Kitchenesia.com - Situated in the junction between business and shopping district, Blok M quarter in South Jakarta is likely to be the busiest neighborhood in the capital. Blok M is also everyone's culinary gem, stretching open-air food stalls to fancy restaurants.
Talking about open-air restaurants, there is a flock of food stalls - about seventeen of them - settling on an intersection between Bulungan and Mahakam Street.
It is called Gultik, an abbreviation for Gulai Tikungan. People name it that way as the food stalls assemble at the curve of Bulungan street, and sell the same food: gulai (beef curry).
Although it has been becoming trendy as of late, Gultik actually has been around since 1970s. One of the vendors reminisced about his story working as a beef stew seller.
"I have been selling gulai in this area since 1991,” said Supardi, one of gulai sellers in Gultik. “Some of my customers are like lifetime diners. They have been eating my gulai since they were students until being a district officer,” said the beef stew seller, as cited from tribunjakarta.com
“It seems like I am a living witness of my customers’ lives journeys.”
According to Supardi, Gulai Tikungan has gone through some transformation. The rule when he started his stall was more loose than today. His food stall used to open all-day and all-night, from noon to midnight. But new policy makes his and others stalls can open from 5 PM to 3 AM.
“Gulai Tikungan was untidy in the past. My stall consisted shabby carrying pole, and there was only a wooden board for customers to sit on. But now I use cart.”
Supardi admitted that he can sell more than 100 portions of gulai on weekdays, and tripled on weekends.
“I can’t work alone on weekends,” said Supardi while laughing.
Kitchenesia Guide to Gulai Tikungan: How-to and How Much
After a long conversation with one of gulai sellers, of course Kitchenesia felt obligated to taste one. And, we had no regret.
In every serving, the curry beef is consisted of a plateful of rice, crackers, and plentiful beef and its broth is poured over the plate.
If you come with a growling stomach, one plate will never be enough. No worry, every gulai seller also provides additional side dishes, the most common ones are fried skewered quail eggs, chicken intestines, and chicken livers.
Every seller has fixed price for a plate of a gulai, which is IDR 10,000 (USD 0.8). Each satay is sold at IDR 5,000 (USD 0.4) rate.
For some people, like I am, Gultik’s beef curry is too sweet to one’s taste. Therefore, there is a bowl of sambal on every table. There are also another condiment such as sweet soy sauce and salt.
Gulai Tikungan is open-air, that’s why there are two special conditions you need to know before going there. First, every gulai seller won’t open if rain happens. Second, on any given corner you will be entertained by buskers. If you don’t like this kind of situation, you can still eat takeaway.
But from my point of view, I prefer takeaway rather than eating out.
