You may not know it, but a whopping 6,000 islands make up the country of Indonesia—resulting in an extremely diverse cuisine influenced by provincial cultures. Trading partners and former colonial powers like Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, India, the Middle East and China have also lent their unique influences to Indonesian cuisine. And, Indonesian chow is hugely popular here—especially favorites like nasi padang, satay, beef rendang and sambal chilis. Here’s where you can get a taste of Indonesia.

Indo Padang Restaurant
#B1‑19 The Cathay, 2 Handy Rd., 6732‑1679
This little hole‑in‑the‑wall joint has a clean, bright and unpretentious décor with cheery wait staff. More importantly, the food’s good. Jolt your tastebuds awake with hearty Indonesian specialties like the oxtail soup ($7.50), beef rendang ($7.50), sambal petai prawns ($9.90), sayur lodeh ($6.50) and fried nila fish ($11.90).

Pagi Sore Indonesian Restaurant
88‑90 Telok Ayer St., 6225‑6002; #01‑02 Jurong Super Bowl, 1 Yuan Ching Rd., 6266‑3200
Tucked away in the lanes of Telok Ayer, Pagi Sore has been around since 1989—sturdily serving quality Balinese, Javanese and Padang cuisine to the crowds. And the food is as delicious as it is authentic—check out robust, piping hot dishes like the sayur lodeh ($6.80), kangkong belachan ($8.80), tahu telor (fried tofu and egg salad, $8.80) and ikan otah kukus (steamed fish marinated with otah seasoning, $17.50 or $21.50 for a whole fish).

Rendezvous Restaurant
#02‑02/03 Gourmet Gallery, Rendezvous Hotel, 9 Bras Basah Rd., 6339‑7508.
Way back in 1935, Rendezvous started out as a small coffeeshop selling Western cuisine. Its Chinese owners eventually decided to introduce Sumatran nasi padang and till today, the popularity of this restaurant has not lessened. When you’re here, you must dig into the famous, spicy curries that come at extremely reasonable prices—especially the juicy beef rendang ($3.90) and chicken curry ($6.90).

Restoran Tepak Sireh
73 Sultan Gate, 6396‑4373
Fans of this popular Indonesian restaurant will swear by its star dishes like the rendang and yellow rice, plus loads more other dishes from its reasonably priced buffet ($16.90 for lunch, $20 for dinner). On Fridays, the buffet changes to a seafood barbeque grill ($25) with live performances that will no doubt keep you entertained as you enjoy the tasty spread.