Indonesia’s tasty Padang cuisine | The West Australian
If you’re a regular visitor to Bali, you may have noticed a specific kind of small, family-run, inexpensive restaurant locals eat at with the words “Masakan Padang” displayed across the shopfront. In the Indonesian language, “masakan” means restaurant and Padang refers to a city of the same name on Sumatra island that gave birth to a special homegrown cuisine that happens to be the only ethnic food sold throughout all of Indonesia. Padang restaurants are found in every city and province in the country. There are so many of them that locals sometimes joke “What’s the first thing Neil Armstrong saw when he landed on the Moon? A Padang restaurant.” All Padang restaurants have the same layout. Behind the glass shopfront is a set of shelves separated by a thin, semi-transparent curtain that works as a flyscreen. On those shelves is an assortment of curries, fried meats and cooked vegetables and dairy products: exactly the kind of thing your GF back at home would have warned you not to eat in Bali.
Camera IconPadang curry shopfront. Credit: Supplied
The etiquette for eating at a Padang restaurant is as follows. Customers walk behind the counter, where the server, usually the owner, heaps a healthy serving of white rice from a rice cooker on to a plate. He or she then pulls back the curtain and the customer points to the curries and other dishes they want to try. You then take your plate, order a drink and sit down. When I visited Sabar Menanti I ordered chilli curried eggs, chilli banana chips, stir-fried water spinach, long beans with shaved coconut, rendang and sambal chilli paste. Then I also saw something I had never seen before, a chicken curry with a thick mustard-coloured sauce. I asked the server what it was but my Indonesian was not good enough to understand. No matter. It smelt delicious and I ordered a serving on a separate plate to try it in isolation. Just a little nibble from the edge of a bent old fork. Within a fraction of a second my gustatory cortex — the brain structure responsible for the perception of taste — overloads with sensory information about the intense multilayered flavours running riot in my mouth. Soon I was practically shovelling it down, high on a rush of flavours and aromas. It’s spicy one moment, tangy the next, then sweet and sour. After polishing it off, I order a second and third serving. It was that good. Five stars. Kdai Sabar Menanti is on the main drag on Maninjau, across the road from the market. Find it using one of the popular map apps on your phone. Trading hours are 9.30 am to 9.30 pm seven days a week. Reservations are not required.
Camera IconServing Padang curry. Credit: SuppliedCamera IconOn the bone, Padang curry. Credit: SuppliedCamera IconPadang curry. Credit: Supplied
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