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Who thinks condiments are the best part of a meal? Or, to put it another way, who believes meals are really just an excuse to have sauces, relishes and sambals? As a person with six types of chilli oil at home, I was predisposed to enjoy a new restaurant that celebrates the Indonesian obsession with sambal.

Simply defined, sambal is a chilli relish, but its composition changes from island to island, town to town, house to house, and according to whim. Sambal can be fresh, cooked, chopped, pounded, blended, fruity, fishy, soupy or dry. A meal without sambal is unthinkable, like pie without sauce or xiao long bao without vinegar.

Waroeng SS is the first Australian outpost of a 22-year-old chain with 100 branches in Indonesia (mostly in Java) and two in Malaysia. Local Indonesian restaurateur Michael Samsir, from Clayton’s excellent PBK Noodles, is easing the brand’s arrival.

There’s a little Indonesia precinct at the southern end of Lygon Street but this restaurant is further north, close to Elgin Street.

Painted a cheery yellow with efficient staff in red, and a Muslim prayer room upstairs, the halal menu is accessed via QR code. Twenty different sambals kick it off, followed by proteins and vegetables.

There’s fried and grilled fish, chicken, beef and tempeh, satay squid and prawns, and sauteed broccoli and beans.

Most dishes are under $12 but bill creep is a hazard. If you’re disciplined, you can feed yourself for less than 10 bucks.

“An Indonesian meal without sambal is unthinkable, like pie without sauce.”

There’s no wrong way to mix and match but there are classic combinations. Spice-brined, fried catfish works well with raw shrimp paste sambal: the crisp fish and fermented relish is zippy in the mouth. Grilled chicken thigh is a fine partner for the chunkier hot oil garlic sambal. Green mango sambal is a firm friend for grilled fish, which is slightly sweet from its coconut sugar brine.

You can signal your spice tolerance when ordering each dish but the omelette and gado gado are good spice breaks, too, simple and fresh.

Waroeng SS is a functional place but there are plenty of signs of care and hospitality. The kangkung (water spinach) is carefully prepared, so there’s more leaf and less stalk. I like it sauteed, a little soupy, with the taste of shrimp paste coming through.

As a halal restaurant there’s no alcohol, but it’s not a bad idea to have an avocado juice to help assuage any chilli tsunamis. There’s also a signature herbal ginger and lemongrass quencher.

If you like your food hot and spicy, and you’re into the conscious coupling of condiments, Waroeng SS is your kind of place: fast, easy and fiery.