Batavia Cafe Indonesian Food

How does it really feel to be away from work and worries for all 11 days from Christmas to the 4th day of the New Year? I think it feels pretty awesome. Kinda brings back the same feelings of having year end long semester break. Having a day of break feels as awesome as having a week off.

While everyone was toiling blood and sweat at work (recession is coming to town...), both of us were happily deciding what to eat for lunch before our movie at 1 Utama.

Please allow me to digress.

Ip Man (not related to Yes Man, Cicak Man...) is the must watch Chinese movie! It stars the awesome/manly/kungfu ABC hearthrob Donnie Yen. It's actually based on the real kungfu master (also the sifu of Bruce Lee) who made history by defeating the Japanese. Anyway the highlight of the movie is Ip Man's super awesome Wing Chun moves and how calm the man is when he fights! Donnie Yen is the Man!

/ends digression.


Bakso- RM4.20

One of our main motives to have Indon food was of course the Bakso (beef balls). Unlike the Bakso we had at Ayam Penyet Ria (just a stone's throw from Batavia), the Bakso here opens up really nicely... similar to the Chinese 'fatt koh' which requires superior skillz to make it 'smiling'. The Bakso greeted us with a very welcoming smile indeed tempting us to eat them! Hahaha. Not too beefy, but the soup is flavourful.


Empal Penyet- RM4.50

Loving all things beef, we ordered the Empal Penyet, literally meaning flattened beef. Flattened to make it tender, it didn't disappoint. The meat was floss like and the accompanying chilli gives it an extra kick, making it more 'syiok'.


Pecel Ayam- RM4.50

Following the recommendations of Michael from Food Street, we also had Pecel Ayam. We did not go for the ayam penyet this time around. Pecel ayam is basically ayam bakar accompanied with a sweet sauce. Pecel is an Indonesian sauce based on peanuts, similar to the sauced used for Gado-Gado (Indon's version of the rojak). The chicken meat was tender and the sauce made the dish rather interesting.


Kangkung Belacan- RM4.00

You can't possibly go wrong with the Kangkung Belacan. It was nothing to shout about, I would have preferred it with a little bit of gravy though.


Es Campur- RM4.30

We had wanted to try the Jus Alpukat (Avocado Juice with chocolate syrup) but unfortunately it wasn't available that day. We had to settle on second choice which was the Es Campur, which in Malaysian terms we would have called it the Ice Kacang or ABC (Ais Batu Campur). I think the Es Campur at Ayam Penyet Ria fared much better. We both felt that they were too generous with the atapci (some tasted sourish, too generous with anything can be a bad thing).


Pisang Bakar- RM 2.50

For dessert, we ordered the Pisang Bakar as recommended at Food Street. While the dish certainly looks pretty interesting and fancy with the chocolate rice and grated cheese toppings, the taste didn't quite impress. For a start, the banana was too cooked, hence making it very mushy. The cheese didn't really flavour anything, in fact I couldn't taste any cheese! After some bites, the Pisang Bakar actually tasted like some Indian sweets... which is not a good thing cos I don't quite fancy Indian sweets.

I noticed that there are quite a few Indonesian food outlets around Sunway and SS15 Subang Jaya. Have yet to try all and conclude which is the best. Indon food is one of the most affordable cuisines (of course, I'm sure there are higher end outlets out there), Batavia is an excellent example- nothing in the menu exceeds RM10, ranging from as low as RM2.50-RM7/8. While food portions may not be big, it is nice to order a few items to share. With some hits and misses, Batavia deserves a comeback.


Batavia Cafe
No. 9, Jalan PJS 8/10,
Dataran Mentari,
Bandar Sunway, PJ.
(Behind Shell station- formerly Projet Station at Dataran Mentari)

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]