My foodie-friends in Singapore, blogger Alvin and a member of his gang, Mark, were sharing on Facebook their photos of the Indonesian deep-fried crispy duck (bebek goreng) that they had here. Of course with their very sophisticated equipment, they were able to take really great photographs, definitely nothing like the ones that I take, and looking at them, I suddenly developed a craving for what they had.
That was why I headed back to this place here and actually, I did hear from the friend sometime ago that their bebek was nice just that I never got round to dropping by there to give it a try.
I ordered the bebek penyet and nasi putih, literally translated as clobbered duck with white rice (RM11.00)…
…which came with a very nice sambal (chili dip) and also something like kicap manis pedas (thick and sweet dark soy sauce, spicy), served separately and not in the platter proper by the side.
It was somewhat hard and dry on the outside…
…like it had been over-fried or something but thankfully, inside…
…it was all right – the meat was still very nice and juicy. However, having said that, I did not seem to be able to detect the strong duck smell so much so that I was not really sure whether I was eating duck or chicken.
My girl had their ayam penyet (RM10.00, with rice) and she said it was all right but one thing’s for sure, it did not look like this…
– far from it, in fact, and all we had with our slab of poultry were a generous serving of what the lady told me is called kerimis – the egg and tapioca flour crumbs, a few slices of cucumber, two short strips of long beans and a couple of small pieces of cabbage – but no fried tofu and no tempeh as mentioned in the display.
I also ordered a bowl of sup tulang (RM10.00)…
…to share and true to its name, it was all tulang (bones) with hardly any meat. Thankfully, the soup was all right, nicer than some that I had elsewhere but no, it was a bit too diluted and not something I would be rushing to order again.
My missus had the bumbu ijo ayam penyet (RM10.00, with rice)…
…and no, she didn’t complain so I guess it was to her liking.
In comparison, I do feel that the sambal here is very much nicer and their steamed rice is second to none – I thought the one here wasn’t all that nice, a little on the dry side and they could have added some pandan leaves while cooking it to give it a little bit of that pleasant fragrance. Furthermore, the ones at that other place are very much cheaper too but they only have chicken and ikan keli (catfish), no duck.
Incidentally, each of our orders and those in the same section in the menu are entitled to a free drink – coffee, tea or syrup…but if they had water in the list, I would much sooner go for that. Let’s just say that I was not too thrilled about the iced black coffee that I had.
D’SANTAI CAFE (2.305748, 111.863080) is located among the shops to the right of Star Mega Mall, visible from the main road, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (road to Sibu Airport), round the corner from the newly-opened TK Hardware store there.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Fried duck reminds me a bit of the French dish duck confit.
Oh? Never had that but if it’s duck, I’d definitely love it! 😀
haven’t tried bebek penyet before.. ayam penyet aplenty here though..
usually it comes with some extremely spicy sambal on the side, does yours have that too?
Yes, I think I did mention that in the post but no, their sambal was not the best – nice but we have other nicer and spicier ones around here.
Seems like bebek is not that common. We do have ayam penyet everywhere here too, ayam and ikan keli.
Oppss!!!.. Ayam penyet is very common but bebek penyet is my very first time to hear of it. Bebek penyet looks like ayam penyet though but I wonder if we can tell by the taste of it. Haven’t come across any over here.
We only have one here. None that I can compare but I read my friends’ comments on their photos – it is supposed to be like that, it seems – very crispy on the outside but moist and succulent on the inside.
Did not detect the duck smell, maybe they use frozen duck thighs and there’s no smell…or maybe they boil it first, I wouldn’t know. I know one franchise ayam penyet place here – they boil the chicken first or that was what my missus insisted…and the meat was way too soft like it had been in the slow cooker for hours. I didn’t enjoy it.
I don’t like tough and dry meat either. Especially duck with its distinctive smell. Haha. Shouldnt be hard to know it is duck meat or not.
Ooooh. Ayam penyet. Now make me think of it. Must go back to this place for its lalapan.
http://kuchingnite.blogspot.my/2017/06/as-good-as-i-heard.html?m=1
No duck there? I love duck…with its unique smell and the taste! This one did not have it…and the lamb chop at some places too, dunno what they did to remove the smell and in the end, one would feel one was eating any type of meat, no difference. Ok at most of the Chinese roast duck places here but the meat is always so very tough – post on one coming soon!
I do like to take photographs on the dishes, they seem very “photogenic” but to eat that…. no thanks.
“of”, my dear! Typo again, eh? 😀
I guess that is what you do…and blog about them some more especially all those lovely pork dishes since you always say you do not eat it. Roast pork belly! Yum yummmm!!! 😀 😀 😀
Love the title of this post, hahaha.
Oh? You’re a fan? Not into this new one at all, not that I am all that fond of her earlier hits.
I love ayam penyet… not tried the duck version though. And ooo so up-to-date with latest music hits 😉
Oh? You know the song too? New one from that girl who was groped recently. 😀
Is the tulang from beef or mutton? I used to enjoy the soup kambing before.
Beef. I had lovely sup kambing in Singapore, 1973, one roadside stall at Waterloo Street, great for dipping baguette slices. One famous and popular place in Penang but somehow, it did not thrill me so much. Don’t think we have any sup kambing here.
Now u making me crave for it, hehe…
Slurpsss!!! 😀
Your missus’s order looks kind of special… wonder how it taste like… 🙂
I would say this one’s our favourite, with bumbu cabe ijo, green chili sambal.
I would love to try the duck and rice! 🙂
The chicken is good too!
That looks so crispy! Love it
I do like some of what they dish out here but I wouldn’t say the duck is one of them. It was good, just not something that I would come running back for more.