Manise Indonesian Restaurant, Perth (Invited)

There are some restaurants that I am always keen to go back to and Manise is one of them. I've been eating various different meals at Manise since I was in high school and throughout university. Now that I'm a full time worker, I always spared my time to have some Indonesian meals there. As an Indonesian born myself, Manise definitely receives a big tick for its authenticity.

Manise's kulit ayam is definitely a must order and big crowd winner whenever I brought some friends over dinner. It wasn't oily, very crispy and perfect when combined with the spicy homemade chili sauce. In fact we ordered 5 plates to be shared around 12 people during an early Christmas dinner last year!

Kondro Bakar or grilled beef ribs was one dish that I mostly order for my main meal at Manise. It came covered in homemade peanut and sweet soy sauce but there's also an option to have this in tomato chili sauce. The ribs was always very tender and consistently delicious!

I tried this mi goreng (fried noodle) last year when they wrote it on the "special for today" board. This tasted really yummy with enough sweetness from the sweet soy sauce. The noodle was cooked properly too so it was still bouncy and chewy. The fried noodle came with mixed vegetables and chicken pieces.

Empek-empek is a very familiar name for the deep fried fish cake above. In Indonesia this can be found in any shopping centre and street stalls too. This particular shape is called the kapal selam (submarine) where the middle part holds an egg yolk. Empek-empek is always served with special vinegar sauce and it is a decent meal to share with some friends as an entree.

Manise has a few variances of their grilled fish (ikan bakar) dishes in their menu. We tried the Ikan Goreng (fried fish) Rica one because we liked their homemade tomato chili sauce.

Last year we celebrated Christmas early with some foodies and Alex ordered this squid dish that I never tried before. It was so yummy, the squid was stir fried with onion, cut chili, lemon juice and a bit of turmeric. Next time I will order this as my main dish.

This was a great dish to be ordered during winter. Growing up in Indonesia, I always had the pleasure of eating this anytime I wanted to. Eating it in Perth really brought back memories of my childhood. Manise did a great job with their oxtail soup and this dish is so tasty to be eaten together with warm rice.

Lalapan is raw vegetables that we usually order as our side dish. We also called it Indonesian salad. Lalapan is very famous in the West Java region, the area where it originated from. Manise also has deep fried tempeh in their menu and for $5.50 you can get four large slices. I consider this generous since some places charge $5 for two small slices of tempeh.

When in doubt of what to order, there's always the humble fried rice. Manise's fried rice consists of mix veggies, chicken pieces, fried egg and prawn crackers. You can also choose the level of spiciness when ordering this dish. I usually go for extra spicy hahaha.

Gulai is the rich curry like yellow sauce that combine the spicy and sweet flavour together. This gulai was very delicious and just like curry, I could be satisfied with the sauce and rice alone!

I'd definitely recommend Manise if you miss any Indonesian food or never tried it before. Manise is located on William St and they close on Tuesday. It is recommended to book in advance if you want to eat in a large group.

William St, Perth City, Northbridge, Family Friendly, Large Groups, Cheap Eats, Indonesian food, Perth FoodInex Palit20 December 2016Maniselarge groups, William St, Northbridge, manisecafe, Indonesian food