As someone who was born in early 80s, I have so many good memories about simple places or just street carts that selling delicious food all around Jakarta. One of them is Bakmi Naga by Ny. Liong, a popular establishment that has been existing since year 1980. This famous chain originated from a street cart, or gerobak – as Indonesians usually call it- and up to date, it has spread its wings to so many locations all over Jakarta. Heard that they also expanded to Surabaya but the outlet was closed down already (will update when I get more info on this) due to high rental cost. Because their outlets are spread everywhere, here is a little tip, when you go to Bakmi Naga outlet, look at the logo, if there is no dragon’s head on it, most likely it’s not one of the REAL outlets, means it is not related to them at all, so you can’t really expect the same taste or quality.
Bakmi Naga serves noodle, obviously, but there are also other typical Chinese Indonesian cuisine such as fried rice, kway teow, beehoon, and if you prefer more specific Chinese food, they offer quite wide selection of them; and guess what? They come in relatively affordable prices because the theme is more like a casual restaurant, ideal for single or family dining.
I don’t visit the outlets often, but I recall everytime I am in need of some quick fix, and I happen to be in random shopping centers (like Mangga Dua Mall), sometimes I would stop by and eat something there. Last time I was walking around Citywalk Sudirman for late dinner, most all the restaurants were closed already so we ended up stopping there.
Bakmi Ayam Special Naga IDR 25.5K
The ultimate signature dish of Bakmi Naga, it was good and brought back memories, but I wouldn’t say it was great whatsoever. The noodle was thin and curly, topped with chicken, mushroom, meatball and some kind of dumplings. Portion was terribly small, and I think it’s safe to say that I’ve seen much better ones selling in much cheaper prices, but well, still in gerobak. XD
Pangsit Goreng IDR 27K
A must-order whenever I go to this kind of noodle shops, but this one wasn’t too good to be honest. The skin was thick and the filling was too small. The dipping sauce tasted more like a chili sauce gone bad. My favorite pangsit goreng is still the one from Bakmi GM.
We also got to try the Bihun Goreng IDR 32K, Nasi Goreng IDR 30K and Bakmi Goreng IDR 32K, which tasted almost similar one to another because I think the ingredients are about the same. My favorite among the three was the fried rice because it had certain smokey aroma that is resulted from the fire cooking style, if you know what I mean.
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| Bihun Goreng IDR 32K |
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| Nasi Goreng IDR 30K |
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| Bakmi Goreng IDR 32K |
I Fu Mie Special IDR 43K
I told you I am such a sucker for this crispy noodle and normally I definitely would order this when I find it on the menu. It was lovely, I loved the kind of noodle used, and the toppings and sauce were given generously so it was perfect. Although it wasn’t exactly cheap, but you get what you pay for.
Kangkung Cah Sapi Telur Puyuh IDR 41K
Kangkung is one of my favorite vegetables and since I was kid, I always enjoy the ‘show’ whenever a hotplate kangkung was served on the table when my parents brought me to a Chinese restaurant. However, I rarely find such amazing show anymore during the past few years, maybe because I don’t really go to Chinese restaurants very often. Surprisingly, a simple restaurant like Bakmi Naga still managed to maintain the ‘show’ by serving the kangkung on the sizzling hotplate to the table! I was literally going ga-ga when I saw the waitress brought it and I was so mesmerized by it. Now I sound like a kid from remoted village with no access of modern stuffs, don’t I? XD
The kangkung was fresh and quite big in size, probably they use kangkung from Lombok, but I am not too sure. I absolutely love this dish! Full of flavor, strong and bold taste from the bean paste, and nicely blended meat broth altogether in one plate. Delish!
Bakmi Naga might not be the best of its kind as we have Bakmi GM, Bakmi Gang Kelinci and so on, but it’s always nice to stop by now and then enjoying their food. I would definitely come back for the kangkung, rest assured!
All prices are inclusive of 10% government tax
* The Food Escape team are not paid whatsoever for writing this post.
Citywalk Sudirman 1st Floor – 19
Jl. KH Mas Mansyur No. 121
Tanah Abang
Jakarta Pusat 10230
Ph. +62 21 9717 8881
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