Debbie Yong | The Business Times | Wed Nov 21 2012
The homely 90-seater eatery serves the usual array of pan-Indonesian dishes done according to traditional recipes.
by Debbie Yong
Singapore, November 21, 2012
Indochili Add: 54 Zion Road Tel: 6445 1766 Opening hours: 11.30am-10pm (Sun-Thu), 11.30am-10.30pm (Fri-Sat), closed on Tue
While these financially turbulent times have sent most restaurateurs scrambling to roll out downmarket sister brands to their existing eateries, Silin Wong is looking to spiff up instead.
The latest project for the Indonesian-Chinese director of Java Kitchen is two-month-old restaurant Indochili on Zion Road, the most high-end of all her concepts so far.
"We wanted to give our customers the option of having a place with better atmosphere and better service where they can bring their friends or clients, while preserving the authentic Indonesian cooking we are known for," says the native of Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city.
On top of running 13 casual eateries in Jakarta, the 20-year-old restaurant group expanded to Singapore in 2006 and now owns five nasi padang stalls in food courts in Orchard Ion, Wisma Atria and Vivocity, as well as standalone canteen-style eatery Java Kitchen on Tanjong Katong Road.
Mrs Wong had been on a hunt for a suitable location for Indochili for the past two years, she says, and eventually bought over the Zion Road shophouse space for its central location, accessibility, as well as the ample parking available in the Great World City shopping mall just opposite.
The result is a homely 90-seater space with just a faint touch of Indonesian flavour in its d¨Ścor, which makes it feel like you're dining in the apartment of a trendy young Indonesian rather than in a heritage museum, as in often the case with most other ethnic restaurants here.
Food-wise, there's nothing too innovative or unconventional on the menu, with the usual array of pan-Indonesian dishes done according to traditional recipes, like the ikan bakar Bali, or Balinese grilled fish ($21.80) and a very tender ayam bumbu rujak or a savoury and spicy-marinated fried chicken done East Javanese style ($8.80). The soto ayam lamongan ($6.80) here is more watery than most local versions done with coconut milk, but no less flavourful thanks to the addition of lime and fresh chilli.
Lunch sets start from a recession-friendly $5.80 for nasi kampong set served with omelette, tempeh and pickles to $11.80 for a nasi goreng with seafood. Expect to spend about $30 to $50 per head for dinner.
There is also a small retail counter by the restaurant's entrance, where traditional kueh lapis cakes (including the scarcely seen lapis Surabaya; $2 per slice to $80 for a 2kg cake) and cookies in flavours like chocolate yoghurt, cheese and 'cat's tongue' go for $12 to $16 per box.
Indochili will probably be the only one of the brand in Singapore, but Mrs Wong isn't ruling out further overseas expansion beyond our shores. As a first step, she's aiming for a spot to establish the Java Kitchen brand in Changi Airport, which should serve as a prominent platform from which bigger dreams can take flight.
