JAKARTA. People crowded a street corner in the area of Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, just accross the Al-Azhar school. But, they actually crowded around a cart of “Bubur Ayam Mayong (Mayong Specific Chicken Porridge)” to order meals. They were willing to queue for a bowl of chicken porridge, whereas, rain was falling when KONTAN visited the place on Tuesday (22/11) afternoon.
The customers have to be patient to enjoy a bowl of chicken porridge made by Mayong, the owner of “Bubur Ayam Mayong.” Mayong will greet you in a friendly manner as your turn has come. He will ask whether you want to eat at the place or want to take away the chicken porridge.
Mayong’s chicken porridge is very famous in Kelapa Gading area. Not surprisingly, the customers will still crowd this place, even if it is raining. A number of celebrities, such as Eko Patrio, Annisa Bahar, Juwita Bahar, and Ferry Salim are the customers of Mayong. Even, Saipul Jamil, who is in jail, still often orders the chicken porridge. “The customers not only come from Kelapa Gading, but also from Cilandak and Tangerang,” he said.
If you are interested to taste the chicken porridge, you are suggested to come to this place before 7 pm, as the stall operates from Monday to Saturday only from 4 pm to 9 pm at the latest.
Actually, similar with other chicken porridges, Mayong’s chicken porridge is also served with the slices of cakue (Chinese fried breadstick), chicken shreds, soy beans, fried shallots, celeries, crackers, and empings (a kind of chip made from Gnetum gnemon).
However, Mayong’s chicken porridge has a specific taste, hence is favored by customers. It has a proper mixture of savory and salty tastes, as well as the great flavor of the chicken broth. The taste is even greater with the soft chicken shreds. The chicken shreds have fantastic flavor hence can be enjoyed even without the porridge.
You can order for satay to be served with the porridge. Mayong serves chicken intestines, chicken liver-gizzard, and eggs satays, as well as the mixture of the inards satay.
The satays are also tender and savory. The strong tastes of spices just immediately cover the tongue when chewing the satay concurrently with the porridge.
The customer can just add chili paste or sweet soy sauce if prefers hot or sweet taste. You just need to pick up the chili paste or the soy sauce by yourself from the cart, and no need to call Mayong or his assistants, since they are busy with serving customers, who interruptedly come to the place.
The qualified ingredients
According to Mayong, basically the ingredients of his chicken porridge do not have much different with other chicken porridges. However, he claimed to select qualified ingredients for his chicken porridges. For the porridge, Mayong uses the premium quality rice as the main ingredient. “The premium rice has much better taste than pera rice,” he said.
In average, every day Mayong spends one hundred pounds of chickens. The price of one portion of chicken porridge is Rp 12,000, while one skewer of satay is Rp 3,000. Every day, about 400-450 skewers of satay are sold out.
Mayong does not serve drinks at his stall. But you can bring your own drink, or you can buy drinks at a retail shop, which is located beside Mayong’s cart.
Mayong also does not provide table for the customers, who want to eat at the place. The place only provides a long wood chair for five persons, as well as five plastic chairs. Due to the limited chairs, some customers prefer to eat in their own cars. But don’t worry, as there are sufficient parking lots nearby Mayong’s cart.
And you actually do not need to wait too long, as the customers usually will finish their meals in an immediate time.
Interested to queue for a bowl of chicken porridge?
Bubur Ayam Khas Mayong
Jl. Bulevard Timur, Kelapa Gading Jakarta Utara (081383213708)
GPS Coordinate
-6.1634144,106.9099886