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Jayakarta
Category: Restaurants Indonesian Indonesian [Edit]
2026 University Ave(between Milvia St & Shattuck Ave)
Berkeley, CA 94704
Neighborhood: Downtown Berkeley
(510) 841-0884
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
352 reviews for Jayakarta
Review Highlights
"My personal favorite is the mie tek tek."
(in 56 reviews)
"SERIOUSLY, THEY HAVE THE BEST MIE AYAM AND AYAM KALASAN."
(in 25 reviews)
"The Gado Gado is also excellently prepared."
(in 33 reviews)
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352 reviews in English
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Review from Yun C.
12/9/2011 3 photos
After long hearing the raves about this place, I finally had the opportunity to check out their famous Indonesian food.
We went on a Sunday night, the restaurant was fairly empty (maybe 2 other tables) but there were some traffic from students buying food to-go.
The server was an extremely friendly mid-aged man. He said he's originally from Jakarta..so I'm guessing that the chef is also originally from Jakarta...why this matters?? tell you later..keep on reading!
We ordered:
- Empek-empek Palembang (fried fish cake with boiled egg served with tamarind based sauce)
This is a famous traditional street food in Palembang (West Indonesia). I certainly had better ones before. They could have put more fish so that the fish cake had more fish flavor. Also, the sauce doesn't have enough richness from the tamarind, onion, garlic and the dried shrimp powder.
- Toge Goreng (boiled bean sprouts with fermented bean sauce).
This is also a street food that you will find in Jakarta (usually after the sunset).
It didn't have enough "oncom" which is made of fermented soy beans, but it's understandable since it's not something you can easily find here in the US. We asked for "extra spicy" and they kindly fulfilled our request. I was really impressed by the rich flavor, I will say it's about 85% authentic and the portion is very generous too.
- Bakwan Malang (noodles soup with fried wonton, fish cake and meat balls)
This is too a famous street food in Indonesia. There are many different versions all over the country. Depending on which area that you visit, the contents will be slightly different but it's actually the same thing.
I was impressed that the broth was very flavorful, rich with sweetness from the bone concoction...delicious! The "bakwan" which is some kind of wontons were also filled with real meat, and very tasty! This dish was also a good portion, good for sharing.
The price is slightly higher than another Indonesian Restaurant that I usually go to in Sunnyvale area, but I feel that Jayakarta's chef is a better cook :). I like that the food was not overly sweet. Usually, if the chef is originally from "java" (surabaya or Central Java), the food tends to be sweeter. The fact that the chef is from Jakarta, probably plays a role in making the food not as sweet.
I cannot wait to visit Jayakarta again..hopefully in the near future! They have a huge selection of menu and I cannot wait to try them!
ps: total was about $25 before tip. -
Review from Jenn C.
2/9/2012
Arriving around 5:20 to meet a friend, I had my second visit to Jayakarta - this time for dinner. There was one larger table of about 6 that was done and getting ready to leave, and another table of 2. There were two men working in the dining room and yet it seemed difficult to get the attention to order and they both seemed distracted with other things - getting a water refill was a bit of an exercise - not exactly warm/fuzzy service but tolerant, at least. This is in stark contrast to the service I had when I was here for lunch with my Indonesian step-mother - the server/host was at our table repeatedly inquiring about our satisfaction and our water glasses did not go empty.
We ordered the tempe gorem and the roti for our appetizers - I liked the crispy cracker size pieces of tempe that were fried up and served with a sweet/sour dark sauce with chopped red onions but my friend wasn't as keen on it (maybe we'll get the tofu next time). There were only two pieces of roti with our order - not nearly enough for the half cup or so of curry coconut sauce - so delicious I wanted to drink the rest of it!
Our vegetable yellow curry was tasty but the curry was very thin, more like a soup than the thicker yellow curry I like at Wat Mongkolratanaram (that's the "Berkeley Thai Temple" to you heathens). The green beans with tofu and sticky sweet dark sauce - similar to the sauce with the fried tempe but SPICY - was absolutely delicious!
I'll be returning - the food was pretty good and I look forward to trying other items. Next time, I'll go with my stepmother to see if we get preferential treatment. -
Review from Troy S.
Redondo Beach, CA
11/28/2011
I'll admit to being a mostly white-washed Indonesian-American, but when it comes to cuisine, I'll take rendang and satay ayam over burgers and dogs any day.
Unfortunately, other than my mom's house, I haven't been able to find any place close to me that serves indo food. Really, LA?
Thankfully, I make my way up to the Bay area a few times a year and when I'm here I make sure to stop in at Jayajarta to get a taste of my homeland.
