Sunday, August 9, 2015

Eating my way through Rural Indonesia

I'm very lucky my work is taking me places again, and this time around, we visited rural areas in West Java near Bandung called Garut and Tasikmalaya.

In addition to the different store formats we visited I also got to try a lot of the local cuisine.

On the way to Garut, we stopped at Pak Asep's Stroberi famous for his Nasi Liwet (Coconut Rice). It was said that he used to come from humble beginnings, and he was able to put himself through school by selling his very delicious Nasi Liwet. Since then, he has come a long way, with several restaurants which are also strawberry picking farms. I think we were served typical Sundanese Cuisine but I'm not a hundred percent sure.
This is the famous Nasi Liwet or Coconut Rice.
It was so yummy, I was really happy when we also ate here the next day.
(different branch though)
Sets for sharing were ordered for the group, with a lot of other
dishes on the side.
The fresh Strawberry Shake is really good.
They have a tendency to over-sweeten it so just ask for
the sugar on the side.
 
The restaurant is really nice, located in the middle of a man-made lake.
You can walk on the bamboo bridge, it's just a bit
creepy when it creaks with every step.
Strawberry House on the other side. I think the picking field was behind this.
The restaurant.
I think this may be Pak Asep
Look at that! I would have bought if I were closer to home.
We had lunch at another branch the next day, and I was so happy to see the
iconic strawberry buildings.

One of the other meals we had was the popular Noodles with Meatballs, local to Tasikmalaya, from Mie Baso Laksana.
At this place, the common drink partnered with this meal is Guyabano Shake.
Again, don't forget to tell them to take it easy on the sugar.
The noodles are served dry, with some meat toppings, with the soup and
meat balls served separately.
Best eaten with sambal (chili) sauce and bango (thick sweetened soy sauce)
The same restaurant also serves Martabak (which is similar in a way to Indian Cuisine's Murtabak).
The Savoury Martabak was so yummy.
It tastes like some omelet with filling inside thin crisply fried dough.
While the Sweet Martabak was equally good, which can be compared to a
stuffed pancake or waffle with no squares.
Yummy chocolate and cheese and corn flavors.


One of my other memorable meals is the Indomie and BalaBala (which literally means mess - as the veggies are messily fried into vegetable fritters) from a roadside stall on the foot of Kamojang Mountain.
The secret to really yummy Indomie is to eat it with Fried Egg and the
Sambal Sauce! Yummy!!!

While on the food note, I couldn't resist taking a photo of the local sweets from
the breakfast buffet from Hotel Santika, Tasikmalaya.

Then on our way back, we stopped at Rest Km 97 for some Padang Food which originates from West Sumatra.
Eating Padang Food is quite an experience because as
soon as you sit down, they just start serving you.
Imagine our long table filled with dishes like this.
I think at the end, they just bill you for what you touch. Now, don't ask me about what they do with the dishes you don't touch! So you can just imagine how many tables the less popular dishes like Brain Curry (third from bottom on the right side) have been to! Hahaha.
My favorite dish was the green sambal paste! It went so well with the beef
rendang and the hard boiled egg curry!
Teh Talua (Egg Tea) is the National Beveredge of
West Sumatra.
Well, it wasn't all eating for me! I had 2 telecons I attended
this time while in a cab in Jakarta traffic when I got back.

No wonder my stomach just gave up on me when I got back to Manila. Hahaha. Sorry for sharing TMI. just saying.


Pak Asep Stroberi
Jl. Raya Kadungora No. 245, 
Garut, Jawa Barat
Indonesia


Mie Baso Laksana
Indonesian Meatball Place and Noodle House
Jl. Pemuda No. 5, 
Tasikmalaya, West Java 
46113, Indonesia


Rest Area KM 97
Rest Area, Building, and Parking
Jalan Tol Purbaleunyi (Darangdan)
Purwakarta, West Java, Indonesia

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