Via Via Cafe

I always go to this place whenever I’m in Jogja. And I’m glad that my friends liked it too, and we were satisfied with our meals there. They provide local, western, and a bit of Chinese food and beverage, also free wi fi connection.

Visitors are both local and international. What my friends and I had were es dawet (sweet beverage with ice that’s basically made of coconut milk, palm sugar, and rice powder jelly), Banana lassi, java coffee, fried tempeh, various pasta, sausages, and garlic bread, the price can go up and down (well, mostly up), but overall the food in Yogyakarta (or any aspect of living, for that matter) tends to be cheap if you compare it than in Bali.

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Sekar Kedhaton

In one of my visits to Yogyakarta, my friends and I needed to regain energy between batik shopping and then silver shopping. Accidentally we saw this middle-upper class restaurant called Sekar Kedhaton on our way to Kotagede. 

Then we had our cab wait about an hour for us having lunch there. It’s visited a lot by groups of foreign tourists that come by buses and minibuses on tours. Good news for you is that the waitresses talk quite good English. We walked out satisfied costumers because the food tasted good, the restaurant was nicely decorated – a combination of old Javanese and Dutch style, the staff were friendly.

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Gadri Resto

Having lunch at Gadri Resto on Rotowijayan street was another culinary treat that intrigued me more because of the esthetic factor of the restaurant. It’s actually the house of Prince Joyokusumo of the Yogyakarta sultanate, the little brother of the ruling sultan in present time, Sri Sultan Hamengku Bowono X. Never been in a royal house other than the Keraton before, but there is a first for everything.

The front porch was turned into a restaurant with a little spot in the corner by the cash register dedicated as a batik workshop. You can also pop inside to see the antique Javanese decorated house. The family still lives there but activities mostly roam in the back part. 

The serving took a while, we had to reconfirm with the waitress whether our orders have been cooked or not. Turns out that there’s been a mix-up in our order. I had Blawon Rice, consisted of rice, boiled egg, deep fried chicken, meat, salad, and a prawn cracker. But to be fair, the food was far from disappointing.

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Lesehan at night

When you eat while sitting on the matted floor, usually with your legs crossed, and food is served on a low table kinda like a Japanese table. We called it lesehan. It is a very typical way of  Jogjanese diners. I do several times in some of the lesehan diners on Malioboro Street. 

The food prices can be unreasonably marked up unless you make sure about the prices before ordering anything. The most famous lesehan diner is Terang Bulan, but you can pick just any one you want. They mostly serve similar menu, including grilled or fried chicken, dove, duck, and the special Jogja menu like gudeg and pecel lele, etc. 

Eating can be disturbed by street musicians playing – mostly – popular hit songs and wouldn’t go unless you give them money or show a hand sign saying ‘no, thank you’.  However, if you’re curious to hear what Indonesian songs are like, then have them play a little longer, while you can pay a little more.

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