Zaeni Warung - Restaurant, Tour Guide and Cooking Class — Restaurant in West Nusa Tenggara

We basically lived here during our time in Tetebatu. We had dinner here and after talking to Zaeni we booked a cooking class and tour through him and his family, we found him really interesting and funny.

The food at the restaurant is great, we recommend anything that contains coconut.

Ttencooking class: You will be cooking with and observing his wife cooking in her actual kitchen, which is fascinating in itself to see how your food is being prepared in the warungs you go to. You can choose your dish(es) and make it with his wife.

The tour: Zaeni took us on a tour through rice paddies, the waterfall, we saw black monkeys and other wildlife, then we saw blacksmiths and how they make spinners, then we saw locals playing a big game with the spinners which was fascinating. We saw brick making, bamboo weaving, we went to the market, the list is endless. In each place we went to we were the only tourists and it felt very authentic like we were getting to really see how people live and farm here. Zaeni seems to know everyone in this town, he's super chill and if you do a bit of research beforehand, you can make requests and he will take you there! Alternatively you can follow his lead as he seems to know every person and every road in this town. We really connected with Zaeni and recommend doing this full day with him, as opposed to booking through a third party that would take you to the tourist traps. His family are lovely and we will not forget our day with Zaeni, he's a cool dude.

Thank you Zaeni...

An easy to spot 👀 restaurant along the main road. We jump on the wagon and went for lunch 🧆🍛because it is a restaurant + cooking 👩🏽‍🍳🧑🏽‍🍳 school. Can’t go wrong with this I’m certain! 😎

Restaurant – From the main road, you will walk past a small plot of padi field 🌾🌾🌾 to reach the restaurant. The restaurant itself is very clean 🫧🧼, neat and has great air 💨 circulation. The lady 🧕🏽boss is super smiley 😊 and friendly! Colorful character and a great welcome on a very, very hot 🥵afternoon.

Food – Indeed, it was worthy of being a cooking school 👍👍👍. The food is lovely, the meat 🍗 was well marinated, well fried. Kept the chicken 🐓 crispy outside and tender inside. Nasi 🍚 was fragrant and hot ♨️, Fried Tempe 🫘 was hot and tasty. All the dishes were really well cooked and we enjoyed the meal. 🫡

Only one honest feedback….. They are really slow 🫤. I’m not certain if they went to kill 🔪the chicken 🐔when we ordered or they were shorthanded, we waited ⏳for almost an hour to eat our lunch. And you can see my pics 📸 on the food we ordered. So, if you are eating here, better tell the lady boss you are in a rush 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃and cook the...

Tetebatu quickly became one of my favourite places in the world, and it is primarily because of Zaeni and his family. They spent 2 days not only feeding us the best Indonesian food we had ever had (the plecing ayam was so good we ate it twice), but also giving us a tour of the area (local farms, gardens, beautiful jungle, waterfall, black and grey monkeys, and rice terraces of course), and teaching us how to cook authentic Lombok dishes. Zaeni even drove me 15km in his scooter to an ATM, and arranged a very well priced taxi for us to get to our next destination.

Zaeni is truly a wonderful human being and has big dreams for his family and especially his kids. Though we stayed at an Airbnb nearby, we spent most of our time in Tetebatu with him, due to his hospitality, and generally because he’s so wonderful to be around.

Anyone in Tetebatu MUST visit for a meal, a tour, a cooking class, and some...