1945 Indonesian food@Pyrmont Sydney - a new year's eve dinner adventure

Being in the hood of Pyrmont with friends to view the fireworks during new year's eve, where to for dinner was the question?
We wanted to choose something exotic for our friends to savour so, walking down Harris St towards Pyrmont Park we come to 1945 [this is our 2nd time we've been here so can recommend this place, first time was back in Jul 10 with friends C&J].

1945 is a restaurant specialising in a dutch east indies cuisine according to the menu they gave us. Upon entering there is always a fragrant spicy aroma emitting from the kitchen, which if you are in a state of hunger, makes you lusting for food quick!

For those of you that don't know what the Dutch East Indies, it was a dutch colony that is now modern Indonesia. In simple sense, if you have had cheap Indonesian food before in some of the "not so grand looking" restaurants around Sydney (especially around Kensington, Anzac Pde & inner city areas like Shalom bad service but tasty chicken) this restaurant here brings Indonesian food one knotch up. Fine food, fine dining, fine service and well plated food that tantalises your taste buds....for a slightly dearer price than the "non so grand looking indonesian restaurants" that you expect. I'm not Indonesian background, but have had my share of Indo food around town so know the fare that  I am sampling tastes good enough to come pay a second time visit :)

The 1945 Restaurant revolves around the concept of "the Dutch Colonia feast, Rijsttafel (meaning rice table)" and the menu showcases various exotic spices of "true" Indonesian food even after the era of the country's independence in 1945.

Hence we can understand how the naming of the restaurant came about.

Here at 1945 the inspiration by Rijsttafel, the restaurant tries to replicate the era of fine indonesian cuisine, focused on serving small sized portions to savour the many distinct flavours, colours & textures of dishes in the one sitting. I do like sampling various food...great selection of dishes to share too, pricing of dishes range from $3-20. 

Appetisers: range from $3-5 a plate, grilled pork or chicken sate skewers are priced at $3. Obviously you won't get a large amount of skewers but as a sampler plate, means you get to try other dishes like Indonesian fried tofu or deep fried pork neck marinated in wine for $5 also yummy.

Main dishes: are priced around $5-7 a plate, again don't expect huge servings, they are again sampler plates. For $5 you can get aromatic grilled chicken simmered in exotic blend of spices to seafood dishes like mussels in a fiery chilli sauce. Great if you can eat chilli or for other seafood, deep fried squid for $7 bucks.

Other meat dishes: from $6-7 a dish you can get what I consider an exotic choice for us (as we rarely cook oxtail), is grilled honey glazed oxtail with cashew nuts for $6 or oxtail soup at $7 or  you should try out their delicious stewed pork belly in sweet star anise sauce too!

For those that are vegetarian: there are vege dishes ranging from $3-6 a dish like chilli sauce with eggplant to javanese fried beancurd or crunchy corn fritters.

We also opted to try out their street food menus: these dishes are slightly larger, pricing for these range from $10-20.A typical Indo dish we usually opt for is of course "Nasi Goreng" [Fried rice served with fried egg, pickles & butternut crackers or you could opt for the fried rice with just tiger prawns and sator beans too!].

So many choices...what to pick?

As the saying goes, sharing is caring, so we had to opt for the set menu # 3, the grande cuisine that features a range of dishes all served at once on a lovely timber tray with banana leaves...like a mini degustation menu on the one platter.

Set Menu #3 has servings for 2 people. However, we came with 4 people in total for our dinner trek. We ordered this set menu to share between the four of us  and ordered a range of other side dishes to share plus extra servings of rice [2 lovely couples make great company- to M&N, we really enjoyed the night].

So what does Menu#3 include? For $85 a platter for 2 (or can be shared between 4 with other dishes), it includes:

1. Nasi Koening (Turmeric Rice) - it's the yellow coloured rice with fried onion on top
2. Nasi Oedek (Coconut Rice) - made with coconut cream.
3. Kroepoek Oedang (Prawn Crackers) - crunchy & tasty, great with some of the curry sauce that came with a separate dish we ordered on the side. 

Nasi Koenig, Nasi Oedek, Kroepoek Oedang

Mr. Bird: I normally do not eat Prawn Crackers but every time we go to an Indonesian restaurant, I find myself nibbling on the Prawn Crackers.  They really are quite different to the Chinese variety and are quite addictive.

4. Sate Babi (Grilled Pork Skewer) - great marinade, but lately I've had a craving for the Philippines style BBQ Pork a friend has made where I had just gobbled down sticks of these at a lunch party, so in comparison, I do love the taste of the my friend's marinade, but these ones were not too shabby either, great tasting & freshly grilled!

Whilst agreeing that Philippine BBQ Pork is the best, let's not get carried away and stick to the topic at hand Mrs. Bird.  I quite liked this dish as the marinade wasn't overpowering and the pork was not overcooked and remained quite plump and juicy.

5. Ajam Pangang Ketjap (Grilled Chicken) - Indonesian grilled or charcoal grilled chicken I have tasted in various Indo restaurants are always a great hit to add to the dinner table. I love that charcoal grilledness taste to the drumsticks! It's that smokey flavour that makes the difference.

