Amidst the chaos and sheer insanity of considered one of Subang’s busiest areas, sits a relaxed restaurant serving Indonesian delicacies. With its nearly all white and black inside, Kotak+ matches the clean-cut aesthetic most well-liked by the eateries of at this time. 

Kotak+ in SS15 specialises in nasi padang, a well-liked Minangkabau delicacy of rice and varied sides. The second I stepped foot contained in the store, I used to be greeted by a show counter stuffed with all types of dishes— daging cincang, ayam balado, perkedel, you identify it. Above the glass display screen was a large signal board itemizing down all of the names of the dishes paired with their respective footage.

On the wall, the restaurant proudly shows the remainder of their menu. No Indonesian restaurant (in Malaysia) is full with out ayam geprek, which got here in 6 totally different variations like authentic and mie sedap. Additionally they have a collection of penyet dishes together with ayam bakar and pecel lele.

Though every thing appeared tempting, I had come for one factor: their sambal bakar. Sambal bakar has been making its rounds round Indonesia up to now 12 months or so. The dish has at all times existed however has lately gone viral amongst netizens. This might presumably be attributed to the launch of the Sambal Bakar Indonesia franchise in 2022, based by influencer @iben_ma.

After I discovered that there was a restaurant close by that provided sambal bakar, I knew that I needed to attempt it.

What I attempted at Kotak+

As I’ve already written about rooster 7 occasions previous to this go to (sure, I counted), I assumed I’d change it up a bit and order lele, which is catfish. Sadly, they had been out of fish that day. So, right here is rooster write-up quantity 8.

The Sambal Bakar Ayam (RM15.80) doesn’t include rice, so I needed to order that individually. The opposite proteins on supply had been tunjang, dendeng, and paru. They’re all priced the identical, and you may select so as to add one petai for RM1.50 or cheese for RM2.50.

Kotak+ gives freeflow soup for dine-in clients. Surprisingly, the soup was very tasty with hints of meatiness. 

It arrived in a sizzling pot positioned on a wood board for warmth insulation. Sandwiched between a pool of sambal and one other mound of sambal was the meaty rooster. Beside the rooster was a very good quantity of leafy greens hidden beneath 2 slivers of fried tempeh.

Ayam Bakar Solo: The perfect genuine Indonesian warung in KL with scrumptious ayam bakar & satisfying sambal

I nearly burned myself once I greedily went in for the primary chew— I made certain to blow flippantly on the next spoonfuls.

Alone, the sambal was scrumptious. Though their sambal goreng is marketed as spicy and smoky, the sambal solely fulfilled a kind of criterias. It was savoury and fairly spicy, as anticipated from an Indonesian restaurant.  Nevertheless, I couldn’t detect any smokiness.

Protected to say that this dish will not be for the weak. I discovered myself reaching for just a few items of tissue to wipe my nostril, and I used to be continuously grabbing my iced drink to calm the scenario down.

Curiously, it didn’t style like what I anticipated it to. Actually, it form of tasted like asam pedas to me— perhaps it was my tongue that day, or as a result of it visually jogged my memory of the conventional Malay dish. Whereas I can’t pinpoint any seen elements on this dish that will contribute to its surprising asam pedas–ness, I loved it nonetheless. 

The rooster itself had some smokiness to it, particularly in sure components the place the char was seen. The char wasn’t very even, due to this fact many of the rooster simply tasted common. Fortunately, meat was tender and moist, although I might’ve loved it much more had it been a thigh. 

The opposite parts of this dish made it really feel full. As a tempeh lover, I approve of those served right here. They had been adequately salted and remained scrumptious even in direction of the tip when the crispiness was gone. It felt just like the greens absorbed a few of the goodness of the sambal, making each chew flavourful. 

Ultimate ideas

All in all, Kotak+’s sambal goreng was tasty, nevertheless it doesn’t stand out from the remaining. I feel I might’ve been extra impressed if the smoky flavour was rather a lot stronger. Principally, in case you requested me to decide on, I’d resolve on ayam geprek or penyet over this. Their nasi padang regarded divine although, so I would return to verify that out.

This dish is definitely worth the attempt in case you’re interested by this sort of sambal, as a result of once more, it wasn’t dangerous by any means. An enormous draw back is its location— SS15 is infamous for its lack of parking house, so mentally put together your self for struggle in case you’re driving.  

Anticipated harm: RM7.80 – RM30 per pax

Pondok Pantai Timur: Fantastically introduced ayam penyet with sambal-filled plates in Ubi