First things first: parking can be a bit of a pain as the street parking is limited. We had to pay $5 and park in the structure about a block away. Then again, you bay area folks are lucky enough to have functioning public transit at your disposal (yes, this Angeleno is jealous).
Anyway, back to Jayajarta. Somehow this place has broken through to the local area and convinced them that, no, Thai food and "Chinese" food are not the only options when searching for Asian cuisine. As a fan of indo food, I can attest to the authenticity of the dishes served at Jayajarta. Probably because everyone who works there - both behind and in front of the counter - are Indonesian.
Last night we had a family feast here and ordered everything from roti (bread), to gado gado, tempe, mie goreng, nasi goreng, satay ayam, tofu, and my personal favorite - rendang. All of which were delicious and tasted just like I remember from the times I've been back to the motherland. If not better. If you're sensitive to spicy food, be sure to pay attention to the footnotes on each item, they're pretty accurate as to the spice level for each item.
Lastly, for dessert we ordered black rice pudding, our favorite dessert from Indo. It's sticky rice that's been fermented to give it its color. Then its cooked in what must be Jesus milk as it's got a pudding-like texture and is sweet but not too sweet. Ok fine, it's actually coconut milk that they then top it with so the rice is just soaking in all the milk. The dish is served warm and is sooo good.
Drinks are standard American fare, though they do have some standouts like cendol. It's also BYOB, but they'll provide things like wine glasses should you want to add a little class to your meal.
Ambience is casual, as is the dress code. There are items for the whole family, as my 3 year-old niece really liked the roti and rice and some of the noodles. Prices are also reasonable, but just be sure you don't have too many leftovers, as they provide 2 boxes free. After that it's a quarter each.
All in all, Jayajarta is one of my favorite spots in Berkeley and the entire bay area when I'm looking for good food...not just indo food. -
Review from Rob W.
Seattle, WA
2/8/2012
Shadow puppets on the walls, plenty of chili paste at the table, and a delicious plate of noodles with chicken and shrimp! Take a break from typical Thai restaurants and try this place.
-
Review from Andre W.
Santa Cruz, CA
2/4/2012
I have been here only once, but that is because I live in the South Bay area. if I were to live anywhere near East Bay, this place would be a regular for me. My experience with Jayakarta involved the Ayam Kalasan. The price alone gives this humble eatery four stars. At a combo price of $7.95, it simply does not get better than this. As for my meal, who would have thought that chicken and rice could be met with such extraordinary flavors. It was the perfectly blend of sweet and spice. Sweet heat is what I like to refer to it.
The service reminded me of home...all are welcome. There is absolutely zero pretense in neither the presentation of the food or aesthetic of the facility. Instead however, Jayakarta let's the food do all the talking. This was my first time eating Indonesian food and it surpassed all my expectations.
For an experience apart from Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese or Filipino, I would default you to Indonesia.
Eat Well. -
Review from Robert R.
1/30/2012
I have never been to an Indonesian restaurant but was always curious about this place. Actually, I'm never in Berkeley often but my bro' in law has been wanting to try this place out. We went over the weekend and had a pleasant experience. The food on the Menu is mostly Indonesian/Thai/ Filipino cuisine all mixed up. Slightly spicy but flavorful. The place had a Family owned/Family run type of atmosphere. The dishes we tried had no nuts, because of the lil' one has nut allergies. But for the most part all the food I tried was Fantastic. My favorites were the Roti, Chicken Satay( very moist and very flavorful), the Fried Rice with Chicken and the Sweet Spicy BBQ Beef. The Halo Halo looked good but I was saving my dessert for another Berkeley place. Unfortunately we had eaten so much there was no more room for dessert. The place was clean and plenty of parking around the block. Too bad I can't say that about the popular place Cream, I was trying to get dessert at on Telegraph.
-
Review from Elis J.
Oakland, CA
1/26/2012
For the Bay Area, this is the best Indonesian food.
"Nasi bungkus" on weekends, bakwan malang, Ayam Kalasan.... everything in the menu are good. -
Review from Jeanette S.
Berkeley, CA
11/9/2011
This was the first time I've ever tried Indonesian food! My friend had recommended it to me several years ago, but I never got around to coming all the way down to University until a couple weeks ago.
I ordered the fried rice special, and I loved it! I've been looking for good fried rice around Berkeley for forever, and the one here is perfect! The rice is the perfect texture and the meat (I ordered chicken) was given to me in generous portions, and was sliced off the yummy parts of the chicken (not the crappy parts they throw into fried rice at most other stores).
In general, I'll definitely try to make it down here when I have the time. -
Review from David B.
