Pondok Pantai Timur Review: Ayam Penyet With Huge Portions And Sambal-Filled Plates

But this humble hawker store in Ubi spreads their spicy chilli across the plate, giving the meal a splash of bright colour. Food at Pondok Pantai Timur We got the Ayam Penyet ($5.50) first.

It was spicy and sweet, with the rich taste of belacan shining through. The chicken came with half a breast, the wing, and part of its back attached. It lacked that loud crunch and shattering sensation that deep-fried chicken had, but was still crispy enough to enjoy.

Coating it in the sambal helped to add a moist texture to it, along with spicy notes. It wasn’t just the chicken breast that was dry.

My pet peeve when eating Ayam Penyet is having to ration the sambal, balancing between flavouring the plain rice and slathering it on the meat. I loved the addition of chicken rice, since it took care of that problem and made sure that every mouthful had a little bit of taste— with or without sambal. The crispy skin and tasty chicken made for a mouthful of powerful, complementary flavours when combined with the whole spoonful of rice.

With its golden brown hue, visibly crispy tips, and impressive size, the Ikan Penyet ($6.50) looked just as tempting and delicious. I was a lot more excited to dig into this; the presentation was great, and the entire fish sat above a bed of bright-red sambal.

As we dug into it, we found that the skin was far crispier than the chicken. It was easy to pull away, and the golden-brown layer crackled and crunched beneath the fork.

It was flavourful and full of moisture, which made it easy to scarf down. Just like the ayam penyet, the whole set was best enjoyed with chilli, rice, and meat combined together. The Mee Rebus ($3) was decently sized for its quotation and is the friendliest item towards your wallet.

Adding the bits of chilli, bean sprout, and fried shallots gave the noodles a bit of a crunch. I decided to squeeze the lime from the ayam penyet into it, and the sour citrus taste gave a sharp tang to the otherwise cloying and jelak gravy. Compared to the delicious ikan penyet, with its tasty fish and spicy sambal, the mee rebus was a bit unremarkable.

The Ikan Penyet, with its flavourful fish and big portion, was my favourite.