Palembang Food Trail - Part 1

Hi There! Blessed New year to you! 🎉
How’s your Christmas x New year holiday? Mine was… comforting!

Me, my bro [@harris_yang] and sis [@noviabenny] flew back to our beloved hometown [Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia] last Christmas, and we went crazy hopping around the town, mainly from eateries to eateries. So I thought I'd do a little recap sharing some of the eateries I’d recommend you to visit if – by any chance – you are visiting Palembang. This list is not in particular order. 🤓

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pagi Sore

Assorted Padang Dishes.

Sounds familiar? Yes, it’s like the one we can find here in Singapore [haven't been there tho]. However, instead of being Indonesian Restaurant, back n my hometown they’re Nasi Padang restaurant. Now if you’re good at geography, you might realise that ‘Padang’ is a city itself and 'nasi padang from Palembang' might sound a bit off, but really. This is one of those place we – people living outside Palembang – go straight to off the airport.

As expected from any Padang Restaurant, they’re proud of their Rendang. My recommendation(s)? Try their Rendang, Ayam Bakar, Gulai Tunjang, Ayam Pop, and Jangek Siram.

Also, they have bottom-less rice, they charge you by plate/pax.

So go ahead, unleash your inner beast like I did [read: I always do]. 🙈

Price Range: idr.30-60K/pax

Pagi Sore
Address: Jalan Jend. Sudirman No.96D, Ilir Timur I, 20 Ilir D. I, Ilir Tim. I, Kota Palembang, Sumatera Selatan 30126, Indonesia
Phone: +62 711 323000
Hours: 7AM–9PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pecel Lele Pak Jo

Cumi Goreng Tepung

This is another straight-from-the airport place. So usually, once you touchdown palembang, either you go here, or Pagi sore - depending on your craving, padang or javanese food.

My most favorite thing here - other than their sambal - would be the Cumi Goreng Tepung and Pecel Lele [DUH...?], runner ups are their Gudeg and Krecek! YAS their foods are nice but I really think people who come here are most likely come for the memories. Back in the day when I was little, there were not many good restaurants in town, we probably have only 1 or 2 good ones selling the same type of food. So everytime pecel lele comes to mind, this was the place to go!

ps: This is probably the most well-known and priciest pecel lele in town. Well, they're competing with street-food vendors. XD

Price Range: idr.30-50K/pax

Pecel Lele Pak Jo
Address: Jalan Demang Lebar Daun No.34, Kota Palembang, Sumatera Selatan 30151

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pempek 888

Left to right: Pempek Kulit / Model Gandum

There are literally hundreds of places you can buy pempek from in Palembang. And usually there will also sell some other palembang food like Mie Celor, Tekwan, Model [not 'that' kind of model], etc. This particular place offers – in my opinion – great pempek, and the best 'Model Gandum' and probably 'Pempek Kulit'.

Now a little bit about these foods. in Palembang, model is a type of a soupy food. Generally there are 2 types of model, ikan [fish] - served with shrimp broth, and gandum [wheat] - fried, served with beef broth. Personally, I find their 'Model Gandum' especially nice because their fried 'model' are still crispy when you eat 'em. and the broth... 😍

Price Range: idr.30-50K/pax

Pempek 888
Address : Jl. Taman Kenten, Duku, Ilir Tim. II, Kota Palembang, Sumatera Selatan 30163, Indonesia
Phone : +62 878-9716-4924

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hillside Resto

front to back: Pepes Tempoyak Belida / Pindang Kerupuk / Cumi Goreng Tepung / Gurame Cianjur.

Located right outside pempek 888, this place offers a range of local foods - meal-foods. Like the foods you eat with rice. Hillside specialises in Pindang [to make it simple - it's something like tomyum with a lot of local twist] and Pepes [another local dish where they have a piece of fish covered in spices, wrapped in banana leaves and grilled]. Both their pindang and pepes comes in 2 types. For pindang - Fish and Beef based. For Pepes - shallots and tempoyak [some kind of fermented durian] base. But hey, even their stir-fried kangkong is nice!

