While there has been quite a lot of stalls moving out from
Shenton Food Hall at one point of time, it does seem that they are pretty quick in getting new tenants to move into the food hall once stall spaces are made available. There was, at one point of time, a stall by a commercially-run brand serving Ayam Penyet that used to occupy one of the stall spaces at Shenton Food Hall — the said stall did not last long in the food hall, but it seems that there is yet another tenant that had just recently moved it which serves similar fare. Named D&Z Penyet, the stall is located right beside Noodle Legend House; a stall that is known for serving up Sarawak Laksa and Kolo Mee within the food hall. The facade of D&Z Penyet isn’t particularly outstanding — the signages being fairly typical of a usual stall at a hawker centre / coffeeshop setting. While the focus is mainly on their Ayam Penyet, much like most other establishments serving the same, D&Z Penyet also serves up variations of Ayam Penyet with green / red chili like the Ayam Sambal Hijau Padang Set, and the Ayam Sambal Belado Padang Set. For those looking for non-spicy fare other than the Ayam Penyet, there is also the Ayam Bakar Solo Set; other options of meat includes Fish Fillet, Ikan Bawal and Grilled Seafood. D&Z Penyet also does serve up noodle dishes like the Mee / Bee Hoon Soto, as well as side dishes to share like the Tahu Telor, Gado Gado and the Satay Chicken (only available from 3pm to 8pm) that can be shared across the table.

In any typical setting, we would usually find ourselves ordering the Ayam Penyet Padang Set, but we weren’t sure why our mouths blurted for the Ayam Sambal Belado Padang Set when we visited D&Z Penyet on a weekday for lunch. More intimidating would be the fact that the Ayam Penyet Padang Set is listed as an item with two chillies on the menu, while the Ayam Sambal Hijau Padang Set is listed as an item with only one chilli on the menu board. In retrospect, the Ayam Sambal Belado Padang Set is an item that is being marked with three chillies on the menu — the highest for any item that is being marked with chillies on the menu board. That being said, the Ayam Sambal Belado Padang Set comes with a fried chicken leg that is doused in quite a generous serving of Sambal Belado atop a lettuce leaf, and comes accompanied with a mound of white rice on the side, as well as a piece of fried beancurd puff that is accompanied with a slice of cucumber — it is interesting to note that the lack of Fried Tempeh that would usually accompany Ayam Penyet in general.

One thing we particularly enjoyed about the Ayam Sambal Belado Padang Set is that the Sambal Belado actually makes the entire dish feel less dry as compared to the Ayam Penyet Padang Set that we have had elsewhere; there is some moisture with that Sambal Belado that would have given the chicken a bit more moisture, though not so wet that the crisp, fried skin of the chicken would become too soggy — a good balance achieved here. The chicken itself is marinated with turmeric; it is also interesting to note that the fried chicken is also fried fresh-upon-order; quite different from mass market renditions of the dish where the chicken leg is usually fried very early in batches only to be dished up once an order is made. That being said, the marination with the turmeric isn’t quite as obvious when all that Sambal Belado is sitting above the fried chicken; the Sambal Belado isn’t really that spicy to the tongue, but it does get the tummy really warmed up with the runny nose coming straight up right as one finishes the entire plate — we wouldn’t be calling the Sambal Belado here tame to be really honest. One way to make the spiciness more manageable is probably to enjoy the Sambal Belado and the Ayam Penyet together with an ample portion of white rice — this way, it gives the white rice sufficient flavour and moisture, while the white rice helps to “cushion” some of that heat from their fiery Sambal Belado as well. We have an inkling that the fried beancurd puff is also fried fresh-upon-order just like how the fried chicken leg is being served up; the fried beancurd puff also being fairly warm when we dug into it and had a soft texture that is everything but “old” as some others will call it. At $6.90, prices are fairly reasonable here; we would have imagined it to be closer towards $10 if it were to be a similar dish served up by other similar establishments. Overall, something which we will gladly have again if the cravings for Ayam Penyet hits while we are at Shenton Food Hall.