MAIN INGREDIENTS
Buntil is a traditional dish hailing from Java, consisting of grated coconut, red peppers, chili, onions, garlic, anchovies, salt, and sugar wrapped in taro, cassava, or papaya leaves. The combination is boiled in coconut milk and spices such as garlic, turmeric, lemongrass, and lemon leaves.
Buntil is often prepared at home, but it can also be found in local restaurants or street side stalls called warungs. The dish is especially popular during Ramadhan.
Tahu campur is a traditional dish originating from East Java. Although there is a number of variations on it, this soup is usually prepared with a combination of beef broth, fried tofu, green salad, bean sprouts, egg noodles, sambal petis (bird’s eye chili peppers and dried shrimp paste), spiced fried cassava (lentho), garlic crackers (krupuk bawang), and a spice paste containing garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and black pepper.
When served, the broth is usually garnished with fried garlic, fried shallots, and krupuk bawang garlic crackers. This dish is often prepared and sold by street cart vendors in East Java.
MOST ICONIC Tahu campur
Nasi kucing is a unique and iconic Indonesian street food, a rice dish originating from Central Java, especially popular in cities like Yogyakarta, Solo, and Semarang. The name translates literally to "cat rice" (nasi = rice, kucing = cat), which refers not to the ingredients, but to the portion size — small enough to be a meal for a cat.
Nasi Kucing consists of a small scoop of rice served with simple toppings, usually wrapped in a banana leaf or brown paper. Common toppings include sambal, dried anchovies (teri), tempeh, shredded chicken, oseng-oseng (stir-fried vegetables), or sometimes a dollop of chili-fried tuna (abon or tongkol).
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Karedok is the traditional Indonesian version of a vegetable salad. This simple and healthy dish calls for fresh and raw ingredients which are sliced and served with a traditional peanut sauce. The most common vegetables in karedok include cucumbers, cabbage, green beans, Thai basil, bean sprouts, and eggplant, however, other vegetables can be used as well.
The sauce is made by grinding fried peanuts together with salt, palm sugar, and chili. The flavor of the sauce can be adjusted with other ingredients such as shrimp paste or garlic. Due to the usage of peanut sauce, karedok is often compared with another Indonesian specialty, gado-gado, but it is still distinguished by the usage of only raw ingredients.
MOST ICONIC Karedok
View moreMAIN INGREDIENTS
This West Javanese specialty consists of chewy balls prepared with a base of tapioca flour and various additions that may include dried shrimp, garlic, scallions, or chives. Whether boiled or fried, cilok balls are typically accompanied by a sweet peanut sauce or spicy sauces based on ketchup and kecap manis.
Cilok is sold by street vendors and it is usually served on sticks or skewers.
MOST ICONIC Cilok
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Kerak telor is a traditional omelet and a specialty of the Betawi people in Jakarta and West Java. The omelet is usually served as a snack and consists of glutinous rice that’s cooked with chicken or duck eggs. Once done, the omelet is sprinkled with serundeng (fried shredded coconut), dried shrimp, and fried shallots.
This dish is often prepared by street vendors who serve it from their carts during the annual Jakarta Fair.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Krengsengan is a traditional stir-fry dish originating from Surabaya. It's usually made with a combination of lamb, onion, garlic, chili peppers, bay leaves, salt, ginger, soy sauce, and oil. The ingredients are simply sautéed in oil, and the lamb meat is cut into chunks and stir-fried near the end of cooking.
A bit of water is added to the pan and it's brought to a boil, and the dish is ready when the meat becomes fully tender. This dish can be bought from vendors at numerous street stalls.
Nasi bogana is a traditional rice dish originating from Tegal, Central Java. The dish is prepared by spreading a wide banana leaf, then topping it with steamed white rice and fried shallots. The combination is then topped with side dishes such as dendeng (shredded meat), chili sambal, hard-boiled eggs, opor ayam (white chicken curry), fried chicken liver, tempeh, or string beans.
A smaller banana leaf is placed on top, the dish is wrapped and steamed to keep warm. Nasi bogana can be found at numerous warungs (street food restaurants). It's also a staple at weddings and similar celebrations. Pair nasi bogana with hot or iced black tea on the side.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Sate kere is a traditional dish and a type of satay associated with Solo city (Surakarta). The name of the dish literally means poor man's satay because in the past, satay was an expensive dish prepared with beef or chicken, so the poor learned to make it with leftover offal or tempeh gambus, a byproduct of making tofu.
The pieces of offal or tempeh gambus are placed on skewers, then grilled. When served, sate kere is traditionally accompanied by a special peanut sauce with chili peppers and shallots. Although it's inexpensive, sate kere is the favorite dish of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
MOST ICONIC Sate kere
Bakpia pathok is an Indonesian delicacy that consists of a round, slightly flattened pastry filled with a sweet mung bean mixture. The pastry is characterized by a soft and flaky texture, while its interior, containing the filling, has a pasty consistency that perfectly adheres to the dough.
Its name derives from a suburb area in the city of Yogyakarta called Pathok, where the production of these pastries initially began. Apart from the traditional mung bean filling, bakpia pathok can nowadays be made with chocolate, cheese, and exotic fruits such as pineapple or durian fruit.
MOST ICONIC Bakpia Pathok
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “14 Worst Rated Indonesian Street Food” list until April 19, 2025, 2,556 ratings were recorded, of which 1,636 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.