Editor's Rating
The Halal Boys is one of the most-talked eateries in the last few weeks, since it starts operating its humble “street” cart in Hang Lekir, South Jakarta. Located at the parking area of Waroeng Waluma, it has an eye-catching yellow signage, as well as yellow container-style cart where the food are prepared before handed to customers.
If you have ever heard or familiar with the popular The Halal Guys from New York, hearing this new brand will probably ring a bell. The Halal Boys is no franchise of this NY brand, but I have got words from insiders that they bought the recipe from the original The Halal Guys, but have to open under different brand, so that’s it.
The Halal Boys serves warm, tasty Middle Eastern-style chicken and lamb platters, topped with the irresistible iconic white and red sauce. So far, there are only 3 options for the menu: Chicken on Rice, Lamb on Rice, Half and Half (Chicken and Lamb) on Rice, which are priced at IDR 55,000/portion.
With the concept of street food cart, The Halal Boys is “parked” permanently, and although there are only limited table and seats for dining in, you can always grab your bowls and bring them inside Waroeng Waluma if you want.
The food are served inside bowls and it’s very efficient especially because we can have it right away or ask for the lid when we need it for take away.
There are 3 types of sauces to compliment the food: the infamous white sauce, BBQ sauce, and Extremely Hot sauce. My suggestion is to try the food just the way it is for the first time, then slowly add the white sauce, followed with BBQ sauce. I didn’t try the hot sauce because the taste was already strong enough for me and I didn’t want to ruin it by adding “extremely hot” sauce.
Half and Half IDR 55,000
So we tried the Half and Half, which is the mix of chicken and lamb on rice.
First of all, let’s talk about the rice. They use the long grain, Basmati rice which is basically already aromatic and also enhanced with spices. I love that the texture was just perfect without being too soft, but still keeping its moisture.
The chicken and lamb were given generously, but I must say that the lamb was very dominant, not a very pleasant one because unfortunately, the lamb was very smelly. I don’t know if it’s always like that but it was my first time visiting and I could be just unlucky that day. Taste-wise, I like how well-seasoned the meat were, everything could be perfect if only the lamb didn’t smell that much.
Overall, I must say that IDR 55,000 for a portion of this rice can be a little bit too pricey, but if you are curious about the infamous platter by The Halal Guys in New York, don’t hesitate to give it a try. I think it is quite similar to theirs and it’s worth trying. I don’t know if they can go for a long time as they only serve really limited options for the menu, but we wish them best of luck!
*The Food Escape team are not paid whatsoever for writing this post.
** This review is written based on our visit on 19 June 2015.
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THE HALAL BOYS
Jl. Hang Lekir 2 No. 4 (opposite Beautika)
Senayan
Jakarta
Opening Hours:
Mon-Thu: 11 AM – 10 PM
Fri-Sat: 11 AM – 1 AM
Sun: 8 AM – 10 PM
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