5 The best in town
Ayam penyet is an East Javanese dish that is popular in our country. checks out 10 ayam penyet restaurants in the Klang Valley
AYAM PENYET NYET NYET, JALAN RAJA ABDULLAH, KG BARU,
KUALA LUMPUR
This Indonesian restaurant is spartan. Available are Indonesian staples such as , and My heart leaps with joy when the arrives at my table. The sheen of the chicken indicates that it’s possibly been double-cooked. First, it’s braised or simmered with spices, then deep fried — the former giving depth of flavour, the latter, delivering texture. This is traditional at its best. As my teeth sink into the meat, the tender crunch is followed by a heavenly rush of herby, citrusy flavours. Dipping the chicken in the tomato-spiked sambal adds a blast of funky heat. In between, there are
and .My penyet dish first loses marks when it does not comply with the traditional specs: the
and are missing. It then gains marks when the first bite is a tender crunch with succulence. While chewing, my taste buds feel as if glazed with a spicy tartness that ends with a herby note. This chicken is the product of the twice-cooked method.
with
AYAM PENYET SAMBALADO, GROUND FLOOR, SPECTRUM MALL, AMPANG
Some unusual penyet dishes are available here: and
There is also Western fare. Conspicuously absent from its beverages are Indonesian favourites like soda gembira and alpukat. Instead, there are milkshakes. My
comes with a bowl of soup that is tasteless and instead of tomato, raw white cabbage is served that doesn’t jive with the other elements. The shell-on prawns are flash-fried so that they are crispy outside and the meat is sweet, tender and brimful of an oceany flavour.
WAROENG PENYET, FIRST FLOOR, THE CURVE, PJ
The menu of this eatery — which is part of a chain — impresses in terms of variety as there are also soups, grills and vegetables. Standouts include
and I am disappointed when my is served on a piece of wax paper laid upon a clay vessel, which looks amateurish and is different from the picture in the menu. Also something is off with the kremes (batter bits), which I suspect have been deep-fried in oil that was not hot enough. The chicken only passes muster. At a condiment station, four types