Tiga Wajan kedai nasi goreng

Kemang · South Jakarta · Since 2013

We only make fried rice.
That is the entire point.

Three cast-iron woks, one gas ring turned all the way up, and a cook who has made the same nine plates every night for thirteen years. No pasta. No burgers. No laminated novel of a menu — just rice that hits the pan hot enough to smoke.

See the nine plates WhatsApp an order

Open daily 11:00 – 23:00  ·  Dine in, take away, pickup in about 12 minutes

Plates on the menu
9
Woks on the fire
3
Seconds per plate
~180
Years in Kemang
13

Our story

A cart, a corner, and a refusal to add anything else

Rusdi Hartono pushed a fried rice cart around Kemang for six years before he could afford a room with a roof. When he finally signed the lease on Jalan Kemang Raya in 2013, his landlord's first piece of advice was to add noodles, then juices, then maybe a chicken rice. He added none of them.

The argument he still makes is simple. A wok holds one plate properly. If you are also boiling noodles and blending avocados, the fire gets shared and the rice steams instead of searing. So the kitchen stayed narrow: three woks, three cooks, one dish with nine faces. Everything else in the shop — the trays of rice drying by the window, the shallots fried at seven each morning, the sambal ground by hand twice a day — exists only to make that one dish better.

Thirteen years later the shop seats thirty-four people on wooden stools, the Friday queue runs past the tailor next door, and the menu has not changed since 2019, when the vegetarian plate was added because Rusdi's daughter stopped eating meat.

“People ask why I don't sell more things. I ask them how many things they think one fire can do at once.”

Rusdi Hartono — owner, and still on the middle wok six nights a week
  • 6amRice steamed, then spread on bamboo to dry until service
  • 2×Sambal ground fresh — once at open, once at 6pm
  • 34Wooden stools, no reservations, no exceptions
  • 2019Last time an item was added to the menu

How it's made

Four steps, about three minutes

There is no secret ingredient. There is only dry rice, a very hot pan, and the discipline to cook one portion at a time. Here is the whole method, in case you want to argue with it.

  1. Yesterday's rice, today's tray

    We steam long-grain rice at six in the morning and spread it thin on bamboo trays under the window fans. By service the grains are dry to the touch and separate cleanly. Fresh rice carries too much water and will always clump.

  2. The bumbu goes in first

    Shallot, garlic, candlenut, chilli and shrimp paste are pounded in a stone mortar — never a blender, which bruises rather than crushes. The paste hits the oil before anything else and fries until the raw smell is gone and the colour deepens.

  3. Full flame, one portion

    The wok is pushed until the oil shimmers and just begins to smoke. Protein first, then out again. Then the rice, tossed rather than stirred, so every grain touches steel. One plate per pan — two portions at once drops the temperature and you taste it immediately.

  4. Egg, shallots, cucumber, go

    A fried egg with a lace edge and a soft middle, a scatter of morning shallots, two slices of cucumber and a wedge of tomato. It leaves the pass within twenty seconds. Fried rice does not improve while it waits for you.

Questions

Things people ask at the counter

Can you make it less spicy?

Yes, on every plate except Terasi Hijau — the chilli is the dish there, and taking it out leaves you with green rice and regret. Tell the cook kurang pedas and he will pull the sambal back a level. We can go the other way too; ask for extra and nobody will talk you out of it twice.

Is anything here vegetarian or halal?

The kitchen has been pork-free since we opened. Nasi Goreng Jamur Tauge is vegetarian and gets its own dedicated wok and spatula, seasoned with fermented soybean instead of shrimp paste. It is not vegan — the fried egg is standard, though we will leave it off if you ask.

Do you take reservations?

No. Thirty-four stools, first come first served. The queue is longest between 7pm and 9pm on Friday and Saturday, and shortest just after we open at eleven. If you are in a hurry, order for pickup on WhatsApp and we will have it bagged in about twelve minutes.

Can I order for an office or a party?

Up to forty portions with two days' notice, minimum twenty. Large orders are still cooked one plate per wok, which is exactly why we need the lead time. Delivery within five kilometres of Kemang is a flat Rp 60.000. Use the form below and we will confirm the slot by email.

Is there parking?

Six motorbike spaces out front and a paid car lot two doors down at Rp 5.000 an hour. Most people arrive by ride-hail; the drivers know the shop by the woks, not the sign.

Do you use MSG?

Yes, a small amount, and we are not going to be coy about it. If you would rather we left it out, say so when you order and the cook will season with salt and stock powder instead.

Visit

Jalan Kemang Raya 44

Ground floor, between the tailor and the motorcycle wash. Look for the three woks in the window and the smoke drifting out over the pavement.

Opening hours

  • Monday – Thursday11:00 – 23:00
  • Friday11:00 – 24:00
  • Saturday11:00 – 24:00
  • Sunday11:00 – 22:00

Last order is thirty minutes before close.

Closed for two days each Idul Fitri — dates go up on the door a fortnight ahead.

Finding us

Kedai Nasi Goreng Tiga Wajan
Jl. Kemang Raya No. 44
Bangka, Mampang Prapatan
South Jakarta 12730

Cash, QRIS and debit cards. No card minimum.

Large orders & questions

For catering slots of twenty portions and up. This opens your email app — nothing is stored on this page.