Looking for authentic Indonesian food in Sydney? Bakso Barokah in Surry Hills is famous for its bakso meatball soups, giant spicy meatballs, mie ayam noodles and comforting winter-friendly dishes, all at incredibly affordable prices!
It's a rainy night when Mr NQN and I make our way to Bakso Barokah on Elizabeth Street in Surry Hills. We first came across this place on our way home and we saw how busy it was. A little bit of research showed thousands of glowing reviews.
We had just arrived back from Bali and I was craving some Indonesian food and warming soup as winter had made its presence known. Bakso are Indonesian beef meatballs made of beef surimi made with beef and tapioca flour. They are dense and springy in texture and beloved across Indonesia.
Surprisingly, Bakso Barokah is just half full when we arrive but as soon as I'm done ordering, an enormous group of people walk in and every single table is taken.
The fridge holds a few varieties of sweet black tea. There is a sign that mentions matcha, but that isn't available. We take our buzzer to the table.
Indonesian meatballs tend to be springy and chewy, not the soft Italian or Vietnamese numbers that we may be more used to. Here they come in a range of varieties from stuffed to spicy to gigantic. I had already had a look online to understand what was on the menu. It's a simple menu with items ranging from $12-$15 so it's exceedingly good value.
I start with the giant flower shaped meatball or the #1, which is the most popular. This beef meatball is cut into wedges to make it easier to eat and these meatballs have little bits of tendon (sinew or urat) in them for chewiness. In fact, you can ask for extra tetelan or offcuts if you want. The broth is clear and not too rich.
Many of the dishes are similar in that they are a vermicelli and instant noodle mix with a clear beef broth, coriander root and meatballs. The Bakso Malang has 6 beef meatballs in it but also has a deep fried chicken wonton added to it plus a triangular wedge of fried tofu that is really tasty. It's nice to have a bit of variety in flavour and texture.
There is also the Bakso Telur with 3 small and one large meatball that is filled with a whole boiled egg inside – the Indonesian version of a scotch egg but boiled instead of deep-fried and crumbed.
My favourite soup meatball is the gigantic Bakso Beranak Merco that is gigantic hiding four little spicy meatballs inside. This is for when you don't want any noodles, but you want a bit of soup and a whole lot of meatball. The spicy meatballs hit nicely too.
There are a couple of other dishes that aren't soup noodles. The mie ayam bakso is a dry soup noodle that comes with a small bowl of meatball soup on the side. It is actually both of our favourite dish of the night along with the giant spicy meatball. It's springy noodles with a sweet soy based flavour sauce added to it and plenty of soft cooked chicken. Two wonton crisps sit on the side for an added texture.
A non-noodle dish is the Batagor or tofu wedges in a satay and kecap manis sauce that are very moreish with a nice hit of chilli spice in them. There are of course condiments on the table (BYO tissues) but we didn't find that we needed to add that much at all to the dishes as they were already flavoursome as it was.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried Indonesian Bakso? Which dish do you like the sound of the most?
This meal was independently paid for.
Bakso Barokah
559 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
Tuesday to Sunday to 12–10 pm
Closed Monday
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