Cowbright: fast food, Bandung style

can't help but wonder who the doner was? eww,,,

Indonesia is famous for its roadside food offerings, which could very appropriately be labeled fast food or food-to-go. But its largest cities also offer what we Americans call fast food - namely through the presence of several large chains - KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Dominos. Of course their menus bear little resemblance to ours in the US since they cater to the tastes of the local market. For example, the biggest seller on McDonald's menu is not the humble burger and fries. No, it's a chicken leg sided up to a ball of sticky rice. In addition to the variation of menu items, drink choices are also different. Diet drinks are not an option. So if you don't want a sugary soft drink, your choices are water, a sugary fruit tea or Milo (I've not tried the latter but it is very popular here and looks akin to chocolate milk). Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that even restaurants we are familiar with are just not quite the same.

Saturday while we were at Estana Plaza mall, we decided to eat lunch in the food court. An Indonesian food court is pretty much the same as in any US mall but with the one major exception - its food offerings. Since I had my camera with me, I decided to snap some photos so that you can see our options. Which one would you choose?

I'm not eating at any place named Fatmawati

Taiwanese street snacks...hmm...

As with any other business, these establishments are way overstaffed and there are at least a half dozen pairs of eyes staring at us as we try to decipher what our options are. We slowly made the rounds and then ended up - you guessed it - KFC. I ordered #1 which sounds simple enough. But try substituting fries for a rice ball and water for a soft drink and see how quickly things start to unravel. After several flubbed attempts, we finally managed to get our food ordered. Both of us ordered fried chicken and we were given one thin napkin between us.

the name means "secret meatball" - I don't think so!

Although some of the meals people were eating didn't look half bad, it's still very difficult to order by just looking at photos posted high on the wall as you are being stared at by numerous employees. I can't read them, can't pronounce them and I don't recognize them. Risky at best...