Penang Bistro and My Top 3 Picks - Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta

[Penang Bistro]

What is your most fav time in a day ? 

For me, lunch is the most fav also important part of the day. But recently, I've been bored with the same and mediocre lunch places. Most of the time, I prefer pasta, sushi and burger for my lunch, so it's rare for me to taste other asian touch of food. And now I have one good recommendation place to eat for lunch!

Penang Bistro - Kebon Sirih

Jl. Kb. Sirih Raya No.59, RT.8/RW.2, 

Kb. Sirih, Menteng, Kota Jakarta Pusat, 

Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta 10340

[Invitation]

It was about 3 weeks ago I think that I've got this email that invited me to try this restaurant, it was Penang Bistro. Well I never try Penang Bistro at that time, but I know it is quite a good restaurant. While a teenager like me will prefer to eat western or japanese food when we were out, we tend to forget other delicious variant kind of food. So I accepted their invitation and also came to that event.

[Inside]

[#2]

[#3]

[#4]

[#5]

So as usual, I was late when I arrived here and I was not jokingly surprised with the venue. This place was quite spacious considering that this is a building with 4 floors and it's all for Penang Bistro only. The first floor is the carpark, main dining is at the 2nd floor and also the 3rd one is for the private dining. 

It was a total different feel from the other outlet! I know that Penang Bistro is usually inside a mall like in Central Park, Pacific Place, Grand Indonesia, and etc so I wasn't expect anything at all but geez, this place was decorated beautifully and it is looks like a garden to me. It was a perfect place to have a meeting lunch, an event or to enjoy your food with friends and family.

[Foods]

[#2]

[#3]

When I came here, they already served us with this amazingly beautiful variant kind of food. So we should talk about their food concept first. When we heard Penang in the first time we would think of Malaysia right? Yes, most of their food is cooked with Malaysian style but some of the menu were come from other asian countries, so it was more into a contemporary Asian food. 

Here are some food I tried and ate in the event :

Sambal Ebi Prawn

[Sambal Ebi Prawn]

So Ebi on a prawn ? Will it tasted good ? Yes it is! At first I thought it would tasted really strong because the prawn itself but when adding Sambal Ebi, it still balanced and not too strong, it's also elaborate the flavors. The highlight was still the prawn and the Sambal Ebi was marinated perfectly.

Oatmeal Softshell Crab

[Oatmeal Softshell Crab]

[#2]

Oatmeal on the top of deep fried shoftshell crab, it tasted savory and also aromatic. Since I'm not a big fan of crab, it gave me a pleasure. Maybe because of the oatmeal, it tasted really crunchy. It isn't my personal preference but it really pampered my palate.

Penang Golden Egg Yolk Mushroom

[Penang Golden Egg Yolk Mushroom]

[#2]

It is a deep fried mushroom and chicken with marinated golden egg yolk. It was perfect for an appetizer or a side dish. I would like to eat these as a snack while waiting for my food to come because it was crisp and buttery. Also it was bite size so I keep eating these as a snack! lol!

Ebi String Bean

[Ebi String Bean]

Not sure how to describe this because I didn't eat string bean. But my friend told me that it was quite nice especially because it was a bit salty and spicy. The Ebi also could be tasted.

Canai Tissue With Chocolate and Peanut

[Canai Tissue With Chocolate and Peanut]

What could goes wrong with sweet canai tissue layer and some peanut and chocolate in it? The canai was thin so the texture was super crisp. It was sweet but also salty at the same time. I really love sweet canai dishes since I was a kid, and this is could be my fav list of canai too.

Roti Canai with Chicken Curry

[Roti Canai with Chicken Curry]

You know that Indian touch the best come to the curry! Curry and canai bread is the best combination. The Canai bread was plain but a bit salty and crisp. The chicken curry itself is rich of flavors. It was one of good food and also memorable!

Malay Mee Goreng

[Malay Mee Goreng]

[#2]

YAASHH! I love Mee and I love Goreng! I love Mee Goreng! Malay Mee Goreng is actually kinda same with typical other asian mee goreng. But Mee Goreng from Penang Bistro is one of my fav! With prawn and fried egg topping on it, you know how good the food when the soy sauce marinated and fried well until the food looks like golden color. Adding lime to it given us a complex sensation.

Fried Tofu Negeri Jiran

[Fried Tofu Negri Jihan]

[#2]

This silky tofu really soft and delicate. The fried skin on the outside was nice. The sauce was thick and also nice. It really tasted good. The garnish on the top was consist of veggies and chili. One of the simple home dish but restaurant quality, this one I approved !

And here comes my top 3 pick dish I really love from here :

3. Mayonnaise Shrimp

[Mayonnaise Shrimp]

[#2]

[#3]

A plate of shrimp coated with mayonnaise. Why I choose this as my top 3 pick was because I don't like mayonnaise "that much". Because everytime I ate something with mayonnaise, all that I could tasted was the mayonnaise only. But this dish was an exception. The shrimp itself already fried nicely and then we have the mayonnaise dip. It wasn't any ordinary mayonnaise because they have their own mayonnaise kind of mix. And best part is the portion was generous! So with no exception, this menu get in to my list! 

2. Penang Special Crispy Duck

[Penang Special Crispy Duck]

It super crisp and also the skin has a great seasoning. When it comes to deep fried dish, they often forget about the meat and only focused on the skin but the meat was so tender on flavorful. But still one of the best part was the skin, it was so on point!

1. Chicken Mango

[Chicken Mango]

[#2]

When I saw the menu, I immediately saw this. Maybe it is thai inspired food since they use mango as the ingredient. But I really love this kind of food. The mango on the top was a bit sour, but also sweet and then spicy, considered they put some dressing sauce also. The chicken was delicious and the topping and dressing complete the dish. This was the highlight of my lunch! That's why I put this as my number one pick! I'm very recommend this menu to you if you like this kind of food!

So that's all I ate from the invitation and my short review. I hope you guys could paid a visit and try more of their variant menu. It was beyond my expectation but it was worth it! I hope you enjoy my writing and have a good time! See you on the next post! :D