Medan Ciak, CBD Sydney (14 March 2017)

130 Liverpool St, Sydney NSW 2000
https://www.facebook.com/medanciak
https://www.instagram.com/medanciak/

Indonesian cuisine

Second location for Medan Ciak that opened this week. Tried the Lontong Sayur - rice cakes served with beef rendang, fried chicken vegetable curry, boiled egg, chilli chips, peanut and anchovies ($13). I'm no expert for authentic Indonesian food so it's hard to judge this one but I did enjoy the flavour of the sauce which looks more chilli angry than it was so thankfully could handle the mild heat. Those crispy chilli chips on top were my favourite part which you can buy separately as a side dish that's topped with a tasty sweet chilli sauce. The fried chicken was pretty tasty. I've never had indonesian rice cake before. This tasted sort of like a compressed potato. I didn't mind it but I probably wouldn't order again based on this ingredient. Not quite what I'd prefer. Also the hard boiled egg had a metallic taste but thankfully the tasty laksa sauce disguised this in the end. The beef rendang wasn't as tender and pull apart as hoped and was hard to separate with the spoon and fork so ended up having to just chew it off the fork. I think next time I'd be keen to try the Nasi Goreng Kampoeng or Nasi Goreng Medan Ciak which look pretty good on the picture menu.

Ayam Goreng 99: Indonesian, Kingsford (3 Mar 2010)

464 Anzac Parade, Kingsford NSW 2032

It tastes better than it looks

This long-standing student friendly restaurant serves up the very popular crispy chicken of Ayam Goreng ($6) with a no fuss presentation along side the slightly different flavoured Ayam Kalasan Thigh ($6). The skins are crispy as hoped with fairly moist meat although could be better for my liking. Try not to be put off by the small serving of Rendang Curry Beef ($4) which likens itself to a pile (blob) of brown . It’s very tender and flavoursome and has obviously been cooked for a very long time. The cheap Tahu (Tofu) Deep Fried ($2) is simply what you’d expect although something I probably wouldn’t necessarily order again unless I was vegetarian, although you probably wouldn’t be here in the first place if you were.

Equally popular to the chicken seems to be the Sate Kambing and Lontong ($9.50). You don’t often find compressed rice in other restaurants and there’s no shortage of flavour from the peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce and fried onion lathered on top. For an extra hit of flavour add some hot chill and oil in the mix if your taste buds and stomach can handle the fire. Ordering dishes is via writing them up on a piece of paper so I guess if you get the order wrong you can only blame yourself (and your hand writing).

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Very cheap, Tasty options, Mainly Asian customers (so it must be good, right?)

CONS: No fuss presentation of dishes, Can get a little crowded and noisy when busy, Need to write out your own order

WORTH TRYING: Sate Kambing and Lontong

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Rendang Curry Beef ($4)

Tahu (Tofu) Deep Fried ($2)

Ayam Goreng ($6), Ayam Kalasan Thigh ($6)

Hot chill and oil

Sate Kambing and Lontong: Charcoal Grilled Marinated 5 Lamb Satay Sticks served with Peanut Sauce, Sweet soy sauce and fried onion ($9.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Self hand write your order

Menu

Help yourself to water in colourful plastic cups

Seating

Opening hours

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Java Restaurant: Indonesian, Randwick (18 Nov 2009)

151 Avoca Street, Randwick NSW 2031

http://www.facebook.com/java.au

Popular Indonesian Restaurant

Do you ever want to order things off the menu just because it sounds really weird? How about Fried Chicken Shower — I wonder what it is? Is that what happens when it's raining fried chicken? I didn't end up ordering it for the family but I really enjoy their Fried chicken marinated with lemon grass and spices which comes with a nice sambal. I love Gado Gado, which is full of fresh ingredients and smothered in peanut sauce. I generally try placing a spoonful of it on the prawn crackers to eat. The Indonesian style steamed DimSim was OK but nothing particularly memorable. I enjoyed the Pork satay marinated in sweet spices much better and would order these again. The Nasi Goreng was OK but I remember it being a little dry perhaps. The Octopus Bakar Bumbu Bali had an interesting and tasty sauce although I'd probably try something else next time. I was hoping the Rendang Sapi would be a bit more tender but the sauce was nice to soak up the rice. If you want to try a good sampler dish for one then I recommend their Nasi Rames.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Cheap, Authentic-like, Friendly service

CONS: Can get noisy and crowded, Limited parking, Service can get slow if very busy

MUST TRY: Nasi Rames (perfect sampler for one)

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Other visits to Java Restaurant:
• 18 Nov 2009 - DimSim, Gado Gado, Pork Satay, Nasi Goreng, Balinese Grilled Octopus, Rendang Sapi, Fried chicken marinated with lemon grass and spices

• 20 Oct 2008 - Nasi Rames

Siomay: Indonesian style steamed DimSim $7.90 (6 pieces)

Sate Babi Mani: Pork satay marinated in sweet spices with Indonesian peanut sauce $10.90 (4 pieces)

Nasi Goreng: Fried rice $10.90

Octopus Bakar Bumbu Bali: Balinese style grilled octopus with your choice of Bali, Rujak or Opor Sauce $13.90

Gado Gado: Indonesian salad with mild peanut sauce $10.90

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Rendang Sapi: Indonesian style beef stewed in coconut milk and spices $13.90

Ayam Sereh: Fried chicken marinated with lemon grass and spices $13.90

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Complimentary chocolate

Fried chicken shower — what the?!

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