Ayam Gepuk Jogja Sg Besi — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

I stumbled upon this place through an online foodie video. Decided to visit and give this place its due review. Having been based in Indonesia for some years and having discovered my love for ayam gepuk, I have got to see how good this the version served here. I ordered the ayam gepuk set but sadly they ran out of tempe and tahu goreng. I was recommended the kobis goreng so I got that as well and I also ordered a bowl of bakso biasa. The ayam gepuk goreng was well marinated and even though it looked somewhat underwhelming. The chicken was served hot so that's a plus. Now a good ayam gepuk wouldn't be complete without its partner, the quintessential sambal and I'm delighted to say that the sambal served here did not disappoint. The spicy and savory sambal paired very well with the rich peanut sauce which resulted in a rich and luscious sambal paste. It certainly has that addictive factor that is always associated with a good ayam gepuk sambal. I recommend to have some kicap manis in your sambal or rice to balance out the intensity of the sambal with its sweetness. The kobis goreng was okay for me and it helped to add some sweetness to your main dish. Unfortunately the bakso biasa was a disappointment for me. The beef bakso balls were all mushy and had no bounce in them, making it a rather uninspiring dish. In short, the ayam gepuk tasted good and I certainly would recommend it. I look forward to trying their tilapia penyet and ayam bakar in the next visits.

Update: I revisited and ordered the ayam bakar. Chicken was marinated with sweet dark sauce and came with a serving of eggplant in sambal, sambal hijau or sambal merah, kremesan (crunchy bits) and vege. I felt the chicken tasted decent but was a little too dry. I chose the sambal hijau and it tasted alright although I wishes that it was made fresh upon order. The kremesan added a good crunch to the dish and the eggplant in sambal was pretty good.

Update: I finally got to order their tilapia penyet. I opted for their red sambal which was the spicier option. The tilapia goreng was decent in size but it would be great if it was served freshly fried and hot. The meat was quite dry unfortunately but on the plus end, the seasonings were nicely done and the fish retained a little bit of crisp. The red sambal turned out to be the highlight. This time around, the sambal tasted fresher unlike the previous visits where it came off as prepared and prepacked the day prior. The shrimpy belacan element cut through nicely and the spiciness was just right...

Unfortunately, my visit was tarnished by some unhygienic conditions that I observed.

While waiting to place my order at the counter, I was deeply bothered seeing a baby cockroach rounding outside the kitchen door. I informed a member of staff about this, he proceeded to reach for tissues and killed the roach.

After paying, I went to get some cutleries and found myself feeling icky after realizing quite a number of the forks and spoons were still dirty with food residue! There were dried bits of random chili and general dirt that were still stuck on the cutleries, clearly highlighting a lack of thoroughness in cleaning them. After notifying the staff, they removed that batch of cutleries.

My appetite took quite the hit after seeing this, but I mustered enough in me to at least finish the chicken, which was decent. The sambal did taste fresh with a sharp kick to it–if only the off-putting things I'd seen hadn't happened, I'd have been able to enjoy the dish more...

Came for late lunch as was in the area. Parking a nightmare. I hate to have to queue n nearly left but since was hungry, we queued nevertheless. Cashier pulak not really friendly bcoz I asked the dish differences n someone else yg explained the difference. Put off strike one. The grilled chicken was tasty but the rice was quite dry n flaky. Put off strike 2. Yes, the sambar was spicy n since could choose level of spiceness, so that was that. They had kobis goreng n etc as side condiments. Drink choices were limited. I see them aggressive in marketing their product but in terms of actual service level n product differenciation from all the other offerings were not to par, then it is waste...