For dinner, we had wanted to try an Indonesian version of fish head curry since we enjoyed the Singapore version so much. I didn't think it was, but now I'm wondering if it was a Padang place.
When we sat down, the came over with 2 huge trays full of dishes with plastic wrap over each and a label in the middle saying what each one was. Like a live menu. They came and went so fast, I wish I was able to get a photo of it. The fish head curry wasn't on the tray so I asked about it and the waitress got a big smile and then I also ordered 2 of what they called pigeon that I had read about.
They rub the pigeon in turmeric and a whole bunch of other stuff and then deep fry the bird. There's no breading or crust or skin either. I don't think they were the type of pigeons that we were used to. The ones we know are all dark meat, but these seemed smaller than any pigeon that we've seen and seemed like white meat. It reminded me of a big quail. Whatever it was, it was really tasty.
In addition to the birds, we got:
At the top of the photo is singkong (cassava leaves) that's been cooked in some kind of curry. The bottom is sambal ijo.
Sambal merah
Gulai kambing - goat in a thin curry made with a ton of spices like nutmeg, cinnamon and clove - I think this was probably the highlight and I definitely want to try to make it at home.
The fish head curry. I have no idea what kind of fish it was - there wasn't nearly as much meat as the Singapore one, but what was there was juicy and gelatinous. The curry was very mild but really rich. It was thick and unctuous with coconut cream - so different than the South Indian style one in Singapore.
This was probably the most expensive meal of the trip. The fish head alone was about 200,000IDR or about $12. The total bill was around $25.
Once out of the restaurant, we called a Grab taxi and watched the street scene while waiting.
The big puppet coming towards us was accompanied by a young adult asking for money. Up until then I don't think I'd ever seen anyone just asking for money - if anything at all, it's usually people trying to sell something.