Sunnyvale, CA
1/15/2012
What do you do with a visiting friend from the midwest? You take him to dinner here. We had, to borrow a phrase, a very pleasant feast: rich, abundant, varied, and prolonged. Seven people passed around six entrees, one appetizer (lamb satay), and two salads. Excellent food with amazing sauces. All present had quite enough to eat, and the whole feast, generous tip included, ran to $15/person.
-
Review from Johnny R.
Berkeley, CA
12/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!! Fast, courteous, delicious and veggie friendly. Great desserts and unusual drink selection. A+
-
Review from Sunil R.
11/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
Went here with pretty high expectations based on a recommendation from an Indonesian friend and the reviews. What a LETDOWN!
For one, we walked in around 11.45 and there was nobody there. I know some folks in the back saw us but there was no attempt to welcome us or seat us. Should have left then.
Anyways, ended up seating ourselves and helping ourselves to the menus. A little while later, a waiter saunters over and takes our order.
The food was just plain BAD. The chicken tasted funny. It tasted old and it did not help that we saw the chef use the microwave over and over while he was making our food. Does not happen often but ended up wasting food.
Oh, and this place needs some deep cleaning and more TLC. The music was a little odd and annoying as well. Again if the food was good, I probably wouldn't be nitpicking. BTW, until we left around 12.15 and still there was nobody else there.
This area has tons of interesting restaurants and I regret wasting an opportunity on Jayakarta. -
Review from Ella W.
San Jose, CA
11/7/2011
If you like a bunch of rules, little attention and decent food, dine here!
Ok, seriously, would only recommend coming here if you'd like to try something new (Indonesian food) , want to do take-out for some cheap food, or if you ARE Indonesian - bc then you'll get decent service, like that group who stared at us as we walked in, haha, Not in a mean way, just 12 eyes on us.
3 stars but I wouldn't initiate coming back.
Major minus points for poor service - see that section below.
PRICE: 5
Great! About $8/entree
FOOD: 3
Decent. Interesting flavors. We enjoyed the Sop (soup with goat meat) - nice, light, sweet & sour flavors with cabbage, tomatoes, green onions, potatoes! Goda-Goda (warm salad) was pretty good with a mix of ingredients - especially loved the shrimp crackers & fried tofu - I liked the peanut sauce dressing but personally it was a little too strong. Nasi Goreng Jayakarta (fried rice with chicken) was pretty good, nothing too special.
AMBIANCE: 3
Ok. Not too shabby, but nothing special. Restroom (single co-ed) not very pleasant/clean with clutter of cleaning equipment over the urinal.
SERVICE: 2
Poor. Especially since the restaurant was not busy during early Sunday dinner. Server came to take/give order and that was it. Never came back to check on us or refill our waters. At the end of our meal, spent two minutes trying to flag down one of the two servers for our bill. When one finally came, he literally dropped it on the table and took off - I opened my mouth to ask for to-go boxes, but just shut it as he flew off, haha. Funny moment. Bf called it a "drive-by." We later asked for 3 containers (we eat very little!), but were only given 2 - one of them had dividers so that's okay. But major minus points for having a 2-container limit rule! IMO, that is small-minded, cheap customer service.
Please note RULES posted throughout the restaurant, haha:
Front Door: Make sure door is closed
Wall: $15 minimum for credit/debit, 1 card per table
Wall: No more than 2 togo containers per table, additional is 25 cents per container
Restroom: Do not put any paper in toilet
Door outside restroom: Keep Closed
LOCATION/PARKING: 4
Pretty good - in downtown, so lots of other things around. Need to circle to find street parking.
COMPLAINTS:
Poor service, not very pleasant restroom -
Review from IQ I.
San Francisco, CA
1/1/2012
Food is ok..everything seems too greasy especially the duck fried rice. Ventilation needs some improvement since inside is very stuffy.
-
Review from Calvin H.
San Jose, CA
10/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
Great Indonesian food here..
Heard from a friend that this is one of the only places you can actually have indonesian food around the bay area and I was skeptical at first, but after tasting about 5 dishes, I must say its pretty good. I grew up eating your typical asian foods like chinese, japanese, korean, and vietnamese, but idonesian is a bit different. The spices are very unique and the texture of the food I would say is an aquired taste?
Either way this location has above average service and the food was good. Only issues I have was the lights were poorly light and service could have been faster (they only seemed to have one waiter at the time! understaffed much?). Try it out, despite the small shortcomings this food is worth trying. -
Review from Gabe R.
Alameda, CA
9/16/2011 1 Check-in Here
It was my first time trying Indonesian food. I ordered the lunch special which comes with two entrees, salad/soup, and rice. My two entrees were yellow shrimp curry and grilled chicken skewers.
The curry was pretty good. I might have liked it more if it had a thicker consistency but overall it was good. The carrots and potatoes were cooked to perfection. The chicken skewers were not amazing because they had too much sauce. I'm not sure what the chicken was covered in but I decided to take it off before eating it.
