3 Best Restaurants in Semarang, Indonesia

For a taste of some of Semarang's best lunpia—also known as the Semarang spring roll, a regional delicacy—this is where the locals go to eat them fresh on the premises or take a bag back home to the family. Made fresh to order throughout the day, these delicate, lightly fried rolls filled with chicken or pork and bamboo shoots, shrimp, egg, mushroom, and served with a spicy sauce, are made to be eaten right away.

A trip to Indonesia wouldn't be complete without sampling one of the country's most cherished traditions: street food. If the term gives you pause, consider that street carts have been around since there were streets, and this is the best way to sample the most authentic, tastiest, and least expensive food in town. Hugely popular among the locals, Nasi Ayam Bu Wido is the place for scrumptious nasi ayam, a classic dish of shredded chicken and coconut rice served in a folded banana leaf and accompanied by spicy sambal and coconut milk soup. Around for 20 years, this vendor is a sure bet among hundreds.

A stalwart survivor since the colonial days (some of the waiters still speak Dutch), this atmospheric restaurant is a big local draw not only for its status as the oldest restaurant in Semarang (open since 1936, well before independence) but because the food really is good. A self-described "restaurant, ice cream palace, and patisserie," the menu is a fascinating mash-up of European, Indonesian, and Chinese cuisines, featuring dishes like chicken satay and peanut sauce, fried tofu and veggies with fermented shrimp paste, and wienerschnitzel. Homemade cookies are kept in large jars on the restaurant counters and can be bought to go, but it's the ice cream, freshly made on the premises, that keeps everyone coming back.