Sam

Latest update: June 2026

Jakarta doesn’t always get much love from food-focused travellers.

Many visitors use Indonesia’s capital as a transit point before heading to Bali, Yogyakarta or the islands further east. That’s a mistake. Jakarta has some of the best food in Indonesia, from tiny street-side warungs to historic restaurants and modern rooftop bars.

Livia lived in Jakarta for six months in 2014 while working in the city and we have returned several times since. During that time, we spent a lot of our free time doing what we do best: eating.

These are some of our favourite restaurants, coffee shops and local food experiences in Jakarta.

Looking for more Jakarta travel tips? Check out our guides to Things to Do in Jakarta and Why You Should Visit Jakarta.

Indonesian Classics

Restoran Garuda Sabang

If you’ve never tried Padang food before, a cuisine originating from West Sumatra, Restoran Garuda is one of the best introductions.

As soon as you sit down, dozens of small dishes are placed on your table. You only pay for what you eat, allowing you to sample a wide variety of flavours. Expect rich rendang, spicy curries, fried chicken and vegetable dishes packed with flavour.

Located close to Jalan Sabang, it’s also an easy stop while exploring one of Jakarta’s most famous food streets.

Sate Kambing Jaya Agung

For a more local experience, head to Sate Kambing Jaya Agung.

Their speciality is lamb satay served with sweet soy sauce, chilli and onions. It’s simple, affordable and usually filled with local diners rather than tourists.

Sate Khas Senayan

One of Indonesia’s most recognisable restaurant chains, Sate Khas Senayan is a reliable option for first-time visitors.

The menu covers dishes from across the archipelago and is a good place to sample several Indonesian favourites in one meal. While it may not be the most adventurous choice in Jakarta, the food is consistently good and easy to recommend.

Warung MJS

Warung MJS is a popular Indonesian restaurant in Kuningan known for its wide selection of traditional dishes. It’s a great place to sample a variety of local flavours in a casual setting.

Guests choose their food before sitting down, making it easy to mix and match different dishes. If you’re visiting with others, we recommend ordering several plates to share.

The restaurant can get busy during peak meal times, particularly with local diners, so you may need to wait for a table.

Street Food & Local Favourites

While Jakarta has plenty of excellent restaurants, some of our favourite meals are always from simple street food stalls and local eateries.

Many of Indonesia’s most beloved dishes are sold from small carts, roadside warungs and family-run restaurants. Don’t be put off by the plastic stools and basic surroundings. Some of the best food in Jakarta comes from places that barely look like restaurants at all.

A few of our personal favourites include bakso, mie ayam and tongseng. You’ll find them all over the city, often at places packed with local customers.

Bakso Populer

This small local spot in Thamrin serves excellent bakso and is a great introduction to one of Indonesia’s favourite dishes.

Bakso Rusuk Samanhudi Sabang

Located near Jalan Sabang, this is another good spot to try bakso, one of Indonesia’s most popular comfort foods. It’s a simple local place serving a dish you’ll find all over Jakarta.

Bakmi Cong Sim

Located in Mangga Besar, Bakmi Cong Sim serves simple but delicious bakmi noodles. It’s not a fancy restaurant, but the flavours speak for themselves. We still find ourselves thinking about these noodles years later.

Historic & Special Occasion Restaurants

Cafe Batavia

Located on Fatahillah Square in Jakarta’s Old Town, Cafe Batavia is one of the city’s most iconic restaurants. Yes, it’s touristy. But it’s also beautiful.

Housed inside a restored colonial-era building, the restaurant is filled with old photographs, antiques and historic charm. Grab a table upstairs for views across the square and enjoy one of the most atmospheric dining experiences in the city. We tend to come here for a drink rather than a meal, but the atmosphere alone makes it worth visiting.

Plataran Dharmawangsa

If you’re looking for a special meal, Plataran Dharmawangsa is hard to beat.

Traditional Indonesian architecture, lush gardens and excellent food combine to create an oasis in the middle of Jakarta. The setting alone is worth a visit, but the food more than lives up to the surroundings.

It’s one of our favourite places for introducing visitors to Indonesian cuisine.

Coffee Shops

Saudagar Kopi Sabang

Indonesia produces some of the world’s best coffee and Saudagar Kopi is one of our favourite places to enjoy it.