What I really didn't like was the salad that comes with the combo. It had way too many ingredients that I felt didn't go well together plus there was too much peanut butter/dressing/sauce on the salad. I only ate about a third of it. The peanut tasting paste was too much. Plus I felt like I was eating lettuce with peanut butter, not something I would like to have more of. I will go for the soup next time even though I'm not a big fan of soup. -
Review from Andrea B.
9/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
I enjoyed a meal with a friend here the other day, and after years of walking past this place and wanting to try it, I admit I am pretty disappointed.
I really like Indonesian food; my friend and I tried a curry dish as well as a popular assorted BBQ chicken dish. The vegetarian curry soup dish was runny and needed reduction. The flavor was pretty good, but it was underwhelming.
The BBQ chicken dish, however, was great. The peanuts were roasted and had a great flavor, and all the meat was tender and good.
Food aside, since perhaps we chose our dishes poorly, the worst part about Jayakarta is the service. Worst service ever. I've been to a fair share of Asian, South Asian, and Filipino restaurants, and though service is rarely a highpoint and I'm usually pretty forgiving about service, the service here was just awful. -
Review from harsha g.
A craving for roti prata brought me here.
The menu is extensive and the lunch combo special looked promising!
2 items,served with rice and gado (Indonesian salad with peanut dressing) accompanied with juice maanga (mango juice) ;)
The items I chose were nobr 4 and 14, which is Lodeh Sayur - a cross between the thai green curry and the south indian curry called Avial. Loved the flavor and consistency of the curry. It didn't seem as heavy as the green curry or avial, much lighter, The cook had used several fresh vegetables and that made me happier.
Terung Baladu is fried eggplant with hot chilli sauce. I was expecting it to be very spicy, but it was quite mild and flavorful. The salad dressing was very different to thai peanut dressing and tasted divine.
The mango juice was of the consistency of Maaza, a bottled drink avaialable in India and had crushed ice shavings which I quite enjoyed. I was however, expecting a thicker mango juice.
Overall, I added a star to my rating of 3 stars for the food, as I feel that this place even at 2.30 in the afternoon was crowded on a weekday with people of indonesian origin (must be authentic) and the food tasted homemade. Very unpretentious yet tasty! Just like food should be :) -
Review from Tiffany K.
Sacramento, CA
7/2/2011
3.5 stars. Visiting my alma mater, I had to check out Jayakarta on University Ave. It had been bookmarked for ages and Yelp buddy Toni M recommended it.
Spouse had spent much of his youth going to Indonesia on surf trips so I knew he would be a good arbiter of authentic Indonesian cuisine. We were not let down!
On weekends, you can get the nasi something-or-other which had three featured dishes. I don't know Indonesian, but one was a deep fried curry chicken, beef rendang and a tofu dish steamed with rice all in a banana leaf for about $9. Delicious!
Also had the chicken satay, which was around $8. Wow. Here I was ordering chicken sate in other restaurants thinking chicken smothered in peanut butter was a good satay, but this was the real deal. Skewered grilled chicken with a delightful peanut sauce to top it off. It kind of reminded my of yakitori, but without so much shoyu.
Finally had the gado gado ($7.25). Tofu, beans, cucumber, and some other vegetarian options with peanut sauce on top. This was very good. And apparently very authentic.
Service, unfortunately, was also very authentically Indonesian (according to husband). In that we weren't acknowledged when we came in, very laissez-faire. One couple actually left after sitting around for so long. As for myself, I grabbed a menu myself and found a table. For that, it loses half a star.
The ambiance is pretty basic. But the shadow puppets are a nice touch. -
Review from Ryan B.
Pittsburg, CA
12/10/2011
I'm new to Indonesian food, but not other Asian foods. This type of cuisine seems like some version of Thai food. I ordered a combo rice place with Beef, Fried Chicken and rice. Overall it was ok, maybe I need to try other dishes and see what Yelpers recommend.
-
Review from Bert K.
8/2/2011
First time here and really enjoyed their food.
Started with an appetizer of deep fried tofu with an amazing dipping sauce of black beans , sugar, jalapeno, chopped onions and other secret stuff. It was v. yummy.
We ordered the Pepes Ikan (fish fillets in tumeric, tomatoes, lemon grass, coconut milk, curry and wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled), Kang Kung (sauteed watercress with red bellpeppers, tofu in a briny sauce) and fluffy sweet tasting rice.
Had two beers: one San MIguel beer and one Singh beer.
Tip: get the San Miguel beer, it's from the Phillipines. LIght, sparkling, tastey and refreshing.
