my verdict ...

okay, everyone knows there's so many indonesian restaurant here. everytime there's a new place and i tell my workmates, their respond would be, 'what chicken now?'. true though, as most of the place that we go have the 'chicken set meal'. so i'm just thinking of all the indonesian places in singapore that i've been too - some of them only once, some more than 5 times.

1. Sanur
well, for me it's just a so-so food. everyone talking about their tahu-telor which for me is simply ordinary. and as usual, the taste has been modified to cater for local preference

2. Bali Thai
can't say much about it - anyway its not pure indonesian food

3. House of Sundanese
the first time i came here, i thought it's a house of sudanese - based on my boss' pronounciation. but of course i was excited to have a taste of sayur asam here. as days goes by, their taste went by as well - and its no longer a place i like

4. Kintamani
now this place gave me excitement the first time i went there. how couldn't i be excited when they have 'asinan'. but my 2nd visit made me a little bit disappointed and by the 3rd visit i'm totally disappointed. there 'oommpph' factor of seeing the dishes was no longer there

5. es Teler 77
i remember when we knew there's a branch of it in singapore we went there on saturday night. dressed in bermuda we took a bus to joo chiat trying to locate the place. of course everyone looked at us 3 girls venturing around that area, when the hotel 81 was bustling with local 'guests'. but we're happy when we managed to locate the place and i think this place became one of my favourite for quite some time. more than once i went to orchard or bugis simply to buy back for lunch. even my workmates love the chicken and especially the chilli.
as days gone by, most of the time i go there nowadays i'll order the fried noodle. tried their chicken siomay on my last visit much to my disappointment. i guess having so much branch made their quality declined and i think they have to really look into it, especially with so many new places opening here

6. Ayam Penyet Ria
again i promoted this place to workmates and families. went here several times as well - the chicken is good but the pempek is not. the chilli is good but i think i can count with my fingers on the time i visited this place. well, at least this place is an inspiration to locals who open a stall selling 'nasi ayam penyet' in golden shoe when the chicken is totally not ayam penyet.

7. Desa Kartika
sorry my friend, but this place is a total disappointment for me. why? the food is simply not indonesian - maybe Bali style but simply not my taste

8. Pagi, Siang dan Malam (or is it Sore??)
found this place by accident few years ago when it was still a small establishment. the last time i went there, the place has turned into one of a nice restaurant and the food was good. i couldn't really recall the taste but i think i left them place feeling satisfied.

9. Warung Pariaman
well i've known this place since i was a kid. i remember when we visited our grandparents here, there's definitely a day when we asked the driver to get it for our lunch. we would then open it and sit at the dining area enjoying the food. ah, i miss nana and nani ....
as i grew old, my sister still will make a time to eat the chicken here everytime she's in town. judging from the popularity of the chicken, we'd asked my auntie to call the owner and save some for us. as for me? i think the chicken is so-so only, eh.

10. Sabar Menanti
okay, the beef rendang is good and i remembered once having the delivery from this place. most of my workmates were happy with the food. i've only been to this place several times that i actually forgotten about its existence!

11. Warung Lele
food was good, it was one of my auntie's favourite place for several months. but as they changed management, so did the taste. i guess with all other establishment providing more local indonesian food, i tend to forget about this place as well

12. Nasi Padang Zion Road
the food is good! but still can't be compared with the padang dishes back home. but honestly i like their food and they have a varieties of dishes to choose from. it's good and its one of the famous nasi padang in singapore
13. Bumbu
it is so not authentic indonesian but nevertheless, i like their dishes. my workmates agree and so does my boss
14. Ayam Bakar Ojolali
well the gado-gado is nice, the chicken set meal is nice, the sayur asam is nice as well. ally still wants to go to this place for its chicken as he tasted the 'nasi liwet' the last time we went there. so far people i went there with enjoy the food.

15. Kantin Aneka
one of my favourite place for sure. honestly, i haven't try anything except for the chicken set once and all the other time i'm there for the batagor. up until today if i have no idea on what to have for lunch, i'll just go to somerset and buy the batagor back. how many times have i tell the lady owner to open a branch in raffles place, i couldn't recall. the last time i went there, i was offered a brownies as she just came back from indonesia. though one of my friend didn't really like the food, well actually more on the gado-gado sauce being cold, i still put this place in my top 5 list. good food - good service, what more can you ask for.

16. Restoran Surabaya
food was okay but i guess the one of the owner draw my friend's attention more than the food, hence the reason we went there several times. apart from that, i salute the advertising the place put - go to the place and see all the pictures of celebrity around. well actually the group had a picture taken with the owners as well but it's not displayed. lol - remembering that day still brings smile to my face. but the food here is good too - not fantastic, but good.

17. Ayam Bakar Wong Solo
went here once and i don't think i'll be so eagerly to go back there again. not many choice and the food is okay. haven't try the chicken back home so i can't make the comparison. this poligamious man really display his family picture at the restaurant - doh!

16.Sinar Pagi
now this is one of my favourite place as well. be it lunch, be it dinner - it's always pack and i guess the staff there knew us but heart already. food was good and i simply love the sambal goreng! definitely a must-try!

18. Rice Table
been there - ate there - don't think will come back. enough said..

19. Warung Nasi Wayan
went here for lunch once, err err .. maybe i'm not into balinese cuisine but i don't think i'll come back again. well actually i did due to a friend organising lunch there. sorry, maybe it's just me who's not into it, though i don't think perkedel jagung is balinese cuisine.

20. Prime Cafe
a quite new establishment, it only had few choices as they're trying to maintain the quality (that's what the staff said). food was okay - they sell gudeg. not fantastic but worth visiting once. the staff is friendly and still remembered our order the first time we went there.

21. Garuda
said to be the same as the one in medan. i like the gulai ayam and the singkong. but still couldn't digest the fact that veggies ($6.00) is more expensive than the chicken ($4.80). probably organic. it's good for a la carte 'cos the time we went there each person order their own food so it's so very costly. a friend told me she had it pack for lunch and it costed her $22 - $10/each for a kripik udang when the prawn is only one and so small. the ambience is nice and some said it's under the 'tung lok' company, hence the interior design. the time we went there, ex-minister tony tan was also dining there with his family. i guess that's how famous this place is. will i go there again? yes - will it be that often? i'm afraid not ..


hmm, is there anything that i left out?
well i haven't tried tambuah mas, pondok gurame, and definitely Kedai-Ibu (this will be the place where i'll have my 1st sate padang as i plan to visit it the next time they sell it, judging from the ooohh-aahhh it seems to have a great sate padang there)
see .. there's so many food here, no wonder my waistline is getting 'better' and 'better'..