Nasi Uduk Ayam Goreng Kebon Kacang Hj. Ellya

Nasi uduk always makes a delightful breakfast favourite for Indonesians. You can find it easily on the streets, at the wet market, supermarket, restaurants, even 5 star hotels also offer this for breakfast. It's a ubiquitous dish, but many people have different interpretations as to what makes a "delicious" nasi uduk. Is it the rice? Is it the sambal or the side dishes (tahu, tempe, ayam goreng, fried noodles and crackers)? All I know is, I know one when I taste one.

So on my mini pursuit to find the best nasi uduk in town, I ventured all the way to West Jakarta to try a famous nasi uduk 'warung' there: Nasi Uduk Ayam Goreng Kebon Kacang Hj. Ellya. It is located opposite Ranch 99 Market, but still slightly further down, following the traffic direction.

I came around 11AM and it was not packed, at least there were a couple of families eating there, enjoying their Sunday morning gathering. Near the entrance was a display rack, beyond the glass, neatly laid thousands of skewers of chicken, prawn, sliced liver, guts and other innards, as well as yellow tofu and tempeh. Didn't look appealing when they're raw.

As we sat at our table, we were handed a piece of order form, on which we wrote down the orders ourselves. After submitting th paper, soon enough a staff came bringing a small tray filled with nasi uduk, individually wrapped in banana leaves. I was actually disappointed to see what little fried shallots at the top of each rice. =(

Instead of the standard nasi uduk combination consiting fried noodles, fried anchovies with peanut, sliced scarmbled egg, chicken, tempeh and tofu, sambal and crackers, here the nasi uduk doesn't have a fixed combo. The plus side is you get to choose what you want, but on the downside, if you choose the wrong stuff, it'll ruin your meal.

Nasi Uduk Kebon Kacang HJ. Ellya

Casual and open air interior

Nasi Uduk IDR 3,500 | Ayam Goreng IDR 12,500 | Tahu IDR 2,000 | Tempe IDR 2,000 | Krupuk IDR 3,000 

So how's the nasi uduk? It tasted quite average in my opinion. I had expected more from such a famous place. The rice was savoury and fragrant, as expected, but wasn't impactful enough, to make me crave for more. The fried chicken was unimpressive, it's free-range chicken, so the price is well...reasonable. The side dishes were pretty average too. Maybe the rice would be better eaten with just the sambal terasi (chrimp paste chili) mixed with sambal kacang (sweet peanut chili), sans any side dishes!

I ordered a bowl of sayur asam on the side. It's edible, not too sweet, with generous vegetables, but my palate is too used to my Mum's version, sweet and spicy.

My conclusion, a legend has to earn its name. This place is famous for some reason (which I had failed to appreciate). This is where you can get decent nasi uduk, but I won't say it's the best...

*) No Service Charge or Tax. Pay at the cashier. No tip is expected.

Nasi Uduk Ayam Goreng Kebon Kacang Hj. Ellya
JL. Pesanggrahan No. 169
Kembangan, West Jakarta
Ph: (021) 5835 8260 / 7075 1712