Ah Beng Indonesia review: April Ooi visits Carousel rooftop food court for chicken satay and nasi goreng

Growing up, I remember shopping centre food courts having pretty bland and quite frankly, tokenistic food options. The designated Chinese shop pretty much acted as a spokesperson for all other Asian cuisines, sporting sushi, laksa and rice paper rolls all in one spot. Nowadays, one trip to Westfield Carousel is all you need to see the changing palates of our increasingly diverse city. Carousel’s rooftop dining precinct is home to an excellent yet casual Indonesian restaurant, Ah Beng. They not only offer a banging range of traditional Indonesian food but an awesome vegetarian and vegan menu that does not compromise on flavour. The mie pedas complete ($17.90) is the most premium of their homemade spicy noodle range, boasting fall-apart beef, crunchy fried chicken, and bakso (Indonesian meatballs). The noodles absorb the thick sauce and even level three out of Ah Beng’s five heat options should come with a serious heat warning. This bowl is a common craving of mine, and I need more people to understand how good it is. The chicken satay ($11) is very generous, coming with five full sticks of smoky grilled chicken. The dark thick peanut sauce is excellent. I like the sweeter-style sauce in Indonesian satay and here the dark sweet soy to peanut ratio was perfect. The risol lumpia ($8.90) was a unique dish I haven’t tried before. It looks like fried spring rolls but is filled with a savoury rice noodle and vegetable mix. Compared to the other dishes, I expected this to be a flavour bomb but the seasoning was on the milder side, not necessarily a bad thing, just a surprise. The nasi goreng ($14.90) is always excellent. It is so simple but is definitely authentic and reminds me of a Bali holiday (minus any potential Bali belly). You can taste a strong level of smoke from the wok, and again it is a very generous serving. I can’t speak for everyone, but at least in my circles, Indonesian food has long been the poor forgotten cousin amongst the more obvious and popular Southeast Asian cuisines. I appreciate the fact we have Ah Beng representing quality Indonesian food in such an accessible location; there’s honestly no excuse not to try it. Ah Beng Indonesia 1382 Albany Highway, Cannington OPEN Sunday-Wednesday 11am-3pm, 5pm-8pm; Thursday 11am-3pm, 5pm-9pm; Friday-Saturday 11am-3pm, 5pm-8:30pm CONTACT 0409 300 778, ahbeng.com.au BOOKINGS Yes THE VERDICT Easy and delicious introduction to Indonesian cuisine in a convenient spot. 17/20

Ah Beng Indonesia review: April Ooi visits Carousel rooftop food court for chicken satay and nasi goreng

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