Trip Report - Yogyakarta

[GordonS]

A rather short summary of some of the meals my wife and I recently ate in Yogyakarta. Other threads will follow on Ubud & Seminyak.

First, an apology of sorts. We had plans to head up to both Sasanti and Pecek Solo on different nights, both on Jalan Palagan Tentara Pelajar. But we were in Yogya mainly to see Borobudur and Prambanan, and simply hadn't considered what a full day in the Yogya heat would do to us! By the time we got in from a day in the sun we were knackered, and just wanted something close and easy. I promise there will be a far wider selection of eateries in my upcoming posts on Ubud & Seminyak ;)

Date: 11-Jun-2012
Venue: Random Sate Padang stall
Address: Just off Malioboro Street, quite near the Mall
Total Bill: 46,000 IDR

So we headed to Malioboro Street in search of street food, of which multiple sources said there was lots! But unfortuanately there just wasn't that much :( Maybe we got there at the wrong time or something (7-8pm I guess), but there was a multitude of tat sellers, and not many food sellers.

Anyway, we found a sate padang stall while heading south down Malioboro Street, quite close to the mall. It smelled promising, and upon opening the banana leaf in which it was wrapped, 8 beef satays were found nestled on top of a thick, aromatic sauce in which rice dumplings were to be found! But unfortuanately it didn't completely deliver; the beef satays were very chewey, fatty and grisly - there was barely a morsel of actual meat on them :( The sauce and dumplings were delicious though - the sauce was very aromatic, mainly with lemongrass, and very spicy with chilli. The rice dumplings were the perfect vehicle for the sauce.

The price was 12,000 IDR each, which is very cheap. To be honest, I'd be quite happy to pay that just for the sauce and dumplings :D

We headed a bit further down Malioboro, but it didn't get much more promising, so we eventually started back north up the other side of the road. We finally came across some tiny warungs quite close to the north end - places where you sit on the floor and eat with your hands. We picked one at random, and chose a couple of items:

Ayam goreng: 14,000 IDR - I expected a few pieces of chicken, but what arrived was a single chicken leg (which must have come from the world's smallest chicken!), which looked somewhat lonely sat in the middle of a big plate. It was delightful though - really thin, spicy batter, crispy skin, moist, flavoursome meat - really very good indeed, but watch our for the small bones in that tiny chicken leg!

Sambal laap: 4,000 IDR - spicy sambal dip, served with cabbage, cucumber and some kind of basil. The basil was unlike any type I'd had before - it actually had a kind of mild mouth numbing effect similar to that you get with sichuan peppercorns. Sambal was a little oily, but it packed plenty punch.

We also got some plain rice and water, which came to 4,000 IDR.

[GordonS]

Date: 12-Jun-2012
Venue: Kedai Tiga Nyonya
Address: Jalan Jendral Sudirman
Total Bill: 150,000 IDR

Being the only place close by, we decided to try this for dinner, as we were heading out and needed something quick.

Not the best peranakan food I've ever had (that would probably be Blue Ginger in Singapore), but certainly very good.

Ayam keluak: I love this dish, especially scooping out and eating the contents the black nuts! But... wait... neither of the two nuts served in this dish are open! Gah! It was still a very good dish, with a thick, dark, rich sauce bursting with flavour, and perfectly cooked pieces of chicken. But I want my nuts :/

Ayam salad mangga: Green mango salad with fried chicken, with a spicy, sweet chilli sauce. This was amazing. Reminded me a bit of a Thai green mango salad. The fried chicken was delicious, coated in a thin, perfectly spiced batter. The meat itself was cooked perfectly, and was moist and succulent. The tart shredded mango was perfectly tempered by the sauce. An excellent balance of flavours.

Fried tempeh: This was the first time I'd tried tempeh, so was expecting something more like tofu, but it's actually quite different. It has a coarse texture, and is very nutty - quite delicious. Fried in squares like this, the wife reckoned it reminded her of hash browns - I sort of see where she was coming from.

Fried pork and prawn dumplings: crispy wantons served with a spicy sauce. Supremely crisp, with a delicious filling of minced pork and prawn.

We also got some ginger tea and fresh strawberry juice, both of which were excellent.

Overall, a very good meal, and good value considering how much we ordered. In fact, we ended up here again the next day! (I forgot to take notes on what we had, but it was all good ;)

[klyeoh]

Nice to hear that you had a couple of good meals at this spot.

BTW, I don't think the eatery actually served Peranakan food: whereas "Nyonya" in the Singaporean & Malaysian context referred to the Peranakans (Straits-born Chinese) famed for their unique cuisine, the term "Nyonya" in Indonesia merely meant a young lady. Hence, "Kedai Tiga Nyonya" would translate as "Three Maidens Shop".

Interesting to also note that the word "kedai" (meaning "shop") actually originated from South India - the Tamil word "kadai".

Buah keluak - those black nuts which are essential for cooking Ayam (chicken) or Babi (pork) Buah Keluak in Singapore or Malacca, are usually imported from Indonesia. In Singapore, we also use those to cook "Nasi Rawon", a dish consisting of steamed white rice served with a liquidy beef stew tinged black by the aromatic truffle-like keluak nuts. If you have a chance to taste "Nasi Rawon' in Indonesia (the next time you go there), don't miss it! The Indonesians cooked "Nasi Rawon" so much better than Singaporeans do.

[GordonS]

Date: 12-Jun-2012
Venue: Phoenix Hotel
Address: Jalan Jendral Sudirman
Total Bill: 196,000 IDR

We were staying at the Phoenix Hotel, and there wasn't actually anything close by, apart from Kedai Tiga Nyonya across the road (a Peranakan place). So we copped out and had lunch n the hotel.

Gudeg: Figured I should try the famous Yogya dish of gudeg while here. It was sort of like an over-reduced jam - _way_ too sweet for my liking. So sweet I couldn't really taste the jackfruit, or anything else that was in it! But the chicken and rice dumplings that came with it were very good. Served with rice, prawn crackers and a spicy dip.

Spaghetti bolognaise: Wife said it was a decent enough rendition, but was lacking in tomato.