Discover the Flavors of Sundanese Food

Sundanese food offers a wide variety of dishes, from Nasi Timbel and Tutug Oncom to fried gourami, grilled chicken, spicy sambal, karedok, sayur asem, colenak, and traditional drinks such as Bajigur and Bandrek. In this guide, I’ll introduce some of the most popular dishes and the restaurants that serve them, so you can decide what to order when you visit a Sundanese restaurant.

Sundanese Food: Which One is Your Favorite?

Rice is an essential part of a Sundanese main course. Depending on the restaurant, you will usually find several types of rice:

• Ordinary white rice — served in a container called a boboko (a traditional rice container made from woven bamboo).
• Nasi Timbel — white rice wrapped in banana leaves.
• Tutug Oncom — white rice mixed with roasted oncom (oncom is a Sundanese staple food made from fermented peanuts).
• Nasi Liwet — white rice cooked with coconut milk and herbs such as lemongrass and Indonesian bay leaf in a metal pot called a kastrol. After the rice is cooked, stir-fried anchovies are placed inside the kastrol, on top of a piece of banana leaf. One kastrol is enough for up to four people. My favorite Nasi Liwet is from Asstro (Asep Stroberi), which has several restaurants across Bandung, Lembang, and Garut. IBC (Ikan Bakar Cianjur), located at Jalan Alam Sutera Boulevard Utama Kav. 20, South Tangerang, also serves delicious Nasi Liwet.
• Brown rice — unhulled white rice, known as nasi merah (red rice in English).

Rice is usually served with delicious dishes such as fried or grilled gourami fish, fried or grilled chicken, or gepuk (sliced beef that is cooked and seasoned for hours until tender, then fried). My favorite gepuk comes from Sindang Reret Restaurant and Gepuk Ny. Yong. The latter has several locations, including Jalan Dr. Setiabudi No. 144, Bandung, and Ruko Pancawarna, Kota Baru Parahyangan.

You will also find several popular mixed-vegetable dishes in Sundanese cuisine, including Lalaban, Karedok, Gado-Gado, and Lotek. Click here to learn the difference between these Sundanese salads :) 

For side dishes, some popular choices at a Sundanese restaurant include fried tofu, fried tempe, grilled petai (Parkia speciosa, or bitter bean), and stewed jengkol (Archidendron pauciflorum, or dog fruit). The last two are often called stinky beans because of their odor.

To complete the meal, try Sayur Asem, a popular soup in Sundanese cuisine. Tamarind gives it its fresh, sour taste. One particular ingredient in Sayur Asem is melinjo (Gnetum gnemon), whose nuts and young leaves add a slightly bitter note to the soup. In addition to salt, other spices in Sayur Asem include shallots, palm sugar, and tomato. One version uses ground peanuts, but I prefer the version without peanuts.

Another well-liked soup at Sundanese restaurants is Soto. The most popular version is Chicken Soto. Chicken Soto usually contains glass noodles, cabbage, shredded chicken, and boiled egg. It is also served with a squeeze of jeruk limau (Citrus amblycarpa) — a small green citrus fruit that we add to the soup instead of vinegar. Although some versions of Soto use coconut milk in their broth, Chicken Soto at Sundanese restaurants is usually served with a clear broth, without coconut milk.

Of course, sambal (chili paste) is essential at any Sundanese restaurant. The spicier, the better!

For the main course, you can order à la carte, with rice and several dishes of meat and vegetables. The white rice is usually served in one boboko (a woven bamboo container). One small boboko is usually enough for five people. Many restaurants also offer meal packages. If you order a timbel package for one person, you’ll usually get one nasi timbel, one piece of fried tofu, a slice of fried tempe, and one piece of meat of your choice: gepuk or fried or grilled chicken, along with sambal and lalapan (fresh vegetables, such as tomato, cucumber, and lettuce). You’ll also find meal packages for two, three, or more people.

Traditional Sundanese Drinks to Try

There are plenty of drinks to enjoy at a Sundanese restaurant, from standard hot or iced tea (sweetened or unsweetened) to fresh young coconut served in its shell. Some restaurants also serve orange juice with pieces of fresh young coconut. For something more distinctive, try two specialty drinks from West Java: Bajigur and Bandrek.

Bajigur is a Sundanese drink made with brewed coffee, coconut milk, and palm sugar. It is served hot with kolang-kaling (sugar palm seeds).

Bandrek is a hot drink made with brewed ginger and palm sugar, sometimes served with slices of young coconut.

Sundanese Food: Dessert Time

For dessert, you might want to try Colenak. The name is an acronym for Dicocol Enak, meaning “delicious when dipped into the sauce.” Colenak is made from fermented cassava that is grilled and served with sweetened shredded coconut. This is the dessert I always order whenever I dine at Sindang Reret Restaurant.

Colenak, with its sweet shredded coconut, tender and slightly sour fermented cassava, and smoky grilled flavour, is one of the most delicious Sundanese desserts.

One of the best ways to enjoy delicious Sundanese food is at a Sundanese restaurant in a rural setting. The servers usually wear traditional Sundanese costumes. The dining rooms are often small huts called saung, surrounded by fish ponds, rice fields, or gardens, with traditional instrumental Sundanese music called Degung playing in the background.

So, next time you’re in Bandung, why not experience dining at a Sundanese restaurant? I’ve compiled a list of recommended Sundanese restaurants, including their specialties!

NEXT: Sundanese restaurants in Bandung serving delicious Sundanese food