Satisfying Impromptu Lunch at Walao Eh

For some people, last week might be the time going back to hometown, gathering with family and relatives, eating lots of foods to celebrate the Eid Mubarak, and simply enjoying the togetherness. On the other hand, for others, last week might look kind of horrible week; having to spend the whole day without housemaid, taking care of the children, doing all household jobs by themselves, trying to visit some places but ending up find them closed, and many more. Well for me, my last week was the combination of both. Instead of going back to my hometown, I had my family came here to Jakarta visiting me, staying together in the hotel, enjoying the quality time and the once-a-year heavenly traffic of Jakarta, moving from one mall to another mall, and most importantly stuffing our tummies with tons of foods.

Taking advantage of Jakarta’s delightful traffic as well as trying to visit new places, my family and I went to BSD, spending a night there. Another reason was my office’s going to move there by the end of this year and I was hunting for a new place to stay later on. As in my lifetime I’ve only been to BSD very few times (perhaps even less than the number of fingers I have in one hand), thereby I was totally blind of where to dine here. Call it a coincidence, when I was about to browse where I should bring my family for lunch, my foodie friend whose office’s at BSD suddenly called me. Not to miss the chance, I asked for his recommendation and cut the story short, there I was at the place he highly recommended, Walao Eh.

Located at Dwiputra Office Building, next to Atria Hotel, Walao Eh was a newly opened restaurant, focusing on selling traditional Singaporean foods while also serving other Asian foods including Malaysian and Indonesian. The ear-catchy name came from a Singaporean slang, meaning "OMG" or "what the!".

I was really in love with the spacious venue, which was nicely decorated with wall-paintings, trying to create the ambience of traditional Singapore. The front wall was even painted with bird park picture, reminding me of Jurong.

Ok, as always, let’s go to the most excited part, the foods itself. All my family and I were extremely hungry at that time so we decided to go for light bites first, just to ensure our tummies didn’t ‘roar’ too loud.

Cakwe (IDR 12.5k) 

Without thinking for too long, we opted for Cakwe, the quite mainstream one to be picked but correct choice to play safe as it mostly tasted well anywhere. And yes, we were beyond right or might be call it a lucky guess? The golden brown cakwe was perfectly crispy and not too oily. The batter itself was tasty and it was furthermore completed by the scrumptious sweet-and-spicy dipping sauce. Though the size was already gigantic enough, as my family loved it so much, we even went for an additional one portion LOL.

Baso Campur (IDR 35.5k)

*Apologize for no picture as my dad forgot that I hadn't taken the picture for this one and he had already eaten it :( *

Don’t ask me why I ordered Baso Campur in a Singaporean restaurant as this was my daddy’s pick. He was craving for meatballs and he actually didn’t care if the restaurant specialized in meatballs or not. Another random yet lucky choice, my dad was in love with the meatballs as the broth was luscious and well-seasoned, and the taste was not overpowering. Well, it might not be the best meatballs on earth but it was nice enough and most importantly could satisfy my dad’s craving.

Kwetiau Siram Seafood (IDR 55k)

If my dad was craving for meatballs, I was actually craving for kway teow. We actually spent 3 nights in prior to going to BSD, staying at Pecenongan area, where my 2 most favorite restaurants for Kway Teow resided. Sadly, I didn’t manage to dine in either of them as Kwetiau Sapi Mangga Besar 78, my favorite one for Kway Teow Bun, was closed till 12 July; while Kwetiau Akang, my favorite one for fried Kway Teow, was so crowded that I had to leave since there were more than 10 people queuing before me excluding the gojek drivers.

Ok get back to the point, so my longing for kway teow had successfully made this dish come on the table. A huge bowl of kway teow with generously-given seafood toppings. All of them was so fresh and they in turn became flawless companions to the luscious kway teow itself.  

Pete Fried Rice (IDR 42.5k) 

Another non-specialty of Singaporeans, but for sure loved by most Indonesian palates, including my mom. So this was her choice as she indeed loved bitter bean or what most of us knew as petai or pete. This one was delicious as well although it’s not that ‘special-special’. Also coming in jumbo portion, this could be one of the options for those who were looking for something fulfilling. Great news, Walao Eh was actually serving free crackers (kerupuk) as well so you could enjoy as much as you wanted with your fried rice. Fried rice and crackers, just like ebony and ivory, weren’t they?

Oyster Omelette (IDR 48.5k) 

Finally, the authentic Singaporean cuisine, Oyster Omelette! It’s been almost 2 years since the last time I had the original one in Singapore and I missed it so damn muchhhh. So far I haven’t found any oyster omelette which tasted as good as the ones I had in Singapore, but now I guessed I needed to worry no more. The answer’s finally here, reachable just with car-ride instead of a 3-hour flight. Hands down to this Oyster Omelette served by Walao Eh, I was totally into it!! I really loved the texture and the level of doneness, how it was made kinda soggy. The sauce was mouthwatering and impeccably blended with both the oysters and the omelette. The chef cooked it really well that I didn’t find any fishy taste from the oyster, which was the typical problem usually found with this particular seafood. Though at first when it was served I thought the portion was quite too large, I unexpectedly could finish almost the whole plate by myself while my family just had a try on it. With this price and those abundant amount of oysters mixed in the plate, it was totally worthy!

Largely, Walao Eh is surely recommended when you happen to visit BSD or when you’re craving for Singaporean foods. Particularly for you who fancy enormous-sized meals, this restaurant might suit you best as it makes the gratifying portion dishes come in delightful taste. So the tradeoff between quality and quantity is absolutely to be shooed away here.  

Taste: 8.5/10

Place: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Price: 8.5/10

Thanks for reading! :)

Walao Eh

Address: Dwiputra Office Building, Jl. Boulevard Gading Serpong Blok M5 No.5, Gading Serpong, Tangerang

Phone: (+6221) 8064 6232

Operating Hours: Mon – Sun 10am – 10pm

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