Gluten free Indonesia – there are some really great gluten free options in Indonesia, of course it always depends on your budget but I managed to find things to fit in to our style of travel.
I will never be someone who centres their trip around being gluten free, rather make things work for me on the go! If I find a good spot I will eat there religiously and always try to eat as much of the local food as possible. This is where I ate on our Indonesia trip.
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Gili Air
Sunny Warung
We are dinner here and I was so excited to find out they knew what gluten free is! I had the tastiest dish of vegetables and rice however there were many more options. It’s a nice spot to eat in the evening, the staff are great and atmosphere is nice.
Santay restaurant and bar
This bar and restaurant does great food! If you’re coeliac you can ask Hannah anything and she will find out the ingredients and even bring out the bag or bottle for you to check if it’s safe! Next level food and care here.
Frida Warung
We loved this family run Warung. Coincidentally we discovered it’s where the locals eat after hours so you know it’s good. They were great about removing soy sauce and helping me understand what I could try.
Rizqi Warung
A little family Warung that is new. The people are so lovely and really work hard to prepare food that is good and they are proud of. They were really careful to not give me anything that could make me sick.
Ubud
Sun sun Warung
Ask the waitress to show you which items are gluten free there is a great choice, the food is delicious and the atmosphere is great.
Bali Cooking Farm
We did a cooking course here and they could adapt it to gluten free for me without affecting anyone else, except Mike of course! We both loved this and I can’t wait to cook the meals for us at home!
Malang
Madame Wangs Secret Garden
I ate here and they were great helping me work out what was safe. I ate the ayam s and loved it! They also do a delicious puppy dog mousse!
Yogyakarta
Fave Hotel
We stayed here and honestly they were so good! I contacted them prior to arriving and asked if there was gluten free options at the buffet and when I arrived I was told my request had been put to the kitchen. At my first breakfast I was presented with eggs, red rice (a local specialty for dietary issues) and gluten free bread. I was completely shocked as I hadn’t expected all of this. Every morning without my asking the same breakfast would be brought out to me. One staff member Heri was so attentive with this! Look for him if you stay here, check out the hotel here.
House of Raminten
We ate here everyday. It’s a cool place but the waitresses will help you find something to try without wheat flour or soy sauce. Everything I tried was delicious, check out the chicken and egg dish served in bamboo!
Foods to can try in Indonesia
Please note that you should always, always double check that these are made without wheat flour and soya sauce as there may be a different recipe but these are the meals I regularly ate and didn’t have a problem with.
Nasi goreng-ask for it without soya sauce, I checked so many bottles of soy sauce in restaurants and they all had wheat flour. By the end of our trip I stopped checking and just removing from my meals. Sometimes sambal is added as the sauce. I checked so many sambal sauces and they were gluten free so I was ok with it. (Sambal is a kind of sweetish chili tomatoish sauce which goes really nicely in the fried rice!
Capcay -this is essentially stir fried vegetables, sometimes boiled sometimes fried. Normally quite tasty!
Plain white rice-boring yes but still one of my favourite staples. Thank goodness for rice!
Omelettes-Indonesia does a great omelette, I’ve never had a bad one yet!
Curry-this is a it depends. You want to check that there isn’t any soy sauce added. When you get one it is delicious!!
Nasi Gutegh-a local dish in Yogyakarta, made with young green jackfruit cooked in sweet coconut milk, usually served with a salted egg, cold curry chicken piece and white rice.
Lupis- a DELICIOUS breakfast dish e found on the street. Made from two types of rice, coconut and a sweet sticky sugar syrup….its divine!
Balinese cake-check it to be sure but my home stay in Ubud made me this for breakfast and if was as unique as it was delicious. Consisting of some pumpkin and a purple root vegetable served with rice and coconut shavings over little green cakes made of rice flour. It was really good!!
Sate lilet-this was literally chicken mince with a topping that didn’t include soy sauce on it. It was tasty but not the traditional peanut sauce you might expect.
Foods not to bother even asking about
Noodles-It’s sad but true. Unless it’s a rice vermicelli they all have wheat in them. Unless it’s a dedicated gluten free restaurant and even then I’d be cautious.
All sandwiches-they’re all bread
Almost all fried chicken, or anything fried is breaded. Even a crispy mushroom I ordered was breaded(I didn’t check)
Pancakes-tricky one because some times there is a Balinese pancake made with rice flour but it’s rare to find. Almost every single breakfast banana pancake was wheat flour.
Satay with peanut sauce-the traditional way to have sate but the sauce contains soy sauce
What I do to ask about soy sauce:
I use Google translate to simply ask if the dish contains soy sauce or wheat flour. Telling staff I get very sick from eating them really helps them to think about the ingredients or ask the chef. Translation in Indonesia helps to clear up any confusion.
Always remember that your health is your responsibility. Asking questions politely and using translate apps and cards is really helpful for service staff to understand what you are asking about and why. Please use your own judgement on if a place or meal seems right for you and travel safe!
Check out our Indonesia Vlogs here to get a glimpse of this beautiful country!
