24 Authentic local food you need to try in Yogyakarta (Jogja)!

Written by Beverley Lennon

For a serious foodie, what’s the best way to explore a new city? Food and more FOOD, of course! And Indonesians know too well that the way to your heart is through your stomach!

Besides being known as the city of culture and the arts, Yogyakarta is also known for its unique and delicious culinary experience for you to gulp down!

As we drove around the city, we noticed lots of roadside stalls where people just sat around on mats and ate, picnic-style. Our friend who’s familiar with Yogyakarta told us that this is ‘lesehan’, a local dining style unique to Yogyakarta.

As they say, when in Rome, do like the Romans do, so if you want to experience how true local dining is like, how can you not join them on the mats? 😉

And the food is so good that we are not ashamed to admit that sometimes, we even ended up having 3 breakfasts – we couldn’t help trying everything! So here we go, here’s our best (mostly tried and tasted) recommendations!

Getting to Yogyakarta

Getting around

Wanna go on your culinary tour in Yogyakarta but finding it a hassle to cab all the time as you hop from one local stall to the next? Why not rent a car with KLOOK? We guarantee you’ll love the flexibility and freedom – it makes travelling around the city so much more convenient and you can plan your day as you like!

Your private car charter is ideal for a group of up to 5 persons and comes with the services of a private English speaking driver – you can also opt for a guide (at an additional cost).

But if you can’t be bothered to spend time to plan your food trail, opt for either a Day Food Discovery Tour or Night Food Discovery Tour (yes some legendary stalls are only open for supper!), or both! They may not include some of what we are recommending you below, but if you have limited time and want to take it easy, let the experts do all the planning for you. All you need is to sign up, be picked up and feast!!

1. Addictive chicken noodles cooked in secret sauce! – Mie Ayam Bu Tumini

We ate here not once but twice because it was that good!

This chicken noodle stall wins the heart of everyone since the early 90s, and there isn’t a day when it’s not packed to the brim.

Choose between chicken feet or chicken pieces as topping, you can even opt for their extra chicken option, go for a jumbo bowl or simply half a portion!

The sauce is rich and thick, sweet and savoury with a peanut aftertaste! An intriguing yet amazing concoction of flavours, levelled up with some sambal and an iced tea to beat the heat (it was super stuffy at the stall as it is always overcrowded, so come prepared – pack some patience and tie your hair up!).

Tip: Get an extra plate of Bok Choy on the side too!

You will have to queue for a few minutes and fight for a seat but the wait is incredibly worth it!

2. Your bakso with a little twist of craziness – Baksonya Bakso Maharani

Besides the giant bakso at Bakso Klenger, Jogja also hides another yet super Instagrammable bakso dish that appears to be as tasty as it looks, something that stands out from the usual meatball soup. Prepare to see big!

At Baksonya Bakso Maharani, you can enjoy the latest bakso with a twist, which is served with a whole bone marrow (Bakso Sumsum), and you can even drink from it while its flavours infuse in the tantalizing broth (it even comes with a straw!). We know, we know… bone broth… a miracle cure for all ailments!

Another unusual find is their Bakso Mozzarella – a giant meatball served with overflowing mozzarella filling, so if you are a cheese lover, this is not to be missed!

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3. Comfort home-cooked food – Bakmi Mbah Mo

« COMFORT FOOD!! » – this is what we screamed after taking in the first slurp of this heartwarming Bakmi.

They’ve got two versions (dry or soupy) and we tried them both. Egg is mixed to the broth and looks scrambled, your noodles are topped with perfectly shredded chicken and a sprinkle of spring onions for that savoury kick!

It’s a casual eatery, so don’t have high expectations on comfortable seating but you can enjoy a live cooking experience and see every bit of your Bakmi being made from scratch!

Gulp this down with a cup of their hot ginger tea (Teh Jahe), but request for less sugar – the Javanese have a sweet tooth!

4. A former president’s favourite drink spot in Jogja – Wedang Ronde Mbah Payem

Although this will look like a dessert to you, know that local Javanese enjoy it as a comforting roadside drink – colourful but also very sweet; be ready to try something exotic!

Authentic to Java, wedang ronde is made of sweet glutinous rice balls soaked in hot ginger flavoured water, syrup, sprinkled with a few peanuts, and filled with peanut in the rice balls.

