Food for thought

[ponyexpress]

Last year when I was in Bali, I've seen many restaurants offering Chicken Cordon Bleu and 'Australian steak". While the first one is an actual dish, the second one is totally non-existent. But that's not the point I will make. Indonesia has a diverse food due to its rich history. But last time I found that the food is getting more 'western'. Spaghetti bolognese, steak or penne al pesto are common dish you can find in 'cool cafes'. Well, if I am in Vietnam I won't be looking for pasta or pierogi but I will be savouring pho, banh mi or bun cha. Even if they have pasta, it won't taste the same and they will be more expensive. Why would you want to eat pasta in Vietnam or Indonesia? Likewise, why do you want to eat rendang in Paris? The problem is not about where you make these food but the interpretation of it and the accessibility of ingredients. Have anyone tried Indonesia's interpretation of western salad? It's chopped up fruit and lettuce with mayonnaise dressing.

On the other hand, a place like Australia, people are getting more used to have different type of food in their pantry. Younger generation begin to shy away from the traditional food - something that they only see during Christmas - a matriarch business. Unless it's Italian restaurant or restaurant with specific cuisine, you won't
find carbonara or goulash or cassoulet in the menu. I must admit some places are trying to sell everything from banh mi to schnitzel.

 

[atlantis]

Last year when I was in Bali, I've seen many restaurants offering Chicken Cordon Bleu and 'Australian steak". (...). But last time I found that the food is getting more 'western'. Spaghetti bolognese, steak or penne al pesto are common dish you can find in 'cool cafes'.

Perhaps your impression comes from the fact that you were in Bali. If you'd be coming my way I can guarantee you that you would have hard time to find Chicken Cordon Bleu or "Australian steak" (or anything else Australian by the way).

 

[El_Goretto]

I reckon a lot of those western dishes have been adapted to local tastes and are targeting locals. In Bali, if a westerner wants to eat western food, there are plenty of good western restaurants.

I think it's good that Indonesia is opening to western tastes. Ok, the taste is far from the real deal, it's probably too sweet and spicy. And the proper ingredient might be hard to find or too expensive to make the dishes accessible to the wider local market. But that's ok, baby steps, right?

 

[Davita]

Bali has all sorts of cuisine....some authentic, some fusion, some good and some terrible.

My local Bali pub has opened an adjacent restaurant ...it serves Pakistani Buttered Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, Vindaloo and Balti....very popular with exBrits from the surrounds of Birmingham and Manchester.....and their Indonesian spouses...

I used to live in Vancouver and Chinese tell me the Chinese food there is better than in China.

 

[Puspawarna]

This thread is making me hungry.

I am happy to see globalization when it comes to food choices (as long as it means more variety, and not that good local food is disappearing in favor of foreign dishes that are perhaps inauthentic anyway). But as a visitor, I will always want to eat good local food. I don't understand people who visit Indonesia and order spaghetti in restaurants (unless perhaps they are sick - if you are feeling ill, familiar food is always better).

Of course since I live in Indonesia I am under no pressure to eat local all the time

 

[brian@bekasi]

Perhaps your impression comes from the fact that you were in Bali. If you'd be coming my way I can guarantee you that you would have hard time to find Chicken Cordon Bleu or "Australian steak" (or anything else Australian by the way).

Fish or babi is all I am given when I am in your part of the world. When we go further on to Sangihe it is just fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner with the odd mud crab thrown in.

We finally hope to start building a second home there this year and my wife's biggest worry is I will not be able to get "Australian Food'. Given I love a pork roast, I don't think i will have a problem.

 

[scouser59]

Some people say , the best Indonesian food is found in Amsterdam , there the dishes are better flavored and not so much adjusted to western taste, just better ingredients .

 

[Euc-]

As an expat I absolutely love the option to have some western food once in a while. Although I do like Indonesian food, especially after a longer business trip to the far flung places in Papua or something, I can't wait to get myself some good pork knuckle and sausages from Die Stube or Paulaner, Frikandel Speciaal at the Dutch/De Hooi etc.

Other than that, I can understand that Indonesian food is an acquired taste at times and not all visitors would want to eat it on every single day of their journey.

 

[Euc-]

Some people say , the best Indonesian food is found in Amsterdam , there the dishes are better flavored and not so much adjusted to western taste, just better ingredients .

On that, I'm always surprised that I find the food in the Indonesian stalls at foodcourts in Singapore much, much, much better looking and tasting then they do in Indonesia. I often thought that obviously had to do with the higher quality of ingredients (and prices) available over there.

 

[ericjancoen]

friend of mine who worked at a restaurant once tell me, the case above happens because most of their guest ordered something familiar first then open up to the local dishes, plus local guest are also ordering western type food so the demand is there, at my friend restaurant the western type food is used as introduction for their restaurant after the costumer feel familiar and comfortable perhaps they might experiment and tried the local specialty.

bottom line is they sell menu with most demand while serving local specialty at later stage.
i myself never worked in the food industry so i have no idea how they work, i am just consumer who like to eat tasty stuff :3

 

[macvert]

Some people say , the best Indonesian food is found in Amsterdam , there the dishes are better flavored and not so much adjusted to western taste, just better ingredients .

do they have sweet chilli & sweet soy sauce in a plastic bottle ?.....

 

[scouser59]

IN my 3 years living and working in Holland I never had a bad indo meal , sadly the same is not true here .