Located near Jalan Sabang, this cosy café is a great place to escape Jakarta’s traffic and heat for a while. The coffee is excellent and it’s an easy addition to an afternoon spent exploring central Jakarta.

Tanamera Coffee

Tanamera helped introduce many visitors to Indonesian speciality coffee and remains one of the city’s most popular coffee chains.

Their beans come from different regions across Indonesia, making it a great place to explore the country’s incredible coffee culture.

Anomali Coffee

Another long-time favourite, Anomali focuses on Indonesian-grown beans and offers coffees from regions including Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi.

If you’re curious about the differences between Indonesian coffee-producing regions, this is a great place to start.

Rooftops & Views

Kosenda Hotel Rooftop

The rooftop at Kosenda Hotel offers fantastic city views in a more relaxed setting. It’s a great place for sunset drinks while watching the skyline light up for the evening.

ARTOTEL roof top

ARTOTEL’s rooftop bar is another good option for views over central Jakarta. The atmosphere is laid-back and attracts a mix of locals, expats and visitors looking for a drink above the busy streets below.

Skye

Located high above the city centre, SKYE is one of Jakarta’s most famous rooftop venues. The views across the skyline are impressive, particularly after dark when the city’s skyscrapers begin to light up. It’s more upscale than Kosenda or ARTOTEL, making it a popular choice for sunset drinks or a special night out.

Food Neighbourhoods Worth Exploring

Jalan Sabang (Jl. H. Agus Salim)

One of Jakarta’s most famous food streets, Jalan Sabang (Jl. H. Agus Salim) comes alive after dark with street food stalls, local restaurants and coffee shops. It’s a great place to try a wide range of Indonesian dishes in a single evening and remains one of our favourite places to wander whenever we’re back in the city. It’s also right next door to Artotel Tharmin where we’ve stayed many times while in Jakarta.

Pantjoran PIK

Pantjoran PIK in Pantai Indah Kapuk has become one of Jakarta’s most popular food destinations. Inspired by old Chinese-Indonesian architecture, the area is packed with restaurants, cafés and street food stalls. It’s particularly good for Chinese and Chinese-Indonesian food and makes for a fun evening of eating and exploring.

Baywalk Area

The waterfront around Baywalk Mall is one of Jakarta’s best areas for seafood. Along the coast you’ll find a number of restaurants serving fresh fish, prawns, crab and other seafood dishes, often with views across Jakarta Bay.

If you’re a seafood lover, this is a great alternative to the Indonesian and Chinese restaurants found elsewhere in the city.

Final Thoughts

Jakarta is one of Southeast Asia’s most underrated food cities.

The city brings together cuisines from across Indonesia, allowing you to try dishes from Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and beyond without ever leaving the capital. Whether you’re eating Padang food on Jalan Sabang, tucking into a bowl of bakso from a local stall or watching the skyline from a rooftop bar, Jakarta rewards travellers who arrive hungry.

If you’re planning a trip, don’t miss our guides to Things to Do in Jakarta and Why you should visit Jakarta for more ideas on exploring Indonesia’s fascinating capital.

Who makes the best coffee in Jakarta? When you’re travelling coffee becomes a basic human necessity. You need a kick to get you up and off on the good foot.

On our recent visits to Jakarta my mission as Captain Coffee was to locate some of the best roasteries, brewers and purveyors of the dark brown elixir. Not as easy as you think considering that the island is called Java, Coffee is called Kopi and most people want to serve you a milky iced beverage.

#1 Tanamera Coffee

Modern, chilled coffee bar in the center of Jakarta, Thamrin. Guys in leather aprons have been proudly brewing coffee since 2013. They work with local Indonesian farmers to produce and roast a piquant coffee that is exquisite and distinctive. They serve all your favorite coffee combinations as well as cold brews, pastries and sandwiches.

The interior of red and black matching their branding is comfy and welcoming. Of course there is free wi-fi
Tanamera Coffee now have eight outlets throughout Indonesia. Quite possibly the best coffee in Jakarta.

At Tanamera Coffee relax in the knowledge your coffee will be good.

#2 Kopi Es Tak Kie

Before you get yourself too involved with Jakarta’s famous Chinatown or nearby “Ghost City”, get yourself down to Kopi Es Tak Kie.

