Best Ayam Penyet (so far) in Singapore – Don’t Pray Pray!

Nayr and I recently became super avid fans of Ayam Penyet!

It started with Nayr getting introduced to it by his colleagues at lunch.

When Nayr and I went to Bintan in Aug last year, he got me to try it. I finally understood how he could fall in love with the spicy concoction, for someone who does not really fancy chilli!

We soon embarked on our search for the best ayam penyet in Singapore. There are plenty of food reviews on the web, and it seemed “Sri Bistari” stall is voted to serve the best ayam penyet in Singapore! They even have a website, pls see: http://www.sbestfood.com/sribistari.

We went one day to look for the Sri Bistari stall at Beach Road Hawker Centre, opposite Golden Mile Complex. To our disappointment, it was the shop’s day off, so it was closed! By that time, both of us were super hungry and were bent on wanting nothing else but ayam penyet for dinner. There are plenty of other stalls selling ayam penyet, so we tried this stall at B1-26. It was simply called "Nasi Ayam Penyet Stall".

To our pleasant surprise, the ayam penyet from the stall was simply delicious! Somehow, the chilli was not too spicy and just right for our tastebuds. The chicken’s fresh and crispy and there was a variety of sides to go along with the hot, fragrant rice. (there were keropok pieces, fried peanut sticks, cucumber & tomato slices and a bowl of chicken soup).

When we returned the next time and tried the Sri Bistari stall, the ayam penyet there somehow do not taste as nice as the one at B1-26. We found the chilli sambal too spicy for us and there was not much variety of sides. The serving was also not as generous as the other stall’s.

So, the verdict goes:

The Best Ayam Penyet in Singapore (so far tested, at least) is the one from B1-26

(clap clap clap)

Our verdict was confirmed - we tried the B1-26 stall again the third time we were there)

P.S. Ayam Penyet is a chicken dish from Indonesia, which means, in Bahasa Indonesia, 'flattened chicken'. The dish originates from Surabaya, capital of Indonesia's East Java province, though it has come to Singapore via Batam.

It consists of a big slab of hammered flat chicken thigh, deep-fried to a lovely crispiness and served with spicy sambal chilli on a wooden plate. There are sometimes other side items to go along with it.