Personally I enjoyed [read: officially addicted to] their fish based pindang so much! SO much so I went back for another round while I was there.

Price Range: idr.60-80K/pax

Hillside Resto
Address: Jl. Taman Kenten No.18, Duku, Ilir Tim. II, Kota Palembang, Sumatera Selatan 30116, Indonesia
Phone: +62 711 5625578

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bakmi Aloi

Bakmi Campur

Probably the most successful bakmi [mee, noodle] chain from Palembang with branches in Jakarta, Bandung, and Bogor. Not surprising tho, their noodles are ssssssooooo good! probably the best I've ever had. Visual-wise it's similar to wanton mee here in Singapore, but more flavourful. by folds.

In their HQ [no lah, not HQ.. I mean their 1st store in Palembang] here's how it goes. Once you walk in the shop, you order your noodle - toppings are ranging from Chasiu, Minced Pork, and Chicken. Then you proceed to choose what you want to be inside your soup, they have a spread of choices from pig's intestines, liver, heart, minced meatball, fried meatballs, fishballs, and many more! Then you walk to your seat and someone will come to take your drink order. Not long after, your noodle and soup will be delivered to you and there you go!

Personally, I love their bakmi campur [minced meat and chasiu noodle] with fried meatball and minced meatball soup. and oh! they have free flow crispy fried lard on each tables. 😏

Price Range: idr.40-60K/pax

Bakmi Aloi
Address: JL. Dempo Luar, No. 410 A, Palembang, South Sumatera, 15 Ilir, Ilir Timur I, Palembang City, South Sumatra 30111, Indonesia
Phone: +62 711 354934

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pempek Dollar

Model Ikan

Probably the best in town.

Whenever I’m back in town and craving for some plate of shrimp-y ‘model ikan’, this is where I’m going. A humble eatery in an alley [sort of] - no fancy place or plating [they don’t even have aircon] but I find it ssoo comforting-ly good. Also, despite the place, this is probably one of the priciest pempek store in town.

There are only 3 menus available, pempek panggang, pempek lenggang, and model ikan! I believe they're commiting on selling only their best, that being said - all three are ssssoooowww guuudddd!! 👍🏻 👍🏻 👍🏻 👍🏻

Waroeng Pempek Dollar
Address: Jl. Dempo Dalam No.918C, 15 Ilir, Ilir Tim. I, Kota Palembang, Sumatera Selatan 30111, Indonesia
Phone: +62 851-0239-3733
Hours: 10AM-6PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And yeap, those are some of my recommendations on where to eat in Palembang. I'll be sharing the part 2 somewhere around next week. Till then, stay blessed..!

Also, say Hi and follow me on Instagram @anthony.ali for more updates!

Marche Christmas

Holaa! Feliz Navidad!

So last weekend, me, my sister – @noviabenny and her fiance – @yondythong had a Christmas Dinner at Marche, and it’s awesomeeee! Heard about it a few times and looking at the location and the always-there crowd, I always have the impression this place is one of those fancy restaurants with ceiling-high price, definitely not my everyday eatery! But hey, It’s Christmas!

Being a first-timer, I was pleasantly surprised by the restaurant concept. Turns out it’s somewhat like a European food-court where each person will be given a card upon entering [forget to take a snap of this card] and there are lots of stalls selling different kinds of European delis: Pastas, Pizzas, Paellas [their Seafood paella was AMAZING!], Steaks, Pork Knuckle, Rosti [apparently their rosti is quite ell-known], Salads, Soups, Drinks, Cakes, etc!

Take a peek at what’s inside:

THE famous Swiss Rosti

THE star of the night, Seafood Paella

DAT SEAFOOD PAELLA THOOO….!!
That’s arguably the best paella in town, but legit the best one I’ve had! By default, it came with prawns, chicken and mussel, then the guy asked if we want to add pan-fried calamari for $2.5. YAAAASSS OF COURSE!! and I’m happy we did! Very flavorful and rice was nice & plump. Not the kind where the rice is mostly dry and stick to the pan.

