Bakmi Dempo Palembang (Bakmi Ahok)

Some months ago, I went to Bakmi Dempo, another local noodle shop in Grogol. It is Palembang noodle, and one of the trademarks is that the noodle is served on a plate, not a bowl. Some people say that it is a trademark of noodle from Sumatera, except Medan. 

It was early on a cloudy Sunday, but the place was already quite packed with dining-in guests and people who were waiting for their take-away orders. It looks like just a regular house with tables and chairs, and the food preparation area in the other side. 

Their main feature is of course, noodle. When you get seated, they will ask you what kind of noodle you want; bakmi lebar, bihun, or kwetiau. And you can choose the topping of chicken, pork or mixed. The interesting part for me is they give 3 choices of the portion; 1/2, 1 or 1 and 1/2. So you know, that’s a very smart thing because personally 1 bowl of noodle sometimes is not enough, but eating 2 makes me too full. So 1 and 1/2 portion is always the best (same for Indomie XD).

The noodles were really served on plates instead of bowls. They really looked so delicious and tempting with all the curls and colors. The chicken and pork were absolutely delicious. The noodle themselves were already very tasty, and the meat just complimented more. I also loved the slices of spring onions sprinkled on top, not forgetting the juicy lime provided on the plate. Even without it, the noodles were already very good, but if you squeeze the lime in, it really helps adding the good smell and the sourness blends very well with the sweetness of the meat.

And of course, if I eat noodle, I would like to have some side dishes like pangsit (wonton) or meatballs or anything like that.

Beside noodles, they only have nasi tim (steamed chicken rice). Surprisingly, we were quite full just with 1 portion of the noodle each, but as we were already there, we wanted to try the rice as well. The rice was piping hot when it was served (means it was fresh!), the look was so similar with the usual nasi tim that we made ourselves at home. The rice was incredibly soft and tasty, the minced chicken was perfectly delicious.

Nasi Tim Ayam (Steamed Chicken Rice) – IDR 15.000