Sari Ratu @ Jakarta (2023)

Amongst other regional cuisines in Jakarta, Padang restaurants are the easiest to find. There will always be a Padang restaurant right around the corner. And one of the better ones is Sari Ratu.

Sari Ratu is located in Plaza Indonesia, an upmarket shopping mall in the most expensive district. But because it is there, you can be assured of a hygienic Nasi Padang if there’s such a thing.

You can order the dishes pesan (order) way or just let them lay out the dishes the festive hidang (serve) style. This mini banquet is most suitable for dining in group. After the customers are seated, they do not have to order. The waiter with stacked plates upon their hands will immediately serves the dishes directly to the table.

Those that aren’t consumed are returned, only to be sent to the next table. Sari Ratu does it too, but the clientele is a bit more sophisticated, so they would not be messing with those dishes that they do not want to eat. Also, Sari Ratu will charge the plate as long as they can see that it has been touched.

I would not go into details of the dishes in Sari Ratu, all their gulai-based dishes are fantastic. I am no fan of the chicken in Indonesia – they are usually quite tough and malnourished, but do try their ayam gulai. I would skip the ayam pop though.

So on my plate you can see a liberal amount of ayam gulai (curry chicken), sayur gulai (curry vegetable), gulai otak (curry cow’s brain), gulai kikil or tunjang (curry tendons) and sambal goreng ati (chilli deep fried cow’s liver).

I loved the cow’s brain so much I ate two portions. Although it sounded squeamish, but the texture is like creamy burrata but with a satisfying animal protein taste.

Soto Padang is a kind of clear, non coconut milked soto, which usually contains beef, onion, potatoes, and white vermicelli noodles as its main ingredients. This soto is a culinary specialty originating from West Sumatra, Indonesia. 

They used the specialty deep fried dried beef in the soup. They were very tough to chew but had such intense flavours that you wouldn’t stop once you start.

And remember to wash everything down with a Tehbotol. And moving along with the times, they do not serve the glass bottled ones anymore.

Sari Ratu – Grand Indonesia
Grand Indonesia Shopping Town West Mall Lt. 5, Jalan MH. Thamrin No.1, Kb. Melati, Kota Jakarta Pusat, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta 10310, Indonesia
Tel : +62 21 23580955

Visited Jun 2023

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