Kepala Manyung Bu Fat — Restaurant in Jakarta

The famous Ariidae / Ariid Catfish head (in Indonesian language, we call Kepala Manyung) restaurant from Semarang, Central Java opens their restaurant at  Jakarta. Beside Kepala Ikan Manyung, they serve variant of Indonesian style and mostly spicy food, such as fried tofu, fried corn bakwan, fried shrimp bakwan, beef knuckle, mushroom, shrimp, squid, fried chicken, bitter bean, and many more.

The order system here is self service where a lot of food is served, then we take the plate, choose the food that we want, put onto our plate. For the rice, it is all u can eat per person. You could get it as many as you like as long as you do not take it home 😁 If you order Kepala Manyung, you may ask the staff, so that they will warm and serve it first. After choosing and putting our food, the last step is paying what we order to the cashier, then sit and enjoy the food!

In this first visit, here are what I tried :

Kepala Ikan Manyung (IDR 181,818) The biggest fish head that I have ever eaten so far! This is the signature menu here that could be enjoyed  by 3-4 person. It is a head part of the fish with a lot of meat to enjoy and "explore" along with its spicy broth and chilli. If you are not a spicy lovers, it is better not eat too much broth because the more you eat it, the spicier and "hotter"  taste you will get.

Rice (IDR 8,182)

Bakwan Jagung (IDR 4,545) A fried side dish with corn and spring onion. It is not a bakwan in crispy texture style, but is still tastes good. If you want the crispy texture, you may try Bakwan Udang (fried shrimp bakwan).

Next time I definitely will come back to try another tasty Indonesian...

Love - love - love the smoky flavor of the fish. I prefer the body (badan ikan) rather than the head (kepala ikan manyung), but some friends prefer the head. It is served with fish broth-with coconut milk, you can choose the spicy version (which is soooo spicy till you can break your tears), or the less spicy (taste like opor) but.. because the fish itself already super spicy, beware that you might not love this menu even though you have chosen the less spicy one. Also.. be cautious of your stomach tolerance to spicy food. Me myself (+one of my friends and some of my family members) need antacids and activated charcoal to calm our stomach after eating this. Super....

Kepala Manyung Bu Fat di Cemput, buka dari jam 10 pagi, lokasinya di daerah sibuk dan jelas ramai pada jam makan siang. Tempatnya cukup luas, parkirannya cukup memadai. Menyediakan aneka makanan khas Jawa Tengah, andalannya di sini adalah mangutnya. Mangut itu adalah jenis makanan sejenis gulai, tetapi lebih encer dan pedas. Di daerah Jawa Tengah manyung identik dengan isian ikan asap. Di tempat ini tersedia aneka ikan asap yang bisa dikombinasikan dengan kuah mangut, seperti ikan manyung dan ikan pari. Selain itu ada juga menu makanan lain seperti udang balado, ikan lele, belut, jamur tumis, pepes, sundukan, tahu tempe, kikil sapi, semur jengkol, hingga sayur bunga pepaya.

Kami biasa pesan take away, andalan kami biasanya Mangut Kepala Manyung dan Mangut Ikan Pari. Mangut Kepala Manyung menggunakan bahan utama kepala ikan manyung asap, yang disiram kuah mangut. Kepala ikannya enak dan cukup challenging, makannya perlu dua tangan hahaha. Tapi tetap jadi primadona karena dagingnya lembut, gurih, smokey in a good way (wangi asap), bagian kulitnya sedikit crunchy, enak pokoknya. Hampir semua bagian kepala manyung bisa dimakan kecuali tulangnya, obviously. Kuah mangutnya kaya rasa, santannya ringan, dan lumayan pedas. Tingkat kepedasannya bisa request. Daging kepala manyung asap dicelup kuah mangut udah paling cocok banget.

Mangut Ikan Parinya juga enak. Agak susah emang cari ikan pari, kenapa ya? Padahal enak loh ikan pari. Ikan pari itu gak punya tulang keras, karena termasuk keluarga ikan bertulang rawan (Chondrichthyes) seperti keluarga ikan hiu. Which means hampir semua potongan ikan pari konsumsi bisa dimakan 🤣. Ikan pari diasap, kemudian disiram kuah mangut yang sama seperti digunakan untuk kepala ikan manyung. Potongan parinya berasal dari sayapnya yang dipenuhi daging lembut dan tulang rawan yang crunchy, nagih banget! Kuah mangutnya meresap ke daging di sela-sela tulang rawan ikan pari, sensasinya begitu enak di mulut.

Kami biasa pesan Tumis Bunga Pepayanya juga tapi lupa gak saya...