Category: Food and Drink

We’re officially sick of eating. OK, that’s not quite true (well it’s not true at all) but boy did we feast this weekend! The resort we were at had wonderful food in buffet style, which we’ve decided is a great way to try lots of things. They tried to have “international” foods there, such as a lasagne which we did NOT eat, and Korean dishes. We went for the Indonesian fare, and tried such things as Soto Betawi (a great coconut-curry soup), various types of baked fish (which they do whole- watch out for scales, bones, and eyeballs), and yummy chicken dishes.
The fruit was amazing, we had pineapple like I’ve never tasted before. It was really sweet with none of the mushiness or acidic taste of Dole canned pineapple. There’s also a yellow melon, which tastes exactly like watermelon but is bright yellow.
They had a station for a traditional Dutch dessert, which consists of little fried dough balls with chocolate sauce and shredded cheese on top. I know it sounds gross but it’s pretty good.
At breakfast I tried what I though was a tiny doughnut with glaze and shredded coconut. Well the “glaze” turned out to be pure butter and the “coconut” was more shredded cheese. Hmmmm, a doughnut with butter and cheese, could they think of a less healthy treat?
We stopped at a restaurant on our way home for lunch, again a delicious buffet, but the people kept ordering up extra dishes, including some fish which tasted like it had just come from the water. We really don’t understand how the people here are not overweight, they ate a ton all weekend long. To give you an idea of how small they are, the size large at stores here is about a size six in the states!
Last but not least is the durian report. This very stinky tropical fruit is not allowed on buses and in most buildings because it is so fragrant. They’re super spiky, and you have to carefully pry them open and pull them into parts. Then there are hunks of flesh that you grab and eat with your hands. It’s hard to describe– very rich and creamy, kind of stringy like a mango, kind of sweet but not overly so, and almost milky in a way. Its flavor is completely unique, and we have been informed that most Westerners and many Indonesians can’t stand it. We’re not so sure how much we like it. Check out the new pictures for a look.
Oh and one last note, the Coke here tastes like Diet Coke and the Diet Coke tastes like regular Coke.

We have now sampled all three domestic beers from Indonesia, and are ready to give our verdicts. A funny story accompanies our purchasing the beer. We were going to just drink it from the minibar, which we suspected to be marked up, but still only cost around $2. Instead, we went to a grocery store where they cost between 65 cents and a buck each. As we checked out, of course there was a label problem with one of them, meaning that the cashier walked around hollering for a price check on the beer. People don’t drink beer that much in this majority Muslim country. So there we were, two ugly Americans holding up the line, waiting for our beer. Of course.

Now, on to the verdicts.

Bir Bintang. Bintang (meaning “Star”) is the larger of the two breweries in Indonesia. It is a Pilsener, and hence shares characteristics with both good central European brews like Pilsner Urquell and bad beers like the Beast. Its taste is light and fruity, though, with a sweet aftertaste. It certainly stands above the Milwaukee genus of beers, and would probably match well with salty, deep fried foods that are so prevalent here.

Bir Anker. Anker (meaning, like, “Anchor” or something) is the smaller brewery. Like Bintang, Anker is a Pilsener, but its taste is much drier, with a wheaty finish. Its taste is closer to a Singha or a Kingfisher type of beer, and would do well paired with sweet Javanese curry or some of the more volcanic sambals.

Anker Stout. Anker Stout is a true surprise. Produced by the Anker company as a dark alternative to the regular Pilsener, Anker Stout is a damn good stout. It has chocolate notes and an espresso like character, reminiscent of Beamish or Brooklyn Chocolate Stout. It would go well with salty peanuts and cheddar cheese, which, thanks to Dutch colonal influences, are probably available around here somewhere.

Speaking of chocolate, only one of us participated in the beer testing beyond a couple sips. The other one was busy tasting chocolate. (Pretty good.)