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 Indonesia
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Yogyakarta
This lively French-owned kitchen is a delight in every sense and comes highly recommended by expats. Everything is homemade, including crusty baguettes…
Flores
This open-sided Indo-Australian affair starts with local coffee, house-made soy milk and freshly baked bread; it progresses to exceptional Indonesian…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Kerobokan
Modern, vibrant and packed, this Vietnamese restaurant lures in the buzzing masses with its swanky neon decor. Creative Vietnamese dishes include peppery…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
Solo
Sharing space with a heritage hotel is this attractive restaurant offering home-style Solonese specialities. While the menu makes good reading, giving the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
