Ayam Penyet Best

Review Rating: ⭐⭐ (Below Average)

Address: LOT L1-38, Level 1, Angsana Johor Bahru Mall, Pusat Bandar Tampoi, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia (Located within Angsana Mall)
Google Map Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/vBH6j7YXMeJq19wL6
(Please refer to the Timings provided in the Google Map Link for the Operating Hours.)

🥤 628 Lychee Soya Bean = RM7.50
🍗 101 Ayam Penyet Best = RM14.50

Service Charge 10% = RM2.30

Click here for the Full Menu and Receipt 
(Opens in a New Tab, Price is accurate as of Posting Date)

This is a Typical Ayam Penyet Mall Eatery. Its Clean, Well-Maintained and the Staffs are Polite and keep to themselves. 👍 There weren't much customers when I was there at 8.40pm on a Saturday Night although to be fair it was also past the Dinner Rush Hour timing. 🍽️ One interesting to note is that their Ayam Penyet set apparently don't come with Rice 🍚 and you actually need to order it Separately. 🤔 I'm personally ok with it since I am reducing my Carb Intake, but I thought this was unusual. 😳 Don't Rice usually come as a Default in a typical Ayam Penyet Set? 🤔

Even the Staff who served up the Meal was surprised that I didn't order Rice for my Meal. 🍚😅 I observed him going back to the Counter and even though conversing in Malay, I could tell he was trying to re-check if I really didn't order Rice for my Set. 👍 This re-checking action he did impressed me, 👍 because this tells me that he is alert with what he is serving and taking the effort to re-check with his team whether I got the correct order. 👍 He could have just ignored and served me without further checking but he didn't and I appreciated this very much. This is Admirable Customer Service. ♥️

🥤 628 Lychee Soya Bean = RM7.50

I don't normally order Drinks let alone Sweet Drinks but this Combo intrigued me too much. 😅 It tastes exactly what it is, a combination of both Lychee and Soy Milk. 🤔 The Lychee Syrup is not overly overpowering but it does have a Faint Presence. The Soy Milk isn't Homemade and tastes like its from those Typical Supermarket Packet. 🤔

The Whole Drink doesn't have a Quality Taste to it, but I thought it was acceptable. 🤔 Its Sweet obviously, but not super sweet. 👍 This drink worked for me because they didn't spam the Lychee but kept it subtle and Both Tastes were quite Balanced. 👍 Not Something I can drink regularly, and I cannot say its Amazing, but its Alright.

What I am impressed are the 3 Big Pieces of Lychees that were hidden right at the Bottom. 😋 This was the part I wished they included a Long Spoon for this because it was kindda hard to try to stab and pick them using their given Straw. 😅

But the fact that they gave 3 Pieces is already good enough when they could have just given Nothing at all.



🍗 101 Ayam Penyet Best = RM14.50

When the Dish arrived, I thought the Ayam Penyet itself looks Small. 🤔 Its a Thigh Drummy Combo. The "Penyet" in Ayam Penyet actually means "Squeezed" or "Smashed", and the one here doesn't look Smashed at all for me. 😅 The Skin, Meat everything looks so Intact and Unbroken. What do you think? Does this look "Penyet" for you? 🍗🤔


Biting into it, the taste is unmistakably a Conventional Tasting Malay-Styled Ayam Goreng. 🤔 The Drummy and Thigh are not Dry, but they're also Not Tender Soft. 🤔 Overall Decent Tasting but I also thought it tasted like any other Ayam Goreng out there. Adding the Sambal certainly improves its taste. 🌶️

The Small Bowl of Soup that comes with this is Surprisingly Robust. 👍 Its a Beefy Peppery Soup with hints of Fried Onion. 🍖🧅 Saltish but not Overly So. Not Bad Tasting, I reckon this Soup is probably also used for some other Soupy Dishes in their Menu. 🤔

I love that they serve the Sambal 🌶️ on a Piece of Raw Cabbage which gave it a somewhat Rustic Look. 👍 The First Thing that hits you is this Strong Sourish Hit, followed by the Creamy Texture and a Sweetness. 😋 吃得出来 this doesn't taste like your Typical Malaysian-Styled of Sambal, definitely has a More Indonesian Feel to it. 🇮🇩 Ayam Penyet is originally an Indonesian Dish after all.

