Indonesia Restaurants
Culinary Treats: Bandung, West Java
“Buy me some brownies”, or “Why don’t you dine at so-and-so restaurant”, or “Get me some bolen”: These are some familiar words you might hear from friends and relatives when they learn you are going on a trip to Bandung. Similarly, when someone from Bandung visits friends or relatives in other cities, he or she will most often than not take foods unique to Bandung along as a treat, like keripik oncom (crispy thin chips made from fermented soybeans), bolen (banana-filled pastry) or batagor (fried dim sum).
Date: May 7th, 2008 |
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The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: Bali
Candika and I were doing some shopping in Kuta Square and decided after to relax and enjoy a coffee. Normally I would go to Dulang but I noticed next door was a new place called The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Always being one to try anything new, we sat and enjoyed the narrow but pleasant décor. I had a look at their extensive menu of drinks and food, and, whilst reading their brochure noticed it was an American concern and a worldwide one at that. Apparently the company (The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf) have been around for more than 40 years, and they do have the most extraordinary collection of coffees and teas. The company has franchisees located in 15 international countries around the world!. So it seems that Starbucks might have a bit of competition.
Date: March 12th, 2008 |
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Asian Spice Restaurant: Tuban, Bali
Asian Spice is located directly opposite the Kuta Paradiso Hotel in Tuban, and although basically, a ‘take-away’ restaurant, there is seating inside if you wish to dine there and seating on the patio area where you can also enjoy your meal whilst watching the world go by along Jalan Kartika Plaza. What particularly impressed me was the huge array of Asian dishes, not only Indonesian, but from around the South-East Asian region – Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Malaysian, Singapore and Thai. The restaurant is clean and the service excellent. I liked the quality of the food, albeit a few dishes a bit expensive, but the servings were ample for a big eater.
Date: March 5th, 2008 |
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Waroeng Beach Club: Kuta, Bali
During my recent sojourn to Bali, I was fortunate to find a fabulous restoran located directly opposite Kuta Beach, the Waroeng Beach Club. Although only opened for the last year, this place has everything you will need to enjoy a leisurely meal in comfort - panoramic views of the ocean, good music, great food, spacious and comfortable furnishings, friendly staff, and best of all, it is an open-air restoran. Or, if you like, lounge around on one of the settee’s and enjoy a drink from the extensive bar. Located next to McDonalds restaurant on Jalan Pantai Kuta, Waroeng Beach Club is situated on the first floor overlooking Kuta Beach and the crystal blue ocean. It is the view alone that gives pleasure to any person dining there. The one thing that I found particularly interesting was the late afternoon BBQ’s on the beach. What a way to relax in Bali!.
Date: March 3rd, 2008 |
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Glodok – Chinatown: Jakarta, West Java
Being married to an Indonesian-born Chinese Bhuddist it’s only natural that I have a deep interest in Chinese culture and those parts of Indonesia where the persons of Chinese descent reside. In every major city in the Archipelago there is a Chinatown (pecinan) and one of my favourites is in Semarang even though I am entranced by the Chinatown in Yogyakarta where I lived. But it is in Jakarta where there s probably the most interesting of these areas – Glodok in West Jakarta.
Date: February 18th, 2008 |
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Book Review:The Jakarta Good Food Guide 2008-2009
If you want to read just one book about food in Jakarta, make it The Jakarta Good Food Guide (JGFG). This is an indispensable guide for foodies and travelers looking for a taste of something different in Jakarta. Laksmi Pamuntjak is an independent reviewer who has deliberately avoided invitations of all sorts. I spent about two thirds of my life in the Jakarta, but it seems I have missed some of the “famous” restaurants and stalls Laksmi writes about. There are
around 440 restaurants including the kaki-lima (roadside stalls) she reviews in this third edition, which is available in English only. At Rp 200,000 (around US$20), this book is a steal. And the best place to store this guide is inside your car rather than on a shelf or coffee table.
Date: April 24th, 2008 |
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Acehnese Cuisine in Yogyakarta: Central Java
Bungong Jeumpa is the name of a restaurant in Yogyakarta on Jl. R.W. Monginsidi, near the traffic light on the corner with Jl. Magelang. Local residents have dubbed it the “Borobudur Plaza T-junction eatery”. Bungong jeumpa is Acehnese for bunga jumpa, a type of flower that resembles jasmine, with yellowish-white petals that taper into a light mauve base. Bang (brother) Syukri, the restaurant owner, was sitting at the cashier desk one evening in early February, now and again inspecting his cooks preparing noodles and other employees making coffee. With his customers still crowding into the restaurant that night, Bang Syukri was apparently very busy.
Date: March 11th, 2008 |
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Soup Restaurant: Jakarta, West Java
One of many Chinese food restaurants in Jakarta offering healthy traditional Chinese cuisine is Soup Restaurant, located on the 3rd level of Plaza Indonesia shopping center in Central Jakarta. Among the restaurant’s specialities are various soups using Chinese herbs, including ginseng.
Date: March 4th, 2008 |
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Farming Snails: Bali
Five months ago, Putu Suastika deliberately inundated his rice field in a daring business decision. He turned the field into a freshwater snail farm to cash in on the growing demand for traditional freshwater snail delicacies at his food stall in western Denpasar. Suastika is a man of many talents. He is an experienced farmer, a junior high school teacher, an accomplished chef of Balinese traditional food and the owner of a successful food stall.
Date: February 26th, 2008 |
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Bungai Rampai Restaurant: Jakarta, West Java
Being the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta is a huge city and the one good thing about this is that there are plenty of restorans, warungs etc where one can imbibe in the delicacies of the archipelago. There are always new restorans opening up and one of these is Bungai Rampai in Menteng.
Date: February 17th, 2008 |
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