ESSENTIAL EATS & BEST OF THE CITY

Jakarta is paradise for food lovers, giving them access to everything from incredibly cheap and tasty street food to fancy and sophisticated fine dining and everything in-between. But it can be hard to figure out what the best food options in town are, which is why we’re here to help. Of course, the main type of cuisine on offer in Jakarta is Indonesian food. You’ll find restaurants representing the culinary cultures of the entire archipelago in the capital, from ubiquitous and always delicious Padang restaurants to the fiery fare of Aceh and Manado to the island delights of Bali and Lombok. There is no other city on Earth with as wide a selection of Indonesian eats as here, and a few visits to Jakarta’s top Indonesian restaurants makes it easy to understand why our lands were once known as the spice islands. Of course there is much more to Jakarta’s F&B scene than Indonesian food, as the capital’s discerning gourmands also have a taste for authentic international fare. Other Asian cuisines are strongly represented among Jakarta’s restaurants, particularly Japanese, which you’ll find in forms ranging from fast food to ultra-luxurious omakase style menus; and Chinese cuisine, which has been incorporated in many ways into everyday Indonesian food (such as nasi goreng and mie ayam). There are also plenty of excellent Korean restaurants catering to their large expat population as well as a number of good Vietnamese and Thai restaurants. Western food is also becoming increasingly popular in Jakarta, with many American fast food chains like McDonald's and KFC having long been mainstays for middle class Indonesian families. These days, you’ll find more sophisticated and varied western fare including authentic French and Italian restaurants, increasingly run by Indonesian chefs trained overseas. Even though it’s on the island of Java, Jakarta’s coffee has only recently started catering to kopi connoisseurs, with many cool cafes that take coffee seriously started by Indonesians who studied in Australia and want to nurture that same cafe culture here. Although many Indonesians abstain from alcohol, you’ll find plenty of bars and nightclubs in Jakarta that serve up much more than just beer. Cocktail culture has come particularly far in the last few years, with two Jakarta bars even making the Top 50 Bars in Asia list.