Total with taxes and tip was only $46.00
Tip: it's a five minute walk from the down town Berkeley BART station.
Enough for two very hungry men or three to four light eaters.
Can't wait to return and try their other dishes.
Tip: the menu has many pictures =) yeah!!!
Decor: low rent but clean. bathroom was clean.
Customer service: ok. -
Review from Jenny M.
8/8/2011
I've never really had Singaporean/Malaysian/Indonesian food before, so I can't say whether the food was authentic or not, but it was definitely GOOD.
Portions were very sporadic - my group got some Mee Goreng, which was DELICIOUS and we were given huge portions. The Roti Prata was pretty good but too expensive for the amount they give. We also got some lamb skewers which were good, but only got about 6, so the portions for that were mediocre.
Overall, the food quality was very good, so I would definitely come back again. It's great for casual group dinners as well! -
Review from Jana S.
5/26/2011
A tasty mie tektek ordered after book club meeting this evening.. just tucking into it now... loaded with flavor. Wish that the noodles (they look medium, almost like spaghetti texture) were fried up a bit longer over the wok...the diced almost mystery meat (think it's tough chicken) seemed like leftover meat thrown into the stir-fried noodle dish. I hope that I am mistaken!
Nice menu selection too--would enjoy trying other items. -
Review from Thai Hien H.
Los Angeles, CA
8/23/2011
I really wanted to give this restaurant a good review because the food was good and fairly cheap. However, I wouldn't come back here. Maybe it is because I don't care much for this type of food - everything was quite brown in color! Too much marinating I think - this is probably how the food should be and I am just too inexperience with it to really appreciate it.
Nonetheless, it is a a good place to try Indonesian food if you've never had it. -
Review from Grace L.
Los Angeles, CA
6/11/2011 1 Check-in Here
The soup we got had a very exotic rosy flavor to it, which I'm not sure I liked - it perplexed me more than anything else. Roti was good, but I wish the peanut sauce was thicker and peanuttier.
Service was abysmally slow. -
Review from Tigre T.
Los Angeles, CA
8/20/2011
My friend took me over a year ago to Jayakarta and it was great, making me think of home food.
We had two vegetarian dishes. And my favorite dessert; grilled banana with cheese and chocolate syrup. -
Review from Peggy S.
7/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
I have mixed feelings about this restaurant - some of the dishes were amazing, and some were kind of "meh", but overall, this is a 3.5-star restaurant, with solid and comforting dishes.
It was the Fourth of July and most restaurants we wanted to try were closed. Luckily, Jon Y. directed us to Jayakarta, which happened to be open on that day. Ecstatic, we were dying to try some delicious Indonesian food because we could smell the aroma of stir fried onions and chives all the way across the street!
For some reason, I was really craving roti, so for appetizer, we ordered a roti prata. I was expecting the chewy roti to be dipped in a thick, creamy curry that's slightly sweet, but the roti prata at Jayakarta was not what I anticipated.
The roti was good - soft, warm (maybe a little hot...), and the layered pastry was so chewy in my mouth, but it was a bit on the greasy side. The curry was a little disappointing, though. It was very watery, and it was not very flavorful. It was like dipping the roti in yellow salt water, sprinkled with green onions.
For our entrees, we ordered mie tek-tek and bakmi ayam with chicken. Mie tek-tek was soooo good! It was a little spicy, stir fried and tossed in a peanut sauce. The grease was balanced out with tomato and cucumber chunks. The egg on top was perfectly done - when I poked my fork through it, the creamy yoke leaked out and blended with the noodles and it was just perfect.
The bakmi ayam was a bit lighter than the mie tek-tek. It's just plain white noodle with stir fried meat, mushroom, and various other veggies and dressing sprinkled on top, and a few wontons mixed into the noodle. A light chicken broth comes with the order, but it wasn't particularly memorable. This wasn't anything extraordinary, and you could probably get the same things elsewhere or even make it at home. The dish was still tasty because it was very flavorful, but it just wasn't as amazing as the mie tek-tek.
The food was reasonably priced and there isn't much of an ambiance to the place. However, the service was fast and friendly, but things could get a bit overwhelming here since it's a tiny restaurant, so the staff could get quite busy at times.
The dishes are delicious if you know what to order! Now I know where to satisfy my carb cravings the next time I am in town! -
Review from Sabrina C.
San Francisco, CA
10/1/2011
Last time I ate here, I found a blue rubber band in my food. Meh, herbs and vegetables are held together with blue rubber bands. This time, I found remnants of a sponge. That was enough to make me stop eating, since I originally wondered why my food tasted like dish soap.
I like Jayakarta for it's cuisine and family & friends atmosphere, but all bets are off when I've waited 20 hopeful minutes for dinner only to have the main ingredient be Dawn!! -
Review from Mei Kim P.
