Indonesian Food
 

I don't see many people talking about Indonesian food on here, but I am fascinated by it. Most of it I have not tried (yet), but my extensive travelling in the country last year allowed me to get a good taster (no pun intended) of the cuisine, and from many different regions.

http://backpackerlee.wordpress.com/2...sian-foodporn/

Do we have any Indonesian culinary experts on here? What is your favourite Indonesian food? Would you eat fried bat washed down with water buffalo milk? Or would you prefer a more 'western' style rice dish, like Nasi Goreng?

I've spent quite a bit of time in Indonesia, and it's food is very bland and uninspiring to me.

Noodles. Rice. Chicken. Soy cakes.

I'd put it right "up there" with Filipino food.

I'd put Malaysian above those, and probably Thai at the top; at least so far as Southeast Asia is concerned...

Laksa is more likely Malaysian/Singapore food than Indonesian. From the picture, it seems you don't travel in East & Central Java. My recommendation:

Beef Rendang
Nasi Padang
Rujak Cingur
Soto ayam
Soto Madura
Rawon
Lontong Cap Go Meh
Terang Bulan/Martabak Manis
Any fried/gril food with Sambal
Gudek

There are good size Indonesian community in Philly. I'll recommend

Skycafe - Medan style cooking
Hardena/Waroeng Surabaya - East Java style cooking
Indonesia Restaurant - Fancier than both mentioned previously, Java style cooking

Btw, Obama's favourite = Bakso, Nasi goreng. :p

Which part of Indonesia you're traveling to?
Sumatra food will be similar to Malaysian/Singapore.
Jakarta food is bland in general, you've got to know where to find the ethnic restaurant.
I lived in east Java, if you like spicy & salty food, it's the right place to be ;)
Bali, beside the babi guling & bebek betutu, there's not much else to eat here :p
Not really familiar with other island.

I agree with you on Thai food. However, to call Indonesia food bland & uninspiring, IMHO you didn't get the right food. :p It's definitely up there with Malaysian food.

I used to live in Jakarta, and have visited Indonesia numerous times. I've written about masakan Indonesia a few times - mainly from a Jakartan perspective - and have come to the realization that my favorite meals in Southeast Asia are for the most part, desserts. There are a few regional Indonesian cuisines that I really like - Manadonese, Acehnese, some Sundanese - but colenak, kue lapis and onde2 get me nearly every time.

Good call. I'm mostly familiar with Jakarta and also Bali, to a lesser extent. And I'm usually exposed to the warungs, and they usually have the same things on offer...

I will retract... :p

I think you correctly called it that I was only talking about Jakarta.

After the link worked for me...I saw foods that looked delicious and I never had the opportunity to try (but now will).

And the Malasyian food that I am most familiar with of the Indian and Chinese varieties, so a bit more "research" is needed there.

I'm very familiar with Thai food, however, and it really has it all...and I'll still put them at the top. :cool:

Great observations so far, with many new ideas! Thanks!

But I wanted ask one question: what is the name given to coconut milk, that you drink from the actual coconut? I have had many of these on Bali's beaches, but I forget what it is called!

Well, those coconuts that you would drink from are often called kelapa muda, or young coconuts. No matter what I drink in Indonesia, I'd always ask for it to be tawar, that is, au naturel.

Indonesian Food
 

everytime I am transiting through Europei try to stopover in AMS for a night to eat some awesome Indonesian food at Tempo Doleo

It's called "Degan" or "Kelapa Muda" (young coconut)

Edit: I just realized BuildingMyBento has beat me to it.

Indonesian Food
 

The honey I had in Bali is the best honey I've had anywhere. Wish there was a way to get it in the US.

I had a wonderful meal in Amsterdam. Restaurant Pelangi in Rembrandtplein. The set dinner came with nine or ten little plates which included beef, chicken, lamb and vegetarian.

In Singapore, there is such Indonesian food outlets as BaliThai, The Moluccas Room, and IndoBox. They are very popular, and I MUST try them next month when I am back in Singapore (won't be going back to Indonesia proper though).

I love my Indonesian food, helpful that I live in Singapore: some notable dishes I enjoy are listed below.

Soto Ayam
Ayam Penyet
Mie Bakso
Gado Gado
Nasi Kuning
Babi Guling
Nasi Goreng
Mie Goreng
Nasi Campur
Nasi Padang
Beef Rendang

I haven't seen degan written anywhere. Is that regional?