The Battle of Ayam Penyet: RIA vs President, Who Does Better?

Sometimes I get homesick and miss Indonesian food so much. As most Indonesians know, it is quite tricky to find good ayam penyet in Singapore. There are two restaurants that go in every Indonesian's mind when talking about the most well-known ayam penyet in Singapore: Ayam Penyet RIA and Ayam Penyet President. I tried eating at both places to find out which one had better ayam penyet.

Ayam Penyet RIA
Ayam Penyet RIA located in Lucky Plaza and in this mall itself, this restaurant has 2 locations on 2 different floors. You can imagine how famous they are! The ambiance of the restaurant made me feel like I was in Indo instead of Singapore. Most patrons were Indonesians - it felt nice to hear people talking in our language, which made us feel at home here.

Coke - $2.30

Overpriced, that's it.

Iced Milo - IDR2.30

They served hot Milo with ice cubes instead. I was so disappointed to see the ice cubes melting really quickly, making my drink very diluted.

Ayam Penyet + Nasi - $7.90

It is pricey indeed if converted to Rupiah. Only for IDR10,000, we can enjoy ayam penyet in Indonesia already (haha come on, this is Singapore pls). The chicken thigh came with fried tempe (soybean cake), fried beancurd, and sambal. The skin was crispy, but the meat was tad dry. The tempe and beancurd were tasty too. The sambal was burning hot! But I guess that is what we call real ayam penyet!

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304 Orchard Road, #01-45, #04-25/26

Lucky Plaza

Singapore 238863
+65-62356390

IG: ayampenyetria.sg
Opening hours: 11am - 10pm

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Ayam Penyet President

Ayam Penyet President is also located in Lucky Plaza. It also has another branch at Nex, which I visit more often than Lucky Plaza.

Left: Teh Botol Sosro - $2

No need to describe this lol.

Right: Tea with Milk - $1.90

Teh Botol is used as the base of the drink. I personally think teh Botol with milk is not a very clever combination as it tastes very weird.

Ayam Penyet - $6.90

President's ayam penyet is somehow pricier than RIA. A plate of rice costs a buck. The chicken was served with fried beancurd, tempe, crispy bits and burning hot sambal. The chicken was well-seasoned and crispy outside while the meat was tender. The fried beancurd instantly became my favorite part of the dish.

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304 Orchard Road, #03-36/37

Lucky Plaza

Singapore 238863

+65-67351262
IG: ayampresident

Opening hours: 11.30am - 9.30pm (Mon - Thu & Sun) // 11am - 9.30pm (Sat - Sun & PH)

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Verdict

To me, Ayam Penyet President tastes better than the overrated Ayam Penyet RIA. Don't bash me, it is just my personal preference. The service in President was somehow better than RIA - we even had some short friendly chats with the staffs and the owner.