San Francisco, CA
8/14/2011
Delicious home cook Indonesian meals, this place have a variety of food that makes any Indo, Malaysian and Singaporean people miss home. A big thing to order is their mee goreng which I think is the best I ever had. No doubt about it. The second is the Nasi Goreng Kambing; a bonus in my opinion because is just so hard to find a tender goat meat cooked to perfection. Their store is small and cozy but I imagine it could be packed during lunch hours.
The price is really great in my opinion for the sizes they give. -
Review from July H.
San Francisco, CA
4/19/2011
First, let me apologize to all my friends who like this place more than Borobudur. Let's just agree to disagree. :)
There are several dishes here that I really like. However, this place does have more choices than Borobudur and that's why I still give it 4 star.
Here are my list of dishes to get when in Jayakarta:
1. Es Tape - Fermented Tapioca with ice and syrup.
2. Pepes Ikan - fish wrapped in banana leaf
3. Tempe Penyet (only if you like Tempe) - soybean cake mashed in chili shrimp paste.
The mie tek2 here is too sweet and soggy for my taste. All the other Indonesian dish I have tried (kangkung, ayam kalasan, babat goreng) are good as well, but not outstanding.
They have homemade snacks and cakes you can bring home on their counters. Sometimes, they even have bacang or nasi bungkus. I have never tried those, but it's something different that you can't buy anywhere else.
Service here is about the same as Borobudur. Friendly, but slow. Prices here are slightly lower too and it is closer to a BART station.
Anyway, give it a try and let me know which one do you prefer and why.
PS. Like Borobudur, they usually have a booth on Indonesia Day and they usually sell more authentic food than what they have in their regular menu just for that day. Indonesia Day 2011 is July 23, 2011 in Union Square. -
Review from melanie s.
Clayton, CA
8/16/2011
This is my favorite Indonesian restaurant in the Bay Area. I come here almost every weekend, mostly lunch time. They're always busy, however they've always provided excellent service. I've never been there during weekdays so I don't know how busy they are on weekdays.
On weekends, they have a special menu called Nasi Bungkus. If you want something authentic, this is what you should order. It's rice wrapped in banana leaves that comes with beef rendang (Indonesian style beef stew), hard boiled egg curry, jackfruit curry, tofu curry and Indonesian fried chicken. This is guaranteed very authentic (I know Indonesian food very well cos i used to live there for 18 years).
Another authentic thing they have there is called Bacang. It's pretty much like an indonesian style tamales, but wrapped in bamboo leaves, instead of in corn leaves. These guys only cost 2.50 each and does taste very authentic. They comes in either regular rice or glutinuous rice, they're both very good and authentic.
Anyway those 2 are my favorite dish there. These are other good menus here that i've tried at Jayakarta: I recommend trying their ayam goreng (Indonesian style fried chicken), bakwan malang (soup with meatballs and wonton, etc), ayam penyet (rice with fried chicken, fried tofu and fried tempeh. They also have this pastry called Gemblong (sticky rice drenched in Javanese sugar - this taste very authentic too!
I'd have to say Jayakarta is the best Indonesian restaurant in Bay Area.
There are 3 other ones, but i don't think they're as good and as affordable as Jayakarta.
Jayakarta is NOT like the Panda Express for Chinese food. They're authentic, also service is very friendly and quick.
There used to be 2 more Indonesian restaurant in Bay Area, but due to the bad economy they closed down. -
Review from Amiee H.
4/7/2011
I hate to be a downer here, but I really didn't like this place all that much. I really wanted to go here after reading all the great reviews on this place, but after today's lunch here, I feel kinda disappointed. Proportions are kinda small and the food wasn't all that special.
Food:
1) Lunch special with #1 (tender beef) and #2 (chicken curry): This lunch special comes with rice and a side salad with peanut sauce on top. Ok, breaking down each item at a time: The tender beef dish only came with two 1.5inch cubes of beef. Really small proportions and although the sauce was pretty flavorful, the beef was medium tenderness. And without the sauce, the beef was kinda on the dry side. The chicken curry: not much flavor and only 4-5 tiny pieces of chicken came with the dish. There was a side salad that was pretty good. I really liked the peanut sauce on top of the salad, but that wasn't enough to save the lunch special.
2) Mek tei-tei: Ok...considering a bunch of people on yelp really RAVED about this noodle dish, of course I had to try it....but I'm gonna have to say it wasn't anything special. The noodles were alright, the flavor was ok, and chicken was pretty tasty and charred to perfection, the fried egg was pretty decent but the whole dish was a little too oily. I felt like this dish wasn't really different from any chinese chow mein dish doused a little too much with oil. I had to be a downer here, but I wasn't impressed.
