When it comes to Indonesian food, none is more famous than Ayam Penyet, essentially a flattened deep fried chicken served with tempeh (made from fermented soya bean), tofu, and those oh-so-addictive sambal.
Ayam Penyet Mak Maya, Kampung Baru
My first ayam penyet was at Waroeng Penyet just over a decade ago, and it was love at first taste. I’ve been on a look out for ayam penyet stalls in its most “pure” form ever since, for a lack of a better word.
A hunt that led me to Ayam Penyet Mak Maya at Kampung Baru, my current favorite.
Mak Maya is located at Kampung Baru, directly opposite to one of my favorite Nasi Padang restaurant. The restaurant itself is a bit of a time capsule from the 80s, with plastic chairs and laminated table.
I always order mine with extra sambal
What sets Ayam Penyet Mak Maya apart from other such stalls is their sambal. The sambal is prepared “fresh” on the spot by grinding fresh ingredients to the paste form we’re familiar with.
The result was expectedly excellent, spicy, aromatic, and pure. I love it.
ayam or ikan for you?
Other than ayam penyet (chicken), they also have ikan kembung (Indian Mackerel), and ikan keli (catfish) deep fried in the same style.
These are served with deep fried tauhu, tempeh, and a slice of raw cucumber, cabbage to go with plain rice. The sambal of course ties everything together to make a plate of super satisfying lunch.
if you love it spicy, you’d love it here
If you want a good meal of ayam penyet in the heart of KL city, this is one to check out.. before Kampung Baru is eventually being redeveloped.
Address: Ayam Penyet Mak Maya 58, Jalan Raja Muda Mus Kampung Baru, 50300 Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3.164533, 101.708807
Last weekend I decided that since we’re moving to Seksyen 16 in Shah Alam, it might be a good idea to scout around for some good Malay/Indonesian food around the area and see what we can find.
We drove straight into Padang Jawa without any plan or expectation, and just as we passed the flyover, a sign appears that says “Pecel Lele”, we scouted a bit some more before decided to check it out, and was pleasantly surprised that within this almost-jungle/kampung area exists a rather busy shack/restaurant/stall that’s packed with people.
Kedai Makan Pecel Lele, Padang Jawa
We then immediately got our car parked at the dedicated carpark for the restaurant just behind the building, and proceed to check out what the all fuss is about.
As it turned out, Pecel Lele is an ayam penyet stall/restaurant that operates around the clock, and a local favorite among Padang Jawa folks as well as UiTM students. Haze and I were the only two Chinese at the time, and I was absolutely delighted.
que to order, then get your unlimited rice and soup
The SOP at Pecel Lele is simple.
jot down your table number
line up, order, and pay for your food
get your own rice & soup (unlimited)
wait for your food and drinks to be served (usually within 5-10 mins)
berbola, pecal lele, ayam penyet, bergedil, and those sambal!
The prices at Pecel Lele is really one of the cheapest I’ve seen anywhere, especially in Klang Valley. Ayam penyet with rice at RM 4.50, with catfish (pecel lele) is RM 5.50, pecal berbola RM 5, pecal daging RM 5. Other extras offers great value as well – RM 0.50 bergedil, nangka, or pucuk ubi, two bebola for RM 1, and tempe for RM 1.50.
If you’re not into rice dishes, mie ayam, soto, bakso, or gado-gado are priced at RM 3.50. Drinks are RM 1.50.
we definitely enjoyed the meal, all for only RM 15.50 too
As for the taste? We absolutely loved it!
The chicken was properly seasoned, and the cat fish deep fried to a crunchy state that goes really well with those tomato salsa/sambal concoction. Berbola tasted very similar to keropok lekor with body image problem, and even the bergedil was pretty decent (could be warmer though).
The drinks? Though they’re supposed to be “mango juice” or “grape juice”, they tasted more like melted Sugus candies, which my taste bud loved, but I reckon may not be perfectly good for your health. Then again, you don’t eat there everyday kan?
I’m definitely going to make this place one of my weekly pilgrimage soon.
Address: Pecal Lele Padang Jawa Lot 617, Jalan Berangan Kampung Padang Jawa, Shah Alam Selangor GPS: 3.050029, 101.489769 Tel: 019-206 8920 Hours: 24 hours, closes for Friday prayers
A few weeks ago one of my colleagues asked “hey KY jom makan”, and since there’s nothing outside of endangered species and kiwi I don’t eat, I got on the car without knowing where I would end up.
