South of Victoria Park, Indonesian grocers and eateries abound. Aside from the ubiquitous satay, nasi goreng and gado-gado there are many other home-style dishes to be sampled in the Causeway Bay-Wan Chai hub of Indonesian restaurants.
Ayam panggang - a spiced, grilled and stewed chicken dish with rice and vegetables - is the halal version of babi panggang, made with grilled pork. Warung Malang Club and Warung Chandra offer their own versions. In Indonesia a warung is a roadside food stall with seating - a step up from a cart but not quite a restaurant.
Warung Malang Club, an upstairs restaurant, is run by a friendly Muslim family. The space is bright, clean and quiet. We collect our ayam panggang (HK$40) at the service counter. Sliced cucumber, a lettuce leaf, boiled string beans and a generous mound of fluffy rice come with the less generous portion of chicken.
The club takes grilling seriously - parts of the skin are blackened for a heady charcoal flavour. The spice paste coating is thick and a rich deep red, with a lovely mix of flavour and heat from the shrimp paste and home-made sambal. Alas the meat is dry and stringy. The fresh, lightly-salted beans and cooling cucumber add crunch and moisture, but despite the addictive seasoning, the meat is overcooked.
The main dining area at Warung Chandra doubles as a grocery shop, so we eat among packets of curry paste and fried peanuts. The manager is a tad surly, but our order of ayam panggang (HK$48) comes quickly. There is plenty of sauce and the dark brown chicken morsels swim in a pool of red chilli oil. The boiled string beans and cabbage sit in fragrant coconut water, and the rice is soft - almost soggy - with half a boiled egg topped with sambal, and a sprinkling of ikan teri (tiny fried anchovies) and peanuts.
The chicken pieces are small and tender; the sauce is not spicy - it seems to be heavy with kecap manis, Indonesia's dark, sweet soy sauce. We like the added egg and ikan teri, although the sambal lacks depth and kick. Overall, where Malang Club lost points on the dry chicken, Warung Chandra errs on the side of soupiness.