Rapper Melly Mike Tastes Indonesian Cuisine; Ayam Pop Is His Favorite

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August 26, 2025 | 01:24 pm

Rapper Melly Mike (center) tastes Indonesian food at the Jajaghu restaurant, House of Tugu Jakarta, August 19, 2025. TEMPO/Mila Novita

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - American rapper Melly Mike embarked on a culinary journey through Indonesia during his visit to the country from August 19–26, 2025. The renowned rapper, popular in Indonesia for his music in the viral "Aura Farming" video, explored restaurants serving traditional Indonesian cuisine and savored dishes including gado-gado, ketoprak, sate lilit, dendeng balado, rendang, and telur dadar. Of all the dishes, he mentioned that his favorite Indonesian dish is ayam pop.

The American rapper uploaded a "This or That" video showcasing his moments of tasting various Indonesian cuisines. This content was shared on Thursday, August 25, 2025, via both the official Wonderful Indonesia Instagram account and his personal account.

One of the places he visited was Kunstring Paleis, a colonial-style restaurant in the Menteng area of Jakarta. There, Mike tried various traditional cuisines from different regions in Indonesia.

He tasted sate lilit, a Balinese specialty made from minced fish seasoned with typical spices, then wrapped around lemongrass stalks and grilled. He also tried ketoprak, a Betawi specialty made from tofu, rice vermicelli, and lontong (compressed rice cake), served with peanut sauce and accompanied by crackers and fried onions.

Ayam pop. Shutterstock

Melly Mike's Indonesian Food Choices

In the video, Mike was given several Indonesian food choices and had to pick his favorite. When given the choice between gado-gado or ketoprak, he chose ketoprak. Between sate lilit or sate ayam, he favored sate lilit. When asked to choose between tempe or perkedel jagung, he chose tempe.

Melly Mike also visited the Pagi Sore restaurant. There, he tried various tempting Minang dishes, such as ayam pop and rendang. Asked to choose between ayam pop or ayam gulai, he picked ayam pop. When asked to choose between dendeng balado or rendang, he chose dendeng balado. For the choices of gulai telur or telur dadar, he chose gulai telur.

At the end of the video, Mike concluded that ayam pop was his favorite among the Indonesian cuisines he tasted. "If you come to Indonesia, you gotta try the food. My favorite gotta be ayam pop," he said.

Ayam pop is a typical Minangkabau dish that is boiled in coconut milk and garlic, then briefly fried to maintain its soft texture and pale color. It has a savory, delicate, and light taste, suitable to be paired with the spicy Minang sambal.

Melly Mike's visit to Indonesia was to attend the Traditional Pacu Jalur Festival in Kuantan Singingi (Kuansing), Riau, from August 20–24, 2025. He also sought to experience as much as possible during his time in Indonesia, including its famous spicy cuisine. "Man, the food was good. I want to try everything, even if it's spicy next time," he said while tasting Indonesian dishes at Jajaghu, House of Tugu Jakarta, on Tuesday, August 19, 2025.