Waroeng Anak Indo

Yet another one of those establishments that we only got to find out whilst scrolling through social media one day — there hasn’t been much changes in the F&B scene in the Haji Lane neighbourhood save for the appearance of Fatt Choy Eating House in recent times. With that being said, there is a new entrant into the F&B scene in the past couple of weeks — enter Waroeng Anak Indo, which occupies the shophouse located at Blk 53 Haji Lane. This is the same exact space that the now-defunct 3 OF CUPS used to have occupied; its neighbours includes Habibi-san and Bar Stories, being located somewhere in the middle of the street closer to the end near North Bridge Road. As one would have expected from the namesake of the establishment, Waroeng Anak Indo is an establishment that is focused on serving up Indonesian cuisine — the interior of the shop exudes a nostalgic environment with the ground floor being pretty much styled like an old-school Waroeng (i.e. small family-owned business) with murals depicting street scenes while the counters are stylised as huts; one can also find nostalgic posters on the exposed brick wall, all matching well against the grey concrete flooring and wooden furniture around the space. Upstairs on the second level is yet another dining hall that is styled more simply; a little homey with period-correct wooden furniture and fittings that comes with a cozier vibe. The menu at Waroeng Anak Indo comes segregated into categories comprising of Appetisers, Rice and Noodles; there are also drinks and desserts available — the dessert item being the Es Teller, while beverages include the likes of coffee, bottled drinks and Avocado / Orange / Semangka Susu.

Having skimmed through the menu before making our visit to Waroeng Anak Indo, we had decided that we would give their Bakmi Komplit a go possibly due to our preference for noodles; and especially dry noodles. The menu describes the Bakmi Komplit to come with elements such as Mee Kia, sweet soy chicken, beef balls, crispy wanton skin, pangsit ayam, pak chuy and garlic oil. The Bakmi Komplit can be described as the Bakmi item to go all-in with the elements that comes with the Bakmi; the more basic rendition available at Waroeng Anak Indo would be the Bakmi Anak Indo. Mixing the noodles up so that the garlic oil can get around the noodles, there is sufficient garlic oil to provide an aroma to the noodles here. We did feel that the Mee Kia is verging towards being slightly overdone here, with the texture of the noodles being on the slightly softer side of things in general. Amongst the other elements that are being served in the bowl of Bakmi Komplit, the element that is probably worth more of a mention would be the Sweet Soy Chicken — these would be chunks of bite-sized chicken that is almost akin to braised chicken that comes braised in a sweet soy sauce; tender and juicy with a noticeable hint of sweetness. The beef balls were good to have; easy to chew through without being particularly gamey, while the wanton skin does seem to be a bit on the thicker side than what we had expected and provided the dish with a textural contrast with the crunch that it carried; the Pak Chuy also provided a crunch — albeit of a refreshing one that gave a good balance with the meat and noodles.

We had also given the Bakwan Sayur a go during our visit to Waroeng Anak Indo; the Bakwan Sayur being a deep-fried vegetable fritter that typically comprise of cabbage and carrots with a batter. These were prepared beforehand and placed in a display warmer for patrons to help themselves with when they make their order — whole green chilies are also placed in front of the display warmer for those whom prefer to have them alongside the Bakwan Sayur / Bakwan Jagung that they serve. Considering how these would have been prepared for a while before our visit made during a weekend evening, the Bakwan Sayur lost much of its crispness whilst sitting inside the display warmer for most of the day; it also did feel a little greasy since I much of the oil did ended up having been absorbed in the fritter as well. The Hot Coffee at Waroeng Anak Indo may seem a little odd on first sight especially for those whom are not used to Indonesian-style coffee; that being said, Waroeng Anak Indo serves up Kopi Tubruk — the way of preparation sees water being poured over fine coffee grounds without any filtration. This also meant that a thick layer of coffee grounds sit at the bottom of the cup. Overall, the Hot Coffee can be described as quite sweet and we did wish that they can go easy on the sugar to better suit the local tastebuds here.

One thing that Waroeng Anak Indo has done particularly well is in the creation of the nostalgic vibes of the space; the interior design is something that we have not seen in quite a while — there is just something so rustic and old-school which makes Waroeng Anak Indo pretty unique in this day and age where cafes generally adopts rather uniformed look across the board. We also really liked the Indonesian music that they are playing at the second level that felt really chill and jazzy. With that being said, it does seem that the folks at Waroeng Anak Indo does need some time to get used to operations — we did observe m orders being served to wrong tables with some tables having their food being served only after a bit of wait. Prices of the individual-sized dishes start from $8, with the priciest dishes such as the Bakso Komplit, Bakmi Komplit and the Nasi Goreng Ayam Geprek being priced at $15. All in all, it does seem that there are some hits and misses during our experience at Waroeng Anak Indo — considering how new these folks are in the local F&B scene here, we do think that they might need some time to get used to operations and perhaps tweak their offerings to suit the tastebuds of the locals here in order to appeal to the wider masses. That being said, a spot that is still most certainly worthy to visit for the vibes alone!