Yesterday we had a lunch at Nasi Ayam Ibu Oki in Uluwatu, Southern Bali. For those of you not quite familiar, Nasi Ayam is a local Balinese dish consisted of rice and chicken cooked in various types; betutu style, fried, as satay, and as satay lilit to say the least. Accompanied by the hot and refreshing sambal matah, it's a dish that will hold respect and love in the heart of hot food lovers.

It was my 3rd exposure to the same meal at ibu Oki, and I can say pleasingly that they had maintained the quality quite well over time. Well it's not surprising since they have been around for years, but I'm just glad that there are eateries who keep their consistency of quality thus live up to their legendary statuses.

This is due especially since our pick of nasi pedas, Bu Anik, which we usually held in high respect and we promote as better than bu Andika, has failed miserably last time we tried them, which was the night before our visit to Ibu Oki, hence the memory is still clear.

Though they now has (again) improve their business with providing permanent eating place renting the whole store they usually use only the front yard at nights, the food quality is badly amateurish:

1. The crispy chicken skin fries, which was the highlight of their place is now drenched in oil and has no more melting in your mouth consistency level, simply awful, you can go to Carrefour to have a much much better version of skin fries there
2. The crunchy salted fish, who was also a strong suite of the place, is now tasted dull and has zinc-plate consistency, hence eating it is like chewing a piece of thin metal and when you do able to bite them, they cracked with sharp points that pinches your mouth, it's almost like that they don't cook it
3. The shredded chicken is now as tough and rubbery as toughest and rubberiest chicken we ever tasted
4. The standard "campur" package now costs 15K instead of the regular 10K, but we didn't see any major difference nor both the chicken floss and the winter melon curry in our dishes
5. Hygiene related: I noticed one of the waiters (man) is carrying around a bowl (that I really hope is not filled with any food), coughing into it on the way to the back of the building, and continue smoking afterward

As I understand that glitches in both service and quality happens, in this case I think that Nasi Ayam Ibu Anik had degraded its level significantly that creates the "we wonder if we were eating at the same place" kind of confusion.

Discussing with peer diners, we're thinking that there are only two possible explanations for why this is happening:

1. The original cook resigned, they downgrade their quality to cut cost due to the increase in chilli pepper price, while at the same time increase their price to raise money for space rent (bad combo)
2. The brand has been hijacked 

Neither options, we'll stop recommending Nasi Pedas Ibu Anik until further notice, and would apply the status "eayor" or "Eat at your own risk". (byms)

Last evening me and my guys from the UI workshop team was treated out for dinner by our client. Due to everyone's saying that they have no preference, and our PM was sick at the last moments, I suggested to the team that we should try out Sector Pub & Restaurant just by the Pizza Hut and Mc Donald Sanur. It's nearby our client's hotel and easy to reach from our office.

Aaron our wpf developer guy said the place is nice, cosy, and presentable; I have also heard that this place has good steak selections and a lot of people are recommending it.

At about 7 we're all arrived at the place, I was offering our client a seat at the smoking section but based from his comments I think he believes that's inappropriate, so we choose the non smoking section which was mainly populated by the families. Not a wise choice though, as the other guests was speaking in loud voices and laughing all the time. But it's a pub anyway so that's just the reasonable consequence.

The atmosphere is warm, especially with the yellow tone domination, and the wooden chair and table helps to further elevate the warmness. The light is a bit dim, but not as dim as the bat-cave level of vision applies at Jimbaran on the beach dining or the outdoor section of Massimo.

On the other hand the food selection was amazing; from the generic nameless unidentified beef up to branded Angus and Wagyu. Our client turned out to has a wide knowledge on steak and beef, perhaps due to the fact that his brother own a ranch which produces beef meat among other things. He recommend me to have a Wagyu steak for it's meaty, tender and juicy flavour; Arena has it in a 250gr and 300gr portion which tagged at about 300K IDR minus taxes.

Due to eastern politeness though, I waited to see what our client are ordering and try to matches it. And so between the Angus Rib Eye or the Australian Lamb Chop, I chose the later in hoping to recreate the experience of the same dish I encountered years ago at Hotel Indonesia, and later on at Mad Dogs in Cilandak, Jakarta. Everything outside those two events has been simply disappointing. While even though I don't usually order lamb less than well done or almost well done, due to the strong stench, I was curious to find about the meat's quality and after another recommendation from our client, set to have the lamb cooked in medium.

For the appetizer we ordered Escargot and Caesar Salad with beef bacon; thanks to the waiter who perhaps overhead my pork-free diet and offers us to have the beef bacon in substitute of the regular pork bacon. For the drink I ordered a fresh cranberry juice, thinking that the sour will compensate for the meat should it become too fatty, eventhough I was originally aiming for the Lassy.

(to be continued...)

After sharing my less than stellar experience at KQ5 Steak with my friends at the office, it turns out that KQ5 has another branch nearby, north of the Bajra Sandhi monument at the crossing of the main Merdeka/Moh. Yamin street with Jl. Merdeka 4; at the back yard of the Ayam Goreng Wong Solo.

Well in this other location, the spot is naturally busier and merrier thanks to the fame of Wong Solo (mostly incited by the polygamous practice and endorsement its owner does). Therefore, the staffs seem to be more ready and has better attitude toward customers. We don't have the same case as with the other branch of KQ5 however, as our visit was at about 3 p.m. so readiness is not a factor weighed here.

Their food selection comprises of steaks (obviously), budget class with little variations; beef tenderloin, sirloin, chicken, and fish. Wife ordered tenderloin at about 25K, while husband ordered the fish at about 14K. Both came with the brown sauce instead of the BBQ; tenderloin was a bit fibrous but not tough, while on the other hand the fish was succulent with chicken meat consistency and flavour; without prior information you will be thinking that is chicken you're eating if not for the subtle ocean taste in between the strong chickenish taste. Portion was enough and taste wise is okay too.

Verdict? Good option for cheap steaks. Will be back? When in neighbourhood, having a carnivore rush, and no budget for "real" steak.

Photos need to be downloaded from wife's camera phone since my usual gear ran out of juice earlier that day and I'm a bit lazy to connect devices at this time.

GPS Coordinate:

KQ5 Steak Renon

-8.665266, 115.239072‎
-8° 39' 54.96", +115° 14' 20.66"

Denpasar Timur,
Jalan Merdeka