Jawa Indonesian Food — Restaurant in San Miguel de Cozumel

Located in BEAUTIFUL Cozumel, MX, is Jawa Indonesian Food which is right around the corner from the Casa Mexicana main entrance. This quaint and homey restaraunt is one month old (as of this review) and boasts AUTHENTIC Indonesian cuisine from the Island of Jawa (Java), the "main island" of the over 17,000 islands in the Indonesian Archipelago (the largest archipleagic state). Now, let's get down to business... Atmosphere: The atmosphere is homey and quite nice. The owner and her son are incredible people. They are tri-lingual (at least). The owner is fluent in Indonesian (of course), Spanish, and English. The son is the same, but he is learning spanish as of this review! Both communicate effectively.

Location: The location is honestly slightly off the beaten path of an alley road. This is a disservice to their business, I find because this establishment DEFINITELY deserves an ocean-facing location where the tourists pass by. I can't fault them for this, as ypu tale what you can get. Unfortunately, google is fighting me on the pindrop for this location. The pindrop shows where the sushi restaraunt is, but directions take you to a black wooden door that's locked up. Continue up the sidewalk a little, and you'll see the restaraunt on the left.

Food: Now for the good part... The food... As mentioned before, this food is Authentic! It boasts a simple menu with not too many selections. They chose the absolute best options to offer in my opinion. They have Naso Goreng (Indonesian fried rice (totally worth it no matter where you get it)), Iga Sapi (Literal fall off the bone ribs), seafood dishes, and more! They serve soft drinks, sweet/unsweet tea, and some Indonesian favorites. When my wife and I came here this time around, we ordered the veggie patties as an appetizer, I ordered the Iga Sapi, and my wife ordered the Chicken Sate. The veggie patties were delicious on their own, but using the red sambal enhanced the flavor. The Iga Sapi fell off the bone as I've come to expect, and it came with white rice, a little lettuce and 2 tomato slices. Everything was flavorful. The rice was enhanced by the sambal. The Chicken Satay that my wife had was delicious. The meat was tender, and slathered with peanut sauce. Her dish came with white rice and lettuce/tomato as well. It was super delicious. Now, let's talk about the Sambal! If you don't know, Sambal is basically a chili sauce. There's no set way on how to make it or what to put in it. This particular Sambal had chili peppers (not sure what kind), tomato, and oil (not sure of the type. The Sambal had an EXCELLENT flavor. It is home-made in-house... BUT BEWARE... THIS is the kind of chili sauce that creeps up on you. The first thing you taste is the lovely flavor profile, followed by a slowly building and intense spicey taste. Luckily though, the spicey state wears off quickly, and you can enjoy the sauce more and more. What's more, is that they even make this stuff to-go. So, you can order a reasonably large container of the sambal for about $10, which is a super good cost in my opinion!

All in all, if you want to take your taste buds on a wild and exotic adventure, I highly suggest that you gice this lovely establishment a go! You won't be...

Sambalnya nendang! Top 👍 The food quality is great, I would eat there everyday just because I miss Indonesian food. They open the buffet when the cruise ships are in closer to their shop. If you don't eat spicy/hot, taste the sambal before dumping them on your plate. We found them as we searched for restaurants near our hotel. They're just opened for about a month, but they've been running another restaurant in Mexico City for years. Very...

Unassuming, yet delicious and satisfying authentic Indonesian food. The chef’s originally from Jakarta and only started here 9 months ago (she has another restaurant in and came from Mexico City). Everyone was super nice, kind and gentle, and loved the homely vibe. Also a great fiber rich alternative to our taco-ed...