Sambal Oelek

Just a short little review of this little eatery in Logan called "Sambal Oelek", it serves Indonesian cuisine. We decided to try it out based on reviews on Urbanspoon. 

Sambal Oelek is a neat little restaurant with a very basic set-up, very Asian style kind of furnishing. The owner, an Indonesian I think (based on his accent), was very attentive and polite. I do like nice servers as they can make or break your overall dining experience.

We ordered the Deep-fried Wontons. These were very good, the skin of the wontons were quite different from the usual, this was not as oily but still very crispy and solid. One good thing about these was that I didn't feel "gelat" (sick) after eating it as I would usually with deep fried food. I love these wontons a lot and I swear I can eat at least 10 on my own in one sitting!

Our second entree was the Tauhu Goreng (Fried Beancurd). The texture of the beancurd was good and I loved that it was bite-sized because it meant that the fried-beancurd-skin-to-actual-beancurd ratio was even! Back home, the tauhu goreng that I'd get would be just big slabs of tofu and I'd just eat around the edges where it's fried because the centre would be really plain. So anyway, texture of this tauhu goreng aside, I didn't think the gravy was too fantastic. Yes it tasted pretty authentic but it was too runny! At the bottom of the plate of this dish was just brown water. If the gravy was thicker, it'd have been easier to dip the beancurd in and it would've enhanced the overall taste of the dish.

The Husband ordered Beef Rendang. We were totally not impressed with this dish at all. Even Jimmy's on the Mall on Queen Street, a "white" restaurant, serves up more authentic rendang. The gravy, which is the most important part of the dish, was a total failure. It just tasted salty and there was not much other taste to it (it's supposed to taste full of spices). Otherwise, the consistency of the gravy and the texture of the beef was okay.

I order the Satay Chicken Rice. Again, the peanut gravy, which is the most important part of satay dishes, was not good. The taste of peanuts in the gravy was barely there and for the most part of it, it just felt like I was eating tasteless peanut butter or some sort. It did not taste horrible, but it just did not taste good or authentic either. The texture of the chicken was good though, it was tender and juicy. But then again, if I just wanted plain grilled chicken I would've ordered plain grilled chicken.

Overall, I'm not too sure about this eatery. They seem to be able to get meat texture right but not that of their sauces and gravy. I'm not sure if they purposely watered down their sauces to adapt to the taste buds of the Australians, but then you lose customers like me who are after the real thing. Also, given the location of this eatery, I can't imagine too many Australians patronizing them (but I may be wrong). I don't think I would come back here to eat, because I think I can get more authentic Indonesian food elsewhere. Maybe, if they improve on their sauces...