When my cousins suggested Indonesian food - I was excited. Why? It is hard to find good Indonesian food nowadays and definitely not something that I've found in Vancouver yet. Cumi Bali is located in one of the shophouses along Tanjong Pagar. Tanjong Pagar is a quaint area, the shophouses have been preserved under a government initiative and have been restored. If it's your first time in SIngapore, just wander around this area, there are many unique shops, karaoke joints, pubs and eateries here. Cumi Bali is one such hidden gem. It's not easy to find parking in this area so we parked quite far away and took a walk. The walk served to work up my appetite and I think we ordered more than we could eat. For starters, we ordered begedil (kind of like deep fried whipped potato patties).
Begedil
Followed by their house specialty, chicken satay which is marinated in kecap manis and topped with deep fried shallots. It was so super tender - best chicken satay I've eaten for awhile.
Sate Madura
We also ordered a couple of their other house specialties, the sotong (squid) and the ikan baker. The sotong was very lightly grilled, perfectly done and not overly chewy while the ikan baker was flavourful and a little spicy. If you like otah, you'd like this dish. The other dish that I really liked was the tahu telor. They do it a little differently here, more egg and less tahu, almost like an omelette so don't expect the usual tahu telor.
Cumi Bali
Ikan Bakar
Sambal Kang Kong
Soup Kambing
Tahu Telor
The ambience is quaint and the food is great. I'll definitely be back again if I get a craving for Indonesian food.