Ayam Penyet Ria @ Lucky Plaza

Nasi Ayam and I go way back. Before KFC or MacDonald’s became halal, I would think that Nasi Ayam were the two most commonly used Malay words when I was young, aside from ape-ape and main bawah.

(On a related side note, I, like Kakak, had always thought that ape-ape was a commonly used Malay word used to denote snacks, titbits and ice-cream – these are things that Ayah would always buy on his way back home from work for Abang, Kakak and I. It was only when I was much older when I realised that ape-ape only means anything, especially when used in this sentence “Ayah ade beli ape-ape?” or “Ayah did you buy anything?”. BUT ape-ape to me will always mean Twisties, Super Ring or Walls Ice Cream. :D)

So when Nasi Ayam Penyet made its appearance in Singapore, I knew that I had to find the best one in Singapore! I have always heard that you can find the truly authentic Nasi Ayam Penyet in Lucky Plaza. Unfortunately, no one told me exactly which stall served the truly authentic one. Since Andee and I were already quite hungry by the time we arrived in Lucky Plaza, once we found Ayam Penyet Ria on Level 4, we decided to give the place a try.

The sambal I must say is simply FANTASTIC! It was so spicy, yet sweet and a little tangy – just the way I like it! I had a copious amount of sambal simply because Andee absolutely abhors all things spicy and surrendered all the delicious sambal to happy me! 😀 

Being a devout omnivore, I loved the fact that the dish had ulam or fresh/blanched vegetables. This is always lacking in the fake Nasi Ayam Penyet which only has rice and chicken which is “penyet”-ed. The chicken was also large and crispy! However, eating soggy tempe and tahu simply did not cut it, after paying $6.50 for a meal that was already astronomically higher than the traditional Nasi Ayam. It is definitely authentic, but I do believe that there are better Nasi Ayam Penyet out there. Where are you O Nasi Ayam Penyet?

To finish off our Indonesian Meal, Andee and I decided to order truly authentic Indonesia drinks! Andee was so amused by the name Happy Soda that he decided to order it, whereas I decided to order Teh Botol Sosro. Basically, Happy Soda tasted like Carbonated Bandung (On the left) and Teh Botol Sosro tasted like Herbal Tea (On the right). I must confess that Teh Botol Sosro did successfully manage to alleviate the after effects of the spicy sambal on my taste buds, although it wasn’t spectacular. 

I was under the impression that eating something like this would be a fiscally prudent choice (since as you may have read, I am in dire financial straits! ARGH!) but sadly I was mistaken. Is it even possible now to have a cheap halal meal (something with rice) in Orchard Road, ever since they closed the Stanford Food Stall on the top level of Lido? :S

Ayam Penyet Ria seems to be quite popular though, since it was almost packed with people during the Monday lunch traffic and had two outlets within Lucky Plaza itself. If you really want to try authentic Nasi Ayam Penyet in Orchard Road, this is the place to go.

 

Ayam Penyet Ria

Lucky Plaza, #04-25/26/27

and #01-45/46/47

Tel: +65 6235 6390