Across Indonesia, a new wave of chefs, farmers, and culinary visionaries are redefining what it means to eat local.

Chef Syrco Bakker at Syrco Basè; inside the restaurant. — Left to right: Chef Syrco Bakker inside Syrco Basè; the restaurant’s seating area.

Left to right: Astungkara Way staf; harvesting butterfly pea flowers.

Amid the verdant Payangan countryside, a 40-minute drive north of Ubud in Bali’s green heart, local farmer Anak Agung Bagus guides lucky visitors through his food forest where just about everything seems to be edible. The guests forage tiny trijata flowers and moringa leaves, savor sprouted coconut and ripe avocado plucked straight from the tree, then taste freshly harvested honey from the hives of stingless bees and the sweet sap of the arenga palm. It’s all part of a memorable farm-to-table experience that reflects the rich tropical bounty of Indonesia’s fertile soil and the astounding biodiversity of the 17,000-plus islands that make up this vast nation. Equally striking is the warm hospitality of its people, who like nothing more than gathering around a table for a nourishing meal enjoyed in good company. It’s no wonder the country’s tourism ministry has adopted the phrase “Wonderful Indonesia” as its all-encompassing slogan.

Agung supplies his top-quality produce to restaurants in Bali that are championing Indonesian gastronomy in unexpected ways. One such place is Locavore NXT, which inhabits a brutalist structure on Ubud’s southern outskirts with an expansive rooftop garden full of edible flora. A dinner experience here involves an eye-opening journey through different spaces, like an underground mushroomgrowing chamber and a bar with rice paddy views, though the focus lies squarely on boundary-pushing cuisine that plays up the infinite possibilities of using exclusively Indonesian produce.

Syrco Basè, another contemporary Ubud restaurant, is built around a central kitchen garden brimming with local herbs, blooms, spices, and more. Blending European cooking skills with the culinary heritage of his Indonesian grandparents, acclaimed Dutch chef Syrco Bakker has also focused his entire menu on local produce, from the piduh leaves and rosella flowers grown on-site to ingredients sourced from across the archipelago. Oysters from the neighboring island of Lombok come served with golden cashews and topped with a delicate cemcem leaf; crayfish slivers are balanced atop a crunchy taro rösti; beef tartare marinated in rendang spices feature a side of Bali’s Mansur heritage rice.

Southwest of Ubud in the Sibang Kaja area, social enterprise Astungkara Way educates visitors about regenerative agriculture through memorable hands-on experiences at its rice farm. Astungkara’s latest offering is the Future for Food Dinner, a half-day farm immersion where guests learn about the easily grown, healthy, harvestable, and sustainable produce that flourishes almost everywhere in Bali but is gradually being forgotten. They harvest moringa, turi, cassava, and Japanese papaya leaves, then, in an open-air kitchen with the help of two Balinese cooks, add shallots, garlic, grated coconut, and kaffir lime to make urap. This flavor-packed salad dish is then enjoyed at sunset alongside simple local accompaniments.

Traditional Balinese kitchen staples are also being revived at Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, where chef Eka Sunarya presides over the Kubu Experience offered in its namesake riverside restaurant. Eka credits his mother and his upbringing amid the beautiful jungle of Buahan (north of Ubud) with inspiring not just a career in the kitchen but also his root-to-leaf dining philosophy. At Kubu, guests are presented with a map tracing the sustainable origins of each dish on the 10-course degustation menu. Beef comes from the tip of East Java, while everything else originates no more than 40 kilometers from Mandapa: delicate pink duck with an aromatic consommé from an organic farm in Baturiti, for instance, or heritage black pork with sweet potato bomboloni from a free-range farm in Bedugul. Chosen for their “rich, earthy flavors and connection to the land,” five kinds of rare local beans form the basis of a delicious vegetarian dish.

Any culinary-minded visitor heading to the island’s north coast should stop by the village of Les for a meal at Dapur Bali Mula. The menu at this casual reservations-only restaurant changes by the day, depending on the freshest catch delivered by local fishermen and what’s in season in the gardens of the surrounding area. Overseeing the kitchen is chef and priest Jero Mangku Dalem Suci Gede Yudiawan, who expertly cooks seafood with Balinese spices and aromatics. Whether they choose to dine at a five-star resort or a rustic eatery like Dapur Bali Mula, travelers will be welcomed with genuine friendliness and a culture of hospitality that’s deeply rooted in tradition. It is customary to honor guests with food and drink, a typical example of Wonderful Indonesia in action.