As it is served hot, the drink is usually enjoyed during the night to warm you up before bed. The “Ronde” (round glutinous rice balls) is usually white or green – coloured naturally from suji leaves and pandan leaves, greeneries that can almost exclusively be found in Asia!

Rain or shine, you will be able to find Mbah Payem with her little cart of Wedang Ronde on the road – in fact, she finds happiness in chatting with her customers and enjoys the little things in her daily life on the roads of Yogyakarta.

5. Fresh fruit (including avocado) with shaved ice! – Es Buah PK

We can’t thank enough the person who invented this creative dessert – which dates back to the early 70s!

This roadside stall specialises in shaved ice dessert, but not the traditional kind, as they serve it with generous amount of freshly sliced fruits like avocado, coconut and pineapple, along with secret syrup concoctions (apparently chocolate condensed milk) and grass jelly cubes. This is something for your sweet tooth.

It was one of the best dessert we ever came across – I mean, where else can we find street dessert with avocados!? One won’t be enough, especially in this scorching hot weather! Another bowl please!

The stall also sells noodles and meatballs (bakso); so if you’re here for lunch, you also got your dessert sorted!

6. Yogyakarta’s signature cuisine – Gudeg Pawon

As Nasi Lemak is to Malaysia, the legendary dish that reigns supreme in Yogyakarta is definitely the famous Gudeg.

Jackfruit is the star of this dish – it is stewed for hours with other spices like garlic and coriander, served on a banana leaf or plate most of the time. Tempeh and delicious coconut-flavoured chicken are also part of this devoting meal!

At Gudeg Pawon, you get to eat at a local’s house. Be there early (by 10pm) or you risk to be the last one in the queue and possibly miss on a few items. There was no more chicken when we reached (and it was no later than 10:30pm!), and everything was nearly sold out by 11pm.

You’ ll line up from the road but a few steps later you will be right inside the kitchen! It is burning hot in there but the flavourful smell of the broth boiling and rice cooking will keep you going!

Here, Gudeg is made the traditional way – no electric stove or modern technologies but simply wood and charcoal, and these happen to give a special taste and touch to the whole experience.

Your plate served, you’ll find yourself sharing seat with locals on the bench outside. Expect an explosion of flavours, the sauce is creamy and the jackfruit brings in a sweet kick, along with the chewy cow skin soaked with sauce (krupuk)…

We’ve tried many Gudeg stalls but this one is a hard-to-beat, probably because it is served straight from the kitchen – they surely master the art of Gudeg!

7. Indulge in the oldest Gudeg recipe – Gudeg Mbah Lindu Sosrowijayan

Imagine the century-old Mbah Lindu hunched over her boiling pots, cooking her legendary Gudeg over charcoal, every day for more than 80 years. After which, she would walk for 4 kilometres every morning from her home to this same spot to sell to her local customers and even tourists all over the world who has heard of her.

Now, you can spot her daughter taking over the reins at her stall, though it is said that Mbah Lindu still cooks the Gudeg herself! The story of Mbah Lindu is an emotional one, but it is amazing to see that the family business is still going strong and making hungry stomachs happy!

Try their Gudeg for breakfast as it comes with a choice of rice or porridge! The sauce is creamy and spicy, the chicken is soft and falls apart easily as it soaks up the broth while the egg is boiled to perfection!

Sit on their plastic stools on the roadside or you can even opt for takeaway – it will be packed in a banana leaf for you. We didn’t get the chance to meet Mbah Lindu when we dropped by, but if you do, let us know!

Note: There are two Gudeg stalls on the road at Sosrowijayan – the other one is named Gudeg Mbak Lindu. But Gudeg Mbah Lindu is the legendary one that we recommend here!

8. A spicy local ice-cream delight with fruits – Rujak Es Krim Pak Nardi

Most of you might have eaten Rujak in other Southeast Asian countries, but have you ever heard of Rujak with ice-cream?

The delicately-sliced fresh fruits are spiced to perfection and submerged with a sweet and sour concoction, topped with homemade ice-cream. Oh and if you feel like you’ve grown an Indonesian stomach by now, just do it like the locals and throw in a spoon of sambal! Yes, sambal and ice cream – who knew it was a match! So it’s sweet, sour, spicy and cold – what a feast for your tastebuds!

