From meatball noodle soups to Indonesian smashed chicken, Pandawa Nasi Bungkus on Pitt Street offers a packed 10-page menu of exciting dishes to try.
Indonesian$
Brown paper packages tied up with string? Meet nasi bungkus, the wrapped rice parcel that fuels hungry workers on the go. In Indonesia, you’ll find it sold in warung small eateries, local markets or from carts on the side of the road. It’s more of a sit-down affair at Pandawa Nasi Bungkus, hidden inside the Wesley Mission Building on Pitt Street and popular with Indonesian expats looking for a taste of home.
The concept is simple. Pick-and-mix four dishes from a list of 30 – half are meat or seafood; the other half vegetarian. They’re scooped to order added to rice and wrapped up in banana leaf then brown paper, doubling up as takeaway container and plate when you’re ready to eat.
Unwrapping the parcel feels a little like Christmas, even if the final reveal is a little smooshed. But then we’re talking about dishes that prioritise flavour over aesthetics, like tender baby squid cooked in its own black ink or deep brown and coconutty beef rendang daging. Green jackfruit rendang nangka is slow cooked and braised to take on incredible umami notes with its meat-like consistency, and there’s much to like about plump Australian tiger prawns tossed through sweet and spicy sambal with petai stink beans (nutty and slightly bitter with a pleasing crunch).
If 30 dishes aren’t enough for you, there are nine more pages of options – potentially overwhelming for diners not familiar with Indonesian food, although photos provide some visual help. Trawl through the page of bakso (meatball) noodle soups or give in to penyet, meaning smashed, fried chicken, beef ribs, vegetables and other proteins pounded with sambal chilli sauce for tenderness and flavour. Menus plastered to the outside of the drink fridges make for easy perusing while you make the slow shuffle forward in the ordering queue.
It’s worth ordering the rawon pincuk, a dish not often found in Sydney but easily missed, buried deep in the soup menu. Black keluak nut is the main character of this East Javanese beef soup, notoriously poisonous from cyanide if not fermented correctly. The nut adds a deeply nutty, earthy and tangy flavour profile that’s strangely alluring and addictive. Hunks of tender beef and rice make this a full meal. Ask for an extra wedge of lime to amp up the tang. Just make sure you don’t leave this dish for too long, otherwise the rice will soak up all the soup (not necessarily a bad thing if that’s how you roll).
Torn between rice or noodles? Nasi goreng mawut gives you both. Mawut, meaning messy in Central and East Javanese dialect, is an affectionate descriptor for this fried rice and egg noodle combo. Whilst your palate is hit with fragrant garlic, shallots, shrimp paste and chilli, the tangle of chewy egg noodles give a welcoming soft and yielding textural contrast to the flavoursome rice, crowned with a lacy fried egg. Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) ties it all together.
Gado gado provides the vegetal balance your body will thank you for later, a jumble of tofu, cucumber, bean sprouts, potato and cabbage doused in peanut dressing. Lontong pressed rice cakes and boiled egg add extra sustenance; prawn and bitternut crackers give just enough deep-fried crunch to entice even the biggest sceptic.
Should decision paralysis start to hit, order the nasi kuning komplit. The nasi kuning, yellow turmeric rice, is served as a majestic pyramid most often seen in Javanese celebratory events. The komplit or “complete” accompaniments will round out your meal: ayam goreng fried chicken, sweet and spicy fried beef, tempeh (fermented soy bean), sambal potatoes and green beans, and a chilli-coated boiled egg. And tip: if you ever find yourself sharing a nasi kuning pyramid (tumpeng), the top portion or the highest point is viewed as the most special and traditionally given to elders or the most important person at the table as a sign of respect.
The casual dining room is filled with expats and long queues on weekends aren’t uncommon. Most are here for a quick meal but you can pull out all the stops with dessert. The es teler fruit cocktail is an avalanche of icy refreshing with cendol pandan noodles, tinned jackfruit, rosewater syrup, condensed milk and yep, avocado. And if you like cendol drink, you can amp it up with chunks of durian. Avocado and durian in dessert? These are a few of my favourite things.
The low-down
Atmosphere: Bright and cheerful canteen vibes with communal tables and vibrating buzzers
Go-to dishes: Nasi kuning komplit with chicken and beef (yellow rice pyramid with ayam goreng fried chicken, beef floss, chilli egg, tempeh and potato) $27; nasi rawon pincuk (herbed black soup with rice) $21; and nasi goreng mawut (stir-fried rice with noodle) $21.50
Drinks: All your Indonesian favourites like tetra packs of Teh Botol sweet jasmine tea, longan drinks and condensed milk coffee, tea or Coke (it’s just like a spider!); no BYO
Cost: $70, for two
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.
Helen Yee is a restaurant reviewer for Good Food.
