Must-see restaurants in Indonesia

  • Holliday Restaurant

    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…

  • Patio

    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…

  • Interior of OKU

    OKU

    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…

  • Interior of Common Grounds

    Common Grounds

    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…

  • Gianyar Night Market

    East Bali

    The sound of scores of cooking pots and the glare of bright lights add a frenetic and festive clamour to Gianyar's delicious and wonderfully aromatic…

  • Bali Asli

    East Bali

    The green hills around Amlapura are some of east Bali's most beautiful and Australian chef Penelope Williams takes full advantage of the vistas at her…

  • De Soematra 1910

    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…

  • Kunstkring Paleis

    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…

  • Melati

    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…

  • Sari Rasa

    Flores

    This sparkling-clean, bare-walled restaurant is filled with travellers out for a taste of local food, but who come back for Martin, the charismatic owner…

  • Pasar Ikan

    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…

  • Mediterranea

    Yogyakarta

    This lively French-owned kitchen is a delight in every sense and comes highly recommended by expats. Everything is homemade, including crusty baguettes…

  • Mopi's Place

    Flores

    This open-sided Indo-Australian affair starts with local coffee, house-made soy milk and freshly baked bread; it progresses to exceptional Indonesian…

  • Single Fin

    Bukit Peninsula

    From this triple-level cafe on its cliff-side perch, you can watch never-ending swells march across the Indian Ocean and the surfers carve it up when the…

  • Lewis & Carroll

    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…

  • Genius Cafe

    Sanur

    This hub for entrepreneurship, which is part of a growing, membership-based network of beach clubs, also serves up delicious food and drinks from a…

  • Room4Dessert

    Ubud

    Celebrity chef Will Goldfarb, who hails from the States and gained fame via Netflix's Chef's Table, runs what could be a nightclub but is in fact a…

  • Java Banana

    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…

  • Restaurant Laryss

    Flores

    Don't miss this beachside fish shack. Sit at a tree-shaded table on the sand and order the catch of the day or a soul-stirring ikan kuah assam (tamarind…

  • Men Gabrug

    Denpasar

    A favourite sweet treat for Balinese of all ages is jaje laklak – disks of rice flour cooked in an open-air cast-iron pan and redolent of coconut. One of…

  • Saigon Street

    Kerobokan

    Modern, vibrant and packed, this Vietnamese restaurant lures in the buzzing masses with its swanky neon decor. Creative Vietnamese dishes include peppery…

  • Depot Cak Asmo

    Denpasar

    Join the government workers and students from the nearby university for superb dishes cooked to order in the bustling kitchen. Order the buttery and…

  • Bixio Cafe

    Aceh

    Who would have thought Sumatra’s best Italian food was hiding in a remote corner of Pulau Weh? Sit by the lapping waves and dig into Luca and Eva’s…

  • Bumbu Bali 1

    Bukit Peninsula

    Long-time resident and cookbook author Heinz von Holzen, his wife Puji, and their well-trained and enthusiastic staff serve exquisitely flavoured dishes…

  • Full Circle

    Ubud

    Australian-style cafe society is represented by a few popular businesses here in Ubud, and this is its most recent – and sleek – incarnation. Though it's…

  • Historia

    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…

  • One Eyed Jack

    Canggu

    Izakaya, the style of Japanese dining that encourages groups of friends to enjoy drinks and shared plates of food, is exemplified by this wonderful small…

  • Ocean's Resto

    Balikpapan

    Fresh fish and crustaceans (the menu is a book in itself) are the standout here, but there's also steaks, burgers, pizzas, Indian and Indonesian dishes,…

  • Green Leaf Cafe

    East Bali

    After you've chilled out, chill out some more. This excellent cafe right on the beach serves good, fresh food, with many vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free…

  • Korintji Heritage

    West Sumatra

    Set up as a social enterprise to empower locals, this fantastic new cafe in Sungai Penuh is set inside an atmospheric bamboo building overlooking the town…

  • Omah Sinten

    Solo

    Sharing space with a heritage hotel is this attractive restaurant offering home-style Solonese specialities. While the menu makes good reading, giving the…

  • Warung Amsha

    East Bali

    Tables at this popular beach warung are arranged on the sand and are hotly sought after – it's a good idea to make a booking or arrive early. The menu is…

  • Yam-Yam

    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…

  • Deus Ex Machina

    Canggu

    This surreal venue amid Canggu's rice fields has many personas. If you're hungry, it's a restaurant-cafe-bar; for shoppers, it's a fashion label; if you…

  • Citrus Lee

    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…

  • Warung Enak

    East Bali

    Owners Komang and Wayan have their own organic vegetable garden, and use the produce in the tasty dishes created in their busy kitchen. Balinese dishes…

  • Hotel Komune Beach Club

    East Bali

    Enjoying the restaurant, bar, pool and outdoor cinema at Hotel Komune's beach club isn't limited to the resort's in-house guests, which is good news for…

  • Soto Bujatmi

    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…

  • Shelter Cafe

    Seminyak

    This second-storey, back-alley cafe brims daily with the beautiful people of Seminyak, their coffee strong and their acai bowls piled high (prepared by…

  • Plataran Menteng

    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…

More destinations you need to see