Solo, Newtown

Specialising in modern Indonesian food, Solo is one of the newest addition to the ever so popular King St eating precinct. So when I was invited to attend Solo for a Foodie Meet, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity.

Arriving on a rainy Sunday evening, Solo was a bright and inviting atmosphere compared to the gloomy weather outside. The venue looks like it’s a terrace front within a rustic warehouse, and had an amazing spiral staircase that lead to further seating upstairs, a great atmosphere to dine in.

The dinner menu at Solo, is spilt into three categories, small plates, medium plates and large plates, to cater for communal eating, and as someone who loves variety, this was a great concept. For our small plates, we had the chicken skewers with peanut sauce, lamb skewers with signature sauce, crispy fried chicken “lollipops” and the Martabak. We also wanted to order the popular lamb ribs but they were already sold out that day.

The small plates didn’t take long to arrive, and they smelt amazing as they hit our table. First we had the skewers, the chicken and lamb skewers were delicious, the meat was so tender and full of flavour, the dipping sauces complemented them well, and our favourite was the sate.

Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce ($12)

Lamb skewers with signature sauce ($14)

The martabak is a pan-fried pancake filled with beef, spring onion, egg and coriander, and was very tasty. It had the right amount of filling ratio and the pancake was light and crispy. One of the highlights of the night had to the crispy fried chicken “lollipops”, tossed in kecap manis, garlic, chilli and kaffir lime leaf, boy these were delicious. The chicken was fried to crispy perfection, and the sauce was sticky, sweet, spicy and very moreish, it was so hard to stop at just one.

Martabak ($14.90)

Crispy fried chicken ‘lollipops ($13.50)

Moving onto our medium plates, we opted to have the Nasi Liwe and the Mussels. The Nasi Liwe is made up of steamed coconut rice, shredded chicken, crispy fried shallot & coconut cream, and was very tasty. The coconut rice was fluffy, with the chicken being soft and tender, whilst the coconut cream added abit of sweetness and saltiness to the dish. The Mussels are cooked with lemongrass, galangal, chilli, garlic and Bintang, and although being a simple dish was very fragrant and tasty. The mussels were cooked well, and you could taste the Bintang Beer in the dish.

Nasi Liwet ($16)

Mussels ($24.90)

I think the large plates were the stars of the night, platters of food made for sharing, and we were lucky enough to try all 3 on the menu. The first one we dug into was the big tray chicken, consisting of ayam bakar chicken served with coconut rice, sambal kecap, sambal bajak, salad & slaw, and it did not disappoint. The serving size was generous, with the chicken meat grilled to perfection, succulent and full of flavour. The accompanying sides made it a complete dish and the sauces all had a nice tasty kick to them.

Big Tray Chicken ($34)

The next dish we had was the Lamb gulal, a mild curry lamb with potatoes and okra, served with roti. This curry was just delicious, the lamb was fork tender, and falling apart, the okra cooked perfectly and nothing beats some crispy roti with curry. Lucky we had some leftover coconut rice from the ayam bakar to spoon the curry sauce over, as we didn’t want any of it to go to waste.

Lamb Gulal ($28)

The last dish that we had for the night, the favourite, the star and the highlight was definitely the Short rib. The short rib was ginormous, and you could almost say its American Indonesian BBQ style fusion, sweet & sticky grilled beef short rib with rica rica sauce, watermelon pickle & coconut rice. The rib was so tender and succulent with the right amount of fattiness, we were able to break it apart with a butter knife, as it just fell off the bone. The watermelon pickle was sweet and sour as it should be, and helped cut through the richness of the rib, whilst the sauce gave the dish a chilli kick. Definitely a high recommended dish at Solo.

Short rib ($38)

Solo is a café by day and restaurant by night, so book in for dinner for this amazing Indonesian eating experience. Overall, we had a great dining experience at Solo, the staff were friendly and helpful. The food was tasty and delicious, and we could not fault one dish here. We will be back Solo, the rib was just too good!!

Mooreeatz dined as a guest of Solo Newtown, all opinions are our own.

Solo Newtown

415 King St, Newtown NSW 2042

(02) 9550 5684

http://solonewtown.com.au/