Being Jakarta’s oldest coffee house they’ve perfected their brewing skills over the last 90 years (yes since 1929) and offer a no frills brew at a really good price. There are tables and chairs and there is coffee… but that’s about it. As their name suggests they make Ice Coffee, but you can ask for hot brews, with or without milk, just don’t start asking for a de-caff soy latte OK?!

#3 Coffeebeerian

Coffee AND Craft Beer?.. yes it’s possible at Coffeebeerian. It’s a simple place with a few back rooms and a few comfy sofas. All kinds of hot/cold filter brews, specialty beans and a guy who just loves to make coffee. Not fancy, nor Instagrammable but great. It’s also a nice area (Senopati) to walk around with large houses and gardens.

#4 Toko Kopi TUKU – Pasar Santa

Ok, you don’t even get a table at this place, find a place to sit down on a nearby wall. At Toko Kopi TUKU you order your coffee through a sliding glass window, you can jump the queue of Go-Jek drivers. Mostly serving Ice Coffee with a plastic sealed lid and a straw it’s hard to beat on a hot day in Jakarta. Go check out the local market, upstairs are loads of cool independent shops selling toys, records, graffiti supplies and more.

Toko Kopi Kuku is not romantic by far.. but it’s damn fine coffee!

#5 Cafe Batavia

Yes it’s expensive, yes you have to get past the crowds of students wanting interviews and selfies.. but as soon as you cross the threshold of Cafe Batavia you are transported back to the Colonial Jakarta of days gone by. Sip on your coffee and look out over the square with people riding colorful rent-a-bikes and enjoy the history.

What do you think of my best coffee in Jakarta hot spots? Let me know in the comment section below.

Many people dismiss Jakarta as a tourist destination which is such a shame as it has so much to offer the traveler, even if you’re just passing through, read our post “Why you should visit Jakarta” and our other Jakarta posts for more on this great city.

Grand interior of cafe Batavia

We discussed “slum tourism” as a couple quite a few times when we found out about the Hidden Jakarta Tour. Whether it would be ethical or not to go on this tour. Their TripAdvisor reviews seemed positive. Not only would we get to see the another completely different side of Jakarta, we would actually be contributing to a community in a sustainable and responsible way. It’s a touchy subject as most people would consider it a day looking at poor people in a very depressing human zoo. Ultimately it depends on the tour itself, which way you look at it and how it affects you as another human being.

In the end we decided to go on the tour as it wasn’t a look-at-these-poor-people-tour as many tours like these turn into. The people who run this tour are mainly doing it to raise money for these communities (all money goes directly to their different projects) and to show this part of Jakarta to Indonesian people. To make a change. This is where the importance is for us, why they run the tour. They want to make a change, this is something the government doesn’t want you to see, thereof the name Hidden Jakarta tour. But by having this tour, they raise awareness of the issue which is the first step for change. Also, many of the people working for the tour are living in these areas themselves, which we really liked. It’s also a way to give back to these communities.

The Hidden Jakarta Tour not only gives you an insight into the disparity of the city, we had a real opportunity to connect with people who were as interested in us as we were in them. “Why do you come to Jakarta?“, is a very popular question whenever we are in Jakarta. Our answer is mostly “The food and the people”. This tour made this even more true for us.

Fatahillah Square

We started our day by heading off in a BlueBird taxi to Fatahillah Square. It’s a on most tourists’ to do list in Jakarta, and a main sightseeing spot. It’s also a popular place for students to grab an interview with the tourists. They ask you your name, where you’re from and why you came to Indonesia, that’s usually in front of a camera. Then they want a selfie with you, then the next person ask the same thing. You could do this all day.

Fatahillah Square Jakarta

We grabbed a coffee at the famous Cafe Batavia. The food was OK, but as always in Indonesia you can get better for cheaper, essentially you’re paying for the location and the interior of the cafe. It’s well worth the visit for the location. Coffee was excellent, they have different coffee from all around Indonesia and hits a spot in my Top 5 Best Coffee in Jakarta blog post.

Drinking Coffee at Cafe Batavia Jakarta

Our guide meets us at a local cafe, Kantin Mega Rasa, just around the corner. We grabbed lunch and an ice tea, while discussing what’s in store for the day. It’s also a great time to ask anything you’d like to know and about taking photos, as that was something we viewed as a potential awkward/embarrassing, or not at all normal social behaviour. The best thing was to take it by ear, our guide would check, or as it turned out people would ask us to take their photo. Well it is Indonesia, and they do love their selfies.