 

[Balifrog]

I must admit that in all Asian countries I lived I have always mainly eaten western food. Exception maybe Korea in the 80's
In Thailand 80% western, Vietnam easy to.find great fren h food, HKG nearly eclusively western except mandatory Chinese business lunches, since I am in Bali (4 months) 95 % western. Even have croissants nearly every breakfast.
Now when we head for the jungle house in East Java, its a bit of a logistic challenge, but I always bring some canned stuff and frozen stuff (ice box). Hence my maximum survival period over there is 3 to 4 weeks....

 

[dafluff]

I for one am glad that there are plenty of western (and other) food options in Bali. Can't live on Babi Guling and Ayam Betutu alone, right? Variety is good.

The one thing I do miss is a good steak. I imagine "Australian steak" just means steak using Australian beef, which is superior to the local stuff. Unfortunately almost no one cooks it properly here.

 

[Wisnu]

The Indonesian food in Amsterdam, New York, London etc are very good for their targeted market share; but for Indonesian, at least myself, my wife and all my Indonesian friends who have visited these restaurant, the taste is just okay.
As example, the beef quality for rendang is very good but I could notice that they use canned coconut milk; cooked in presto cooker. It's not rendang; more like beef stew with rendang aroma.
Same story for the sate ayam - good quality chicken but I will say the taste is mediocre at the best.
Of course I will strongly recommend these restaurant to all my non-Indonesian colleagues, and tell them that this restaurant is the best Indonesian restaurant in the country - nothing wrong with this statement.
Anyway, some time you'll find real good Indonesian food in pasar tong tong.

 

[Supir Angkot]

^I've never dined at fancy restaurants so I don't know how good is their foods. But the French say: Hunger makes the best sauce, so typically right after a hard day of work and starving I go to my favorite hole in the wall resto or a kaki lima greasy spoon.
Their foods never fail me, my taste bud is on overdrive and more sensitive to the presence of fresh langkuas, daun kunyit or even a whiff of msg that are in the food.
Eating with bare hands in low-lit lampu petromak accompanied by a pengamen belting out his rendition of Blue Moon or was it Bubuy Bulan? will set you in the mood for an unforgettable dining experience.

 

[kratos]

Bali needs to attract local tourists.
If you're looking for some local foods, maybe you've walked on a wrong alley...
Try Ayam Betutu around Renon...

Why would you eat pasta at Indonesia ?
Curiousity, other than the fact we're living in selfie, tidepods era. You wanna taste good local foods scattered around the city ? Try visit Surabaya, Semarang, Jogjakarta or even Manado . If you go to Manado, make sure you call atlantis to get you around Tomohon market, thats another style of Indonesian food right there

 

[Wisnu]

IN my 3 years living and working in Holland I never had a bad indo meal , sadly the same is not true here .

of course. There's hundred thousands or million Indonesian restaurant and warung in Indonesia serve very wide range of customer from somebody who can only afford less than Rp. 10K per meal in warteg to the people who easily spend million Rp. in nice fancy restaurant.

Even for similar range and very specific restaurant, eg. mid level padang restaurant, people may have very different opinion. I love rendang at Beringin restaurant, but my brit friend (live in Indonesia more than 15 years) prefer Sederhana. According him, the Beringin's rendang is too dry, too hard, you can kill dog by throwing it.
For him, gudeg bu Citro (gain my favorite) is just sweetened rotten jackfruit stew.

 

[ponyexpress]

Yes I understand you can't eat local food nearly everyday. But if your pay isn't that great, western food will cost you dearly. An average penne pasta is tagged around AU 15.00 - slightly cheaper than the price of pasta in a fancy Italian restaurant in Melbourne.The question is that whether you really want to enjoy the food and don't mind the price or treat the food as a comfort regardless the quality.

One food I couldn't identify its origin while I was in Indo was called 'kosong'. Funnily enough, from all of 100 dishes on the menu, there always substitute more than a dozen of them with 'kosong'.

 

[Smallworld]

Yes I understand you can't eat local food nearly everyday. But if your pay isn't that great, western food will cost you dearly. An average penne pasta is tagged around AU 15.00 - slightly cheaper than the price of pasta in a fancy Italian restaurant in Melbourne.The question is that whether you really want to enjoy the food and don't mind the price or treat the food as a comfort regardless the quality.

One food I couldn't identify its origin while I was in Indo was called 'kosong'. Funnily enough, from all of 100 dishes on the menu, there always substitute more than a dozen of them with 'kosong'.

The kosong thingy is just as popular as people smoking on the street. Very annoying and it puts me off from visiting that particular restaurant again.

As for eating everyday in restaurant... I find it a bit boring after a while. I try to cook at home and then go to the restaurant... Try something new, new place, new dish. If I would like it a lot I could try to replicate that food at home. I enjoy food regardless of price but I expect some good quality of food so my $$$ are "worth" paying.

In 5,5 years in Indonesia I have seen a lot of restaurant closures, some of them had nice western food. I also noticed this strange tendency when Indonesian kids go abroad to Study eg. in Australia. They discover new culture and once they are back to Indonesia (under pressure from family) they open with help of their parents a restaurant, cafeteria ect. Eg. selling sandwiches on cutting board focusing on quality ->to higher prices. After a few months or so they are forced to close their business because of not enough customers despite having business in city center or major road junction.
Many reasons here. I observed also that new restaurants serves better quality of food on the beginning then gradually lowering its standards -> change of menu -> closure. This is a strange phenomenon new restaurant suddenly hundreds of people flocking the place....and after a while 6 months the place is forgotten being on "life support" cash flow from kid's parents just to keep their flock near home. How many fine dining places each city can have?

I admit, I don't like Indonesian food that much, I like Japanese or Chinese food and even Indian food. All of those I mentioned are liked by my taste buds while Indonesian is somehow rejected (with some exceptions).