Cuisine of Lombok Island for gourmets. Places for dinner - best restaurants

The dishes, served in the Lombok restaurants, as in other parts of Indonesia, are really spicy. The locals like lots and lots of spices and sauces, which not every guest will appreciate. So, if you yourself are not a big fan of spicy things, ask a waiter to add less pepper to your dish. Do you want to have a meal for a reasonable price? Then go to small restaurants, called warung. They serve good food at a reasonable price. There is just one thing – all the courses in the menu will be entirely Indonesian. Warung is targeted at the locals, so it is possible that the waiter won’t speak English.

Another important aspect concerns the beverages. The people in Lombok, as in the rest of Indonesia, are mostly Muslims. And Islam forbids alcohol. That is why you can buy alcohol drinks here, but the price will not be cheap. High taxes and prohibition of alcohol sale make the price for beer or wine in most bars and restaurants go through the roof. So don’t be surprised, if a couple of drinks will cost more than the dinner itself. You also shouldn’t drink spirits on the street, if you don’t want to have a conversation with the local police.

In the center of the Lombok Island cuisine is rice. They call it nasi goreng or mie goring and serve in every café or a restaurant in many variations. They always add some vegetables to nasi, but that’s not the end. Nuts, seafood, chicken, tofu – all these are served with rice. The sambal sauce is served with many dishes, including nasi. It will easily spice your dish, as it is made of ground red pepper. So think twice, before adding a lot of this sauce to your food. You should definitely try ayam taliwang, a grilled chicken with unusual taste quality. Maybe, it is because of a special local sauce, which adds a unique aftertaste to a dish. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

As on any other island, seafood is quite popular here. Try shrimp paste called lengkare. Sate ikan tanjung may be called an unusual kind of a kebab. It is made of sea bass, which was first pickled in coconut milk with spices. Vegetarians will like spinach, braised in pelecing sauce – plecing kangkung. However, fish and meat can also be cooked with pelecing. There are a lot of tasty vegetable dishes in the island’s cuisine. For instance, soup kelor, serebuk – vegetables, made with a coconut shaving. Those, who like some unusual combinations, will appreciate timun urap, a salad, made from cucumbers, onion, garlic, and coconut. You should also try beberuk terong – steamed eggplants.

There is not much more here, but other types of meat are quite popular. Besides chicken, they also cook beef, for example, bebalung soup. However, this course can contain not only beef but also buffalo ribs. In any seaside café, you will find a dozen fish and seafood dishes. Indonesian cuisine is diverse and tastes good, but for those, who prefer traditional European food, things will be a little rough – restaurants with foreign menu are not popular here. The closer you are to the touristic districts, the higher the prices will be. So you’d better choose places away from the hotels if you want to enjoy the local cuisine.

However, cheap doesn’t mean bad. You can check out Nugget's Corner in Kuta – the service is good and the portions are big and look nice. In El Bazar Cafe & Restaurant they cook in the traditions of the Middle East. Do you miss burgers? Then go to Burger Zone Kuta. Good food for any taste you will find in Gulas Garden. On the whole, there are a lot of good small restaurants on the island, which will satisfy those, who want to enjoy the local charm. Don’t forget to try mint tea, a traditional soft drink.