As far as I am aware, there aren’t too many places that offer Indonesian cuisine in Adelaide. Ketut’s Kitchen has recently opened on the busy O’Connell Street cafe precinct in order to fill that void. It also takes advantage of the fictional character name made well known by the AAMI insurance advertising. The place itself is quite small with barely over a dozen seats. The decor is simple and well presented with good use of timber throughout. The menu offers a good selection of Indonesian dishes, although you’ll find there are a lot of items crossed out.

For lunch, I ordered the Daging Bumbu Bali which is a diced beef cooked in a thick sauce. The dish was ready after a 15 minute wait and was nicely presented. The beef was lean, tender and well marinated. The dish was something in between a beef stew and a sweet Thai curry. The sauce was nice and thick, and it was very well balanced. The potatoes were soft and delicate with well infused flavours. The rice was nicely cooked with firm individual grains.

My friend had the Ayam Goreng Rempah Dengan Lalapan which is chicken that has been marinated with Indonesian spices and then deep fried. With what looked to be half a chicken chopped into small pieces, the frying process would have been a bit difficult with all the different pieces. The thigh components were juicy and succulent, however, the breast parts were a bit dry. The chicken pieces were well marinated and full of flavour.

The staff were friendly and the service was pretty good. The atmosphere was relaxed and the pricing was average. I was pleased to see that they offered a lunch time menu, but even then, paying their normal prices wouldn’t have been out of the question.

A nice little Indonesian joint in the heart of the North Adelaide cafe precinct. Well worth a visit for something different.

WHERE: 95A O’Connell St, North Adelaide