Exploring Jakarta!

As veterans of coffee shows we know that exploring the host city can be a huge part of the fun, and Jakarta has much to offer! Jakarta embodies Indonesia’s aspiration towards Unity in Diversity – Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, the country’s national motto – bringing together people from all around the archipelago to live side by side. 

Food is our favorite way to explore new places, and Jakarta has much to offer! Indonesian food is incredibly diverse, ranging from the long-cooked curries of Padang food like beef rendang to the quick-fired nasi goreng (fried rice), perhaps the top two contenders for Indonesia’s national dish. There’s also lots of excellent and reasonably priced East and Southeast Asian food, and although European and American food can be a bit hit and miss or quite pricey, we are enjoying a hipster smashburger renaissance! 

Jakarta’s local cuisine comes from the Betawi people – a name drawn from Jakarta’s colonial era name of Batavia – whose diverse roots have incorporated dishes and influences from peoples throughout the archipelago and from the immigrant communities who have called Indonesia home for centuries. To avoid mis-attributing any dishes, I’ll stick to recommending soto Betawi, a creamy beef soup, and asinan Betawi, a sweet and sour vegetable dish. Chinese Indonesian cuisine is also common throughout the city, and while pork is often available many places keep it halal to ensure that a broader segment of the population can eat there. Places to get mie ayam – literally “noodles” and “chicken” – are abundant, with many folks having strong opinions on the proper texture and bounciness of their noodles. Siomay – a common street food whose name is derived from Chinese shumai – may be the most Indonesian dish imaginable, as the usually porky dumplings found in Chinese cooking is swapped out for a fish-based version, then smothered in a Javanese style peanut sauce and kecap manis – Indonesian sweet soy sauce.

Speaking of Java, roughly half of Indonesia’s population lives on the island, so you’ll find the foods of the largest ethnic groups – Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese – widely around Jakarta and the country. Javanese food breaks with most expectations of Indonesian food, emphasizing sweet over spicy. Gado gado, pecel, and lothek are all variations on steamed vegetable salads smothered in peanut sauce, with pecel edging out the others to my taste buds as it sometimes comes spicy. Sundanese food – best found in nearby Bandung on your way to visit the coffee fields of West Java – emphasizes fresh flavors and is often spicy; look out for lalapan, the fresh veggies served alongside rice and protein, and pepes, with various proteins or vegetables cooked in banana leaves. Madurese cuisine is responsible for one of the most ubiquitous forms of an iconic Indonesian dish – sate Madura, usually chicken on skewers served with a sauce made of freshly roasted ground peanuts and kecap manis – but their fried duck (bebek goreng) is also fantastic.

Whether you’re here for coffee or culture (or both!), we hope you take the time to taste your way through Jakarta. With every bite, you’ll discover a new layer of the city’s rich, diverse identity.