Ayam Gepuk near Seksyen 7 Shah Alam station
Now that the Shah Alam LRT line is up and running, Klang Valley folks can easily reach areas around Shah Alam, Petaling Jaya, and Klang without the stress of parking or traffic. A wider variety of food options is now within our reach too, including an eye-catching list of ayam gepuk restaurants.
While spots to get ayam gepuk have been cropping up left, right, and centre, just one station on the Shah Alam LRT line – Seksyen 7 Shah Alam – has over 10 ayam gepuk shops within a 5-minute walk from the station.
With so many spots claiming to have the best version of ayam gepuk, we ate our fill and ranked 7 ayam gepuk restaurants from Seksyen 7. We broke each dish at each spot down by chicken, sambal, sides, and spice level to see which one actually deserves the hype.
What is ayam gepuk?
Ayam gepuk literally means “smashed chicken” in Bahasa Indonesia. And this is the key point of the dish. Marinated fried chicken gets pounded flat with a mallet right after it leaves the oil, cracking the crust open so the meat can properly soak up whatever sambal lands on top of it.
A typical ayam gepuk set comes with rice, fried tempeh, fried firm tofu, and cabbage, along with kuah gajus, a creamy nutty cashew sauce meant to cool things down between spicy bites, and sambal, which some restaurants will have spiciness levels to match the preferences of the weak and the brave.
How to get to the ayam gepuk restaurants in Shah Alam?
At this point, Seksyen 7 Shah Alam station on the Shah Alam LRT line might as well be known as “Ayam Gepuk station” with just how many restaurants serving the chicken-and-rice combos are nearby. All the spots below are about a 5-minute walk from the station, with some just a stone’s throw from each other.
Here’s a handy-dandy map of the restaurants’ proximities to the station:
The ranking criteria
Since the chicken, sambal, and gajus are what tend to differ the most from shop to shop, that’s what we paid closest attention to in this review. We also considered each restaurant’s sambal for spiciness on a scale of 1 (mild) to 5 (fiery), and scored the overall plate out of 10. Besides that, we also took into account the portion sizes and prices when scoring.
It’s also worth noting that diners can top up unlimited rice and sambal in these locations too.
7. Ayam Gepuk Artisan (RM13)
Landing last on this list is Ayam Gepuk Artisan. While the portions and overall taste of each element of the dish were decent, its components fell short of our expectations. The sambal, cashew sauce, and fried cabbage made the dish overly greasy.
Furthermore, the chicken was dry and on the tougher side, while the sambal was greasy with a sharp, stinging spice that didn’t offer much flavour beyond the heat. The cashew sauce was the bigger letdown, as it was mostly greasy and almost flavourless.
The cabbage was overly greasy too, and the rest of the set didn’t give us much reason to look past all that.
Spiciness: 4/5
Overall: 4/10
Sarah: “I was not a fan, nor an air conditioner (did you get it?).”
Leann: “Everything’s just too greasy.”
Ayam Gepuk Artisan Seksyen 7
Tuesday 11:00 AM – 09:30 PM Show More Timings
6. Ayam Gepuk Sambal Berapi (RM12.90)
The Malay word berapi translates to volcanic, or fiery, so naturally, we went into Sambal Berapi expecting that its namesake sauce would deliver some real heat. However, the reality was slightly different from expectations.
There was no option for us to choose the spice level, so we were given just one type of sambal. The sambal leaned heavily on salt with almost no spice to back it up, scoring just 1/5 on our spiciness scale. It ranked the mildest of every restaurant on this list.
As for the other key component, the chicken acted more like a background character rather than being a main star of the dish. It was not dry enough to complain about, but also not juicy enough to praise. Everything else on the plate was par for the course.
At RM12.90, we were served a not-bad plate of ayam gepuk, but it’s likely more suited for those with a lower spice tolerance.
Spiciness: 1/5
Overall: 6/10
Sarah: “I think Abang Bomba put out the fire.”
Leann: “Expected a spice punch but nothing really hit.”
Restoran sambal berapi ayam gepuk shah alam sek 7
Tuesday Open 24 Hours Show More Timings
5. Ayam Gepuk Super Ngetopp (RM17.15)
The most expensive restaurant on this list, the ayam gepuk from Ayam Gepuk Super Ngetopp came in at RM17.15. The slightly higher price tag is pretty justifiable, with genuinely huge portions and the option to dial your sambal’s spice level up or down. Though the execution of each ingredient across the plate was a mixed bag.
The red sambal was greasy on our tongues, and the kuah gajus was runny instead of thick. Both the chicken and the entrails on the side were also a tad dry and incredibly tough.
On the brighter side, the cabbage was served both raw and fried, with a natural sweetness retained in either form. The tempeh and tauhu were also fried to perfection, arriving crispy and in generous, big pieces, with the tauhu puffed up nicely from careful frying. This spot also provided a bowl of soup kosong that helped to round off the meal.
If you’re chasing portion size and don’t mind a few weaker components along the way, this one still delivers.
Spiciness: 2.5/5
Overall: 6/10
Sarah: “I actually like this one.”
Leann: “Pretty flavourful, but the sambal was a little oily.”
Ayam Gepuk Super Ngetopp Shah Alam
Tuesday 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM Show More Timings
4. Ayam Gepuk Top Global (RM13.50)
Ayam Gepuk Top Global doesn’t seem to take many risks.
The sambal here sat at a fairly average spiciness, safe enough for those who want just a little spice in their life. And the chicken – while not dry to an alarming degree – took noticeably more effort to pull apart than it should have.
