1945 Dutch East Indies Cuisine – Pyrmont

The Indonesian palate is one that I still consider relatively new to where I’m at right now in the Asian food spectrum. Yes I was in Indonesia many years ago in the early 90′s, way before the Bali bombings, and remember my first taste of a simple Indonesian chicken curry at a beachside restaurant: simple flavours doused over coconut rice with a side of icy cold local beer. Or even that amazing food spread we were given on the back of a boat while sailing the gorgeous calm waters around Lombok. What a magical place. Since then I’ve not ventured very far to sample more delights from this vibrant and delicious cuisine other than some recent outings to local Indonesian restaurants around Sydney.

One such place that recently has been brought to my attention once or twice is 1945, a Dutch East Indies restaurant located on the Pyrmont peninsula just a stones throw from the shimmering harbourside at the top of Harris Street. Trust the Pyrmont food scene to start getting interesting three years after we moved out of the neighbourhood. Back then it was a juvenile suburb learning how to walk on it culinary feet. Now it’s a fairly confident teenager out to impress its older and more established inner city peers.

1945 marks the time of independance, when the archipelago stepped away from being the Dutch colony it was as taking the journey to the modern Indonesia it is today. The Rijsttafel (rice table) came about in these Dutch colonial times as a way to showcase the plethora of spices used in the region and 1945, here in 21st century Pyrmont, has taken inspiration from this small portion style of eating and introduced it to us Sydney folk for the first time. It’s such a wonderful way to sample many of the traditional and unusual dishes Indonesia has to offer. 

Once seated in our very dimly-lit corner we proceeded to order a succession of petit dishes starting with a serving of crispy bitternut crackers, otherwise known as emping. I remember these very well from Bali and loved the dry and slightly salty and bitter flavour they released with every loud crunch. The sate babi – grilled pork skewer spiced with cumin and coriander that arrived next was tender and caramelised and made you wanting more.

Soon to follow is the rest of what we ordered. The ajam panggang is a relatively ordinary-looking chicken drumstick with flavours of charred lime and mild chilli and the rendang beef is so tender it requires little chewing and goes perfectly with the divine nasi oedoek – coconut rice. The tjoemi goreng tepoeng (fried squid) is just as tender and is plated up with the beautiful perkedel djagoeng – spiced crunchy corn fritters. I need to find a recipe for these fritters so if you have one, send it my way.

The definite highlight of the spread was the glistening bowl of kerang saoes padang – black mussels in tomato sauce and kaffir lime. The menu gives this dish three chillies, supposedly indicating it comes very hot, but the heat level was way below mild so there was no tingling lips afterwards. Just warm and contented tummies from the plump, soft and sweet flesh within each gorgeous mollusk. I could have eaten a hundred of these.

All in all I found the food here quite good though when it comes to portion sizes, some of them are verging on being hobbit-sized. When one cup of rice equals two servings or one chicken drumstick costs $5, I can’t help but feel a little short-changed. All the dishes I’ve shown are double serves except for the pork skewers which are ordered per stick. Finally, if you byo wine, expect to be stung with a $5 per person corkage for the privilege of using a glass and pouring your own wine. A slight downer on an otherwise good night.

Tagged as: Indonesian, Inner West, Pyrmont