I take back everything I just said about the food in Yogyakarta not being that great. Lesehan Gudeg Kayu was more than delicious enough to make up for any number of mediocre meals. It was ridiculously good.
Gudeg is a jackfruit stew that’s a specialty of Yogyakarta. It’s one of those things you pretty much have to try when you come here.
Apparently Lesehan Gudeg Kayu has been around since 1973, and is basically a one-woman show. You can’t argue with that kind of history. If you’ve been serving the same dish for almost fifty years, you’re obviously doing something right.
I don’t have any point of reference — this was my first gudeg experience — but I have to imagine that Lesehan Gudeg Kayu makes one of the better versions of this dish. This was one of those rare meals that felt like it couldn’t be significantly improved on. It was perfect.
I’m not really sure what everything on the plate was — she started with rice, then scooped on some gudeg, and then some stuff from a couple of other bowls, including a hard-boiled egg. Whatever it all was? It was delicious.
Jackfruit is often used as a meat substitute in vegetarian cuisine, which isn’t surprising — the version they’re serving here has an amazingly meaty texture.
And the flavour was bonkers. It was sweet, savoury, spicy, and absolutely bursting with vibrant spices and flavours, with everything being perfectly balanced. It also had an amazing amount of depth — every mouthful felt like it was bringing something new to the table.
Meals like this make me simultaneously happy and sad; I’m happy that I got to experience it, but sad that I’ll almost certainly never be able to find it back home (and even if I did — let’s face it — it wouldn’t even be a fraction as delicious as this).
Also, it cost 10,000 IDR, or less than a buck Canadian. That’s just ridiculous. The taste-to-price ratio is off the charts.
How to find it: Their setup is facing Laksda Adisucipto; it’s hard to miss. They either open at 5:00 or 5:30 PM (there’s differing info online, but they’re definitely only open for dinner).