Located on the first floor of the stylish L Hotel Seminyak, LOLA is one of the most modern looking restaurants serving up Indonesian food in Seminyak. Chef Yan Shanti, who oversees LOLA as well as the hotel’s hip LUNA rooftop restaurant, has over 30 years of experience in the kitchen cooking European and Indonesian cuisine. At LOLA, he presents slightly modified takes on Indonesian cuisine that feature authentic flavours but modern presentation. His deconstructed gado-gado is delightful but we have to go with his Nasi Cobek for this list. A cobek is the tool used to crush spices and ingredients in Indonesian cooking (as in the popular penyet style dishes) and it comes on the plate here, alongside mounds of tender shrimp, beef rendang, chicken, tofu, tempe and egg, all smothered in a rich, smoky sambal resplendent in chilli and garlic. You can use the cobek to smash the delicious mess together to make it easier to eat with the accompanying white rice.
