Anna's Ventures: Jadi Home Cafe: The Second Installment

A little while ago, I wrote this post about Jadi Home Cafe. My mum and I had eaten dinner there back in July during our mother-daughter trip and absolutely loved it. Last month, I had my sneaky 3 night getaway and I insisted in eating here again. The only night we had free for dinner was a Sunday night and that just happened to be the only day the the restaurant was closed. My dad and I popped over before we realised this and I was so disappointed when I realised I wouldn't be able to eat there this time. That was until Srie, the owner and cook, said she would cook just for us. How nice is that?! Now let me explain how generous this was of her: The restaurant is located within Srie's own home. She is the only cook (she has a few helpers) and makes everything from scratch and fresh daily with ingredients she has gone and bought herself from the markets that same day. I can imagine that at the end of the week, she is very tired and looks forward to having her day off, but she opened up just for us. We were so grateful and I was so looking forward to dinner here.

We ordered a few dishes for 7:00 and when we arrived, our dinner was bubbling away on the stove. The smell was divine. We were the only ones there that night and a couple of people asked me if it felt weird or awkward. Well no, not at all. You are like a guest. The kitchen it open to the dining area so we chatted to Srie while she cooked, we went up to her stove to snap pictures of the dishes and smell the beautiful aromas from the spices, we wandered around and enjoyed the rustic and homely feel she has created for her guests. It was lovely.

Before too long, our dishes were ready. I always recommend ordering a day in advance. This means that Srie will be able to start cooking before your arrival so you won't have to wait too long and it makes things easier for her too, so she knows exactly what to buy at the markets. When Mum and I ate here in July, we both ordered beef rendang not realising that the serves were big enough to share. We loved the dish but we were disappointed we didn't order something else to try too. So this time we ordered chilli lime chicken, chicken in coconut and the salt and pepper prawns. Rice for each of us and veggies were included. All the dishes were divine. Srie somehow manages to get so much flavour into her dishes. The chilli lime chicken was our favourite. It had a bit of bite to it and the chicken was just falling off the bone. The coconut chicken was also delicious. Though it could have done with more chicken, I found myself literally drinking spoonfuls of the sauce when we had eaten all the chicken. And the prawns; yum!! They had a delicious and crunchy batter on them with the perfect balance of salt and pepper. I easily could have eaten many many more of them. We shared all the dishes and though we were full, we were once again disappointed we didn't order something else to try too.