Exploring Indonesia’s vibrant street food scene is an essential experience. Celebrity chef Will Meyrick of Ubud’s Hujan Locale restaurant also runs curated excursions around Bali, with the Denpasar Street Food Tours hosted by his right-hand man Kadek Miharjaya being a highlight. Available in the morning or evening, the five-hour outing begins in the Miharjaya family compound where Kadek shares aspects of the Balinese way of life, from the traditional layout of the living quarters to the practicalities of daily blessings and ceremonies. Then guests hit the streets with seven pitstops that highlight the characterful places Balinese like to dine as much as the local cuisine. Down a side alley at a warung, babi guling (suckling pig) is piled on plates and eaten in a courtyard complete with roasting coconuts. At tables on a busy street, tempeh, rice cake, and beansprouts are doused in a secret gadogado peanut sauce served here for decades. The influences of Javanese cuisine are on show at a night market stall selling goat satay accompanied by a cardamom-rich soup.

Gastronomes will also find plenty to chew on in bustling Jakarta, a 90-minute flight away. Here, two tasting-menu restaurants in the Sudirman Central Business District stand out for their experimental take on local flavors and farm-to-table approach. August prides itself on serving modern, refined Indonesian cooking that doesn’t shy away from global influences, while Esa Restaurant channels the enterprising spirit of the city through its New Jakarta Cuisine. Many of the ingredients used in Esa’s open kitchen come from artisanal producers around Indonesia. Top-quality ocean fish are caught sustainably from the deep waters between Bali and Lombok, and the chefs showcase unexpected finds such as Japanese-quality wasabi root cultivated in the volcanic highlands of Central Java.

Left to right: Kaum bar interior; a dessert at the restaurant.

Babi guling enjoyed on a Will Meyrick food tour.

Jakarta’s Betawi people, who are the result of four centuries of cultural and ethnic intermingling, have developed a melting-pot cuisine with a rich, down-to-earth character. The best places to try their food is at humble eateries like the legendary Soto Betawi H. Ma’ruf, which started out in 1940 as a mobile street vendor and now operates three branches around town. Said to be the pioneer of using both coconut milk and cow’s milk for its Jakarta-style beef soup, this third-generation family business still retains its authentic recipe from eight decades ago. Another well-loved spot is Rumah Makan Betawi H. Nasun in South Jakarta’s Jagakarsa district, a low-slung eatery serving rarer Betawi dishes like gabus pucung. This is made from snakehead murrel—carefully selected for size and quality—and fermented keluak seed, which lends its deep, earthy richness and black coloring to the broth.

Over in the Melawai area, North Sulawesi’s Manadonese food takes center stage at Mata Karanjang, where the menu includes classics like pangi brewes: young leaves of the pangium plant, thinly sliced and boiled until tender before being cooked with cubed meat. If they’re available, order the perkedel nike fritters containing whitebait-like freshwater fish flown in from North Sulawesi. Seafood enthusiasts have much to look forward to: succulent grilled tuna belly and tuna collar; suntung sarimbata (squid cooked in its own ink); as well as ikan woku woka, or whole fish rubbed with herbs and spices, wrapped in the fragrant fronds of the woka palm, and barbecued over a rambutan wood fire.

Meanwhile, heritage dishes from across the archipelago are the focus at the Jakarta flagship of Kaum, the pan-Indonesian restaurant of the Potato Head hospitality brand. Hailing from Ternate in eastern Indonesia’s fabled Spice Islands, the sashimilike appetizer gohu ikan mixes fresh tuna with lemon basil, kenari nuts, chopped chilies, and ginseng leaf in fragrant coconut oil. Also on the menu is the Central Java specialty sate buntel: meltin-the-mouth skewers of minced goat meat wrapped in its own fat and basted in sweet soy sauce. A sense of craftsmanship guides the kitchen team, who steer clear of MSG in favor of allnatural ingredients like Amed sea salt from Bali and palm sugar from Sulawesi’s Gorontalo province. Heirloom rice is steamed the traditional way, without the aid of electric cookers. And because this is Wonderful Indonesia, the plates at Kaum are served with a sincere smile.

Of course, it isn’t just Bali and Jakarta where farm-to-table experiences are gaining popularity. On the vast island of Sumatra, adventurous travelers exploring Lake Toba can book a homestay in Hariara Pohan Tourism Village, where activities include a cooking demonstration of rare local dish dekke nanisorbukan. It’s prepared with Nile tilapia fished directly from the lake, dried torch ginger fruit, and citrusy andaliman peppercorns, and is coated in a fine powder of roasted corn mixed with spices before serving. In central Sumatra’s Jambi Province, the Muaro Jambi Gastro-Cultural Trip puts a fresh perspective on any exploration of the area’s ancient Buddhist ruins. Guests will encounter ancestral recipes and heartfelt Indonesian hospitality through an initiative called Pasar Dusun Karet (aka Paduka), which empowers village women and introduces their home cooking to a whole new audience.

So why wait? Hop on a direct flight from Singapore and discover the remarkable culinary variety of Southeast Asia’s biggest nation. Whether you’re bound for Bali, Jakarta, or other destinations in this endlessly fascinating archipelago, a gastronomic adventure awaits. For more inspiration and ideas for future holidays, visit indonesia.travel.

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