Garam Merica,Melbourne - The Age Good Food Guide 2024 review
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Garam Merica

Lunch treats wrapped in banana leaves.

Indonesian$

There’s something canteen-like about this lunch hotspot with long communal tables,plastic plates and customers lining up for nasi bungkus,or “wrapped rice”.

To make yours,choose four of about 20 meat or vegetable dishes from across the archipelago,and by the time you open your bungkusan,all the curries,sambals and braises will have gotten familiar – your rice is all the better for it.

Tender beef rendang stands as an obvious choice,or veer towards the lesser-known,squid ink stew,perhaps,or empal balado,its fried beef in a fiery West Sumatran sambal. Side orders might be gado gado or fried fish dumplings.

Cooling coconutty cendol,layered with pandan and jackfruit,is essential for afters.

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