Now you might or might not have heard [or read] people talking about their Rosti, and some even went to the extent of saying it’s like a compulsory thing, it feels like there’s something missing if you go to marche without ordering their famous rosti. so, of course, we got Ourself one too! With sausages! IMHO, I’d say it’s not worth the hype. I mean it’s okay, eatable. Not horrible but not amazing either. How did it taste like? Pan-fried small-cut potato. That’s about it.

Other than these two, we had Salmon Steak, Mushroom Soup, Garlic Bread, and the Tiramisu Cake as well as the lemon tea too! Most of them are – as expected – not bad. These things feed the three of us well. We're tempted to get the pork knuckle as well, but I’m glad we didn’t, or else it’ll be such a burden to finish.

If I am to come back, I will definitely say it’s the Paella!

OH! one more thing, despite having a nice ambiance, it was quite hard to take a well-lit picture in there. Perhaps it’s for you to enjoy the moment – be there, talk, catch up – instead of being busy taking pics.

Here’s a little video of our visit:

Merry Christmas!! Have a Blessed one!

Marché Mövenpick 313@somerset

313 Orchard Rd, Level 1, Discovery Walk,
313@somerset, 313@Somerset

Open until 11:00 PM

Average/Pax S$30-40

Follow me on Instagram @anthony.ali for more recent updates!

HAMBAOBAO..!

Hi There..
Been yet-another while, hasn't it?

So i went to the newly-famous Hambaobao the other day, and here's how it went!

Located at the hawker centre on top of Beauty World Centre, this place can easily reached using MRT. Make your move and conveniently alight at Beauty World station [Downtown Line - Blue Line], walk under the sheltered walkway to the building, and take the escalator all the way to the top!

Surprisingly this stall has been around for quite a while, got famous recently -- mostly thanks to Night Owl Cinematic, Dee Kosh, The Smart Local [and EatBook SG], also tons of bloggers, intagrammers, and of course people who watch them. [Talkin' bout the power of SocMed].

I reached at around 12.46pm and here's how it looked like

Waited for around 40mins to GET MY ORDERS TAKEN, Here's the menu:

i mean, just look at the prices!!!!

My orders was taken around 1.40pm, upon taking my order i was informed that it'll be ready at 2.50pm! that's another 1hr+. Well.. being crazy hungry, it was too late for me to back off -- yet too long for me to wait, so i went and stuffed myself a good plate of pan-fried dumplings AND a few Xiao Long Bao from another stall.

Finally the wait was over, and here are our order:

Star of the day a.k.a their best seller -- Roasted Pork Burger.

Now about this one, they're slayin roasted pork game STRONG. Like let's not talk about this being a fusion food or sth, the roasted pork itself was winning compared to other roasted pork from most hawker centres [and possibly restaurants]. SO Crispy yet juicy, and flavourful! What interesting is, they make it on the spot. like literally, legit roasting it from raw meat.

Here's a closer look of the roasted pork:

Here's a short video on where to find them! :)

Do visit them on weekdays if you can, cause one of my friend told me he visited them on weekday lunch and there were NO QUEUE! Also take note of their opening hours and days below:

HamBaoBao
144 Upper Bukit Timah #04-49 Beauty World Centre
Singapore 588177

Open Wed-Sun 12-8 PM
Closed on Mon and Tue.


Lastbutnotleast, do follow me on instagram @anthony.ali for more recent updates and quick reviews! :)
Thankssss

The Cold Pantry

Go black never go back. they say..

Today I'll be talking about my lil experience visiting this small-highly popular ice cream cafe at rangoon road [yes! Highly popular -- even with Indonesian food bloggers]. Guessed it right? The Cold Pantry. [that's what the title say, isn't it? #lol]

You can see some of their posts here and here.

I planned to write about this after my 1st visit [cause honestly i didn't know if i i will ever come back] but now, I'm glad that i haven't.

Why? cause if i did, i'll only have 1 menu to write about! [at least i have 2 now] XD

This was the reason i first visited the cafe:

Chocolate Root Beer [S$12.50]
Chocolate flavoured waffle with cake like texture, served with charcoal vanilla ice cream, drizzled with -- the amazing -- homemade chocolate root beer sauce.

