A Cup of Java in Java - Bandung’s Best Coffee Shops
Coffee is essential to the proper function of modern life. In the West Javan capital of Bandung you are spoiled for choice when it comes to good coffee. Check out our guide for the best cups of Java in Java!
If you ask anyone to think of the word Java, we can guarantee there will be three things that will immediately spring to mind:
Computer script
The large Indonesian island
Coffee
As we’re more literate in caffeine than coding, this article is about numbers 2 and 3. We’ve been travelling west to east through Java whilst drinking an awful lot of… Java!
The coffee scene across the island of Java is huge, from street side stalls selling cheap and delicious kopi susu (literally coffee and milk) to the high end, late night coffee bars that stay open until the early hours, offering everything from lattes to coffee mocktails. It seems that coffee is available at whatever time of day, and the capital city of West Java, Bandung is no exception.
What Is The History Of Java Coffee?
Coffee or rather coffee seedlings were first introduced to the island of Java by the Dutch in the 17th Century. After stealing a few plants from their Arabian traders, the Dutch brought the seeds to Indonesia, planting seeds in Java, Sumatra and Bali. The coffee seedlings flourished in the Indonesian soil, and the Dutch quickly began exporting the coffee to Europe. The imported coffee was a huge success, and became extremely popular throughout Europe, with it being referred to as ‘Java’ thanks to the name imprinted on the coffee imports.
Today, Indonesia is no longer the world's largest producer of coffee, but the island of Java is still synonymous with the good brown stuff.
Read on to find out which coffee shops we enjoyed a good ‘cup of java’ in the city of Bandung.
Where to drink the best coffee in Bandung?
Kurokoffee (Location)
Set way out in the northern suburbs, close to the Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Kurokoffee is an absolute gem. Set in a beautifully converted house and garden, this coffee shop sprawls out across the open plan ground floor, first floor terrace and stylish back garden.
Stylish will be a word that applies for the whole of this coffee shop.
Loosely Japanese themed with many Studio Ghibli props and prints scattered throughout, this is an achingly cool space, popular with the local students and young professionals. The long tables are crowded with groups of friends, laptops, cameras and other hallmarks of the new nomadic professional.
The large garden is full of tables, trees with low hanging leaves and artfully placed stepping stones. There is also a stage area and we frequently encountered live jazz music in the afternoons.
The coffee here is fantastic. Never too sweet, or too bitter, it is the perfect caffeinated middle ground. Both the iced latte and the iced long black were amazing drinks.
Kurokoffee also serves really excellent food. From Indonesian favourites through to Japanese, Korean and Thai bowls. It is obviously more expensive than street food, but nothing too extravagant. The menu here will set you back between 50k IDR and 60k IDR with coffees running at 25k IDR to 35 k IDR.
Dr Ells Coffee Otista (Location)
Growing up with the nickname “Ells'' by friends and family, and seeing Dr Ells Coffee Otista named on Google Maps, Ellie has no choice but to pay this coffee shop a visit.
Dr Ells is located on Jalan Otto Iskandar Dinata in the centre of Bandung, and is only a short walk from Bandung Railway Station, Pasar Baru Shopping Mall and the popular street food market of Sudirman Street . Unlike its old-school fabric store neighbours on the street, this small coffee shop offers a cool and contemporary vibe, with outdoor seating and a large glass window/door stretching across the whole front of the store. Inside, the interior of Dr Ells is sleek and modern, with white tiled walls contrasting with dark and light wooden furniture.
Dr Ells offers all the standard coffee offerings from iced lattes to flat whites as well as Manja Coffee (chocolate), Genit (mocha) and Cinta (matcha).
Both times we visited, we opted for our usual order of two iced lattes and were not disappointed. The coffee was perfectly strong and not too sweet, with a rich and nutty flavour. The iced lattes were even better when paired with a slice of their chocolate brownie!
Jazz Coffee, Sudirman Market (Location)
Set within the Sudirman Market food court, this little coffee shop is perfect for a pre or post dinner pick me up whilst snacking your way through the food market. Jazz Coffee certainly lives up to its name with jazz playing through an old record player, LPs decorating the counters and shelving units, and the black and orange walls paired with the warm hanging lights to give a cosy atmosphere. Stepping into the coffee shop feels as though you’ve stepped into a Jazz lounge.
Jazz Coffee serves all your favourite coffees, both hot and cold as well as matcha, chocolate drinks and a selection of flavoured teas. If you’re dining in Sudirman Market, we can highly recommend grabbing a brew!
Tamoe Coffee and Tea (Location)
This coffee shop is located in central Bandung and offers the usual coffee affair from Americanos to Cappuccinos. The coffee shop is extremely stylish, with a modern aesthetic of white walls and brick interior contrasting with dark grey concrete and soft fairy lights. There is seating both indoors and outdoors.
