Monday, July 19, 2010

Indonesian Bakso & So Much More from Warung Malang, Causeway Bay

Warung Malang
I never thought I could find authentic Indonesian bakso (beef balls) in Hong Kong, so you can imagine how happy I was when I saw a friend posted that such bakso exists in Hong Kong! Yay~ yay~ yay~! I've been craving bakso forever! We'll discuss the bakso later...but this is where the place is...
Warung Malang.

It's a humble lil' place on the 2nd floor of Dragon Rise, Causeway Bay. No wonder it's not exactly popular with the locals but I'm sure almost all Indonesians living in Hong Kong knows this place.
Warung Malang
Not Indonesian? No worries! The friendly gentleman who looks after the place speaks fluent Cantonese (Wayyy more fluent than me. Oppps)

You can check out the food behind the counter and order them with rice...or grab some snacks and exotic fruits from the counter...
Warung Malang

Once we were seated, a plate of condiments was placed in front of us.
Warung Malang
We Indonesians love our sambals (chilli condiments). There are sambal terasi, sambal bakso and sambal kecap. I wish I could bring these bowls of sambal home :D

Surely, a bowl of bakso alone won't be enough for me...so I ordered their famous complete mixed rice (Nasi Campur).
Warung Malang
It's absolutely delicious! It has telor balado (fried hard boiled egg topped with chilli), sayur lodeh with rambak (vegetable cooked in coconut milk and spices), curry chicken, sambal goreng tempe (soy bean cake cooked in chilli and spices), and beef rendang. Everything on the place's delicious and taste really authentic, bold, strong flavors. It definitely transported me back to Indonesia. I've also added an additional perkedel (fried potato cake), and it's delicious and authentic.

Warung Malang
I saw some fried snacks at the counter, and surely I had to have some. I took the perkedel jagung (corn fritter) and tempe goreng (fried soy bean cake). At first I thought that the perkedel jagung didn't look freshly fried...but when I tasted it, it's yummy. Crunchy on the outside; fluffy, tasty and corny (in a good way) inside. Consume with a bit of sambal terasi for perfection.

Warung Malang
The tempe goreng wasn't freshly fried, but that's pretty much how it's served in most Indonesian eateries back home. I devoured it with a generous serving of sambal kecap...and yum!

Now...back to the bakso...
Warung Malang
Indonesian bakso (beef ball) is very different from the Chinese ones. It probably has less of beef flavor, but what I love is how chewy it is. It's not bouncy kinda chewy, it's a bit more...elastic. I guess you gotta try it to understand it ^_* I find the fried dumpling (pangsit goreng), stuffed tofu, rice and egg noodles a bit unnecessary, next time I'll go for just the good ol' bakso and broth.
The art of handling the broth of the bakso...it's served plain, garnished with celery and fried shallot, add your own condiments to create your own "flavor", kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), chilli sauce, vinegar, and salt...until you achieve your own perfect version of broth.
Slurp~!

I saw sate on the menu, so I gotta try their sate as well.
Warung Malang
This time I went for sate kambing (lamb skewers), the meat was super tender and flavorful (from the spices, it doesn't have a strong lamb flavor), and the peanut sauce served with chopped shallot tasted authentic too. Love it!

Warung Malang
I tried their es cendol, which is rice flour bits served with coconut milk, palm sugar and ripe jack fruit pieces...it was pretty authentic. Not bad at all :)

The owner told me that she tried to keep everything as authentic as possible...and I think she was pretty successful at that. She warned me not to visit on Sundays as the place would be fully packed with Indonesian domestic helpers on their day off. Duly noted, and I'll definitely go back with more friends and let them try authentic Indonesian food.

Dinner for two + drinks cost us HK$177

Warung Malang
2/F, Dragon Rise, 9-11 Pennington Street
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
銅鑼灣邊寧頓街9-11號登龍閣2樓
Tel: +852 2915 7859

11 comments:

Mrs Ergül said...

It is not dinner time yet but you made me hungry!! I am glad you found a place with taste from back home!

Joanne said...

I have never eaten a single thing that you describe here. But now i'm totally craving them. And want them all. you know it's bad when you have a craving for something you've never tasted before.

Indonesia Eats said...

is the sate lamb or goat/mutton? the lamb has a milder smell than mutton (kambing). I envy you! I wish there is one Indonesian restaurant in Winnipeg that has the authentic one.

Christine Wu said...

I want nasi campur so bad! It looks delicious and authentic indeed. Ah how I wish we had decent Indonesian food here.

tigerfish said...

The Nasi Campur looks so delicious! Good that you found something so authentic-Indonesian in HK :)

phi said...

enak sekali!

sparklingcosmic said...

damn... you are such a lucky gal!!!! :)))

deVina Wae said...

Hiks, lucky you :| We don't have any Indonesian restaurant here.

Juliett said...

what what what.. another pictures of Indonesian dishes?? WOW!! Rita, I think I really need more time to seat and search all around your sites (hohoho) I thought the site I saw last night (Solo Resto) is the only information.
You know, Bakso is one of my Numero Uno favorite food. Believe it or not, I could eat Bakso and gorengan 4-5 bowls in advance with definitely added as much as bakso sambal in it!!
Yes I know the place in Causewaybay, but I didn't notice they have BAKSO menu there.. aww what a missed of chance :(

thanks again for the information..
gotta arrange time to visit HKG side soon :)

Juliett said...

Been more than an hour I'm still at this page scrolls up and down looking at the pics of BAKSO. Suddenly...I pressume this is not my *crazy* imagination, I smell very familiar cooking inside my room came, smells like SOUP BAKSO!! oh geee I'm drooling, where does it come from? all my windows are closed coz of opening my aircondition!?!?!
I'm gonna try the recipe to make bakso and mie ayam. thanks aTon, Rita!

Choppedonions said...

This was the first place that I took my girlfriend to, yes shes Indonesian, but she'd never been here. She's Javanese and absoutely loves it, needless to say we're quite regular now!!! Even so I still get the odd sideways glance as help myself to heaps of the sambal and eat with my fingers!!!!