Being a renowned chain, we did expect more from our order of ayam gepuk here, though. The rest of the plate was serviceable, but we do need to call out the cabbage situation – we were served just two pieces of the vegetable.
For RM13.50, a little more generosity on the sides would’ve been wholly welcomed.
Spiciness: 2/5
Overall: 6.5/10
Sarah: “Cabbages are like from that merchant in Avatar: The Last Airbender. IYKYK.”
Leann: “It’s good but would be better with more kubis.”
Ayam Gepuk Top Global S7 Shah Alam
Tuesday 11:30 AM – 09:30 PM Show More Timings
3. Ayam Gepuk Tok Mat (RM14.75)
Ayam Gepuk Tok Mat‘s Ayam Gepuk (RM14.75) is one of the two restaurants on this list where the chicken was incredibly juicy and not dry. The sambal, which you can adjust to your preferred spice level, creeps slowly. It possesses the kind of satisfying heat that sneaks up on you a few bites in rather than attacking your taste receptors immediately.
The gajus ran on the thinner and runnier side, but the tauhu and tempeh were both solidly done. Our main gripe was the plate’s portions – a huge mound of rice took up the most real estate on the plate. We wanted more of that moist chicken.
Spiciness: 4/5
Overall: 7/10
Sarah: “The spice is Batman.”
Leann: “Tender-juicy chicken, but need a bigger portion of condiments.”
Ayam Gepuk Tok Mat Shah Alam Seksyen 7
Tuesday 11:00 AM – 09:30 PM Show More Timings
2. Ayam Gepuk Kapten (RM14.90)
Ayam Gepuk Kapten earns brownie points for giving customers two types of sambal: a red one that carries real lingering heat with some sweetness from the onions, and a green one that’s more garlicky and considerably gentler.
Having two types of sambal may be a small addition, but it definitely complements and adds variety to each bite of the overall meal.
The chicken was well-seasoned, if a little dry, but the sides picked up the slack. The cabbage was fried but not overly so till it lost its natural sweetness, and the tempeh came crispy and thick. The kuah gajus followed suit as it was served nicely chunky and thick, combating the heat with its rich nuttiness.
The red sambal’s spiciness from this spot lands at a moderate 3/5, while the green sambal scores just a point below. The total bill for this plate rang up to RM14.90.
Spiciness: 3/5
Overall: 7/10
Sarah: “Perfect kuah gajus.”
Leann: “The green sambal is definitely the winner for me.”
Ayam Gepuk Kapten
Tuesday 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM Show More Timings
1. Ayam Gepuk Pak Raden (RM12.90)
Taking the top spot is Ayam Gepuk Pak Raden. Presentation-wise, the Nasi Ayam Gepuk (RM12.90) here was also the most put-together plate of the bunch, as each component of the dish was done well.
The chicken did most of the heavy lifting as the meat was glistening and juicy throughout. It also had crispy bits scattered on top that gave every bite some welcome textural contrast.
For sides, the sambal carried a spice that lingered well after the plate was cleared, and the cabbage – presumably air-fried – came out remarkably crispy. The tempeh and tauhu portions here were generous, too.
The only slight letdown was the gajus, which was chunky but not quite as lemak as we’d have liked it to be. However, it was nutty enough to take off some of the heat from the sambal. The gajus isn’t actually part of the standard set here either – it costs RM2 to add it on – so it’s a minor knock against an otherwise excellent plate.
At RM12.90, it’s also one of the cheapest sets on this list, which allowed us to easily crown Pak Raden’s Ayam Gepuk as the most worth-it ayam gepuk.
Spiciness: 4/5
Overall: 9/10
Sarah: “Why is this restaurant so far from my home?”
Leann: “If you’re craving gepuk badly, go for this spot.”
Ayam Gepuk Pak Raden Shah Alam
Tuesday 11:00 AM – 09:30 PM Show More Timings
Overall ranking of Ayam Gepuk restaurants in Seksyen 7
Here’s an overall breakdown of the ayam gepuk restaurants in Seksyen 7, according to our ranking and their prices:
| Rank | Restaurant | Price | Spiciness | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pak Raden | RM12.90 | 4/5 | 8/10 |
| 2 | Tok Mat | RM14.75 | 4/5 | 7/10 |
| 3 | Kapten | RM14.90 | 3/5 | 7/10 |
| 4 | Top Global | RM13.50 | 2/5 | 6.5/10 |
| 5 | Super Ngetopp | RM17.15 | 2.5/5 | 6/10 |
| 6 | Sambal Berapi | RM12.90 | 1/5 | 6/10 |
| 7 | Artisan | RM13 | 4/5 | 6/10 |
Where to get the best ayam gepuk in Seksyen 7, Shah Alam
If this list made anything clear, it’s that the chicken usually makes or breaks an ayam gepuk set. And to us, when it comes to price, portions, and how well the components on a plate of ayam gepuk are done, Pak Raden takes the crown, with Tok Mat and Kapten coming in close in second and third.
With more than 10 ayam gepuk stalls around the Seksyen 7 Shah Alam station, you could probably have a field day trying each stall. The next time you’re craving a place of ayam gepuk, you’ll know which spots to pick.
Also read our other reviews:
- The best shio pan in Klang Valley
- Trying & ranking ice cream and tea chains in Malaysia
- The best hokkien mee in Penang
Cover image adapted from: TheSmartLocal Malaysia
Photography by Brooklyn.
The post We Tried & Ranked 7 Ayam Gepuk Restaurants Near Seksyen 7 Shah Alam Station appeared first on TheSmartLocal Malaysia – Travel, Lifestyle, Culture & Language Guide.