KESUMA Restaurant

KESUMA Restaurant might be a bit of a hidden gem, but it's absolutely worth the search. Tucked away, it stands as one of the best dining establishments in the city. Before you visit, be aware that a reservation is necessary, a testament to its popularity and quality.

The interior of KESUMA is beautifully decorated, creating an inviting and pleasant atmosphere for diners. The real star, however, is the food. The cuisine is not only served promptly but is also exceptionally delicious. Every dish seems to be crafted with care and culinary expertise, making each bite a delightful experience.

Given the combination of a wonderful ambience, attentive service, and outstanding food, I have no reservations in awarding KESUMA Restaurant a well-deserved 5 out of 5 stars. It's a must-visit for anyone looking for a top-notch dining experience in the city.

This restaurant is located in a small alley. It is best to revel there by Grab or motorbike.

I had one of the best authentic javanese food- Beef Rendang in this restaurant. The owner was very nice and everything I ordered was exceptionally good. I'd safely say best meal I had in yogjakarta.

Note: Make sure you put on trousers or mosquito repellent if you come to this restaurant for dinner.

Excellent restaurant. Certainly a little more expensive than classic restaurants but much more qualitative.
Special mention for the beef in sauce (normally only available on weekends but we were lucky to eat it on a Monday evening).
Dessert also very good (roasted banana with honey and vanilla ice cream).

I lived one year in Indonesia, honestly this was the best Rendang I ever had. Also the chicken was amazing.

Probably my best meal at Yog. Food is freshly prepared, neat, good portion and clean.

Of course it’s touristy but who cares I went to a local joint and got food poisoning. I would have traded to eat here anytime. Good food, good service.

Advisable to make a reservation as it is really small.

Huge cute restaurant! Good to go as a couple or family. Staff friendly and food very tasty! Normally they only have the Rendang on Fridays, but due to high demand you can get it more often and we both took it. Definitely recommended!

Amazing experience we had on KESUMA Restaurant. We went there to have dinner on two consecutive days and the food was awesome.
To eat I would suggest you to get Oseng Tempe Tahu for started, Rendang as main dish and the traditional Pisang Goreng for dessert
Besides the great food the staff is very welcoming and friendly. If you have the chance to visit it I totally recommend it!

Place looks very nice and the food and service are great. Common and less common Indonesian dishes at choice. Loved the music too, not to loud, fits with the place looks.

What a place! Amazing food and really sweet staff. It has a really cosy atmosphere and positioned down a tiny side street. There is no sign at the moment which also adds to the charm. Thank you

Delicious Indonesian food in lovely location (traditional wooden house).
The staff is really nice and welcoming. At some point there was a very small issue with one of our dishes and not only they rectified immediately, the chef also personally came to our table to apologies.

I'd definitely recommend this place for a great meal in Yogyakarta.

Very vegetarian and vegan friendly. Great fresh
juices too.

Hit or miss I guess. The nasi rames and vegetarian side dish were good. The fish and appetizer really awful. Add some generic annoying music to the mix and we had a pretty bad time.

We were very surprised to find this gem of a restaurant during our first night in Yogyakarta. The restaurant is very nicely decorated and has a really cool vibe to it, the food is just delicious and Lillie (the host) is the nicest lady. Can’t praise enough how delicious this restaurant was, can only recommend to visit if you can.

Beautiful and elegant resto with english menu but still cheap prices.
We ate rendang (90 rp) and a banana dessert and had pagi pagi as drink (each about 25 rp).

Very distinctive vibe and food, every dish we tried was amazing! The desert was out ofthis world

A hidden gem tucked away in a small alley.delicious, sumptuous homemade local delicacies with the best personal touch where no one should miss while in Yogjakarta!

Food was delicious and prepared and presented with care. Good vegetarian selection. Nice vibe, good service.

Wonderful dinner. We visited with our children (8 & 10). We were told that they had beef rendang as a special item not usually available on a weekday so I jumped at the opportunity. Since Kesuma, I’ve had Beef Rendang multiple times on our vacation to Indonesia, but none have matched the magic of Kesuma.

The adventure finding the restaurant is well worth it. We took a grab from our hotel and landed ourselves in a rather dark alley at an entrance to an even smaller dark alley. Charging on, we were rewarded with an excellent meal.

This place has a huge potential to spoil your evening just like how it spoiled ours.

