“Could I book a table for two tonight?” I ask the voice at the other end of the phone.
“I think you don’t book, you just come in and if I have a table then I’ll give it to you, otherwise no. It’s very busy here!” the frantic male voice answers and hangs up.
“Oh dear” I say to Mr NQN. “Shall we chance it?” and he agrees. After all on Anzac Parade there are plenty of choices available and if they can’t take us, we can always try another place. We walk in and ask for a table for two and the man (we guess the one that answers the phone) points us to a table. There is a huge birthday party in progress that takes up most of the restaurant and I recall this being the former site of the one time ubiquitous ”Black Stump” restaurant chain.
Ice Campur $5
Service is friendly and prompt and they take our order quickly. The kitchen is slower and we a long time for our entrees perhaps slowed down by the large party. We start with drinks that are kind of dessert. In the Ice Campur there is palm seeds, nata de coco jelly, jackfruit and shaved ice as well as sweet, thick dark brown palm sugar syrup.
Ice Telur $5
The Ice Telur is similar but less sweet missing the palm sugar syrup and with avocado and I prefer the Ice Campur.
Martabak Telor $7.50
Our Martabak Telor is the first dish to arrive. This looks slightly different to the other Martabaks that I have tried which are sweet ones that seem almost like crumpets with filling. This is a thin, very crunchy pastry filled with beef, egg and spring onion and vegetables and tastes similar to a spring roll but in a different form. It comes with satay sauce and a fruity cucumber pickle and we both enjoy this.
Satay $12 for 6 sticks
We got two of the chicken, lamb and beef satay and each stick is absolutely scrumptious. The marinade penetrates through the meat and makes it juicy and flavoursome and you could easily and happily eat it all even without the peanut sauce.
Nasi Tumpung Mini $14
I adore yellow coconut rice so we both eagerly ordered this. This has a bit of everything including fried chicken, sambal and potato prawns, a potato croquette and Ikan Bilis which is peanuts and small fish toasted with a caramelised chilli paste. I usually like Ikan Bilis to a mild degree but here I love it and I contemplate asking for more. The fried chicken is a tad dry (but I find that is how chicken is usually cooked Indonesian style) and Mr NQN loves the prawn and potato sambal but for me, it’s all about the ikan bilis and the yellow rice.
Whole Fish Bakar Bali Stick $25
We asked the waiter to recommend some specialities and this is said to be their specialty dish. There is a warning on the menu that this will take 30 minutes but once we got our entrees, we didn’t have to wait long for this or our mains. The whole fish comes out barbecued with a sweet Kecap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce) based sauce and comes with three sauces which are all furiously hot which I like but Mr NQN find a bit too hot. The fish is quite good although the Nasi Tumpung Mini still remains our favourite dish.
Ayam Bebek Betutu $16
Mr NQN loves lemongrass so we thought that we would order this dish which is said to be half a chicken marinated in lemongrass, galangal, nutmeg and coriander seeds. It doesn’t appear to be a half chicken though although it is nicely presented on an elevated wooden plate. The flavours aren’t bad although they aren’t particularly strong.
We get ready to go but our waiter stops us and tells us that they’re about to put on the live music and karaoke. We will spare the patrons our singing skills.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like very spicy food or just a little spice or none at all?
Happy chappy outside
Bali Stick
84 Anzac Parade, Kensington, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9663 0404
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41 Comments | Add your own
Very spicy for me pls!
The prices seem very reasonable – I haven’t found a lot of good Indonesian food in Sydney, so it’s nice to know about this place, thank you!
I love spicy food!! Your meals looked amazing! I can almost smell the aroma reading the story! I find authentic tasting indian, thai etc the hardest flavones to get tasting right. Great story!
I love spicy food. I can tolerate up to Szechuan spicy – two chilies.
i would love to have some of that satay right now:) im totally craving for some. thanks for this post.
Lol at the flustered guy on the phone. This look really good! Nice to see you start off dinner with a cooling dessert drink!
I like a bit of spice – not too much. This place looks great.
I’m not sure I would go to this restaurant after that phone call no matter how good the food. I prefer not TOO spicy.
I adore spicy food! I’m prone to adding chilli and/or tabasco to anything savoury, and often sweet as well
Those drinks look amazing. One day I’ll get to try a drink like that!
I adore Balinese food! The food is always one of my favourite parts of visiting Bali! I don’t mind things a little spicy but not too hot! Some of the Balinese sambals are really spicy!
aww you skipped the karaoke!
I have a general rule when I travel to only eat the local cuisine.(e.g. Never try to eat Chinese food in India) but in Sydney I find it quite safe to try different cuisines. Taste are still pretty authentic – this looks like one of those.
We weren’t too sure about this place until we saw your wonderful post, thankyou thankyou thankyou! Spice it up as long as I can still taste the food
Yes, the satay does look delish. Someone say Karaoke? Oh dear, I’m a sucker for a night of karaoke. I think it’s the Asian in me…
I love spicy food, but there has to be more to it than just the ‘hotness’ factor. That’s why I love Thai food so much. There are layers of taste, so that even though you’re burning your mouth off, you can’t stop greedily eating … mmmm Thai food …)
I’m having a bit of a love-in with Indonesian food lately. I just got some good indonesian and Balinese cookbooks for inspiration. This post of yours is just getting me more inspired.
