Chubby Blog: Lesehan Mbok Ndoro

I always had some love and obsession for Jogjakarta.. the very nice people and the food, including those lesehan opened only at night were definitely the things that stole my heart.. so when I found Lesehan Mbok Ndoro, I was more than grateful.. a humble hawker stall located on the side of Mas Mansyur road, which was opened from 6p.m to mid-night.. selling mainly Javanese cuisine, Lesehan Mbok Ndoro brought it further with their Javanese taglines.. kumpul ora kumpul angger mangan enak which literally means "whether we're together or not, it's okay as long as we can eat good food" and lemu pangkal sugih, means "being fat will lead to wealth" were some detailed touch.. somebody, please correct me if I'm wrong with the translation..

despite being quite new, the hawker was quite packed during dinner time.. I went there with my office mates after a long, tiring day at work.. its location was quite strategic and reachable from Sudirman offices, when you want to avoid the heavy traffic.. so here's how it looked..

the humble and packed eatery

confusing! too many options and I basically wanted all of them

so basically, you can choose anything you want from those plates.. to start the meal, I would suggest you to go with one of their two basic rice dishes.. the first one is a plate of rice, sambal tumpang, chili and kremesan (Rp10,00).. and the second one consisted of a plate of rice, pecel, chili and kremesan (Rp10,000).. now, on top of the basic rice dishes, add anything from the menu.. selection includes the meaty dishes (Rp8,000/portion), cooked vegetables (Rp5,000/portion) or fritters (Rp3,000 each)..

the signature dish: sambal Tumpang

that night, I went with their sambal tumpang, which is actually originated from Kediri, made mainly from almost-rotten tempeh mixed with chili and other seasoning.. then added sauteed string beans, balado chicken and fried tempeh.. my plate was so full! to be honest, it's my first time hearing about sambal tumpang and personally, I think it was unique yet somehow addictive.. pieces of seared tempeh drenched in red, chili gravy.. it's not as spicy as I hoped it would be, though.. but perhaps, it was just my tongue.. oh, be cautious as they mixed petai with the sambal just in case you don't fancy those..

going through my order one by one, the sauteed string beans were just okay.. and unfortunately, the fried tempeh was already cold.. I would prefer my fritter dishes to be hot and fresh from the frying pan.. however, the balado chicken was superb.. it was tender and nicely cooked in a spicy balado sauce.. yum! the chili was another thing to be thankful for.. there were two types of them and both were spicy and addictive! I love the bravery in mixing actual spicy chilies.. and to complete the meal, crunchiness from kremesan was just the perfect final touch..

my full plate

overall, I think Lesehan Mbok Ndoro has successfully brought the thing I missed from Jogjakarta right to our Jakarta.. a unique and one-of-a-kind experience of eating lesehan way on the side of the road is definitely something too good to be missed.. the food was overall delicious and the price was reasonable.. well, I will surely come back for their sambal and balado chicken.. and perhaps try their pecel..