Ayam Goreng 99

I heard that this fried chicken joint in Kingsford is one of the most popular Indonesian restaurant in Sydney. Usually Indonesian restaurants serves many different kinds of food, but this particular one specialises in chicken (grilled or fried). And apart for the chicken dishes, they also serves side dishes which usually goes well with their grilled of fried chicken e.g. cah kangkung and pepes.

We finished at Shalom around 5.55pm and walked several metres to Ayam Goreng 99. Both of these restaurants are not that far away from each other. When we arrived at the restaurant, the shop was still dark. I asked my husband, "How come they're still closed? I thought it's 6pm already?". When he looked at his phone - nope, it's 5.55pm. But there was already several groups of people queuing in front of the shop! They were just chatting with each other or looking at the menu which is stuck on the glass display of the shop, waiting for the shop to open.

Not long after, the employee opened the door and everyone rushed in to get a seat. Within 5 minutes, all tables were full (I even got kicked from the table where I was waiting at, and poor husband had to stand up).

I asked where to order take away and the lady directed me to go to the register straight away. I was confused on what to order as there was ayam bakar, ayam goreng, and ayam goreng Kalasan (what? Two different types of fried chickens!? This just made my decision making process more difficult). And to my disappointment, they don't offer whole chickens and give slight price reduction (like if you order at Nando's and you can get quarter, half, or whole chicken). So, if you want a whole chicken, then you have to order two chicken thighs and two chicken breasts - and pay full price, no discount.

Because I wanted 'whole chicken', I decided to order four chicken thighs (neither me nor my husband likes chicken breast), two grilled and two fried Kalasan-style. I also wanted to try the pepes as I have missed that dish so so much! So, I ordered one pepes tahu (tofu) and one pepes jamur (mushroom).

CHICKENS (GRILLED/FRIED)

I have to say the chickens were awesome, both the charcoal-grilled chicken and the fried Kalasan-style chicken! The spices were very rich and you would want to lick your fingers after eating. FYI - it's compulsory to eat these chickens with your hands! That's the traditional way to do it.

The chilli sauce (sambal) that came with it is also really nice. It's really close to the sambal served at Ayam Goreng Mbok Berek or Ny. Suharti, but not as sweet. But be careful though because it is very very hot. As a sambal lover, I have to dip my chicken in the sambal carefully just so I don't get too much of it on the chicken.

Ayam bakar

Ayam Goreng Kalasan 

PEPES

The pepes is a winner! They taste very authentic, just like the ones I get in Indonesia. But that could also come down to the easy recipe because, just by tasting it and examining the food, I think I can already guess what the ingredients are. The only tricky part for me would be the banana leaves, because I have never ever experimented with a recipe that calls for banana leaves.

***

I'm very satisfied with my order at Ayam Goreng 99 and will definitely come back to try other menu (I thought I saw sate kambing (charcoal-grilled lamb skewers) in the menu? Me wants!). When we left the restaurant, there were still people queuing outside. So, my suggestion would be to come early or be prepared to wait because it is THAT popular! Last but not least, be prepared to bring cash because they don't accept Pay-Wave or EFTPOS.

Since I had take-away, I thought I'd show you how I style my plate!