Waroeng Indo Authentic Indonesian Food, Cinere

Here's a little-known gem in the Cinere area: Waroeng Indo, located across from Cinere Mall. My mom goes there all the time and she took me there yesterday after church. At first I was skeptical and was more attracted by the smokes and smells coming out from the many tents of street vendors lining up the restaurant's front. Various wonderful food like Sate Kambing (Lamb Satay), Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice), seafood, Sup Betawi (Batavia Soup), Sup Buntut (Oxtail Soup), Bakso (Meatball Soup) and various fried food. But I knew I didn't have a chance with my mom next to me so.... onward to Waroeng Indo.

Inside, the atmosphere is modest, but very clean. As usual, they have more than enough workers there so service was very fast, and courteous. We ordered Tahu Pong (Tofu that is hollow on the inside), Nasi Goreng Special, Ayam Penyit (Chicken Penyit) and Nasi Begana Tegal (Special rice combo from.... Tegal? province).

Much to my delight, the food came out super fast. It was 8pm, so I definitely appreciated them. And to my double delight, all of the food were super GOOD! We started with the Tahu Pong. This is a type of tofu that is "hollow" inside - not dense, unlike regular tofu where the body is dense throughout; Tahu Pong has "bubbles" inside and so it is fluffy, light and airy. And since it's deep fried, very crispy.

The tofu itself is flash fried so while the outside shell is crispy, the inside is moist and very juicy. You dip the tofu into the sweet soy sauce-vinegar-chili-garlic dipping sauce provided and pop it in your mouth. The result was this wonderful, explosive flavors of sweet, tangy, garlicky and crispness and airiness all rolled into one. Just the perfect combination! This is easily my favorite dish there.


Tahu Pong. Image quality sucks! I need my camera back...

Another highlight is the Ayam Penyit. This is a type of chicken covered in spicy red sambal (chili) served with various veggies. I think they're meant to be eaten together, but I ate the chicken with white rice, and it seems to go very well together. The bright, furious red chili did look intimidating, but it actually tasted sweet-ish. Not that hot, at least for me. But it did wonderfully complement the yellow-spiced fried chicken, which was marinated with some kind of yellow flavored sauce. The exact ingredient I don't know, but the server said that part of the formula consists of tamarind, coconut milk, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, garlic and cloves. I'm sure there are a lot more in there, but the chicken is fall-off-the-bones goodness and really went well together with the chili.


Ayam Penyit

The Nasi Tegal is very good as well, but pretty mediocre to me. It's a typical Indonesian complete rice package consisting of Rendang (beef curry, marinated with coconut milk and spices), Tempe goreng, shrimp crackers, cripsy Ikan Teri (anchovy), Telur Balado (egg with spicy chili sauce), chili and topped with basil leaves.


Nasi Begana Tegal

The Nasi Goreng, while at first I looked at it with an indifferent attitude, proved to be very good indeed. In fact, I daresay that it was probably one of the best fried rice I've ever eaten. There were tiny bits of unknown ingredients throughout the rice that crunches when you bite into them, releasing explosive salty flavors that tasted "umami" - savory.

Prices range from Rp. 7000 to Rp. 90,000. We spent Rp. 78,000 for the four dishes plus drinks.

Waroeng Indo caters to the local people and is 100% halal. They do deliveries up to 5 miles (Pondok Indah, but minimum of 7 orders) and accept party catering orders (Tumpeng).


Waroeng Indo storefront. That's my mom posing. I couldn't find a good way to shoo her out of the picture, so she's now immortalized forever as PR for the restaurant.

Waroeng Indo
Ruko Blok A
Jl. Cinere Raya No. 1B
(Across from Cinere Mall)
Ph. (021) 754-5817

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