The Spiciness for this Sambal is Elevated and Quickly Rises but interestingly, I also thought it falls short of giving me a Fierce Bite. 🌶️ It then lingers and maintains an Ever Present Spicy Heat throughout. If you can take Spicy, and you have eaten Ayam Penyet type of Sambal, you might find this Spiciness Level to actually not be that Strong. 🌶️🤔 At least it didn't taste that strong compared to others I've eaten. That said, this Level of Spiciness worked for me. Spicy but never Too Punishing. This was a Decently Complex Sambal for me. 🌶️👍


I am kindda disappointed with the Small Itty Bitty Piece of Tempeh though. 🤔 Compared to others, I thought this one had a More Beany Profile. 🫘 Slightly Saltish and didn't tasted Freshly Fried. But that's ok since I ate this at a Late Hour so its certainly not a Fresh Batch. 😅 Dipping it into that Sambal improved alot. 🌶️ I wish they weren't that Stingy with the Amount though since Tempeh is a Very Classic Indonesian Ingredient. 🤔 Same with the Tauhu Goreng which was also a Stingy Itty Bitty Piece. 🤔 Its Cold and even had abit of Chao Sng Stale taste to it already. 👎 Bleh. 😛

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Conclusion and Closing Thoughts

At the Price of RM7.50 (S$2.30) for the Lychee Soya Bean isn't Super Cheap, for what is essentially a Mix of Supermarket Packaged Lychee Syrup and Soy Bean Milk. 🤔

What I did like is that the Amount of Lychee isn't too Overpowering Strong and the 2 Flavours were still able to work together and wasn't Overly Sweet. 👍 I also appreciated that they gave 3 Pieces of Lychee although I wished they included a Long Spoon to be able to eat them easier. 🥄

At the Price of RM14.50 (S$4.50), this Plate of Ayam Penyet felt like a Mixed Bag of Emotions. 🤔 The 1st thing that disappointed me was the Lack of Rice in the Set itself. 🍚👎 Paying RM14.50 and still have to pay extra for Rice feels Stingy. 🙄

What aggravated the issue is that this Lack of Rice isn't even mentioned in the Menu at all. 🤔 Rice itself also isn't that expensive an item. Is it really necessary to remove this Important Component in an Ayam Penyet in order to cut cost? 🤔 Is this the Same Practice for other Ayam Penyet Eateries in Malaysia to not include Rice by Default? 🤔

Further Evidence of Stinginess and attempts to Cut Cost comes in the Noticeable Small Amount of Tempeh and Tauhu Goreng. 👎 Especially the Tauhu Goreng which even tasted Slightly Stale and Chao Sng already. 👎 I also wasn't impressed with the Relatively Smaller Sized Ayam Goreng 🍗 given and perhaps the Biggest Issue is that it isn't even properly "Penyet" or Smashed at all. 😅

In fact, the only 2 Items that impressed me in this Dish was their Robust Tasting Soup 🍲 and their Sambal 🌶️ which I thought was Decent. That said, if you are someone who prefers a Very Strong Spicy Punishing Sambal for your Ayam Penyet, you might not like this version. 🤔

This Eatery is really a Mixed Bag. 🤔 I appreciated the Staff's Alertness and Attention to Customer when he took the Effort to recheck my Order. Again I must say this is Very Admirable. 👍 The Sambal and Soup provided for their Main Ayam Penyet Dish were the Only Standouts. 🤔 The Noticeable Elements of Stinginess brought down the Value of the Dish for me. 👎 Not including Rice by Default for the Price dropped the Affordability of this one drastically. 🙄 This is also an Ayam Penyet that doesn't Penyet their Ayam so to speak. 😅

This was a Decent Eatery and I did appreciate the Good Attempt at Alertness of the Staff in taking the Effort to re-check my Order displaying Good Customer Service 👍 but ultimately, I can't bring myself to recommend this because I don't feel the Dish I ate was worth the Price. 🤔