NOTE: A reader has noticed that Ratu Sari appears to have closed down. I can’t confirm this yet, but be aware of this if you wish to dine here. I will confirm this as soon as I can.
Sometimes the real gems can be found out in the suburbs. Forget about queues, this restaurant is virtually empty when we arrive, and only half full when we leave. Why, I have no idea, because the food was certainly excellent. Not trendy enough for the crowds I guess. Fine by me!
This week we were determined to find a restaurant dedicated to Indonesian food, and we had a few in mind, but ultimately settled on Anzac Parade in Kingsford because of the density of Indonesian restaurants. Caroline had Ayam Goreng 99 in mind, but when we got there we found that they were closed for the festive season. We walked back about 10 metres and stepped into Ratu Sari as we had looked at their menu briefly before going to have a look at AG99′s menu.
The menu is large. Five pages of a la carte food, and two of banquets.
We started off with sweet iced tea ($3.50). Very nice and refreshing, just make sure that you stir before you sip and there’s a syrup that has a tendency to sink to the bottom.
First up for the starters is Ngo Hiong ($8.90). Highly recommended!
Pork mince, seafood and vegetable roll wrapped in fried tofu skin. I could eat a hundred of these I think! Beware though, the sauce is quite chilli hot. Nice, but hot.
Lumpia ($8.90 for 4). Indonesian style spring roll. To be honest I couldn’t tell these apart from regular Chinese spring rolls, but regardless they were excellent. Perhaps a tiny bit oily on the outside, but absolutely perfect inside, and nice and neat too. Served with a much milder chilli sauce.
For main course we chose Kapitan Chicken ($15.90). Chicken fillets, capsicum and onion in a mild green chilli and coconut sauce. It was indeed a mild chilli sauce, and the coconut shone through. The chicken was lovely and still tender. I could have drunk all the remaining juice straight from the plate (but didn’t!). Instead I poured it over the remains of the next main.
Nasi goreng ($12.90). Indonesian fried rice, with sliced chicken, beef ball, fish cake and shrimp. I’m not sure what nasi goreng is supposed to be like as I’ve had it so many different ways, but this was very nice. I was expecting beef balls, but actually the description is correct – a single meat ball, sliced into many thin strips. Nice and light and not at all clumpy.
For dessert we decided to have es cendol ($6.50). We’ve had cendol all over the place, but what makes this one a bit different is the addition of jackfruit. I’ve never had jackfruit before and found that I quite like it. Topped with coconut milk and palm sugar.
We also had ketan hitam ($6.50). Served warm or cold, we went for warm. Black sticky rice topped with coconut milk. It was saltier than we expected, but it was very nice. Another thing I can eat forever!
The restaurant.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I love ngoh hiang, though I’ve never really associated it with Indonesian food. My late grandma made my favourite ones, stuffed with the requisite minced pork, carrot, onion and water chestnut, seasoned with five-spice (that’s what it means in Chinese – five spice!). I always loved it dipped in chilli sauce.
Well at least I went to an Indonesian restaurant this time! I swear south-east Asian food is starting to all look the same to me! By that I mean variants of the same dish across different SE-Asian countries. Whatever, as long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters to me!
So what would ngo hiong be then? The name sounds maybe a bit Vietnamese to me, but I have no idea. If it means five spice then I guess Chinese?
I always loved a good chilli sauce!
Something else learnt today, I had no idea that meant “five spice”! It probably explains why I enjoyed the dish so much too, I love five spice! According to Wikipedia, the dish originated in eastern China, but is common in many parts of Indonesia now … Never too sure how much you can trust Wikipedia for all answers though.
I consider it to be a universal South East Asian food. I seem to have found it in Singaporean, Malaysian, Peranakan, Indonesian cuisines. And when in Vietnam last week, I chomped on some meaty spring rolls which reminded me of ngoh hiang. Anyway, with such a large ethnic Chinese population in Indonesia, I’m not surprised at all that it’s common there.
its closed down now
(((( does anyone know where it moved to?
Oh no, I had not heard this until now, and I have no idea if they’ve closed or just moved. I’ll make a note on the blog.
Has anyone found out if Ratu Sari has opened up in another location?
Hi Ed,
Unfortunately I have no idea. I haven’t been out that way recently. If I end up out there sometime soon I’ll post what I find here.
Cheers
Craig