Bakmi Asiong, Jakarta

Yet another Bakmi (noodle) joint. I seem to be trying a new bakmi joint every morning with the grand old dame of Bakmi Orpa on the first morning to Bakmi Tan on the second and now this new kid on the block Asiong.

Bakmi Asiong claims to serve a special type of noodle from Surabaya but it's essentially the same style of shredded chicken noodle.

Started off with a serve of the faux meatballs and the ridiculously huge wantons that had like more skin than meat. These weren't too bad, the oil that was used tasted quite fresh.

They didn't have the fried crispy bits like Bakmi Tan here but they did top it off with some crispy shallots which added a nice fragrant touch. The vegetables were in a separate soup bowl and there was another bowl which had some rather processed meatballs. There were also straw mushrooms in this which is a plus because I love mushrooms. The texture of the noodle was also quite good but the big downside to this place was everything was just way too salty. If they weren't so heavy-handed with the salt, I reckon this would be very delicious. Then again, what this young couple produces is very promising and I'll definitely give them another shot the next time I'm back.

Here's my somewhat skewed, subjective and biased verdict on the Bakmi joints that I've tried.
1. Bakmi Tan - This won Bakmi Orpa by a very close margin because of the crispy bits, larger serves and the far less outrageous price.
2. Bakmi Orpa - The original with such a long history, this definitely tasted good but such indulgences are rather dear even by Singapore's standards, let alone Jakarta's.
3. Bakmi Asiong - Very promising joint run by a young couple, too bad a bit of excess sodium chloride dampened what could have been an excellent dish.

D