"Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah" and Iced Lychee Soda at Pappa Rich, Chatswood

 When we were living in Malaysia, one of our favourite restaurants is Pappa Rich. So last year, we were elated to find out that Pappa Rich was going to open an outlet right here in our neighbourhood. As a matter of fact, the outlet in Chatswood was Pappa Rich’s first outlet in the State of New South Wales. The food served in Chatswood may not be of the same standard or quality found in Malaysia but close enough to enjoy some good Malaysian cuisine.

"Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah"

So, for today we are going to review a dish that is not in the Pappa Rich menu in Malaysia but it is in their Chatwood’s menu. The dish is “Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah”. This dish consists of fragrant basmati rice cooked with cloves, cardamons and fried shallots, 3 pieces of fried chicken dipped in sweet spicy chilli sauce (“Ayam Masak Merah”), some sambal prawns, few slices of cucumbers and “papadam” (a type of cracker normally served with Indian dishes). The basmati rice gives a rather strong flavour to the dish due to the various spices such as cloves and cardamons. If you are not used to the spices, you may find the flavour of the rice overpowering, especially if you bite into one of the cardamons or cloves. The wise way would be to remove the cardamons and cloves and put them aside before digging into the basmati rice. As for the “Ayam Masak Merah”, the chicken pieces were deep fried with crispy skin and succulent meat. The sweet spicy chilli sauce goes well with the chicken but personally, it was a bit too sweet for us. The sambal prawn was well cooked with a good balance of spiciness without compromising the flavour of the prawn. As for the cucumbers, they were fresh and the “papadam” was nice and crispy. We would give the “Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah” a rating of 9/10.

Iced Lychee Soda

In order to compliment the “Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah”, we ordered the “Iced Lychee soda”. We find the “Iced Lychee soda” very refreshing as it contained some lychees, soda water, lychee juice and some mint leaves that made it a good concoction and brought out the beautiful flavour in the drink. We will give it a 10/10 rating.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience, we will give the service 7/10 for prompt service due to its systematic approach in ordering and requesting for service. Like the Pappa Rich in Malaysia, the one in Chatswood adopted the same method where you tick whatever you want, the quantity and any specific instruction. After that, you just need to press the bell and a server will come to your assistance. Immediately after your order has been taken, the server will place the bill on your table. You can bring your bill to the payment counter once you are ready to leave. As for the ambient, we will rate it 7/10 for  its decoration and being spacious. However, for its toilet, we will rate 4/10. Somehow, the toilets remind us of being in Malaysia. So guys, please spend some time on keeping your toilets clean and friendly.