Plus, I like how the cashier explained to me -- in advance -- my order to make sure i know what am i ordering. In this case, she told me that the chocolate waffle was the cake-is kind, not the very crispy kind. I personally find that this kind of little things MATTERS. It gets you thinking "they're not trying to trick you".

Taste wise, it's AAAAWEEESSSSOOOOMEEEE!!! that root beer sauce was brilliant!! Unexpectedly compliments the whole thing very well.

Indeed, that very menu was also the one that brought me back.

This time, they've added some more interesting creations, they're so good, why bother question their new babies? BUT we only wanted to order 2, so we asked about her -- the cashier -- opinion regarding Pink Velvet and Lavender, she told us that their lavender soft serve is kinda a bit too flower-ish for guys, but it's highly popular with girls. Then she kindly gave us a bit of the lavender soft serve, and again -- she knows what she's selling. #yourawk!

so we decided to order the signature,

And this:

Pink Velvet [S$14.00]
Rose infused crispy waffle, served with luscious [charcoal] Lychee Ice Cream, topped with lychee and fruit loops

Pretty, isn't it?

Honestly when i read the description, i didn't expect the lychee soft serve will appears in black as well..

here's some more pics of us enjoying both of our orders.

"aiyaaahh... no time for pretty shot lah... melting already!!" x_x

Told ya it's pink!

If you notice, they have replaced their old waffle machine with the new -- rectangle -- one. [personally, i like the round one better tho, but.. nobigdeal, ya?]

As expected, the Pink Velvet was beautiful -- for both your camera, and tastebuds. Lychee soft serve was light, refreshing, not overly sweet, texture was sssoooo smooth... lychee and fruit loops? Yes please!

Now i have 2 reasons to come back.

Honestly, I would say the price range wasn't exactly budget-friendly, but if you just like to try something nice, and have somebody who love the idea of sharing dessert [cause..you know, share the calories thing.] this would be a great place to visit.

Here are some other snaps i took during the visit:

interior

Menu as per March 2016

Opening Hours

Bonus:

Since it's not exactly very noticeable, here's how the outside look like. download, capture, anything. just don't miss it! :)

==========================

The Cold Pantry

131 Rangoon Road, Singapore

Instagram @TheColdPantry

==========================

If you enjoy this, you might want to check my instagram at @anthony.ali for more updated reviews and eatery! [as i'm waaaayyy more active there] :D THANKSS...

Brother Bird - Bali Lane

Hi there,
you might be wondering what's with the Kinfolk and 20?
Literally nothing. just a random shot I thought I'll make use for cover #LOL

Well, today I'll be sharing about this dessert I had yesteday!

Yeap.... Fresh!

After quite a number of planning-canceling rounds, I finally had the chance to try this infamous Brother Bird's soft-serve -- with their rice donut -- yesterday. Thanks to my cafe-hopping buddy who came to visit this merlion city!

First, let's see what we ordered:

Chocolate Bowl -- S$13.00
Petit donuts glazed with generous amount of chocolate sauce,
sprinkled with coconut crunch, and [dried] raspberries, we had it served with Taro soft-serve.

Liusa Bowl -- S$14.00
Liusa [Salted-egg yolk sauce] donuts sprinkled with salted cornflakes and dried strawberries,
we had it served with Cookie Butter soft-serve.

Freshly arrived -- Both of 'em.

Beautiful, aren't they?

Now before we talk much about these beautiful desserts, i need to inform you that Brother Bird is temporarily sharing the same place with Stateland Cafe [32 Bali Lane] -- 2 stores beside their previous location [30 Bali Lane] and -- as they're trying to find a new nest for themself.

Now let's head back to those bowls.

As mentioned above, we ordered Chocolate Bowl and Liusa Bowl, both comes with a choice of softserve [There are 2 soft serve flavours available -- Taro and Cookie Butter -- you can choose either one or better yet, mix 'em! :)] served on top of their infamous signature rice donuts.

