Tasty Soto Ayam @ Dayang Indonesian Restaurant, The Hague

I still have 'unfinished business' with Soto Ayam (chicken veggies soup), the famous Javanese cuisine. I have been very eager to try out the dish since months ago but to no avail. For two occasions, I missed out the chances to sample the dish when I patronized Indonesian restaurants. On the first occasion, my colleagues wanted the rijsttafel instead of the individual set meal. While during the second occasion, the restaurant unfortunately ran out of stock for the Soto Ayam.

Lady luck was by my side and finally I got my first taste of Soto Ayam last weekend at the Dayang Indonesian Restaurant. I am familiar with Mee Soto and Lontong Soto, but Soto Ayam with rice was my first time. I seriously like the dish very much and I was totally hooked after the first bite. Comparing the taste back home and the one here, I like the latter better as it is richer and more flavorful.

The complex and tasty flavors originated from the myriad of spices used which also resulted in a creamier and thicker broth. It is just a perfect dish to go with the rice.

Having crackers soaked in the soup was also new to me, perhaps this is the Indonesian way to enjoy Soto. Soggy cracker or lumpy cracker in the soup is not my favourite but I have to admit this was really good. The crackers tasted a bit like thin tofu after soaked-up the essence of the soup. 2 thumbs up for the dish!!

The Nasi Rames on the other is not as great as the Soto Ayam. We were disappointed with the variety of side dishes provided. Paying the same price, you will get 5 side lines in Istana Indonesian Restaurant as compared to here, you only get 3 side lines - 1 veggie, 1 meat and 1/2 an egg. The portion was rather small too, even small eater like me find it not filling at all.


For the drinks, I ordered myself the Ais Campur. It tastes like sirup bandung back home but accompanied with some jack fruits, coconut flesh and grass jelly. Seriously, I prefer our ABC (Ais Batu Campur) better as this ais campur is way too sweet for me and the shaved ice were just too chunky. Anyway, biting on ice is bad for your teeth.

Overall, my experience dining at Dayang was a good one. The lady who served us was really friendly. My great compliment to her excellent service. Regardless of limited resources (she manned the restaurant alone during lunch), we still get served in speed. From order till our food was served (steaming hot), the whole process took a mere 15 minutes.