Holiday Ayo - Every island, every town, and every village in Indonesia has its own specialty food, but arguably the place in the country that offers the finest cuisine in Bandung. The city is then heaven for food lovers who would love to have a gastronomic experience like no other. From street foods to high-end restaurants, eating and drinking in Bandung is an exceptional experience.

Eating and Drinking in Bandung

Bandung is basically famous for Sundanese cuisine as the city is dotted with numerous and sumptuous Sundanese restaurants. The abundance of such restaurants comes to no surprise as most of the city’s population is of Sundanese descent, therefore you won’t have a hard time looking for a Sundanese restaurant around town. In addition, most foods are halal as most Sundanese people are predominantly Muslim.

Visiting a new city requires you to try anything and everything when it comes to food. When in Asia, the must-try places are food stalls. Here are some of the city’s local delicacies that should be tried:

Batagor – Batagor is short for Baso Tahu Goreng, which is fried tofu filled with prawn, mackerel fish, and tapioca flour. It is then served with sweet soy sauce and peanut paste.
Mee Bakso – Mee translates to noodles while Bakso translates to meatballs. This then is a noodle dish with meatballs made of beef, chicken, or fish. With the right kind of firmness, meatballs in Mee Bakso can be extremely tasty.
Nasi Timbel – Nasi Timbel is one of the more famous Sundanese dishes and is basically tube-shaped pieces of rice with a distinctive flavor due to the fact that the dish is cooked inside a banana leaf. The dish is generally served with raw vegetables, fried tofu, fried chicken, and chili paste. Most Sundanese restaurants offer this along with a hefty number of food stalls around town.

Now when it comes to drinking alcoholic beverages in Bandung, visitors might have a hard time finding alcoholic drinks as they have been banned in public restaurants. However, they are still available in a number of high-end public restaurants, hotels, bars, nightclubs, and 24-hour mini-markets. A great alternative is yogurt, which comes in two forms, the thin one and the thick one, which is a French-style yogurt. Yogurt drinks are exceptionally abundant around town so visitors will be tempted to take such refreshing drinks after spending a hot day around town.

For those who are picky eaters, Bandung also has a lot of varieties when it comes to international cuisine. From Chinese, Mexican, Italian, and Japanese, even the pickiest eater will never run out of things to eat. However, food in Bandung is not only limited to restaurants and food stalls as the city have plenty of bakeries that serve delectable pastries. The trick is to watch for long queues outside a bakery during early mornings. You can then be certain that the bakery indeed offers sumptuous goods and treats.

Do know that Bandung eateries are filled with new creations and variations that may not assure good taste and quality. But if you are the adventurous kind of eater who will be willing to taste anything placed on the table, then eating and drinking in Bandung will indeed be a pleasant experience for the tummy.