Thursday 7 March 2013

Sate Matang Rex Peunayong @ Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Tonight is the last night we were spending here this trip. After my work was settled, I went back to the hotel to have a quick shower and then along with my friend and dad, head out to a place called Rex in Peunayong, Banda Aceh. This is a famous esplanade among the locals and has rows and rows of stalls which operate from morning till the wee hours of the night. I was informed by my friend that the specialty here is the Aceh style Sate Matang.

Rex at Peunayong, Banda Aceh
This place is right in the middle of the city and is buzzing with activity when we arrived. We parked the car just across the road and walked over to this esplanade heading to the Sate Matang outlet.

Sate Matang Stall

Extremely Busy Times
The stall was simple in layout. They were surrounded with knee length plastic tables and chairs which I found to be weird. The tables spread out right till the road and was filled with customers waiting for their orders. The stall itself was manned minimally and they can't spend more than 30 seconds listening to your orders, so you must be quick and yet they were very efficient.

Sate Being Grilled
The offer a variety of sate here. Choices range from chicken, mutton and beef. However, the favourite here is the Mutton Sate.

Customers come in large groups

Us waiting for our food

The waiting time can be pretty long here and this time, we had to wait for almost 30 minutes before the food arrived. However, you do not feel the waiting time as there is lots to see, at least for me, from the crowd around us. As previously mentioned, you can see that the tables and chairs are weirdly knee length and can be difficult for the elderly and over weight.

A Single Meal Set

Meal Time
Finally, we got our meals. The full set comes with 10 skewers of Sate, a plate of Peanut Sauce simmered in chillies and a plate of white rice. This again is in direct contradiction with the practice in Malaysia as here, Satay is Satay and rice is rice. We do not mix them both. However, it seems for the Acehnese at least, they must have every meal with white rice. Now, let me tell you that the Sate was lovely. It was tender, juicy and excellent. The accompanying Peanut Sauce was extremely spicy way beyond my capability and the White Rice surely comes as a surprise. On the whole, for just the taste, I would rate this Sate at 9/10 .

The cost, per person was merely an equivalent of RM 3.00 which I feel was very cheap. For this price, we were getting excellent authentic food at great price. I truly felt that this was worth it and at this Rex Esplanade, there is more food to explore than just this Sate. If you are a food lover and happen to be here, do try out the good dishes including this Sate!!!!

Address: Rex Esplanade, Peunayong,
                Banda Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia.

Opening Hours: 1030 - 0200 or later Daily.......

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