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Sri Bistari Changi Village – Best Ayam Penyet of the East!

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Being a huge fan of ayam penyet (smashed fried chicken), I am always on the prowl for this sinful dish. But now that there are so many places where you can find it these days, it’s becoming hard to sift out the really good ones from the rest. The latest gem I have uncovered is sri bistari Changi Village.

Don’t be misled by the name though. They actually have six branches, albeit most of them in the east, with just one in the central area. (check out this page for all the locations.) my family and I visited one of their stalls at Changi Village while we were en route to pengerang.

So just what made me fall in love with the sri bistari ayam penyet?

Nasi Ayam Penyet (Smashed Fried Chicken with Rice)
SGD4

Upon savoring the chicken flesh, I knew I was gonna thoroughly enjoy my next 15 minutes of pigging into the sinful dish that’s served on its usual wooden platter. It was just so tender and juicy, much unlike the many severely dry ayam penyet I had tasted before.

The fluffy nasi (rice) here is flavored a la Hainanese chicken rice — very fragrant and tasty! Even the soup tastes awesome with the dash of fried shallots.

Ayam Penyet with roughly ground chili

No good ayam penyet is complete without a generous heap of sambal chili. The chili here is rather roughly ground. It is also extremely addictive, so much so that you would want to have more, and more, and MORE of it in your rice despite how spicy it is. Just be sure to have an iced drink and tissues ready while you ask for more chili! You will not regret it!

Sri Bistari Changi Village

At Changi Village alone, there are 2 sri bistari branches. The original stall is at the wet market area, and the second one is at the Muslim stalls area that includes the nasi lemak stall infamous for its perpetually long queues. Look out for the purple signboard that says “sri bistari”! There are 2 stalls with purple signboards so make sure you get to the right one!

Sri Bistari Changi Village (

Halal certified)
2 Changi Village Road
#01-53 Singapore 500002
www.sbestfood.com/sribistari.htm

more ayam penyet!

May 7, 2007: Ayam Penyet Ria - Smashing Chicken May 7, 2007: Ayam Penyet Ria – Smashing Chicken
September 10, 2007: Y.R.A. Aspirasa – Awesome Ayam Penyet!

For more on Sparklette:

About the Author

Veron Ang is the founder and chief editor of Sparklette. She lives in Singapore and has dined and traveled across the world. She also runs Sparklette Studio, a web design and WordPress development firm. If you'd like to connect with her, head on over to the contact page or follow her personal updates on Twitter: @VeronSG.

Happy Lunar New Year 2008!

Catmasutra: Garden of Eden

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19 responses

Leave your comment

Melissa
February 13, 2008

OMG I love ayam penyet, especially if it has a decent chili gravy! Thanks so much Veron for the recommendation.
Reply
Miccheng
February 13, 2008

Ah… i have fond memories about Changi Village. After a long cycling expedition up in Pulau Ubin – this ayam penyet was our first full meal. Warms my tummy just thinking about it. Mmmm…
Reply
Shirley
February 13, 2008

i have one stall selling smash fried chicken in my school. I always thought it is quite nice. But i think the pictures that you had taken above seemed to prove me wrong! :) Maybe i should give it a try too.
Reply
Veron
February 13, 2008

Melissa: That’s what I’m here for. Enjoy!

Miccheng: Hey, wouldn’t the sinful ayam penyet undo all the hard work you did while cycling? Can’t say I blame ya though. It is yummy!

Shirley: Haha… and I thought my photos didn’t do it justice! Yeah you gotta try the real thing!
Reply
py
February 14, 2008

I read this post past midnight, and for a moment, I wish the dish was right in front of me.
Reply
ahwei
February 14, 2008

aww sweet,i was just there just now,but i didn’t bring money with me,stupid of me right?lol i’m gonna head down there tomorrow and blog about it too =) looks awesomly delicious
Reply
Sherie
February 14, 2008

your photos are pretty good! what do you use? a regular digicam or?
Reply
Xwings
February 16, 2008

Hi,

I think there’s a store below around Hougang Plaza ……go check it out !!
Reply
hendri
February 17, 2008

I’ve just had the ayam penyet at Changi Village today… It must have been my unlucky day as I had one of those “severely dry” ayam penyet, although it’s the correct stall. :(

Maybe I’ll try again the next time I go to Changi Village. :)
Reply
Nicholas
February 18, 2008

Never tried this before but looks really good. This I must checkout. The first picture alone enough to make me hungry. Wah… can smell it…
Reply
Veron
February 19, 2008

py: I should place a disclaimer somewhere. Never read food reviews past midnight! Haha

ahwei: Enjoy!

Sherie: Yep! I have my trusty 3-year-old Minolta DiMaGe X50 to thank.

Xwings: Thanks! Hougang is pretty far for me though.

hendri: It must have been their off day. I had this at their stall twice. The first time it was fantastic. The second time round the chicken was a little dry, although the chili sauce was still as good :)

Nicholas: Hope you like the recommendation!
Reply
faizal rashid
February 25, 2008

Hi guys and gals,
I’m Opening an outlet for ayam penyet and ayam bakar. Indonesian food. Opening On the 9th March 2008 at 596B Sembawang Rd. Inside Madina Eating House.Beside the sembawang shopping center thts renovating. Promotion for 3 days only $2.50 per set. Hope to get yr support and of course yr sincere feedback. Thks
Do visit the website: http://www.sbestfood.com/pondok_aura
Reply
-LJT-
February 28, 2008

tried their beach rd outlet 2 days ago for dinner..kinda disappointed as it was a bit dry and seems like it was cooked sometime ago…
Reply
Veron
March 3, 2008

I find that many ayam penyet hawker stalls tend to pre-fry all their chicken beforehand to reduce the waiting time for the customers, causing the chicken to taste dry and stale. The best ayam penyet I’ve had is always in the afternoon!
Reply
zFydnaufL
May 14, 2008

I had juz finished eatin ur Finger-Lickin N.A.Penyet..
Tapi nak comment sikit lar..
Kenapa tak ader tempe atau tahu?
Reply
Alvina
August 25, 2009

Hi Veron,

I’m a newcomer for your blog and already love it!
I wish they have such a good Ayam Penyet in Shanghai.
Btw, how come you never review ‘Terang Bulan’. It is one of my favorite Indonesian dessert. You should try!
Reply
- Veron
  August 27, 2009
  
  Hi Alvina, I haven’t heard of Terang Bulan until you mentioned it! From the images I found on the web, they resemble a Chinese pastry that is called the peanut pancake, although sometimes it comes with fillings other than peanut. Are these two the same?
  Reply
  - Alvina
    August 31, 2009
    
    Well, I don’t know about Chinese pastry, but terang bulan is one of the traditional dessert in Indonesia. It is pretty much the same to regular pancake, but with more complex filling : crushed peanuts, sugar, sesame, chocolate, cheese and sweet milk, etc etc all together. You can always custom made it depends on your flavor. I like it mild-crispy, so less dough… hmm tasty.
    Normally, you can find terang bulan in Martabak vendor, and one of my favourite vendor in Indonesia is ‘Holland’ the name.
    A must try when you are in Indonesia! ;D
    Reply
    - Veron
      August 31, 2009
      
      Wow! That sure sounds yummy :) We have many Indonesian eateries here in Singapore so I’m sure finding it won’t be difficult. Thanks for the recommendation. The Chinese pancake I mentioned has fillings like crushed peanut, coconut, red bean paste, black sesame paste, etc, but one at a time, not all together.
      Reply