A meetup with my girls was due a while back, though it kept getting rescheduled due to unexpected things coming up. Finally, we decided on having dinner tonight, and quickly made up our mind to dine at an Indonesian restaurant called Delima due to good reviews. Princess FR said she’d bring her guy friend along, so Princess KZ and I decided to bring ours as well. And then FR had an emergency work shift, resulting her not being able to make it. So then it was Princess KZ (and DC), Princess NM, Mr AG and I.

Rushing from uni, Mr AG and I found it a tiny bit confusing to find (so we took the easy way out and phoned KZ to ask for directions). Apparently, it’s in the alleyway of China Town, in one of the shops, upstairs. Inside was ambient and looked very nice (with some nice decors). My first thought was that this place was perhaps one of those a hidden gem. As we approached, the waiter asked, and we told him we had a table with KZ, and he led us to our table… this was funny because apparently, KZ had not made reservations under her name (or told them her name when she got a table)… So how they guessed (and so sure about it), I did not know.

Hellos were exchanged when we arrived. Our table (and surrounding ones) had a thin layer of tassel-like curtain (not sure what they’re called)… you can see through it completely, but because it was segregated by a physical barrier, it felt discreet (which I enjoyed; I like feeling like I can put my bag down without someone coming and stepping on it).

Because Mr AG and I were late, they already had ideas on which dishes to order… and since we weren’t too fussed (as long as there’s no lactose, I’m game… and Indonesian food should be pretty safe with that), we just went with whatever they ordered. In the end, we got these 5 dishes, and had rice with them.

Coconut Rice ($4 per person)

Ayam Kari

Old times favorite Sumatran curry chicken ($15.95)

Garlic Shoot Cah Sapi

Stir-fry garlic shoots with beef tenderloin, salty fish, and chili shrimp paste ($15.95)

Ikan Bakar Bali

Grilled whole fish with Balinese sauce ($29.95)

Ayam Panggang Kalasan

Grilled chicken with sweet and soy-based Javanese style sauce ($15.95)

Kwetiaw Goreng

Stir fry flat rice noodle with seafood ($14.95)

I honestly didn’t think I’d like the ayam kari (I’m not too big on curries), but I liked the flavour of this one, though I couldn’t have too much of it at once. The garlic shoot cah sapi was nice; I really liked the beef tenderloin. The shoots also had a different flavour to the beef, which was interesting. The fish had a good flavour, but we thought it was slightly dry (fair enough, it is a dry dish); we should have tried one with a sauce or something. The fried chicken was pretty good, and I guess it was the easiest to fit into the palate of someone who isn’t too used to Indonesian food. I really liked the noodles as well, and it actually reminds a lot of us of Thai pad see ewe (noodles like that can’t go wrong for me). Being Asian, we had our dishes with coconut rice; it smelt really fragrant, it was quite nice, but methinks $4 per person is a bit much, especially compared to the other dishes we ordered. Apart from that, I thought the food was reasonably priced for what it was.

Overall, Mr AG and I enjoyed the food moderately and would go again… NM thought it was okay but wouldn’t personally make effort to dine here again (unless friends requested). I think we feel the way we do about the food because we’re actually not used to the taste as much. I’ve only had Indonesian food about twice… and my palate needs to adjust accordingly, so I am definitely willing to try more Indonesian food in general.

Food: 7/10
Ambience: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Value: 7/10

Delima Restaurant
69/1 Dixon Street
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9267 7045

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