Claypot Popo\’s Savory Delights

19 June, 2022

A look back on its history

Claypot Popo is a Chinese claypot restaurant in Jakarta. When first opened in Pasar Santa in 2014, the diner only offered one menu: its classic claypot nasi siram telur mentah/matang (steamed rice in a thick broth with cooked/raw egg in a claypot) with chicken or beef as the meat toppings. According to Flo, the owner, as quoted from Klasiloka, Chinese cuisines are wide in variety and she wanted to introduce her own version of comfort food. Now, Claypot Popo has expanded its business and opened three stores in total. They’re each located in Sabang, Melawai (Blok M), and Kelapa Gading. I’ve only visited the Melawai branch, which is the nearest to my place. It’s also close to the Blok M MRT station, so that’s a plus! From the station you can walk to the east, walk past Haka Dimsum and Futago-Ya, and turn right. Go straight for around 200 meters and take the left turn when you see a big jewelry store. From there, just walk up straight and Claypot Popo will be on your right. You might not notice it at first glance since the restaurant entrance is small and easy to miss. Diaz and I walked past it without even noticing when we first went there—we even thought that we’d taken the wrong way. So here’s a little tip: just trust your Google Map.

The place ambience

We opened the green wooden door and were greeted by a restaurant staff. After writing down the menu, we were seated on a table near the kitchen on the second floor. Claypot Popo has an open kitchen so we could see the chefs doing all sorts of things; from preparing the ingredients, chopping the vegetables, cooking the rice, to serving the food on the clay pot. I took a glance at my surroundings. Several people who appeared to be a group of friends were sitting next to us, happily chit-chatting and enjoying their food, while some others who sat a bit further from us seemed to be taking their time savoring the dish. The second floor area is quite spacious, accommodating around 11 tables plus four more outdoor tables. There are additional seats too at the back of the kitchen but I didn’t get to see much of it. The air conditioning worked well so it didn’t feel hot inside.

Taste is king

A few minutes went by and our orders were finally served! A claypot of nasi siram telur matang (rice in thick broth with cooked egg) for me and a claypot of locupan ayam asam manis (silver needle noodles with sweet and sour chicken) for Diaz. We took a picture of the mouth-watering dishes before we dug in. Oh, so yummy! Inside my pot was steamed rice soaked in thick broth with corns, carrots, chicken, and egg as the toppings. Both my mouth and tummy couldn’t wait anymore so I wasted no time and started mixing it. Diaz did the same too with his locupan. And to kick it up a notch, we both added some chili oil to our food. Oh, trust me, Claypot Popo’s chili oil gives the food an extra yummy point, so make sure to pour some of it to your bowl next time you go there! Taste-wise, both the nasi siram and locupan were good. The broth was savory and all the elements complemented one another. I liked mixing the corns and carrots and ate them in one spoonful! Since everything is soaked in broth, the texture can be a bit mushy. However, the rice won’t soften like porridge, and the rice at the bottom of the claypot might even have some crispiness because of its being cooked directly on the stove. As for Diaz’s dish, the sweet and sour chicken balanced the somewhat savory noodles. The noodles were chewy and the seasoning was just right. It’s better to mix everything altogether before you dig in! Overall, I would rate the nasi siram 8/10 while Diaz gave it 7/10 and the locupan 7.5/10. The owner said that her nasi siram was supposed to be a comfort food. Well, I can’t deny that and I must admit that it has somehow become one of my comfort foods too. Eating it feels like a warm hug, and who wouldn’t want that feeling on a chilly, rainy day? Even I would still crave for it on a hot Summer day. Just like how Claypot Popo climbed the ladder and became one of my go-to restaurants in Jakarta, why not give it a try and see if it will be one of your favorite places too? 😉 Go check it out and tell me your experience in the comments! 😊

Baca Selengkapnya

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Tyas Wahyu Pramesti

Hello! 안녕하세요! I am Tyas, a hobbyist writer and illustrator from Indonesia. I like taking trips to new places and exploring local culinary delights, reading books in my personal day-off, drawing random doodles on my tablet, and studying languages while juggling my daily life as a banker. It's a pleasure to be on the Blogger Perempuan community, as I'm able to discover new articles to read and new blogs to follow/blog-walk. So let's be buddies here and enjoy reading each other's blog posts!

Claypot Popo\’s Savory Delights

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Claypot Popo\’s Savory Delights

A look back on its history

The place ambience

Taste is king

Baca Juga

Halo, !

Categories

Recent Posts

More than 3500 female bloggers registered

COMMUNITY

COMPANY

PT. PEREMPUAN DIGITAL INDONESIACyber 2 Tower 11TH Floor JL HR Rasuna Said Jakarta Selatan

PT. PEREMPUAN DIGITAL INDONESIA
Cyber 2 Tower 11TH Floor JL HR Rasuna Said Jakarta Selatan