Where to eat in Semarang

45 independent restaurants, bakeries and food spots in Semarang. Chains are left out.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first. Showing the top 40 of 45.

Eat
Ayam Goreng Mbok Berek
Ayam penyet (traditional Javanese fried chicken that is smashed in a mortar and pestle so you can enjoy the sumsum - marrow), served with sambal and lalapan (raw vegetables).
Closed · opens 7:30 am
Eat
Bowery
Steaks, wine, cocktails, mocktails, generally fine dining. Western and Asian. Black and chrome, atmospheric lighting, Gotham-city vibe. Paired with the more casual dining Eastman.
Eat
Dyriana Bakery & Cafe
Freshly baked bread — try "roti pisang" (bread with a small banana inside) —– cakes, and a nice cafe serving local hot food and cold drinks. Air-conditioned. Often has demonstrations of traditional products being made (call first, often around 15:00-17:00).
Closed · opens 6:30 am
Eat
Elrina Restaurant
Serving different dishes of milkfish with local taste, Chinese and seafood. Air-conditioned.
Eat
Gelato Matteo
Real Italian gelato made by a real Italian man. All the favourite flavours plus some specials. Cups, cones and in brioche. Small range of other snacks, and proper Italian coffee.
Mon-Fri 10:00-22:00, Sat 10:00-23:00, Sun 10:00-20:00
Eat
Gule Kambing Bustaman Pak Sabar
Gule is a type of Javanese food containing rich, spicy, and succulent curry-like soup. The main ingredient of this dish is goat meat.
Closed · opens 8 amStart from Rp31,000
Eat
Holliday
Chinese food, including dim sum, is often considered the best Chinese restaurant.
Closed · opens 8 am
Eat
Ikan Bakar Cianjur
IBC
Highly dependable Sundanese food with quick service in lovely old Dutch bank building. The name refers to the grilled fish for which it is famous.
Eat
Kampung Serabi Kalicari
Try the local dessert of Semarang, bubur serabi, pudding with some small pancakes in a sweet coconut milk soup. It is served in a bowl made from banana leaves.
Closed · opens 11 am
Eat
Karuna
One of Semarang's only vegetarian restaurants. In the Chinese style, this replicates meat-dishes but with mushrooms, beancurd and tempe. Canteen-style, where you look in the case and point to what you want. On Saturdays it has a fixed-price all you can eat offer, but you have to clear your plate. If not, you will be fined. Has a small selection of wholefoods for sale as well - pulses, dried fruit, nuts.
Eat
Kedai Beringin Indonesia
frequently visited by office workers at lunchtime for its cheap and good Javanese-style dishes - rice with various soupy dishes (rawon, asem-asem daun kedondong, etc), nasi campur, gado-gado and so on. Various ice-based desserts are also available. Halal. Opens for two sessions a day. The first, at lunchtime, offers the Javanese menu. Opening again in the late afternoon and evening, it offers a more Chinese-style menu. Be aware that there are two Kedai Beringin in town. The other is not so far away, in front of Poncol train station. Bigger, with a wider menu, and offering some dishes with pork.
07:00-15:00 Javanese menu, 16:00-21:30 Chinese menu
Eat
Kue Lekker Paimo
A Javanese crispy flat cake. The Indonesian version of Dutch baby pancakes and French crêpe. There are two types of kue lekker, the sweet and the salty one.
Closed · opens 10 amStart from Rp2,000
Eat
Mbah Jingkrak
One of the chain of Javanese restaurants. Choose from a large number of dishes laid out - white or red rice, beancurd and tempe dishes, devil's hair chicken (pitik rambut setan), hot and sour steamed chicken (garang asem). Staff will spoon portions of those you point to, then the total is added up when you get to the end. Bentuman Steak shares the same building.
Eat
Mie Kopyok Pak Dhuwur
Mie kopyok is boiled noodles served in garlic soup with slices of fried tofu, rice cake, bean sprouts, and crushed crackers, sprinkled with sliced fresh celery, and fried shallot.
Closed · opens 8 amFrom Rp15,000
Eat
Nasi Goreng Babat Hengky
Nasi goreng babat is a typical Semarang's nasi goreng with tripe. It is a sweet, spicy, and savoury dish. Also, try babat gongso (tripe in sweet, spicy, and garlicky sauce).
Closed · opens 5 pmStart from Rp35,000
Eat
Nglaras Rasa
Regular food and buffet. Specialising in catering for large groups, including coach parties. Air-conditioned.
Eat
Penyet Kuah Timoho
Spicy Indonesian soups, including tempeh, tofu, chicken & seafood, are on offer in this snug neighborhood eatery. Usually, ayam penyet is an Indonesian fried chicken with sambal and raw veggies. Unlike the case here, ayam penyet kuah is a chicken served in thick and spicy coconut milk gravy. The pioneer of penyet in gravy in Semarang.
Closed · opens 4 pmRp6,000-20,000
Eat
Pesta Keboen
Indonesian and Dutch cuisine served in a restored Dutch colonial house furnished with antiques and Dutch East Indies memorabilia. Go there for the ambiance.
Eat
Pringgading Restaurant
New Grand Pringgading
Chinese food with an Indonesian flair. Yum cha on Sunday mornings. Always full, very lively, and chaotic. Service is not outstanding.