There are several other Rujak ice-cream sellers in the neighbourhood but the crowd will lead you to the best kid on the block!

The wooden cart is surrounded by plastic stools for you to enjoy an ice-cooling Rujak under the shade of the trees. If you love that refreshing, tangy and spicy taste, you won’t be able to resist getting a second bowl!

9. A very delicious buffet gone the local way – Waroeng Kopi Klotok

You must have heard all about the popular Indonesian buffet concept – all-you-can-eat, and just inform the cashier what you took to get the final price. And guess what, this must be one of the very best local buffets we had in Yogyakarta.

This isn’t your fancy coffee shop – be prepared to eat at a Joglo, converted into a dining place. It’s packed full of locals and of course the best seats are right outside by the rice paddy fields.

The local eatery is spacious, but we could barely find space to walk – it was full house when we were there on a weekday morning! (Be prepared for long queues and you’ll need to wait for seats on weekends and public holidays!)

We know it does not make sense to talk about dessert first, but we had the best Pisang Goreng (Banana fritters) there (yes we’ve tried lots of different ones in Indonesia before but this one deserves a medal!). It’s served warm, with the gooey, smashed banana inside and fried to perfection… we would go back just for that if we could!

For the main courses, the Nasi Megono is what attracts the crowd here – rice cooked in seasoned coconut milk, mixed with vegetables and salted fish. Top this with their local in-house vegetable soup and don’t miss on their sambal (local chilly sauce) and tempeh! We loved almost all of their soups and curries!

And of course, this place is named after their famous Kopi Klotok, so don’t miss it!

P.S. We’ve heard that pregnant ladies are welcome to eat as much as they want, for free! And we recommend coming early in the morning to get the freshest food and best seats!

10. It’s a surprise in a banana leaf, open it! – Rumah Makan Blimbing (Garang Asam Kudus)

This local eatery takes a healthy turn on the traditional Garang Asam Kudus – chicken cooked in a banana leaf with coconut milk, bilimbi, bay leaves and other spices. It usually has the comforting taste of tender boiled chicken with a hint of sourness due to the addition of lime – we tried it once, and fell in love!

At Rumah Makan Blimbing, they have kicked out the coconut milk, leaving you with a fresh kick of sourness in your chicken!

Locals enjoy the twist to this meal as the absence of coconut milk not only makes it healthier but also richer in flavours! The sour sauce is absorbed by the chicken pieces, making it so tender that it falls off the bone. The dish is served boiling hot, so be careful when opening the banana leaf as sometimes the broth will still be bubbling!

Pour this delicacy on white rice and enjoy an unforgettable and comforting local dish!

11. A favourite Eid celebration dish – Kupat Gule Bang Doel

You don’t have to wait for Eid celebration anymore to enjoy a bowl of festivity! Drop in for an explosion of local flavours at Kupat Gule Bang Doel!

This little roadside cart (look out for the red and yellow one) serves your post-fasting favourite: Kupat Gule – a delicious broth filled with perfectly boiled eggs, meat (choose from mutton, chicken or beef), along with rice cakes and other secret toppings. This is often served with rice but can be very well enjoyed on its own as well!

12. Local roadside crêpes – Kue Leker Pak Yo

This sweet local delicacy will get you and your kids excited! Similar to Thailand’s very famous roadside crepes, Kue Leker is the crispy Indonesian version.

You can choose your fillings, though locals usually opt for banana chocolate!

At Pak Yo’s stall, the Kue Leker is cooked on charcoal – you won’t find any electrical stove or any type of modern technology, and this is what truly makes it special, with the authentic old-time Jogja vibe. Pure nostalgia in a bite!

The crepe is served crispy, with the warm vanilla aroma and comforting banana and chocolate scent. We would definitely have this at tea time!

If you are keen to do it differently, choose other fillings – other than banana chocolate, there is also cheese and condensed milk, or mix and match between cheese, banana, and milk!

13. Tofu in ginger soup that is sold out in 1.5 hours! – Wedang Tahu Bu Sukardi

Another drink that resembles a dessert – it is served hot and made of soft creamy tofu in ginger water and syrup – very similar to Wedang Ronde, but there are no glutinous rice balls. Sweet, but the mix of texture is enjoyed by everyone!

The drink is usually enjoyed as a body warmer during the rainy season and is enjoyed early morning or at night; get there as early as possible as the stall is only open till sold out (usually within 1.5 hours!)