Not really a fan of this dish as you can get much better Grilled Chicken at Kensington.

6. Oedang Panggang Goerih (Grilled Prawn) - they were 2 large servings of the prawns, big prawns indeed! Must have been from the fresh from the fish markets :)

Quite fresh and cooked just right... Absolutely perfect!  I could have done with 2 more of these.

 7. Tempe Katjang Goreng (Fried Soybean & Peanuts) - this is more an asian dish lover or snack type dish. I think it also came with some anchovies. They were ok to the taste but not something I probably  won't  to particularly call out & order as a separate dish.

 

I don't even remember eating this dish *scratch head*  I guess it didn't leave an impresson.

8. Sajoer Asem (Tamarind Soup) - now the other couple we had for dinner, I did notice they didn't finish their bowl of soup. Whereas Mr Bird gulped it down quite fast. So, all in all, if sweet & sour isn't your cup of tea then it's not for you. But if you love tamarind or lover of lime, then its a great dish as an entree to spice up your taste buds for more spicy foods to come.

I quite like having soup and this is one of my favourites.  It really does open up the palate.  Yummy!

9. Perkedel Djagoeng (Corn Fritter) - they didn't have much strong taste, it was a bit bland but maybe with a bit of sweet soya sauce would have tasted better.

 

I think you make tastier Corn Fritters than these Mrs. Bird?

10. Tjoemi Gorent Tepoeng (Fried Calamari)11. Perkedel Kentang Daging (Beef & Potato Fritter)

Tjoemi Gorent Tepoeng (back), Perkedel Kentang Daging (front)

12. Rendang Daging (Indonesian Beef Curry) - I guess I have been too used to large portion servings with big wad of rice that goes with this dish vs a small sampling size. For Rendang Beef curry to be a successful one I judge it by whether the beef has been well stewed and the beef should be soft enough that it literally falls off the bone or the softness and juiciness of the beef. The beef was soft textured and very tasty. I have had some less in par where the meat was too chewy and hard to eat. So its always great to judge an indo restaurant by the quality of the stewed beef :)
13. Sambal Goreng Kentang Boentjis (Stir Fried French Beans) they were good but unfortunately, I've had some really good french beans before. I do like the way Din Tai Fung makes it, so if you want to compare...

 

The Beef Rendang at 1945 is one of the nicest I've had (personal taste).  Quite flavoursome and the meat is quite tender.  Totally agree re: the Stir Fried French Beans - I think I'll stick to having this dish at Shanghainese Restaurant.

14. Terong Belado (Eggplant with Chili) - if Chilli is your thing & you have the chilli tastebuds like Mr Bird then this dish is for you. Sorry, I'll have to pass on anything too Chilli...

 

15. Atjar Bening (Pickled Vegetables) - bit of vege thrown including carrots, if you have a sour tooth savouring, then this is good to peck at.

Pickles?  I didn't find these vegetables pickled at all.  I wish they made it more sweet/sour as it would have been great to cleanse the palate between dishes.

16. Es Tjendol (Dessert) - if you are a lover of palm sugar & coconut milk then you should enjoy this dessert. Great with the ice on a summer day like today! If you spoon to the bottom you will get green pandan flavoured sweet noodles.

Hang on... I thought there was meant to be 17 dishes in the set menu?  What happened to dish #17 (Seroendeng - Spiced Grated Coconut).  I think we got gipped that night as they either didn't have it or ran out of stock but we simply weren't told.  Make sure to count the number of dishes you are served if you decide to have this set menu =)

As there were 4 of us dining this evening, we decided to order some side dishes which include:

1. Boentoet Bakar Madoe (Grilled Honey-Glazed Oxtail sprinkled with crushed Cashew Nuts)

Full of flavour although the meat was a bit chewy.

2. Beef Balls with Crackers

 3. Oedang Saos Padang - King Prawns cooked with aromatic sweet and spicy sauce

My favourite dish of the night!  The best way I can think of to describe this dish is Singapore Chilli King Prawns cooked the Indonesian way.  I can have this dish with 2 servings of Jasmine Rice and I would have been a contended bird.

THE VERDICT
Great food, very flavoursome, great variety of small dishes to sample, service was great.

From 6.30pm onwards the restaurant is opened for dinner and starts to get packed out by 8.30pm plus. So best to book a table in advance.

The specials menu is featured in chalk....

The Menu comes in a timbered panel, I was lucky to be the only one getting the menu with the doors.

So after such a great mix of food & spices, we finished our meals before the 9pm fireworks started in Pyrmont...great ending to a great new years eve to a new era to look forward to 2011! Happy new year!

Selamat Makan


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1945 - Dutch East Indies Cuisine

2/42 Harris St, Pyrmont, NSW 2009
Phone 02 9660 9699
Open Fri to Sun
Lunch: 12:00pm - 3:00pm (Fri- Sun only)
Dinner: 6:00pm - 10:00pm