Ambiance:
There are some decorations on the walls, like paintings, and some Indonesian art but this place is really humble with no special bells or whistles. In fact, it seemed kinda like a hole in the wall with really dim lighting.
Service:
The waiter that took our order was kinda firm with us. I almost felt like he was yelling at us. Food came really fast, which is always nice because I'm so impatient when it comes to being fed. He was good about refilling our water, but had to wait a long time for our check. I'm not sure if this was one of those places you have to go up to the front to pay, but that's what we ended up doing because if we didn't, we'd probably still be there waiting for our check.
Price:
Lunch special is around $8 and the noodle dish is also around $8. I guess that's an ok price but just considering how little food you actually got and how the food didn't taste that fantastic...it's a little on the pricey side.
Overall:
I think there are way better food choices around the area that might be a bit cheaper too. I don't think I'll be coming back...sorry! -
Review from Jax U.
East Bay, CA
3/23/2011 ROTD 8/20/2011
Restaurants like this remind me that Berkeley is stacked with prime eating options from various countries. Jayakarta does not fall short of perfection, in fact, the food delivers above and beyond.
I have passed this restaurant countless times, but never had a friend who was willing to give it a try. I have finally met a person who not only wanted to try it for lunch but dinner, too.
Once inside you'll notice the restaurant is very basic, a no frills kind of place. Usually places with this type of setting deliver with stellar food.
My first visit here was for lunch. Prices are $7.95 (2 dishes) and there are plenty of choices to ponder. After much contemplation of what to choose on the menu, we opted for:
--Kari Ayam: Yellow chicken curry with potatoes and gravy (Good).
--Lodeh Sayur: Mixed vegetables, tofu, and potatoes with coconut milk (Coconut milk makes everything taste better).
--Sate Ayam: BBQ marinated chicken on bamboo skewers served with peanut sauce (Yum).
--Teryn Belado: Fried eggplant topped with spicy hot chili sauce (Delicious).
Each dish is paired with jasmine rice and vegetable soup/Indonesian salad with peanut sauce dressing.
The meals were brought out in a 3 tray dish, fresh and ready to be devoured. Everything we ordered was unique, delicious, and left me satisfied which is why I came back for dinner.
Little did I know that we would be blown away for the next meal. This time what we ordered was different than our last experience.
We had our waiter decide on an appetizer and went with his recommendation. I'm glad we did but I never got the name of that specific dish. Must research.
The Soto soup with tofu, coconut milk, and veggies was a perfect side dish to a chilly night.
Last but certainly not least was the Mie tek-tek--the answer to all of life's questions lies in this very dish. This noodle dish, a Jayakarta specialty, includes boiled or stir fried egg noodles, sauteed with fried egg, strips of chicken, vegetables, and a spicy sauce. Exquisite. Simply delicious. Down right memorable. It will leave you daydreaming of the smooth, peanut-y noodles that will leave traces of oral ecstasy. My new favorite.
So, why did I give it 4 out of 5 stars? Simple. This solely lies with the slow wait to receive the bill. Both times we had to get up and ask for it. However, the food gets a solid 5 stars from this Yelper.
If you are still skeptical, I can't help anymore. All I can say is, you've got nothing to lose except some chump change. I plead my case.
As for the rest of you who are willing to give it a try, do it.
There lies the joys of trying food from a faraway land awaiting to please your curious taste buds. -
Review from Nuri K.
Berkeley, CA
6/9/2011
All the while I was having lunch at Jayakarta, I kept thinking about how much I miss Borobudur. I just don't get it! Am I missing something fundamental about Jayakarta? Experts, please school me on this.
Frantically craving beef rendang and with the glittering yelp reviews at my arsenal, I thought Jayakarta would be a great home-base Indonesian haven. But the prevailing sense throughout my meal was a niggling feeling of uncleanliness, from the water-logged and soggy lettuce that sullied my otherwise flavorful gado-gado to my confusing rendang, which lacked the balance to showcase the complexity and range of the flavors to the point that it even revoked the exoticism of the dish. By far the worst part of the meal, however, was the vegetable soup that one of my dining companions opted for instead of the gado gado in the lunch special; the aftertaste reminded me of what PineSol smells like. By the end of the meal, I felt as if my mouth had sat through the janitorial service cleaning the unisex bathroom in my freshman dorm after an extended holiday weekend.
Is it perverse that despite this experience I'd be down to try Jayakarta again upon the weakest of promises that it would be better next time? I am so desperate for good Indonesian food around these parts. -
Review from Wayland L.
Davis, CA
6/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
I've never actually eaten Indonesian food before coming to Jayakarta, so I really had no idea what to expect.
