Warung Kopi Imah Babaturan — Restaurant in Bandung City

This place has been on my list to visit in Bandung for a very long time. Today I finally got the opportunity to visit. Unfortunately, it was a rather disappointing experience for me. I set the expectation way too high, which was influenced by the marketing and reviews online. I'll break it down into several parts: The food, the place, the price, and other factors.

The food: I came with my family so we got to order various from their menu. I had Nasi Goreng Kambing (lamb fried rice). When it's hot, it's delicious! But, as it gets colder, the taste fades. I ordered it spicy, turned out they only added chopped bird's eye chili. We ordered Cumi Sambal Kemangi (squid with basil sambal) and Cumi Cabe Ijo (squid with green sambal), both tasted just okay. The squid in Cumi Sambal Kemangi was served whole, not chopped, and somehow it had fishy sensation and rough texture. We also ordered Lidah Sapi Sambal Matah (beef tongue), it came with fresh blanched spinach. It was probably the best menu we ordered today. The tongue was properly seasoned, the sambal matah was BOMB in a terrific way (really hot yet fresh), the spinach came with a good amount of saltiness. I bet they put something in it. Bala-Bala Sambal Kacang (vegetable fritters with peanut sauce) was great. It was a proper snack to have before meals or eat it as an additional side on whatever you have. Mendoan (half-cooked tempeh) came with sambal kecap (sweet soy-sauce sambal) was good. One detail I love the most about this place is they have Kerupuk Kampung (crackers) for free as many as you can get!

The place: For a restaurant, they have a SUPER TINY table. For real! I would strongly NOT recommend you dining in 4 ppl on only 1 table. Better ask for 2 separated tables for 4 people. They have a well-organized queuing system. They do have a waiting list, but do not have a decent place to wait. So you most probably would wait under the direct sunlight or rain.

The price was not cheap, not that much different from similar places in Jakarta.

Other factors: The toilet is kind of open-space (didn't take photo) They do NOT have parking space, so this part...

Clean homestyle food, not too clean place to eat.

Minus: Rather crowded, long waiting time to get a table, little ventilation makes it hot, handful of flies hovering around, no parking space.

Plus: Great foods.

Oseng Sapi Asap is bit spicy and smoking. Too many cabe gondot in the dish which left you fewer sapi asap. Tasted good and well-paired with warm rice.

Gule Iga Sapi is light-tasting (not so much for my liking), but the meat is very tender, clean, and retain a bit warm red color that feels like a homemade corned beef.

The chicken broth in Sup Ayam is aromatic, and the meat falls off easily. Good soup, good with rice.

The bala bala fritter is light, airy, and crispy. Tasted very little MSG. Good for appetizers and add-ons.

Tried the telur dadar also (which resembles more like a well-done omelette) and the taste is not too salty, not too oily, but so good to eat with other dishes.

The cumi in Nasi Cumi Cabe Hijau is not salted cumi, but a fresh stir-fried cumi which is soft and paired well with cabe ijo and lime leaves. The cabe hijau is not too spicy for Indo tongues, good with warm rice. Big portion.

You can tell the cooking method is calculated. The ingredients are fresh. It doesn't taste too much seasoning and left little thirsty aftertaste (as opposed to the usual very thirsty). You order and pay before eating. Didn't try the coffee even though its "Warung Kopi", might try next time.

Don't come here if you're looking for some sinful food, come here to eat cleaner version of home food served fresh.

They have weekly specials and offer Nasi Merah, make sure to check if...

I think Imah Babaturan already became one of the must visit restaurant in Bandung. It serves homemade food and local cuisine only, no western, chinese, japanese and etc.

Their most famous dishes are cumi cabai hijau and tongseng kambing. The cumi cabai hijau in here is unique, it’s spicy, sweet, and savory at the same time. If you can not handle spicy food, better stay away from this dish. Meanwhile their tongseng is quite different with other tongseng you can find on the sate restaurant. Their broth is bold, you can taste the clove clearly, and it’s explode in your mouth. Usually other tongseng is quite subtle with the flavour, but not with this one. Recommended for you guys that like strong flavor of broth for tongseng.

They also serve weekly menus, so each week you can taste another dishes that are available only for that week. But if you already tasted all the menu, the weekly menu is like a dishes rotation so the customers won’t feel bored with the regular menu.

Tips: If you’re gonna visit IMB on the weekend, let say you want to have lunch, don’t come at 12, come early...