Bilik Batavia — Restaurant in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Bad experience. Disappointing.

I arrived at 7:30 (opening time) and I was the ONLY guest…. But I still had to wait 32 minutes for a fried rice. Worst part of it all? A table who arrived much later got their food before I did. By the time the table was eating and drinking, they began making my rice.

The restaurant, or rather, the head chef’s excuse when confronted? He didn’t like it. Apparently he doesn’t like to be called out for his mistakes when he makes one.

Oh and that the staff “didn’t arrive” at 7:30 but slightly later (not true) and that the kitchen doesn’t open until 7:45. Nowhere is that written.

So this is the kitchen’s modus operandi: arrive NOT at opening time, but slightly later, then begin prepping and ONLY after prepping, they can START making your food.

So, what is the solution to this? BE PROFESSIONALS about opening times, (PUNCTUAL) be professional about prepping the ingredients BEFORE opening time LIKE ALL RESTAURANTS DO, and PRIORITIZE who came first, second and so on. You know, like a normal restaurant would.

WARNING this restaurant’s head chef does not know how to do that.

The head chef refused to apologize after being confronted with the fact that another table got their full order, and refused to say he was at fault….. because he really thinks it’s ok to arrive late to work, begin prepping ONLY then, and then serve another table first only because they ordered 2 appetizers.

It is a shame because the service by the elderly owner is very good, but unfortunately the head chef is NOT a chef who takes his job very seriously.

Overrated and not...

This is a humble set-up, operated by the owners themselves, with no pretentions, except to attempt to introduce a little taste of Indonesia both to the local folks and to the myriad of travellers and Indonesian seamen.

It's a small restaurant with outdoor seating. The interior can be warm, but the exterior almost brings a taste of Indonesia, not by design, I'm sure. The buses run just beside you, en route to the nearby stops in Santa Catalina Park, beside it.

Every table orders their Nasi Goreng, the dish everyone knows. It's substantial, best shared. I've also had the Soto Ayam and the gado gado, both falling short of expectations, but, of course, ingredients are not readily available here.

One thing to add, however, is if you like your food spicy, ask for some sambal. That'd jazz up your experience...

Excellent little Indonesian restaurant in Las Palmas! Heard about it from our Indonesian colleagues so I decided to try whilst in Las Palmas again during our cruise stopover. It's about 10 minutes walking from the Santa Catalina port and El Muelle shopping center, just behind the iconic AC Hotel.

Foods were superb! I like the meatball soup (bakso) as it tasted almost like back at home, though the meatballs were only four pieces. The fried rice was big but overall tasted okay. Apart from the locals, most of the patrons here are usually Indonesian crew members working in the cruise industry. Staffs were very friendly, one of them whom I chatted with is from Cilacap. Recommended if you're looking for good Indonesian foods in Gran Canaria, and I would definitely come back when I'm in Las...