Otak-Otak (Fish paste in banana leaves): Okay. You don't get very much for the price, and the taste was so-so..
Mie Goreng: Yum. I was told to get the Mie Tek Tek, but since my other two friends got the Mie Tek Tek, I went for the Mie Goreng. It reminded me a lot of Pad Thai. It was very flavorful and was delicious. It went well with a side of peanut sauce!
I wasn't a fan of their hot sauce though. Too much vinegar. It tasted a bit like Sriracha mixed with vinegar. Made the hot sauce too sour and not so good.
Service was interesting. Water was refilled at regular intervals, but it took a LOT of waving down to get the waiter's attention. We learned that we have to flag him down if you want something because otherwise, the waiter (there's only one) will generally ignore you. Service was pretty good for a one man show.
TL;DR:
- Otak-Otak was okay, not worth it though
- Mie Goreng: Yummmm
- Service: one waiter, flag him down if you need something!
- Overall, pretty good for my first time trying Indonesian food. -
Review from J E.
Oakland, CA
7/25/2011
Never had Indonesian before, but knew we could find something delicious. Had a thai iced tea, tahu telor and the yellow veg and tofu curry. Best yellow curry I've had yet on the west coast and the tahu telor is my new favorite dish. Really good. My bf got a noodle and chicken dish that was perfectly spicey. Also consider the Sing Ha beer recommended.
Don't expect fancy, but this place was pretty packed around 8 on a Sunday during the summer, so you know it has fans. Accepts visa and mastercard over $15. -
Review from Jean L.
2/28/2011
++Food++
- Otak-otak: Ok-ok! Suprisingly better than I thought.
- Ayam kalasan: Ok
- Nasi lemak: Ok
Some of the items were a little hit-and-miss for me. I think it's because of my own palate, but I came in expecting everything to be exploding with flavor, spice, and heat.
++Service++
YAY THEY WERE SO NICE. -
Review from Ha T.
3/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
Maybe I ordered the wrong dish but the I thought the food here wasn't that great. I came for lunch or the lunch special where you get to chose two entrees. It comes with a little salad that was overly dressed with a peanut dressing and rice for about $8. I dont remember the names of what I ordered but one was a sweet bbq chicken which I thought was overly sweet and dry. The other thing I ordered was a similar bbq beef which was like eating beef jerky.
I walked out wanting more. I really wanted to like this place but I dont think I'll be coming back. -
Review from SP Y.
Sunnyvale, CA
6/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
Very tasty and authentic(like I would know). We ordered the following.
Sate Ayam: Pretty darn good. Made me remember my first time...eating Sate that is...Malay. 4STARs.
Tahu telor bali: Yep...that's the stuff. Must try. So tasty, hm...hm eggs...wish there were more, but hey too much good is not so good. 5 STARS.
Fish cake wrap in some leaves: So so, not very tasty. 3 STArs.
Fried banana with ice cream: As good as anyone who can make it right. 4STARs.
Will go back if in the area. -
Review from Alisha T.
Menlo Park, CA
5/18/2011
Jayakarta is AMAZING.
I am not Indonesian, but I felt very welcome in this restaurant. Our waiter advised us on our food choices and made us feel very comfortable.
We ordered the following:
Weekend Special Rice Plate (Nasi Bungkus)
Roti Prata
Assorted Sate
Combination Meat Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng Jayakarta)
The fried rice was to die for. Seriously. Incredibly flavorful, an entree unto itself. The Roti Prata and Sate were pretty good. The meat in the weekend special was a bit dry and stringy.
The restaurant is pretty bare bones. It's clean, but not fancy. If you go, try to sit by the door or at one of the tables on the wall closest to the door (there is booth-type seating on one side ... sit there). We sat on the other side and were bumped into throughout our meal. The food was SO good, so as far as my rating is concerned, I'm ignoring the knocks. -
Review from Joice K.
San Francisco, CA
5/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
They have various type of Indonesian menu. And some of them were good.
We ordered Otak-otak (leaf wrapped and baked fish cake), Pempek (fish cake with the hot vinegar sauce), Siomay Bandung, Pangsit goreng (fried wonton), Fried Mie Tek Tek (Indonesian fried noodle), Lontong cap gomeh, and Shanghai Ice for dessert.
Otak-otak and Pangsit goreng were good.
Pempek, Siomay and Mie Tek Tek were so so, and for Lontong cap gomeh, the coconut milk was too thick and the lontong was too soft.
My friend ordered the Chicken Noodle with wonton and Tempe goreng (fried tempeh). The noodle was not good enough, but the tempeh was good.
We really like the dessert, Shanghai Ice. We'll be back again for sure! Just for "the Shanghai Ice" :p