I love spicy food. But if it’s done well, it’s not just hot, you can taste every ingredient and it’s incredibly balanced and delicious. Yumm…
I like spicy when the dish/cuisine calls for it but never so spicy that your tastebuds are struggling with overload.
Interesting food! I like the drinks. I like food with a bit of zing, but not too hot.
I like the funny response you received to your booking request. I enjoy the complexity of well blended and balanced spices but I do not like them to be to ‘hot’ or it overwhelms me. So spicy but mild.
I used to love spicy food until I had an illness which bought on sjogren’s syndrome and now can’t eat it. I yearn for Balinese and Thai food, but even normal toothpastes make my mouth feel like it is going to explode. Boo hoo.
We dont have a very spicy palatte and by that i actually mean pungent ,not exactly spicy:-)
oh what a wonderful place, i think i wud love to try it all too!
Amazing food and pictures indeed. I’ve never tasted Indonesian cuisine. I’d love to try this one day. Thanks for sharing this very unique food experience Lorraine!
Oh wow! This looks great – wonderful that you chose to brave the restaurant despite the off-putting phone call!
Yum – I would happily eat all the dishes you chose – the hotter the better!
I haven’t tried a lot of Indonesian but this looks like my kind of food. As for spice unfortunately i’m a featherweight – a little spice goes a long way!
the satay skewers look scrumptious !!pierre
Oh yes spicy for me too, love this sorta food too. Nice pics too BTW.
I love a bit of spice! but Husband is allergic to Chili so I have to take it easy
I am nuts about chilli, the hotter the better!
What better way to start a meal than with drinks that are dessert-like?
The food looks wonderful, especially the Nasi Tumpung…what a gorgeous plate of food that is!
Oh, I remember the Black Stump well! Used to go with the fam every time we had the shop-a-dockets
Looks like another scrummy Kensington Indo place…!
Off to Bali in January…are my comments starting to sound like a travel diary? Your posts sure do! YUMMO!
in Indonesia, the yellow (turmeric) rice served with various side dishes and condiments is famous as celebratory meal
– it is called ‘Nasi Tumpeng’ http://tabletotummy.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/indonesian-feast/
did you try the sambal matah with bebek betutu?
i loooove sambal matah!!
All meals should start with desser
Ohh I am not a huge spicey chilli fan but sometimes the same dish will be fine for me but the boy would struggle to eat it. Havn’t really had Indonesian before, this might be the place to try it =)
Love spiciness. Always hot to very hot – not very very hot though as that’s a bit much. I do not like the spice from wasabi and mustard as it tastes chemically to me.
Ubud is another Indo restaurant in Kenso, I think it was their crispy calamari balls that won me over, it had a fried noodle coating.
The Nasi Tumpung Mini looks yummo – reminds me of this meal in a container an Asian grocer in Maroubra Junct use to sell – yellow rice, a piece of chicken, fried onion and egg, green bean/nut things, and a plop of chilli covered with a circle of cucumber – this allowing for you to choose your level of hotness – so yum – the Indo restaurant Betawi at M.Junction use to make them for the store (ps, they do an awesome spicy chilli beef).
It’s been many years since I’ve been to Bali, but I think of it fondly. The people were so friendly, the culture so full of artistic endeavors, and the food so unique and satisfying. Thanks for letting me re-live that trip.
Ah, Balinese food… I haven’t been to Bali in almost 10 years, but my parents go once a year (it’s practically their second home!)… my mum makes pretty awesome satay & gado-gado! (She’s not Indonesian, but she speaks it fluently, and studied it at school & uni, so she knows a thing or two about Indonesia!)
I’m not the biggest fan of spicy food – I can handle a little, but not too much!! I like to be able to taste my food and not suffer with a numb tongue and/or runny nose!
Oh dear! I have been passing this place many times as we always hunting recommended Indonesian food in Kingsford and Maroubra. There are several places for best Indonesian food in there. Best Nasi Tumpeng (rice cooked with turmeric, bay leaves, lemongrass and coconut milk) sometime found in Indonesian mothers’ cooking (they are living in here and earn living by cooking home made meals).
You can find these yellow rice sold in White Lotus (397 Anzac Parade). Choose the one labelled “Nasi Kuning” on white printed paper. If they are using brand names, maybe I can point you to the favourite one.
Also, there is this new place called “Bandung Rasa” worth to try (on 1/702-710 Botany Rd), though the best BBQ chicken (ayam bakar) is still Ayam 99.
To be honest, I don’t like Bali stick. Comparing the price and the taste it’s not worth it. I prefer Jimbaran @ Randwick or Ubud @ Maroubra for similar price but morish in taste. Btw I’m Indonesian
this place looks divine, especially the icee things! how refreshing. great time to get some in before our Winter really hits over here!
I love spicy food, but not too spicy that it detracts from the flavour. I ate a dried szechuan chilli once in an indian dish and I thought my head was about to explode.
Give me spicy all the time
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