To make a journey of a food tour complete in Yogyakarta, you should try Angrkingan. There is a variety of street food available but when it comes to Angrkingan it’s also about the people, atmosphere and not being alone. When I was told about this experience I got excited and waited patiently for dinner time to head out into the city of Yogyakarta and find myself lost at one of these places.
What is Angkringan?
The Javanese word for sitting down is “Angkring”. Angkringan used to be a wooden pushcart where people would be able to sit on both sides. In the middle, there would be food. Traditional carts would be able to seat around 8 people. The people that would come to Angkringan were of lower-income in the past. But nowadays there are people from different social backgrounds who would come here to enjoy the atmosphere, food, and chatting.
Source: https://jogjasculture.wordpress.com/kuliner/angkringan/
Evolution of Angkringan
The traditional wooden pushcarts are still around. Nowadays providing artificial light with an LED lamp. Some have abandoned the idea of the wooden pushcart and put chairs and tables on the side of the road near a wall or in the corner. The food is presented on a big table and tarps with big letters saying Angkringan.
Read also about:
- Tongsen, typical food from Yogyakarta
- Authentic Gudeg from Yogyakarta
- Best and Local street food from Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta Tugu
The Icon Intersection of Angkringan
Our street food tour in Yogyakarta took us to Tugu. Tugu, is the icon of Yogyakarta. It was built in 1755 for the unity of people. This makes the idea behind Angkringan a good choice to visit this place. We got a landmark for tourists, and a lot of locals sitting together and having a meal.
The wooden pushcarts had no chairs. They have more space for people to sit by adding the chairs and tables near the wall on the side of the street. It is a busy place as many people pass by or spend time at the icon. Many take pictures all around, I suspected a lot of local tourism and students hanging out. There are many different choices of Angkringan.
Street food and drinks
The food was presented on the wooden push cart. You would just grab what you like and then show it to the worker there. It would be reheated to make it safer to eat.
Reheating food
The prices are very affordable. A small dish was around 0.30$. We took a few of the food that was wrapped in the paper. This was our rice with some extra meat. Then we took some skewered meat to add some extra flavor and taste to the dish.
liver sate, skin sate, stomach, fish cake Resoles, chicken sate and quail egg
The Picture on the left from left to right we have liver sate, skin sate, stomach, fish cake and rice with a bit of sambal. The picture on the right we have Resoles, chicken sate and quail egg. The fish cake tasted a lot like Bakso.
The taste of our street food was as authentic as it can be. Because the food was reheated the taste was very delicious. It made me worry less :). If you are an adventurous foodie, this is definitely a recommendation to try. You can see the icon, be part of the atmosphere and chat with the people around. There were some “musicians” and a mime comedian performing during the meal. But in general, the ambiance was as local as it gets. If you want to experience something like that then this Angkringan food tour in Yogyakarta is something you should go for.
Where is it?
Hi I am Dwi. I am a blogger, travel agent and a mom of a lovely daughter and wife to a supportive husband. I customize and plan tours in Bali and islands nearby for a living and have been doing this for more than 14 years. Get in touch via contact [at] taletravels.com