Eat
Rinjani View
Teras Kopi
One-stop entertainment, food, and beverage centre in the upper town. Rinjani View consists of six outlets: Resto, Lounge, Teraz, Karaoke, The Cafe, and Apartment's View. There's a fabulous view of Semarang City and Java Sea from all six. Serves Western, Chinese, and Indonesian food. WiFi is available.
Closed · opens 10 am
Eat
Sate & Gule Kambing 29
Sate Dua Sembilan
Anything you like, as long as it is goat. Famous for its goat sate and soup. This is the original restaurant, with original interiors and no air-conditioning. There are two more branches in Semarang - less inspiring interiors, but they do have AC, and a branch in each of Yogyakarta and Jakarta.
Daily 09:00-22:00
Eat
Semawis Night Market
Pasar Semawis
Night market, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Hawker-style local food. There's also an annual, larger Semawis Market before Chinese New Year.
Eat
Seoul Palace
Korean-style restaurant, with delicious barbecue, flavourful soups, and noodle dishes. Does not serve pork.
Eat
Simpang Lima
This square in the heart of Semarang has plenty of stalls offering a variety of local food. Prices are low: a piece of fried chicken, a thigh or a leg, plus a plate of steamed rice for as little as Rp15,000. Some stalls offer lesehan (sitting on a mat), with or without a low table. Active from early morning until late at night. The best stalls are busy and sell out quickly. You will also find many food stalls under tents (tenda), selling a variety of foods from Gudeg (Jogjakartan pressure-cooked sweet jackfruit meal, usually served dry or wet with coconut milk soup, and you can add in fried chicken, eggs, and other items), bubur ayam (chicken porridge, a real treat), jagung bakar (grilled corn), pecel (Javanese salad in peanut sauce) and many others. Pamper yourself with plenty of good food, yet very cheaply.
Eat
Sisingamangaraja Site
S2
A modern and hip mixed-use complex where people can hang out, drink, eat Japanese, Peranakan, or Western cuisine, or have coffee and desserts.
Eat
Soto Bangkong
Clear chicken soup, a local variation of the soto ayam found across Indonesia. A Semarang institution.
daily 07:00–22:00
Eat
Spiegel Bar and Bistro
Thoughtful and atmospheric reworking of an almost derelict heritage building, which was a general store during colonial times. Pizza, burgers, pasta, steak, fish and chips, Caesar salad - the menu is similar to all other Indonesian venues of this kind. A few surprises here and there. It's a bar too, so there is alcohol, but also means smoking is allowed. The building also hosts two related businesses:Spiegel Home Studio — a rental studio apartment. Sleeps 4. Rp800,000. Room service available from the bistroImpala.space — co-working space, on the mezzanine above the bistro
Sun-Thu 10:00–00:00, Fri Sat 10:00–late
Eat
Tahu Gimbal H. Edy
Tahu gimbal is a Semarang tofu dish with gimbal (shrimp fritter) and peanut sauce.
Closed · opens 11 amRp15,000-30,000
Eat
Tahu Petis Prasojo
Tahu petis is a typical Semarang fried tofu with black coloured shrimp paste sauce called petis inside, eat them while they're hot with a green chilli named cabe rawit if you love spicy hot snack.
Closed · opens 3 pmStart from Rp4,400
Eat
Talisman Rotisserie
It's all about chicken - mostly cooked on a rotisserie, but also soups. Salads and sides, including mashed potatoes. Part of the same group as the Basilia and Massimo restaurants.
Daily 10:00-23:00
Eat
The Blue Lotus Coffeehouse
Famous for the freshly home-roasted Indonesian coffee and eight different ways of brewing, but has a great selection of Western food and Japanese cheesecake. Comfy sofas and strong Wi-Fi.
Tue–Sun 09:00-21:00
Eat
The Tavern
Steaks, burgers, grills, pasta, pizzas. A selection of Indonesian dishes. Beer, wine. Fills up quickly so book or go early.
Mon-Fri 16:00-00:00, Sat Sun 16:00-01:00
Eat
Toko Oen
A Semarang institution since Dutch colonial days. Famous for its ice cream, steak and fried rice, and bread and cookies. Still with the atmospheric original decor. Serves pork.
Eat
Trattoria
One of the chain of Italian restaurants found across southeast Asia. Dependable and good - pizzas, kinds of pasta, steak. Also serves Japanese sushi and sashimi. Serves wine by the glass.
Closed · opens 11 am
Eat
Warung Bubur Berkah
Serves porridge bubur terik and bubur ketan kinco for breakfast.
Mon-Sat 05:30-10:00From Rp8,000
Eat
Warung Kepala Manyung Bu Fat
Offering mangut ikan manyung (ariid catfish in yellow coconut milk-curry soup).
Closed · opens 8 am
Eat
Xiang Yuen
Jl Sisingamangaraja No. 16. M-F 06:00-15:00 & 18:30-22:30, Sa-Su p7:00-15:00 & 18:30-22:30. Authentic Cantonese & Szechuanese. Rp100,000-1,000,000.
Eat
Ayam Goreng Kalasan
Traditional boiled and fried chicken.
Closed · opens 11 am
Eat
Ayam Goreng Salim
Tasty fried chicken.
Eat
Bakso Kakap Pak Wahid
A snapper fishball soup. One of delicacy from Semarang.
Closed · opens 11:30 amRp20,000

Browse all 135 places in Semarang

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Semarang (CC BY-SA 4.0).