Soft-serve wise, personally I like their Taro flavour better as it's rich and milky [in a good way] and you know taro and rich milk-y taste goes veeeeeerrrryyyyy well together. The other one -- Cookie Butter -- was okay.. but i guess there's a reason why everybody is talking about the Taro.

Rice donut was certainly not your everyday donuts as it's the chewy kind -- to me [and my friend] it tasted a bit like sweet potato balls [Bola Ubi] we have back in Indonesia. The only difference between the two was that the ones in chocolate bowl was full-thick-chewy kind while the one in liusa bowl was like a thin skin with oozing salted-egg yolk sauce inside. Both was okay, but if i am to choose, I'll go with liusa!

Not pretty, but anyway.. this was the chocolate rice donut. THICK.

That oozing liusa...

Yeap -- I know what you're thinking. #EverythingAlsoSaltedEgg here in Singapore.

Last but not least, I think it's advisable to share a bowl for at min. 2 pax -- Price, calorie, and portion-wise.

We ended up leaving some donuts unfinished.

Brother Bird
Instagram - @BrotherBirdBali
30 Bali Lane, Singapore [As mentioned above, they're temporarily sharing the same store with Stateland Cafe at 32 Bali Lane]

Do check out my Instagram @anthony.ali for more updated reviews and eatery! [as i'm waaaayyy more active there] :D THANKSS...

Salted-egg-yolk-over-charcoal-waffle battle.

A lil background,

I mentioned couple times in my instagram, and A LOT of times with whoever asking me for waffle-advise that i really recommend the Charcoal Gourmet Waffle -- with salted egg yolk sauce and earl grey lavender ice cream -- from Fat Cat Ice Cream Bar. It's just amazingly pleasing in the mouth. [not to mention it's picturisque].

THE Gourmet Charcoal Waffle -- Earl-Grey Lavender ice cream

I was kinda fixed. charcoal waffle = Fat Cat.

One day, i saw this post in Instagram saying that Twenty Grammes also have charcoal waffle, and it ALSO comes with salted egg yolk, and it's better than the other one -- which later i found in comment section it's refering to Fat Cat. 

And there i was, at Twenty Grammes, trying their charcoal waffle.

[I remember vividly it was Deepavali public holiday, and i spent the whole day feeling unwell due to severe flu. Thanks to my beloved sista for dragging me there, and turns out it did make me feels a lot better. XD]

The iconic 'pourshot'
Must-take, ya?! XD

Since the sauce sengek just now, rotate a bit and take some more lah..!

the un-glam side. XD

In my [humble] opinion -- personally i think Fat Cat will still be in the first place. Not only that the waffle texture itself was just to my liking [crispy outside - moist inside] their earl grey lavender ice cream was just.... [insert bigfatloveemoji here] i tried some 3 other flavours, earl grey lavender still the BEST. [period].

As for Twenty Grammes, if you like your waffle to be more pancake-ish kind, you'll love theirs [apparently a lot of people loves theirs -- or maybe i was just the lucky customer who got my waffle not so crispy that day]. Salted egg yolk sauce was more to the rough-er side compared to it's competitor. lastly -- again, it's based on my liking -- they don't serve lavender ice cream. 

Price [charcoal waffle, 1 scoop ice cream, salted egg yolk sauce]:

- Fat Cat: S$11.50 [could be different depending on the choice of ice cream]

- Twenty Grammes: S$12.00

Twenty Grammes -- Environment:

I put the menu extra large uh! can see better, right? :D 

Fat Cat Ice Cream Bar:
http://fatcat.sg
Instagram: @fatcatsg
Blk 416 Bedok North Avenue 2 #01-25, 460416
More Details: http://fatcat.sg/contact/

Twenty Grammes Cafe:
http://www.twentygrammes.comInstagram: @twentygrammes
753 North Bridge Road (S) 198721
Telp: 6717 1733
Email: info@twentygrammes.com
Operating Hours:Sunday - Thursday 12:00pm - 10:00pm
Friday  - Saturday 12:00pm - 01:00am