The destination turned out to be Ayam Bakar Wong Solo, one of my favorite ayam bakar/ayam penyet places that I’ve only had from take-outs.
Ayam Bakar Wong Solo at Ampang
Wong Solo at Ampang is situated by Jalan Dagang Besar, less than five mintues away from Ampang Point. Parking is a painless affair, and the restaurant, while having less than inspiring interior decoration, is equipped with air conditioning, a great feature considering you’re going to end up eating something spicy.
ayam bakar, terung, and petai sambal
Both the ayam bakar and ayam penyet is served with a side of tempe, tauhu, a small portion of terung (eggplant), and those really addictive sambal. The tempe here is the first that I really enjoyed.
The difference between ayam bakar and ayam penyet is the way the chicken is cooked. One is over fire, and the other is deep fried and smashed. Both are equally good but I do prefer ayam bakar as it is a rarer dish among the two.
Terung is a pretty decent dish but we were glad we ordered sambal petai. Those stinky beans and prawns made for good side dish for sure.
Address: Ayam Bakar Wong Solo G18/G19, Jalan Dagang B/3A (Taman Dagang), 68000 Ampang, Selangor GPS: 3.148964, 101.754808 Tel: 03-4270 1947
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Just a few days ago, I brought a Malay colleague to one of my favorite lunch hide outs in KL, the really old school and slightly run-down medan selera (DBKL food court) behind Fahrenheit 88. The initial plan was to order a plate of sotong halia and telur dadar for lunch, but as fate would have it, my favorite stall, Adik Tomyam, was not open for business.
I took a seat at the same far end of food court nonetheless (nearer to Lot 10), and this was when I discovered Gerai Cak Anam.
Gerai Cak Anam at Medan Selera behind Fahrenheit 88
The stall is operated by a couple Indonesian ladies (I assume) and offers quite a few selections of Indonesian food – bakso, soto ayam, gulai kambing, rojak lontong, tempe + telor penyet, bebek (duck), lele (cat fish), ayam, belud (eel), babat (tripe), bandeng (milk fish), and ikan sardin to be exact.
That’s what the signboard says, but I also spotted some prawn fritters as well.
bebek penyet (smashed duck) with excellent sambal
Being a fan of duck, naturally I ordered the bebek penyet. For RM 6 you get a plate of rice that’s enough to feed a fleet of construction crews, decent serving of deep fried duck (I’m not sure if it’s “flattened”), raw cabbage, cucumber, and sweet, spicy, and delicious sambal that I love.
The dish does turned out to be pretty good, which leave me wanting to try their other meat/fish choices next time. Halal duck meat isn’t something you find very often, so if you’re hungry for some, here’s a place to check out.
I’ve had to travel to Pasir Gudang for work for a few weeks recently. Most of the days, we have our lunch at Tanjong Puteri Golf Cafe thanks to the expat friendly lunch menu. Not particularly exciting to me, however.
So when we found ourselves having a little more culinary freedom on one of the afternoons, my colleague who’s based on location drove me to the nearby Kampung Putih for some good old ayam penyet at Restoran Selera Sambal.
Restaurant Selera Sambal at Pasir Gudang
Kampung Pasir Putih is not exactly a tourist attraction, but it does have a few restaurants on the main stretch that caters to the locals and the ship yard workers alike, Restoran Selera Sambal is one of them.
The menu includes all sorts of penyet (smashed) dishes – starting with ayam penyet (chicken), leleh (cat fish), udang (prawns), sotong (squid) daging (beef), to burung punyuh (quail). Combinations of two ingredients are possible too, as with burger conventions – these are called “specials”.
ayam penyet set at RM 6.50, yum yums
I’ve only tried their classic ayam penyet so far. The chicken certainly very crispy and flavorful, with the meat tend to be slightly tougher, but in the kampung chicken type of way, I like it.
And as with the name suggest, their sambal is really top notch. It was spicy and addictive, I naturally asked for more. Other than tempeh, tofu, ulam, and soup, there’s also some fried potato as sides. It’s a full meal for sure, and all for RM 6.50.
If you find yourself at Pasir Gudang, remember that Tanjong Puteri Golf resort is not the only choice for lunch. Thank you Adnan for bringing me there. 😀