14. Indulge in fresh, free range chicken in an amazing setting – Ingkung Kuali

Ingkung Kuali is famous among locals for its free range chicken, and you can actually taste the freshness of the poultry! This surprising local eatery is located in Pajangan – commonly known as the culinary centre of Yogyakarta, so you know you can have high expectations on the taste!

Be sure to make it right on time as they don’t open beyond 5pm (really, we dropped by at 4.30pm and they said they were already closed), so best is to simply go at lunch time!

While you can choose to do it like the locals by sitting on the floor in lesehan style, you can also opt for the huts with long comfortable benches!

Choose between the original boiled chicken or marinated or even fried chicken – although it looks plain and banal when served, the delicacy will surprise you in taste and flavours as it has been mixed, marinated and cooked for over 4 hours, thus the chicken would have soaked up all spices.

Their special chicken is served with rice but we took more sambal than rice, so you can guess why – it was an amazing spicy goodness!

15. Sizzling charcoal in your coffee? – Angkringan Kopi Jos Lek Man

A little anxious about charcoal in your coffee? We were too, but don’t be!

It doesn’t take a big coffee connoisseur to enjoy coffee at Kopi Jos. While your coffee is served looking as dark as ever, it is also dunked with burning red hot charcoal cubes. Let it sizzle in – this is supposed to help neutralize the acidity in your coffee.

Once it has fizzed completely, remove the charcoal and you are good to go with an unusual coffee fix – a local novelty! Tip: Remember to mention “no sugar please”, or enjoy your coffee with 10+ spoons of sugar in it (not even exaggerating!).

We are not big coffee fans but surprisingly we enjoyed this heartwarming cup at the roadside stall – it is strong, yet not acidic and has a slightly burnt taste to it. If you’re here for tea time, enjoy some of their fried snacks too!

16.The century-old legendary catfish recipe – Mangut Lele Mbah Marto Nggeneng

There is something admirable about local food sellers in Indonesia and we observed this in Yogyakarta. They want you to feel at home when you come in to dine – they are so welcoming that they let you into the privacy of their home to serve yourself.

This has to be one of the most hidden eatery we dropped by while in Yogyakarta, so don’t worry if you get lost – you’ll eventually find your way because everyone in the neighbourhood knows you’re here for Mangut Lele Mbah Marto!

Come in and serve yourself directly from the kitchen, the walls are covered with black spots due to the charcoal used for cooking; no electric stove is to be found.

You are here for some spicy smoked catfish! And when we say spicy… brace yourself! You’ll need water and probably milk too. Don’t miss out on their boiled egg – with a creamy textured yolk – we went for a second round!

And if you are lucky enough like us, you will be able to meet Mbah Marto – this 100-year-old lady is the one behind this secret recipe!

17. This sate is so good that it’s been in a movie! – Sate Klatak Pak Bari

Known as one of Indonesia’s classics – sate can be found basically anywhere, and it would be very hard to dispute the best sate, but the ones at Sate Klatak Pak Bari are definitely worth a visit.

The specialty here is their mutton sate (Sate Kambing), cut and grilled fresh in front of you, and you can opt for rice on the side. Scoop out some of their special gravy on top to cut down on the saltiness! The flavours are rich and you can taste the marinade in the meat.

The sate stall has appeared in a local Indonesian movie ‘Ada Apa Dengan Cinta 2’, and has since been crowded with curious locals eager to try it out!

18. Keep water next to you for an explosion of spiciness – Oseng Mercon Bu Narti

Get ready for a scorching hot time at Oseng Mercon Bu Narti as you are here to challenge your spiciness level intake!

Doing it like a local doesn’t only mean that you have to sit on the floor mats in lesehan style, but you also have to grow an Indonesian stomach and deal with really spicy food!

Meat, lard but chilli before anything else, this special dish is bound to bring you on the wild side of culinary experimentation while in Jogja!

You might want to ask for a big spoon of rice, just in case you can’t take in the spiciness level! We’ve warned you… even Indonesians call it spicy! Get ready to be greeted by people perspiring, with tearing eyes while eating, but don’t be scared – bring along lots of water bottles or even milk!

19. Call it your new breakfast of champions – Soto Ayam Kampung Pak Dalbe

Soup is one of the legendary dishes in Yogyakarta – it is comforting, light, tasty, versatile and cheap!

