Pempek Clovelly — Restaurant in Sydney

Pempek Clovelly serves the best Ketoprak (vermicelli, rice cakes, vermicelli and tofu) I’ve known in Sydney so far. The peanut sauce is so tasty, and has very rich and intense garlic flavour! I would go to Pempek Clovelly anytime just to get that dish.

We also love their Pempek (Indonesian fish cakes). We usually order a few, with noodles. The pempek sauce is flavoursome too - great balance of sweet and tanginess. We tried their fried chicken and sayur asem (sour soup) with rice. Their deep fried chicken is so good - one of the best Indo fried chickens! Some other Indo restaurants have their fried chicken tasteless or too dry and overcooked. But Clovelly’s chicken is juicy inside, freshly fried with crispy skin, and well marinated! Our new favourite.

We also are glad to know that the restaurant seems to be improving with COVID guidelines: sign in using QR code, and they have a sink and soap for hand washing too. Though I think they could do the serving for the cutleries/ tea instead of keeping it as self service during this pandemic. Few things to improve, I remember once ordering from the phone and the lady answering wasn’t the friendliest. In general service is ok but could be more friendly/ welcoming. Also during lunch rush in the weekend, waiting time can be long. Once we waited for 35 minutes for our takeaway order. Just time your visit.

Overall, great Indonesian food - visit the place even if it’s just...

Let's get the obvious elephant in the room out of the way first. You don't come here for an intimate, romantic dinner setting. The decor is spartan and table service is there to serve you food without chit chat and pleasantries. Once that's out of the way, the food here is authentic and unapologetically Indonesian. The fish cake (pempek) mau not for everyone but it's the closest to get to the ones in Palembang. Their Gado gado lontong is the best in Sydney, bar none. Boiled veggies with spicy (or non spicy if you can't handle the heat) peanut sauce straight from the pestle and mortar. Their curry lontong sayur is perfect for chilly autumn/ winter evenings and the full bodied taste is spot on. It should be perfect for everyone's tastes. The nasi kuning can be more generously portioned and one of the weaker offerings there, but by no means bad. Everything here is generally good. Another bonus is that they accept card payments (when most Asian restaurants stubbornly stick to cash only affair) and you can even use Apple Pay. Now...

The First Visit.

This is our first time back for a looong long time.

We had the Pempek.  Which is a must as it is their specialty. I had "the works" for $20. The portion was big which satisfied all 3 of us.

Also had the Bakmie Ayam, which was deliciously tasty,  good size portion.

The Gado-gado came with lontong,  with the spiciness catered to your palate. Had to say this is one of the best Gado-gado I've had👍

Second Visit.

Again enjoyed the Bakmie Ayam, someone dont didn't get enough the last time we were there😁

Also had the Nasi Ayam Goreng with Soto. The Ayam Goreng was tasty,  crispy and good sized maryland. The soup was a side portion of their Soto Jakarta.

Again, fully satisfied with the food, and service was friendly, the two ladies were chatty and caring.. And they even allowed us to chit chat until way past their closing time 🙏 without fuss..

This will definitely be one of our fave place.....