Yogyakarta Culinary Destination

Finding food in Yogyakarta is not difficult things. There are warungs, eateries and restaurants at every nook and corner of the city. It become a serious one during the Ramadhan (Hari Raya Puasa). All the eating establishments closed for the holidays and just save the MacDonald's and KFC.

With the numerous warungs in the city, it is almost impossible to do a comprehensive review. But dont worry about this. Here we shared some warungs, restaurants or cofe. Expect to pay no more than Rp10,000 for meal with drink. The alternative would be proper eating establishments or the 'upmarket warungs', either serving a specialized menu (local or Western cuisine) or a variety of choices. Rp20,000 should be enough.



For the main 'course', we are talking about the upmarket restaurants and dining places. Compared to other Indonesian cities, Yogyakarta falls behind in the quantity and quality of its upmarket experience but it makes up through its reasonable prices and its dining environment which makes little attempt to be what is not.

Gadjah Wong

Located along Jalan Gejayan, Gadjah Wong is nicely nestled away from the main road as if entering a tranquil environment. One of the most expensive restaurants in the city means that, more often than not, you will probably be one of the few diners. Consisting of three dining atmospheres (Javanese, country music or jazz), it offers at least three excuses to return other than the excellent mains which start from 30, 000 Rp. onwards.

Parsley

Located along Jalan Kaliurang is Parsley bakery, café and restaurant under one roof. The selection of breads and pastries available at the bakery evokes memories of the neighbourhood bakeries in Singapore. Not a promising start. The cafe area is pretty cozy but with only 2 sofas, it is not exactly the place to hang out for the afternoon. They could do better with other couches. The restaurant serves the usual (local and Western mains) with mains starting from 20,000 Rp onwards which does not reflect the quality of the food served. Having eaten there a couple of times, the service and food is consistently below average. The concept of al fresco dining at night makes little sense when there is poor ventilation (read: no air conditioning) and its location along the busy Jalan Kaliurang defeats the original purpose.

Joglo Resto

Joglo Resto, located along Jalan Colombo and near the main entrance of UNY, is best described as a collection of warung food in a restaurant setting. From bawal bakar to tempe goreng to cream of chicken soup (stay away from that), you name it and they have it. The only difficult part is to comb through the myriad of consolidated menus from various stores and actually choosing what to eat. All you need to do is to write what you want (typical Indonesian style) and that's it. A typical meal should cost around 20, 000 Rp. inclusive of mains and drinks. Bills are settled at the entrance of the restaurant warung style.

Cozy Easy Dining

A chain of restaurants (Jalan Gejayan and Jalan Lasada Adisucipto) with its classy interior, there is a regret of not visiting it much earlier. Prompt service with a wide range of mains with reasonable pricing starting from 15,000 Rp. onwards and the promise of live music on weekends, Cozy Easy Dining really lives up to its name. However, the gig screen seems to distract the overall presentation. No complaints if they screen live football games. Frequently patronized by the younger local crowd, it deserves repeated visits.

Hanis Bakery

Another highly recommended eating establishment located along Jalan Palagan Tentara Pelajar. Opened by a Belgian who married an Indonesian (at time of writing, the wife is pregnant), this is the closest you can get to the atmosphere of One Rochester without the yippie crowd. Serving both Western and Javanese mains (think Gadjah Wong) starting from 25,000 Rp., the quality is close to you might find it in some fancy restaurants in Singapore. Try to buy some European bread while dining there. A jazz band plays on Fridays and Saturday evenings.

>Sapi Bali

Another restaurant located near the Hyatt along Jalan Palagan Tentara Pelajar, Sapi Bali serves one of the better iga bakar (BBQ ribs, I think) in Yogyakarta. The most expensive mains (Iga Bakar) tops at 27,000 Rp which is enough for one very hungry guy. The ribs are nicely barbequed over a nice fire such that the skin is crispy while the inside is tender and soft to the bite. One of my eating companions remarked that given the name of the restaurant and the dominance of Hinduism in Balinese society, iga bakar is one big contradiction but one is not complaining when the food is so delicious.

In terms of hanging out places, Yogya seems to need to pull up its socks.

Via Via Cafe

Located in the Prawirotaman area (associated with the backpackers), this cafe is one of the more stylish cafes / chill out places with its two storey layout. The second floor is well much better than the first especially when the jazz band belts out jazz standards on Fridays from 2000 onwards. Exhibitions by local artists are reqularly held at Via Via which pushes its arty quotient up another notch. Via Via tends to fill up quite fast so reservations are recommended if going in a big group.

Kinoki

Tucked away from the busy street of Jalan Suroto is Kinoki. Located directly opposite the Gramedia building along Jalan General Sudirman, it prides itself as a nice chill out place in the evening with daily movie screenings ranging from Hitchcock to Indonesian indie films. Food is reasonably priced with mains starting from 12,000 Rp. onwards but be prepared to wait for your food. It does sell some nice T - shirts (better than those sold in the distros) and some nice DVDs. A place for the arty farty or just to chill out without having to travel too far out.

Bintang Bar

Featured on Lonely Planet and patronized by its readers, the bar is located along Jalan Sosrowijayan, a stone throw away from the busiest street in Yogyakarta, Jalan Malioboro. Bustling with bules (the local term for foreigners) and Indonesian SPG (Sarong Party Girls), the place is filled with expats and backpackers. Live band plays on Friday evenings starting from 2100 onwards and the atmosphere picks up closer to 2300. Happy hours end at 2000 daily.

(Thanks to http://hikayatdariyogya.blogspot.com for this sharing)