The special chicken soup at Pak Dalbe is what attracts the crowd – in fact, it is often packed to the brim and people are seen eating along the road simply by sitting on the sidewalk.

At first glance, the soup that is served looks ordinary, like the very typical ‘soto’ (soup), but though the broth is clear, it hides some unfamiliar secret flavours that can only be discovered once you try it. It is one of those “don’t judge a book by its cover” kind of dish!

In your bowl of soup, you will find rice, sliced cabbage, bean sprouts, vermicelli, fried onions, and of course tender shredded chicken. But the secret ingredient (not so secret anymore) is the little sweet kick from the cassava!

20. A local noodle fix you are not ready to forget – Yammie Pangsit Pathuk

With the looks of some chinese influence, the chicken noodle soup at Yammie Pangsit Pathuk is a local heartwarming midweek meal if you are tired of all the rich dishes around the city!

Your noodle bowl is served with delicate dumplings; shredded chicken as well as chicken balls – a simple comforting dish that is savoury to all!

The eatery also serves other snacks such as fried wonton and local curry puffs that make great starters if you come in feeling overly hungry/hangry!

21. Spring rolls with unusual fillings – Lumpia Samijaya

You can’t go to Semarang without tasting Lumpia Semarang, and you can’t go to Yogyakarta without trying out the Lumpia Samijaya!

Strolling in the heat along Malioboro Street will make you hungry, and a pit stop for lumpia (spring rolls) will definitely make you feel better!

Unlike any other spring roll stall, the ones at Samijaya are stuffed with different fillings like chicken and quail eggs, and these have been famous local delicacies since more than 40 years ago!

22. A taste of the old Jogja – Jenang Lempuyangan Bu Gesti

Another stall that was loved and often visited by the former President Soeharto – probably the reason why you’ll find long queues here!

If you love everything sweet like the Javanese, satisfy your sugar cravings with a mix of concoctions derived from palm sugar, coconut milk and rice flour.

This colourful sugar-palm-based confection is served on a banana leaf – thick in texture, surely sweet and sticky but also slightly salty from the rice flour and coconut milk ingredients.

So come taste a homemade dessert that holds a big place in every local’s heart!

23. Eat out of coconut shells by the rice fields – Saoto Bathok Mbah Katro

While it might be easy to spot any good restaurant in Yogyakarta, some places do it better than the others. Besides amazing food dishes, this local eatery lets you immerse in authentic Indonesian ambience with views over rice paddy fields while you sit on floor mats like the locals. Now you can say you’ve been to Yogyakarta!

We know it takes a venturesome spirit to try some of the authentic recipes served by locals on the roadside so this is a more comfortable option to consider if you are looking for a mouthwatering local dish!

Served in a coconut shell bowl, this clear soup is filled with tender pieces of beef -– the distinctive recipe is complemented with fried tempeh, intestine sate as well as quail eggs!

24. Your quack gone spicy – Entok Slenget Kang Tanir

We’ve got chicken, beef, mutton, but you can also indulge in a delicious duck speciality while in Jogja.

Although the stall opens at 4pm and officially closes at 9pm, the delicacy tends to be sold out within 3 to 4 hours!

Once there, you get to choose your spiciness level, and your duck will be cooked on a traditional stove with soy sauce, chilli and other herbs; the meat itself is soaked in a generous amount of spices and sauce, and brought to you once tender and infused with flavour!

Simply writing about it at dinnertime gets us drooling… yumm!

Best Time to Travel to Yogyakarta

If you’re travelling here for the first time, we recommend that you visit the city during the months of March, April and early May, as it is right after the rainy season.

During May, many students will arrive in the city for college applications, and Eid Al-Fitr (Islamic Celebration) also takes place during end of May to June, so you’ll get to enjoy the most vibrant side of Yogyakarta!

The peak season is from June to mid-August, and December to early February, so enter at your own risk!

September to November is also a good time to travel, but the weather will be rather hot (you have the waterfalls to help you with that).

Ready to savour the best of Yogyakarta cuisine? Tag your foodie partners below and let us know which dish you want to try!

PLEASE NOTE: All the above information is correct at the date of publication. If you come across any changes or updates, please let us know and we will update the information accordingly. Thank you! Tell us

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