‘Temu’ in the best sense: Haymarket’s new eatery welcomes the homesick and hungry

First up: no. There isn’t an association with the online marketplace you’re thinking of. Temu means “to meet” in Indonesian, and Kangen means “to miss”. Owner and head chef Harjo (who goes by his first name only) chose the name because “we wanted a place where homesick Indonesians can gather, meet friends, share a meal and feel closer to home”.

It’s true. This bright and buzzy eatery in stark white and splashes of tangerine is filled with expats when I visit. There are plenty of non-Indonesians too, some scanning the menu with deep concentration; others clearly regulars who know exactly what they want to order.

You might already know Harjo’s food from Medan Ciak and its Sussex Street and Mascot locations. That menu focuses on his hometown of Medan; at Temu Kangen, Harjo pulls back to offer a wider variety of dishes drawn from all over Indonesia. The set-up is similar – a bain marie of ready-to-serve dishes at the entrance; table lined with takeaway boxes of snacks and desserts – but the big difference is a complete absence of pork. It’s a decision made so Muslim-Indonesians, who make up 87 per cent of Indonesia’s population, could eat from all dishes (observant diners will notice with irony that Thai restaurant Porkfat is next door).

Nasi kuning – cone-shaped towers of rice tinted yellow with turmeric – is a welcomed addition, and its distinctive banana leaf party hat can be spotted at most tables. Traditionally served at celebrations like weddings and birthdays, it’s a treat to have this festive dish as part of your everyday lunch.

If decision paralysis hits hard, nasi padang is your saviour.

But what we really need to talk about is the nasi gurih pandan, a parcel of pandan coconut rice that undergoes one of the most time-consuming processes in the restaurant. The rice is first cooked with coconut cream and genuine pandan extract then wrapped by hand in fresh banana leaves. It’s finished on the grill with each order, imparting a subtle but distinct smoky flavour. Opening the package is like unwrapping a present on Christmas morning, and the wafting aroma of coconut and pandan lingers on your table.

The pictorial menu can be confusing at first but you’ll soon realise they’re mostly the same protein options against your choice of rice (nasi). Ayam bakar is one of their biggest sellers: your choice of chicken breast or thigh grilled with a sweet and spicy marinade. If you’re a fried chicken fan, it’s a tough pick between the ayam goreng lengkuas fried chicken with galangal, ayam goreng kremes fried chicken with extra crispy bits on top and ayam geprek fried boneless chicken smashed with a fiery chilli sambal.

Sapi bakar grilled beef ribs are tender if leaning a little too sweet. The cumi sambal ijo green sambal squid is worth seeking – soft and yielding squid rings sauced up with garlicky green chilli sambal.

If decision paralysis hits hard, nasi padang is your saviour. This all-in-one meal wraps up your choice of protein (the only decision you’ll need to make) with steamed rice, vegetable curry, boiled cassava leaves, boiled egg, cucumber and sambal in a giant banana leaf. It’ll look a little messy upon opening but it just means all the flavours have melded together so every spoonful hits hard – and spicy. This package has everything you need: protein, carbs and vegies; soft and crunchy; savoury, chilli and sweet.

Tie everything together with sup sapi, a hearty clear beef soup brimming with hunks of beef, potato and carrot. The soup is sweet, beefy and soul-reviving. No wonder you’ll see it on half the tables here. Fifty kilograms of beef bones are used each week to make the stock, a labour of love that takes three hours from start to finish.

Vegetarian options are available, including sayur lodeh vegetable coconut curry, stewed cassava leaves, Javanese braised sweet tempeh, crunchy nests of vegetable fritters and pecal salad with steamed vegetables and fried tofu doused in a spicy peanut sauce. Make sure to ask for the vegetarian sambals too, such as sambal balado red chilli paste, sambal pecak chilli with citrus and sambal kecap sweet soy with chilli. (The popular sambal terasi – umami and fiery – contains shrimp paste.)

Desserts are more in drink form, like cendol green rice flour noodles or cincau grass jelly cubes bobbing in sweetened coconut milk. Otherwise browse the takeaway dessert boxes at the front that run from peanut cookies to dadar coconut-filled pandan crepes to klepon glutinous rice flour balls that burst in the mouth with liquid palm sugar. Wajik kue is a revelation, diamond cuts of steamed glutinous rice sweetened with palm sugar and coconut cream that taste like caramel sticky rice. Ketemu disana yah! See you there!

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.