not in any way flattened!

Soda Gembira
The "Soda Gembira", translated as Happy Soda, is a carbonated variation to the popular local drink, "Bandung" (milk-based rose syrup). I found this drink quite unique actually, and its sweetness was enough to make my day happy :)

Service
Very good.


Price
$6.50 for the ayam penyet lunch set, inclusive of soup, rice and a free soft drink.
$1.80 for the soda gembira.
(I realised that they didn't get me to pay a little bit more to change my drink, so I paid full for my soda gembira but didn't get my free soft drink!)

For more on the menu, click here.

Place
Marine Parade Central, Blk 81 #01-638.

Pictures taken with the Canon Ixus 80 IS.

Resto Surabaya

So where or what is Surabaya? It's Indonesia's second-largest city, and the capital of the province of East Java. However if you're wondering about this humble little eatery instead, it's located at a quiet corner of Lucky Plaza on downtown Orchard Road, and is admittedly often overshadowed by Ayam Penyet Ria, which has two branches within the same building.

Ayam Penyet Surabaya: 7.7/10


The chicken came with a piece of fried beancurd as well as fried "tempeh" (Indonesian fermented soybeans) and all-in-all I would say that it isn't too bad, in fact the chilli here is better than Ria's because Ria's just too numbingly hot and spicy. The one here is definitely more manageable haha. White rice is not served with this dish though, and you have to pay $0.60 for a plate of it. And oh, come to think of it, the chicken wasn't flattened at all, which is odd because it's meant to be "penyet" (smashed/flattened) right!

Ayam Bakar: 7.3/10


Daphne was nursing a sore throat and decided to order the grilled chicken instead, but we were quite surprised to see that they left the fried beancurd and tempeh out. The chicken thigh was more or less the same size as the one I had, and the dish costs the same too! The sauce on the chicken was quite sweet, but at least the chicken was tender. I still think the chicken was a little too small though.

Tahu Telur: 7.3/10


Daphne liked this a lot because she felt that there was a generous serving of eggs that went into it, but I think it's really more flour than eggs to be honest. It's served with satay gravy (made from peanuts and spices) but we didn't really try that.

Service
Good.


Price
$6.00 for the ayam penyet surabaya
$6.00 for the ayam bakar
$6.00 for the tahu telur
$0.60 for a plate of rice
$2.50 for a cup of lime juice
$1.80 for a "teh botol" (Indonesian iced tea, left)


There wasn't really much of a discernible taste to the tea, but I ordered it because I thought it would be a good idea to complete the meal with a supposedly distinctive Indonesian drink.

Place
Lucky Plaza #02-63/64, Orchard Road
Also: Far East Plaza #05-26/26A, Scotts Road
Website: www.restosurabaya.com

Additional Comment
Although run by Indonesian Chinese, it's certified Halal.

Food Junction @ Bugis Junction II

More on the food from Bugis Junction's food court!

Ayam Penyet Set: 7.7/10




If you hadn't known, "penyet" means flat (and "ayam", chicken). If I'm not wrong, it has its origins from Indonesia and what they do is really just use the sides of a chopper to literally flatten the fried chicken thigh or breast. I've tried some of the ayam penyets around, and I dare say this one from Bugis is one of the better ones because the chicken is very tender and isn't dry. The special chilli served with it gives the dish a spicy kick too, and you might like to ask for more the next time you're ordering it. This stall however does not serve the usual piece of "tempeh" (fried fermented soybean) as a side, which explains why I added the fried eggs as a side ($1). Otherwise, it would just be the chicken and the rice, at the price of $5.70.

Fish and Chips: 6/10



Daphne bought this from the pasta place located right next to the drinks stall. Pictures can be quite deceiving, and the portion was quite small actually. Perfectly ordinary fish and chips, no oomph factor to it, and normal fish fillets used too. Not exactly worth $6.70 if you ask me.

Place
Food Junction, Bugis Junction #03-30.

Ayam Penyet Ria

We meant to eat at the nearby Ci Nai Hong Kong cafe, but it was raining and we decided it would be better to stay indoors. We saw the poster for this while waiting for our waffles at ButterCup, and thought why not? For the food enthusiasts, this is the same branch as the one in Orchard Lucky Plaza.

Ayam Penyet with Rice: 7.5/10


Directly translated, it means "smashed chicken", which is also reflected in the menu. Odd because it wasn't entirely smashed, just a tad flattened.


Somehow I felt the chicken here was cooked better (compared to Lucky Plaza) - it was not overfried and the extra crisps, tempeh (fermented soybeans) and tofu were cooked to a nice golden brown. Be very careful of the chilli served at the side though, I came prepared from my previous experience and so took it bit by bit. Taking too much at a go could very well numb your tongue, and taste, for the rest of the meal!

Service
Good. You've got to fill your order in some paper and pay at the cashier first though.

Price
$6.50, it could be slightly cheaper if you ask me, considering it's just chicken, tempeh and tofu.

Place
Novena Square 2 #B1-01 to 05
Also: Orchard Lucky Plaza, #01-45 and #04-25;
Jurong Point #B1-06 and Tampines Mall #04-27.

Additional Comments
1. It's Halal.
2. I saw quite a few people enjoying the gado-gado as well as the mee soto. The fried fish seemed quite popular too.