We would recommend pairing a visit to Tamoe Coffee and Tea with a visit to the restaurant Bakmie Karet (location) next door which serves excellent noodles with pork and chicken topped with meatballs and fried wontons.
Coffee Toffee (Location)
This coffee chain has two locations within the city of Bandung. One to the north which we visited, and one closer to the centre.
Serving all the coffee favourites, we opted for two iced lattes. What we received however can only be described as giant sized iced coffee served in two large glass stein style tumblers. The coffee was delicious and due to the size kept us powered up for the rest of the afternoon's activities.
If you’re in Bandung, we’d recommend visiting the Coffee Toffee we visited as it's a great place for a “pick me up” after visiting the Babakan Siliwangi City Forest (location).
This small park has a circular route made up of raised walkways that wind their way through the forest. Covered by the canopy of the trees, this park is a perfect place to escape the intense tropical heat.
You could even visit Coffee Toffee beforehand and get a takeaway coffee and food to bring with you to the park.
Belikopi (Location)
This is another chain located in Bandung, but also one we continued to seek out whilst travelling through Java. Belikopi serves excellent coffee at extremely affordable prices, which is ideal if you’re on a backpacking budget like us. Cheap, delicious, caffeinated and in our case iced, Belikopi relieved us on multiple occasions.
We were paying 10000 IDR (£0.52 or $0.64) for one iced latte.
We’d recommend giving them a Google if you’re backpacking and a coffee lover. They also have regular coffee promotions such as buy one get one free, or buy multiple to get a discount. Just take a look at the posters advertised on the cafe walls. We stumbled upon Belikopi throughout our Javanese adventures and they’ve been our “go to” for low cost caffeine fixes.
Final Thoughts
Wherever you are staying in Bandung, you’ll never be far from a coffee shop. From the high end, to the street stall, whatever your budget, you’ll easily find the perfect caffeine fix within the city!
Let us know if you visit any of these coffee shops in the comments below.
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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Sudirman Street Food Market - A Foodie Oasis in Bandung
Indonesia is heaven for food lovers and the capital city of West Java, of Bandung, is no exception. Read our guide to eating and drinking at the excellent and eclectic Sudirman Street Food Market. No matter what your food cravings may be, the Sudirman market can probably satisfy you! Offering everything from Indonesian classic to worldwide fusion food, the market has it all!
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The West Javan capital city of Bandung is a total melting pot of architecture, culture, art and food. This sprawling metropolis is a giant mixing bowl of old and new, Sundanese and Javanese, classic and modern. Old colonial buildings sit next door to glass fronted office blocks, fresh markets sprawl across the street in front of enormous air conditioned shopping malls, gridlocked concrete flyovers tower over pretty, quiet tree lined streets. Bandung is a unique blend of all the highs and lows of Indonesia, and this is nowhere more apparent than in its thriving food scene!
Food is available everywhere in Bandung and has everything you could possibly ever want to eat. From street side offerings to Michelin guide restaurants and everything in between, Bandung is a city to be hungry in!
If you’ve been following along with our journey, or have seen our posts and stories on our Instagram you’ll know by now, that we absolutely love our food and one of our favourite ways to really get to know a city is via its culinary offerings. On the streets of Istanbul we dove head first and tried all the street food it had to offer, had an amazing night trying lots of bizzare barbecue meats with the locals in Ho Chi Minh City and set ourselves a £5 eating challenge in Hat Yai’s Florida Night Market in Thailand. Wherever we are, we always like to eat.
We love to try everything we can, and eating at a market is one of our favourite ways to dine. This is where we would like to introduce you to Bandung’s Sudirman Street Day and Night Market.
What is the Sudirman Street Day and Night Market?
The Sudirman Street Day and Night Market is a large covered food court that’s chock full of stalls, beverage sellers and restaurants (some fixed and some on wheels) offering cuisines from across the world. From Indonesian favourites such as satay and mie goreng, to Korean fried cheese sticks and Japanese sushi, there’s something for everyone to eat at the market. There is even a bar selling alcohol which we will go into in more detail later.
What to expect at Sudirman Street Day and Night Market - Our Experience
Stepping out of our Grab taxi, we knew we had arrived in Bandung’s version of a foodie heaven! Smoke from charcoal barbeques filled the air, the smell of roasting meats wafted through our noses and the distinct clang of woks frying noodles could be heard all around. Hungry, and being led by our senses, we headed into the market, excited to try everything the food court had to offer.
Before getting settled at one of the empty tables, we decided to do a quick tour of the market to see what we were letting ourselves in for. This walking orbit is now an unspoken ritual for us in any hawker centre, food court or night market. We like to circle round, possibly more than once, just to make sure we’ve seen everything that’s on offer. There was so much choice at Sudirman it was almost hard for us to take it all in. For some, when there’s an overwhelming choice it can become a bit of a burden, choice paralysis is real! For us, however, the scale of the market did not lead to paralysis but to the instant realisation that there was too much food for one sitting, we would have to visit a few times! We were hungry and the choices seemed almost endless, it was time to get our munch on.
