Singaporeans are no strangers to Indonesian cuisine and some of our all-time favourites include the likes of Ayam Penyet, Beef Rendang and Bebek Goreng. While there is a slew of Indonesian restaurants around Singapore, few serve Indonesian Chinese cuisine quite like Kota88—and that’s saying a lot.
Hailing from Glodok, Jakarta’s Chinatown, Kota88 proudly brings to our shores their culinary heritage, serving a wide array of Indonesian Chinese cuisine not commonly found in here.
The humble establishment adopts a rustic, almost old-world appeal from its marble tables to their wooden furnishings and age-old decorations.
The aroma of fried rice immediately filled the air as the chef served us the first dish, the Nasi Goreng Babi Pete (S$13.88++). It is essentially pork fried rice with different variations of pork such as sliced pork, roast pork, BBQ pork tossed with vegetables and a generous amount of petai over a roaring flame.
The hearty plate of classic fried rice boasts a fragrant wok hei and it was simply satisfying as all the ingredients complemented each other well to create a myriad of pleasant textures and flavours.
Next came the signature item on the menu, the Nasi Campur Babi (S$12.88++)—the one dish that we were absolutely looking forward to.
Essentially a massive pork platter with rice, the dish features ingredients such as Roast Pork, Char Siew, Braised Pig Ear, Sweet Pork Satay, Sio May (also known as Siew Mai) and Ngo Hiang.
The last dish that was served was the Sate Babi (10 sticks for S$15.88++), which is similar to our local satay. You can choose from a variety of pork satays which include sweet or savoury marinated pork, pig liver, intestine and skin. We opted to have 2 sticks of each and all of the skewers were well marinated and provided a sweet and slightly charred flavour.
The pork satays were tender and juicy and the pigskin was chewy and tasty. The pig liver, however, was a tad too dry and hard to bite through. Other than that, we were quite satisfied with all the dishes and we can totally see ourselves coming back for more!
Kota88 Restaurant
907 East Coast Road, #01-02
Singapore 459107
Tel: +65 6242 2645
Mon to Sun: 11am – 3pm, 6pm – 3am
Nearest Station: Eunos