To be fair, the food was average and the staff was friendly. Spring rolls were freshly refried, fish and chicken were not lukewarm neither, they deserve a 3/5. But for a mediocre dinner, waiting in a hot, stuffy and noisy bistro for more than one hour was just not how one maintaining appetite. To make it worse, the rustic charm this little place could have had was sadly drowned out by the pretentiousness floating in the sticky air.

Back to the time when we were just seated and found ourselves in the middle of tourists, I wish we followed our stomach feeling and walked out instead of convincing ourselves that the ratings are so high, their food must be really good.

Delicious and homemade food. The best beef rendang i have ever eaten:) Hidden gem in a very small gang. I 100% recommand

Homey, fit for small family who need privat and quality time, good music, grounded and ethnic elements, best time is dinner to come here. Love their history that this is family recepe the mother & aunt also children are working together. Awesome meals, menu are very nice. So in love with the sambal. Please you need to try this SERIOUSLY
#SATISFYINGCUSTOMER

I came here because of a review I read on a Culinary Facebook Group Page. First thought on my way to the restaurant, this place might be nice for international tourists, because my Grab driver told me that this restaurant is located in Kampung Turis area (area dedicated for international tourists). But, I was completely wrong! The place is so humble and homey. The menu is limited, but they are all so nice! Tbh, the food is what most Indonesians eat at home, but no regret I’d come back here again. My fave is Ayam Kesuma (which is not in the picture). And my toddler boy’s fave is Vegetarian Fried Rice, which is full of veggies and he didn’t care! Tips: reservation is a must, because the seats are super limited!

So good, we went back twice! The restaurant is tucked away down an alley inside a house so a tad bit hard to find but there are plenty of friendly locals on the main street to point you in the right direction. The food was fantastic and very approachable - it was probably the best we had during our one week in Java. The service is super friendly as it really feels like the chef/owner Lillies and her sons are welcoming you into their own home and cooking you a family style meal from the heart. Ingredients were fresh and everything was prepared on demand with a lot of flavor. One thing to note, the website recommends reservations one day before but we arrived early both nights and had no problem getting in - don't let this discourage you!

This is my first time to the restaurant, turns out the place has moved to inside the small alley beside the previous location.

Kesuma Restaurant presented not too big list of menu. We ordered Beef Rendang, Kesuma Chicken which was the specialty of the place, and sautéed beans and tempe. Rendang and Chicken came with rice. The portion, by Indonesian standard was big, by western standard was just right. Beans also came in big portion. Eating for two people, we were damn full, no space for dessert.

When we arrived, the lovely lady owner picked us up from the front alley, greeted us with sweet hot spice tea of cinnamon, cardamom, and clove as soon we reached her converted house to be the restaurant. It was really nice.

The food was, how can I say this, westernized version of authentic Indonesian food but in a very good way. It didn’t discount the authenticity, only abit less sharp to accomodate international taste and less spicy. All the ingredients were fresh. Seasoning was just right, balance was great. Beef was tender. Although it’s not typical dry rendang Padang, because Kesuma version was with curry sauce, which probably some fanatics will think this is not rendang, however, it’s a beautifully cooked dish. Chicken was rich, with lime leaves and pineapple. Strong combination, but will not shock your palate. The beans was fresh, tender with medium sweet of soy sauce. Overall, you can taste the freshness of all ingredients and they cooked everything just right.

I’ve been to Kaum Restaurant Jakarta recently an establishment by Potato Head Group, and Bu Ageng Restaurant Jogja some times ago. The quality of the cook on those places was below this restaurant. Will I come back, absolutely yes. I am curious on how they cook the Areh Chicken.

We paid 215,000 for food, plus 2 big Bintang of 55,000 each, where they made an effort to buy from nearby store since they didn’t have it. We tipped them for the excellent warm and timely service they gave us.

I hope my next visit will be in their new place which only 5 meters away from this temporary place. Too bad I didn’t have photo of the food. It was nicely placed in white bowls and plates.

Scrumptous food, attentive host and lovely ambience. TBH my best meal in Jogya.it felt like a homely dinner at a boutique restaurant with mum's best homemade dishes.the 3 types of chicken recommended by the host were such a delectable and tantalizing treat.only problem is with finding it: its now hidden (moved from old place) to an alley next to the "Dalai Lama warung kopi & dormitory room" in the chef's own humble abode complete with classy yet cosy furnishing.refer to the attached pictures for directions.