Pandawa Nasi Bungkus Australia — Restaurant in Sydney

Pandawa Nasi Bungkus Australia is located inside the Wesley Mission Building. This is key to finding this recently rebadged Indonesian restaurant. Previously called Garam Merica Sydney, the over-lit space eschews restaurant conventions, expecting you to digest an extensive menu while standing by the door. Once you’ve worked out what you’re eating, you order the counter, seat yourself cafeteria-style, returning to collect your meal when your buzzer sounds.

The mostly young, Indonesian crowd don’t seem to mind the lack of frills, with laughter bubbling up from large groups. Many are here for the signature nasi bungkus—customisable parcels of dishes wrapped up with rice in banana leaves. Rather than sharing style, menu items are mostly complete meals for one person. Sate ayam tretes ($23) is a good example. Priced like an entree, it’s a substantial plate of eight well-charred chicken skewers, compressed rice cakes (nasi impit), credible peanut sauce, a splash of fire engine red sambal, a wedge of lime and lettuce leaves.

Arranged around a pyramid of yellow rice, nasi kuning komplit ($23) sees you move between a fried chook drumstick (ayem goreng), a fried egg (telur) doused in sambal balado, crunchy tempeh, beef floss, cucumber slices and cubed potato and long beans (kentang buncis). The slightly more expensive nasi Padang komplit ($29) comes with Padang-style spicy caramelised beef (dendeng balado) that’s dried like jerky. It switches out the turmeric rice for a dome of white rice under a coconut-based curry sauce, keeps the golden-crusted egg, and includes eggplant with anchovies and an amazing cassava leaf curry (daun singkong) with candle nuts and kaffir lime. A rendang ($3) add-on lets you taste a credible version of this curry that only wanted the hunks of beef to be taken further so they started to break down into long strands. Non-alcoholic drinks, like es cendol ($8.50), help fight any sambal-initiated mouth fires.

They tacked on surcharges for dining on a public holiday (15%) and for using a credit card to pay (1.64%) to a bill that would have otherwise remained under $100...

📍 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 ⭑.ᐟ

❤︎ 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗱-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱: In the mood for Indonesian food ❤︎ 𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗵: Indomie Geprek Gokil ❤︎ 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿: Indo street food lovers, lunch breakers, and sambal chasers ❤︎ 𝗩𝗶𝗯𝗲: Hot, loud, full of energy—typical Indo lunch rush warteg feel

ꫂ ၴႅၴ

I visited Garam Merica on a weekday during lunch hour, and it was so crowded. Tables were full, orders were flying, and the kitchen was clearly working nonstop. Luckily, I managed to find one empty spot—feels like fate because I’d been wanting to try their Indomie Geprek Gokil for a while.

My food arrived at 12:18, about 17 minutes after ordering at 12:01—not bad considering the crowd. When it came, the smell alone got me excited. The Indomie was classic, bouncy, and perfectly cooked. The star though? The geprek. So crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and absolutely coated in a fiery sambal that made me tear up—but in the best way. It was spicy, but addicted, the kind of heat that shocks you but keeps you going back for another bite.

The sambal was balanced too—hot but fresh, and surprisingly flavorful. It wasn’t just spicy for the sake of pain, it actually added depth to the dish. The crispy crumbs on the geprek gave a great contrast to the soft noodles, making every bite crunchy, chewy, and spicy all at once.

Garam Merica feels like a place that knows its audience—fast, bold flavors, with that comforting Indo twist. If you’re looking for a quick, satisfying, and intense lunch, this one’s worth braving the crowd for.

ꫂ ၴႅၴ

ⴵ 𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲: 12:01–12:18 (17 mins) 𐀪 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱: Very busy during lunch rush ☼ 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱: Sunday afternoon ‎𐂐 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘂 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱: ✦ Indomie...

This place is strictly about the food. Seating is basic and no ambience to speak of. But Limpeh was fixing for some Nasi Padang equivalent and HO-SEH, this place delivers!

Ordered the Nasi Bungkus with ayam, omelette, sayur lodeh and a corn fritter. Wanted to order another veg but 1 meat + 3 veg is the max they go to. Tip for the boss : please allow customers to topup if they want 5 veg or more than 1 meat. The ayam was literally falling off the bone, the corn fritter tasted exactly how i remember in my favourite (now closed) Indo restaurant Ayam Taliwang, and the sayur lodeh provided coconut gravy to flavour the rice beautifully. Limpeh ordered additional chilli because restaurants always never provide enough for his taste - i went with the hottest they have and it was spectacular : the heat level can easily fight with any nasi padang chili in SG (you can see it from the angry redness of the attached photo 🤣). Limpeh used one whole pack of tissue paper to mop up all the sweat on his face and it still wasn't enough.

My dining partner's ayam soto was not as good as the one from our neighbourhood hawker center in SG as it had what tasted of heavy use of MSG, so the rating should be 4.5 stars but i kept it at 5 solely on the basis of the Nasi Bungkus. If you come here, go for any of the nasi (rice) dishes and you won't be disappointed. When Limpeh was here, he heard a lot of bahasa being spoken so it's clear that the food is legit Indo.

Limpeh says : BAGUS!...