Spaghetti, Bubur Ayam and Chicken Rice - Jakarta, Indonesia - December 2010

(Click on the photos to zoom)

Consumed on - 21 December 2010

Location - Jakarta Indonesia (Exact branch unknown)

Price - Spaghetti/Bubur Ayam - 5500IDR = ~0.60USD, Chicken Rice Combo - 16,500IDR = ~$1.80USD

Rating - Spaghetti 2/5, Bubur Ayam 4/5, Chicken Rice 3/5

Unfortunately, as will happen quite often with these older reviews (I was in Jakarta about one year ago),  I cannot remember the exact branch that I ate these items in, and since it was prior to the start date of this blog, I do not have any photos of the interior of the restaurant.  I will describe it the best I can, and hopefully someone will be able to pinpoint which branch it was.  The restaurant was a standalone building, and had at least two floors, it might have even had three.  The orders were taken downstairs on the ground floor, and the first floor had the McCafe section.  This photo was taken just down the street from the branch, but I am unable to remember exactly where it is. If you can help me out with pinpointing the location please send me an email or leave a comment below.

I went in not knowing what to expect, because at the time, McDonald's Indonesia did not have a website. I was in Jakarta city centre for a few hours exploring before I was hungry enough to find McD's for lunch.  It was a hot December day, and it was the first air-conditioning I had experienced all day and was glad to find that it had free wifi that didn't need some difficult registration (but I had to ask for the password).  The restaurant was sparking clean, and very modern and bright.  The menu on the wall was in English, and all the staff spoke English perfectly.  The young girl who took my order didn't even flinch when I ordered a Chicken Rice combo, a Spaghetti, nor the typically breakfast item, the Bubur Ayam.  I have had fried chicken in many other McDonald's around the world, but this was the first I have had that came with a proper side of rice.  They had a few different chicken rice options, but I ordered the basic one-piece.  The Spaghetti and Bubur Ayam were sold as standalone dishes, on their 5500IDR menu.  Usually whenever I order rice at McD's I have to wait and this was no exception, the kind girl told me to go take a seat upstairs and she would bring my meal when it was ready.  It actually took longer than expected, and in about 10 minutes the same girl who took my order brought me my meal.

I unwrapped the steaming hot rice and thought it was a little strange that the chicken, which didn't have any sauce was served with plain white rice. The chicken was fine and well cooked, but why would anyone just want a side of plain white rice?  I cut the chicken off the bone and ate it together with the rice, but it was still too dry for my taste.  Next up was the spaghetti, I was disappointed because it was ice cold, I guess it sat too long whilst they made the rice.  It wasn't very big, but for the price, I couldn't complain about it all that much.  But what surprised me the most was the nice grated cheese on top, it wasn't a typical processed cheese you would normally find at McDonald's, but freshly grated parmesan cheese. Wikipedia tells me that Bubur is Indonesian for congee, and I hadn't tried congee in any McDonald's before.  Bubur Ayam is congee with shredded chicken, spring onion, fried shallots and soy beans and little cracker-like things called 'cakwe' . Though typically a breakfast food McDonald's sells it all day on the 5500IDR menu, and for the amount you get, it is a great value.  Its pretty difficult to make bad congee, and the spices seemed authentic, not some cheap McDonald's attempt at a dish, so I greatly enjoyed it.