The three of us jumped in a microlet (small buss for local transportation) and headed off. We jumped out at Jembatan Kota Intan, an original Bascule bridge, and after dodging the traffic we ducked into a side alley and headed off into the dark and towards the train lines.

Dark Places

Dark alleyway leading down underneath the railway tracks

Ducking into a side alley is not something you’d normally choose to do on your own, or in our case, wouldn’t even know it led somewhere. Our guide smiled and greeted a few people as we walked through the long corridor peeking into peoples homes on each side. You see people cooking food on stoves next to a central gutter, another person washing their clothes or feeding a baby, going about their normal lives in the damp, fetid air. We stopped at a door and our guide bids us welcome into a persons home. It’s about 4m x 4m square, no windows, the railway is only a meter above you.

This was our first meeting. She explained to our guide how she lives in this space, her husband earns about $2 a day as a parking attendant nearby. This place is ‘rented’ from a Chinese criminal gang who collect about $30 a month from them. As you can see in the pic they have electricity and a fridge, their possessions are hung around or neatly packed against the wall. The fan blasts 40°c hot air around the room, it’s hot as hell, but we all smile for an awkward turtle moment. Yes the first meeting was a bit awkward for us, as we wasn’t sure how to act. But it got better throughout the tour and we relaxed a bit more.

Back in the dark corridor, we climb one of the ladders and walked along the thin plywood floor/ceiling and past a few doors to sunlight and a gasp of ‘fresh’ air. Before we head back down and onwards to the bridge, greeting mostly women who were chatting or cleaning/cooking and children who are running around playing and being shy when we say hello.

Stinky River – Hidden Jakarta Tour

Boat Trip

Livia in a bicycle tuk-tuk

This time we jumped into an bicycle tuk-tuk (illegal in Jakarta, but no one cared in this area) and disappear off towards the docks. This is a very working class, low income area. Our guide had us pulled across the water way by a family working this “ferry”/boat/raft. It was covered from the sun by some tarp with a piece of rope to pull it left or right. One of the family members guided us into a thin wooden boat. His son took us out to the old lighthouse and back with his grandson sitting up front all proud of his new passengers whilst he played on a broken mobile phone. We passed dozens of ships in different states of repair and after about 30 minutes we were out in open water, the old green lighthouse in view and massive container ships dotting the horizon. We headed back feeling slightly smaller in our 4 meter long wooden boat.

When we arrived back our guide led us out into the wasteland next to the docks. The ground was rubble, bricks, concrete, bits of cable. Dotted across the debris were makeshift tents, built from whatever could be found, tarpaulin, wood, sheet metal, whatever worked. Floors were on stilts, beds were either on the floor or raised where the whole family would sleep together. By family, I mean in this case a woman with six children, her husband works on a cargo boat sailing between Indonesia and the UAE. She see him once every three or so months when he brings her a few hundred dollars after his expenses.

Dockland/Wasteland at the port of Jakarta

These houses are illegal, in the sense that they’re not allowed to build anything on these grounds. Ever so often the government sends bulldozers to take it all down. And these families have to rescue what they can and start over, once the bulldozers left.

We sat down with a family and had a really nice chat with them. We were asked a ton of questions, If we were married, where we live, where we come from, How much we earn? How much we pay for rent?. You quickly realize these are huge almost inconceivable sums of money for these people.

Reflections

Walking through the back streets near the docks in Jakarta

The Indonesian government doesn’t want to admit to this problem. Many Indonesians have never seen these areas. That’s also a reason why we found it important to go. To go here and show that these people matters. That’s an issue in this area, the guide told us that many of the people living here doesn’t think they matter as not even their own countrymen comes here. He continued to explain how happy it made the people here to have foreigners come, just for a small chat. We got so many smiles from people we were passing saying hello, Livia in Indonesian, which made them smile even more.

It hit me hard, it was difficult to hold back the tears once we left the dockland. Us with so much, so “wealthy”, even though we have to work to live and are about one or two paychecks away from being on the street ourselves. But you can’t imagine having to survive like that and still be able to smile. It’s a rough hand to be dealt in life, it makes you tough. You look at the first photo in this post, now look at the last. Its was a sobering experience for everyone.

Family of 8 living on the dock