Acehnese cuisine may not yet reached that influential level when compared with its neighboring provinces such as the North and West Sumatra cuisines. However, Acehnese fares’ bold and honest taste is loved by many.

From Bandung, we have just the right option for you to try.

Many of our dining out experiences often includes hanging out for coffee. Setting aside the gourmet coffee shops, most Indonesians nowadays would usually hang out at traditional street coffee shops or at any Peranakan kopitiams.

If you think about it, rarely do people ever decided to hang out for a long time in our locally-themed restaurants. So the question would be, where would people hang out to find good coffee and good snacks but in place where Indonesian cuisine triumphs over the menu? Acehnese restaurants would be the answer.

Cie Rasa Loom from Bandung has reaped an immense success for the past few years of its existence. Once it started out very modestly, it has now transformed itself way bigger than ever and yet still faithful clings to the original menu and pricing.

Typical dishes that you will find at Cie Rasa Loom or in general Acehnese restaurants would be fried rice and fried noodles. But make no mistake though, because Acehnese people have their own twist to differentiate it from the Chinese version. For hundreds of years, the strategic position of the country gave access for foreign influences to flourish. Therefore for these two particular dishes, the Acehnese uses the Chinese way of cooking it but the ingredients are mostly influenced from India.

Usually, we can find a strong hint of curry on Acehnese fried noodles and rice thanks to the use of cumin, cardamom, caraway and turmeric. The degree of spiciness can be quite significant as well and the use of lamb or crab as the accompaniment are commonplace.

Cie Rasa Loom in particular, excels at this. My fried noodles came with a powerful note from each of the ingredients. With such balance and challenging spiciness level, the fried noodles can be then personally mixed with shallots and pickles. Lastly, some emping crackers should seal the deal nicely.

When it is time to hang out, you should then entrust the Acehnese to serve you with the best. Acehnese restaurants are famous for their tea pulling attraction and everybody loves their teh tarik. The obvious choice to accompany your teh tarik time would be the roti cane.

Served originally with sugar only or with condensed milk, Cie Rasa Loom’s buttery roti cane would bring people together. The citizens of Bandung sure love their toast or instant noodles for hanging out, but here, they love roti cane more than anything else. If you are looking for something savory, then consider having Cie Rasa Loom’s martabak with lamb curry as the good substitute.

While the menu seems pretty straightforward for now, hopefully in the future Cie Rasa Loom would consider serving more exquisite choices from Acehnese cuisine such as the kuwah itek (duck curry), ayam tangkap (fried chicken with temurui leaves), or any of the small delicacies from the province.

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CIE RASA LOOM
Halal-friendly
Some dishes are suitable for vegetarians

Address:
Jalan Buah Batu no. 154, Bandung – Indonesia

Opening hours:
Daily, 24 hours

Spend: IDR 15,000 – IDR 25,000 / person

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Featured in THE FOODIE MAGAZINE Aug 2015 edition

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