Lezat Indonesian Kitchen — Restaurant in San Diego

If you’re looking for REAL Indonesian food in San Diego, look no further than Lezat Kitchen! This place is an absolute hidden gem, bringing the true essence of Indonesian home cooking with flavors that are bold, authentic, and nearly impossible to find in California. If you’re Indonesian and miss home, this will instantly take you back. If you’ve never had Indonesian food, this is the perfect place to start!

🌟 The Food – Authentic, Flavorful, and Just Like Home 🍛 Nasi Kuning – This fragrant yellow rice dish is a classic in Indonesian cuisine. The one at Lezat Kitchen is well-balanced, though slightly milder than the traditional version. It's fluffy, aromatic, and pairs beautifully with the side dishes. A comforting staple that reminds me of home!

🔥 Rendang – THE STAR OF THE SHOW. If you haven’t tried rendang before, it’s a slow-cooked beef dish braised in coconut milk and an aromatic blend of spices until it becomes tender, rich, and packed with umami. I’ve tried many rendang dishes across the U.S., and people often praise the ones in LA, but trust me—this one is SO much better! The spices, the texture, the deep caramelization—it tastes exactly like the rendang you’d get in Indonesia. It’s rare to find this level of authenticity!

🥚 Telor Balado – A comforting, homey dish of fried eggs coated in spicy sambal balado. The sambal here has a unique, refreshing twist, giving it a perfect balance of heat and tanginess. They also serve Sambal Ijo, another type of sambal made from green chilies, which is incredibly flavorful and adds the perfect kick!

🥗 Urap – A traditional Javanese vegetable dish with grated coconut, making it light, fresh, and packed with flavor. The coconut and spices blend beautifully, giving that true authentic Indonesian taste.

🥣 Kale Soup – This dish instantly reminded me of Sayur Lodeh, a comforting Indonesian vegetable soup made with coconut milk. Even though they use kale, the broth and flavors perfectly replicate the taste of home. It’s warm, nourishing, and has that signature Indonesian spice kick.

🍗 Ayam Penyet – Insanely crispy, juicy, and absolutely delicious. If you’ve had real Indonesian ayam penyet, you know the standard is HIGH—and this one does not disappoint! The chicken is perfectly smashed, well-seasoned, and fried to crispy perfection. The sambal is excellent, though slightly less spicy than the ones you’d find in Indonesia (which makes sense since not everyone here can handle extreme heat like Indonesians can 😉). But trust me, it’s still SO good!

🍢 Chicken Satay – Another standout dish! The satay here tastes just like the Sate Abang-Abang (street-style chicken satay) that you’d find on the streets of Jakarta. Unlike the more refined Sate Khas Senayan, this version is grilled to smoky perfection, served with rich peanut sauce, and brings that nostalgic, comforting taste. If you’re a fan of satay, you HAVE to try this!

And the best part? Tante Tini, the owner, is one of the kindest, most humble people you’ll ever meet. She puts so much love and passion into every dish, and you can truly taste it...

Finally some Indonesian food in SD! Many Indonesian dishes and desserts are naturally vegan so I’m happy to see they included many of these vegan friendly options on their menu. My partner and I LOVE gudek though which is only on their catering menu so if yall can pls request it too, maybe they’ll make it regular item 👀

We tried the nasi kuning combo which was a really good size. They ran out of mushroom rendang and substituted it with tempeh. It was delicious (and a bit spicy). My partner grew up always getting es cendol and he really enjoyed Lezat’s - great price too.

The pick up process was pretty interesting. Lezat is in Barrio Food Hub which is a ghost kitchen spot where you can order from a ton of different takeout businesses. There were quite a few cars waiting directly in front but street parking wasn’t too bad if you go further down. We ordered online ahead of time for pick up on Lezat’s website and I got a text when it was ready. It told me the locker number that my food was in, I clicked “open locker” on my phone, it opened on its own, and I grabbed my food. Their website had a phone number if you did want to actually talk to someone. There’s a turf area out front with a few tables if you want to eat right away.

We’ll definitely be back to support and...

I’m impressed. Fried rice was cooked and seasoned well without sacrificing the authentic smoky flavor. Indonesian fried rice is the best. I liked their grated coconut steam veggie, it was a rare item to find in most of Indonesian restaurant and they delivered well.

Yellow turmeric rice was good but a bit soft for my taste, still not dissapointing at all, eaten with a very tender beef rendang.

Grilled chicken was so delicious, the meat was juicy and full of flavor till the last bit, complemented by the right amount of spiciness of homemade chilli paste/sauce condiment. Sour soup was good as part of the package with grilled chicken. I’m a happy customer.

It’s part of Bario food hub-similar with ghost kitchen concept that focus on take-out and delivery but the place offers around 4 outdoor seatings. The parking was a...