Semarang
It's easy to see why this two-storey restaurant is permanently packed: the food is exceptionally good! Earning the unreserved recommendation of the local…
Must-see restaurants in Java
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Borobudur
For a magical hilltop setting enhanced by traditional music, this vintage restaurant, 4km west of Borobudur, is hard to match. Eat in the formal dining…
Jakarta
Inside Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, OKU is an outstanding Japanese dining experience. Its Zen-like minimalist dining room allows the food to stand out. Chef…
Jakarta
Common Grounds is a pioneer of Melburnian third-wave coffee culture in Jakarta. Its award-winning baristas brew fine coffees roasted in-house, while the…
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Surabaya
Put on your posh frock to come to this highly regarded restaurant. It's set inside a renovated colonial mansion with 6m-high ceilings, chandeliers and…
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Jakarta
High tea or cocktails? You can have both, plus a divine Indonesian dinner in between at this alluring re-imagined Dutch colonial mansion, once Batavia's…
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Malang
The Tugu hotel's poolside restaurant is a romantic setting for a meal, with attentive staff to guide you through the delicious Indonesian and Chinese…
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West Java
Pangandaran’s terrific fish market consists of more than a dozen large, open-sided restaurants just off the east beach. Karya Bahari is considered the…
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Yogyakarta
This lively French-owned kitchen is a delight in every sense and comes highly recommended by expats. Everything is homemade, including crusty baguettes…
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Jakarta
There are more than 70 types of artisanal tea on offer at Lewis & Carroll. The tea lounge serves locally sourced teas with names like Batavia Grey and…
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East Java
Set off the road up to Ijen from Banyuwangi, this restaurant, inside the upmarket Jiwa Jawa hotel, is a stunner, with a massive ground-floor gallery and…
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Jakarta
Served in a hip Kota warehouse with soaring ceilings, big art murals and a retro-industrial vibe, Historia's dishes hail from around the archipelago. Try…
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Solo
Sharing space with a heritage hotel is this attractive restaurant offering home-style Solonese specialities. While the menu makes good reading, giving the…
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Central Java
This stylish beachfront restaurant is the indisputable top choice in Jepara. Dining is in the garden, around a pool or on tables so close to the sea that…
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Surabaya
At Citrus Lee the food is art, and every dish is delicately painted onto a plate. The chef-owner trained in Paris, and the French influence seeps into…
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Central Java
This is the very best place to try the famed chicken soup of Kudus. Cooks stir up cauldrons of the brew over a log-fired oven and diners pack round simple…
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Jakarta
This excellent restaurant in a grand, old, light-and-airy mansion has plenty of ambience. There's a live pianist, birdcages and reminders of a bygone era…
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Borobudur
A true 'Garden of Java', this idyllic cafe is well hidden away in a stunning location among landscaped rice paddies, natural springs and dreamy mountain…
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Jakarta
A tucked-away, uberhip rooftop tapas bar with terrace in the De Ritz Building in Menteng, this spot is popular with those in the know. Try the grilled and…
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Semarang
A wonderful, anachronistic bakery and store that hasn't changed in half a century. The delicious wingko (coconut cakes served warm) are the signature…
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Jakarta
On one of the best coffee strips in Jakarta, this appealing cafe has an alluring vintage style with bentwood chairs and tiled floors. Coffee drinks are…
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Jakarta
One of Jakarta's more tasteful dining options is this midcentury Dutch house set in a leafy neighbourhood that offers respite from the surrounding mayhem…
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West Java
The cafe-restaurant in the botanical garden is a wonderfully civilised place for a bite or a drink, with sweeping views down to the water-lily ponds. It's…
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Malang
With industrial-chic furnishings, shelves of books and graffiti wall art, this eye-catching cafe-restaurant, which is super-popular with local students,…
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Bandung
Bringing some style to Braga's brazen nightlife strip is this colonial terrace restaurant that exudes old-world European ambience mixed with the elegance…
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Surabaya
A delightful Italian bistro serving upmarket Surabaya with homemade pastas, imported steaks, wood-fired pizzas, Italian sausage, oyster mushrooms and more…
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West Java
You not only get solidly prepared and presented international dishes (think pasta, burgers, pizza, seafood and some standard Indonesian dishes) at this…
Jakarta
Plan B is a humble Spanish eatery serving authentic delicacies courtesy of Basque chef Oskar Urzelai. Locals love this out-of-the-way-but-buzzy…
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Jakarta
It's easy to think you've stumbled across an enchanting lost temple at Lara Djonggrang. Its dimly lit, incense-filled space is decorated with traditional…
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Jakarta
Expand your culinary palette at this branch of the acclaimed Michelin-starred Singapore chain, located at Grand Indonesia mall. The high-end Chinese…
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Yogyakarta
Yogya's fanciest place to dine is this renovated restaurant that offers a grand first impression with its palatial-like entrance, opulent baroque…
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East Java
With an elegant colonial ambience, the in-house restaurant of the Tugu Sri Lestari is a fine place to delight in well-presented, upmarket versions of such…
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Semarang
Occupying a sensitively restored building (Semarang’s former courthouse), this character-filled restaurant with its yellow roof tiles sports art deco…
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West Java
Run by welcoming owners Asep and Rini, this popular, unassuming warung has been cooking great local dishes since 1997. Try the delicious batagor (crispy…
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Semarang
Housed in a converted old general store (circa 1895) and once patronised by Dutch colonists, Spiegel has become a pivotal point of the old quarter. The…
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Jakarta
This re-imagined warung (food stall) attempts a modern and healthy take on classic dishes. Expect delectable Sundanese and Chinese Indonesian dishes,…
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Solo
This stylish Indonesian and fusion restaurant is part of the Danar Hadi complex, next to the batik museum and showroom. Mains include meat and pasta…
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Surabaya
With simple tiled walls, plastic-coated menus and chipped tables piled with plates of food, it's not the looks that bring crowds of noisy locals to eat at…
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Yogyakarta
This Dutch-owned cafe is a cool little hang-out, with awesome coffee, cold beers (happy 'hour' is from noon to 7pm) and an interesting menu of vegetarian…
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Jakarta
With modern, Scandi-esque design incorporating pastel tones and plants in terrariums, this cute spot around the corner from Barack Obama's old school…