Over the next week, we visited the market almost everyday and dined on some fantastic food. From perfectly barbecued sate of chicken, beef and pork sticks, to the cheapest (most delicious) crab you can imagine (£1.80 for a whole crab in black pepper sauce!). We ate too many dishes to go into any detail so here is a quick list of things we enjoyed at the market:
Satay - Both chicken and beef. They are barbecued then and there in front of you!
Crab - Unbelievably cheap and yummy.
Kuay Teow - Ellie's favourite noodles, wok charred and delicious.
Mie Goreng - You cannot go wrong in Indonesia with fried noodles!
Chicken Wings - The Korean stall provided excellent beer accompaniments.
Pork and Rice - Slightly rarer in Indonesia, we had been craving a porky platter and this did not disappoint.
Coconut Milkshake - Super refreshing.
Wontons and Dumplings - Always one of our favourites, crunchy wontons and succulent dumplings are a must order anytime we see them.
Iced Coffee - You are never far from a good cup of Java in Java.
Beer - Forgive us we are British.
For those who like an iced cold beer with their street side dining experience, there is a bar come off-licence that sells all the popular Indonesian beers from Bintang, Prost and Singaraja as well as international beers of Carlsberg, Heinekin and Corona. The off-licence shop also sold arak as well as spirits of every kind and even some expensive bottles of wine!
A word to the wise - the bar/off-licence has tables outside, snag one of these and you can use it as a base to order any of your food from - order at any stall and they will deliver to your table.
Where is the Sudirman Street Day and Night Market?
Sudirman Street Day and Night Market is located in the centre of Bandung on Jalan Jend. Sudirman (location). The market stretches the full length between Jalan Jend. Sudirman and Jalan Cibadak with entrances on both streets.
The market is a 12 minute walk away (or 10 minute drive) from Bandung Railway station, with the purple Cisitu Tegalega bus route (running every 10 minutes from early morning to 9pm) serving both the train station and market.
How to reach the Sudirman Street Market?
If you’re staying in the Centre of Bandung, the market is within easy walking distance of most of downtown central Bandung. However, if you’d prefer to get there by wheels there are lots of options.
Both the ride hailing apps of Grab and GoJek work within the city, and a ride should be cheap and quick to find.
If you’d prefer to arrive by public transport, there is a bus stop a 2 minute walk (170m) from the market. With the purple bus route of Cisitu Tegalega running every 10 minutes and the blue bus routes of Koridor 2 and Koridor 5 running every 20 to 25 minutes.
What time does the Sudirman Street Market Open?
The food court is open everyday from 10am (11am on Saturdays) to 11pm in the evenings.
However, each food vendor within the market has their own opening times, so be aware that not every stall in the market may be open when you visit.
Quite a few of the stalls have their own Google Map listings as well as Instagram/Facebook pages so if there’s somewhere specific you’d like to dine at, maybe check in advance.
Is there an entrance fee?
There is no entrance fee to enter the market. The only cost to you, will be whatever you decide to eat and drink!
The market is slightly more expensive than other street food stalls around the city, but given the location and convenience, we’d say it's definitely worth the slightly higher price.
What should I eat at the Sudirman Street Market?
This is an easy question, everything! We stayed in Bandung for over a week and dined at the market almost every night and did not once have a bad meal. There is so much to choose from, we don’t think you could ever get bored.
If you’re dining as a couple, we’d recommend sending each other off to surprise the other with another plate. It is a great way to try more of what the market has to offer, and it is exciting not to know what’s being delivered to your table!
Are there toilets at the Sudirman Street Day and Night Market?
Yes there are.
You need to pay 2000 IDR to enter, but you are given toilet paper after payment. When we visited the toilets were always very clean, even at the end of a busy Saturday night.
Where should I stay in Bandung, is there accommodation close to the market?
There are lots of accommodation choices in Bandung from hostels and guesthouses to high end hotels. We would recommend staying in the centre of Bandung so that you’re within walking distance of the night market.
Check out our handy map below to see what accommodation is on offer within Bandung:
Final Thoughts
The Sudirman Street Day and Night market is the perfect place to spend an evening in Bandung.
A well fed Ellie is a happy Ellie!
Offering a little bit of everything, it’s a one stop food court that will cater to everyone's tastes. For those who are unsure about ordering from street side stalls or haven’t yet sampled the amazing rice and curries from warung joints, the Sudirman Street market takes all the worry away. The vast majority of stalls had menus in English, and even if they didn’t, we found the age old trick of pointing and smiling got us by.
If you’re staying in Bandung, we’d recommend spending at least one night here as we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and even if you’re the fussiest of eaters we’re sure there would be something for you to eat!
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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