So you are traveling to Manado soon? Yes! I am so excited for you because Manado is such an underrated travel destination. The capital city of North Sulawesi and the quaint bay town actually offers endless sights to see- from its beautiful fresh flowers and cool breeze of its surrounding mountain region to its white shore beaches and beautiful corals of its ocean.
In Manado, you are also going to enjoy the lively city vibes with its vibrant culinary scene. Manadonese food is famous for its rich, finger-licking spicy food and authentic flavors that are vying to be explored, this is why on this post specifically, I would like to recommend you 7 culinary spots, local restaurants, cafes, and gift shops that you have to visit when in Manado.
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| WELCOME TO MANADO : |
Nasi Kuning Saroja - Saroja's Yellow Rice
The family-owned Nasi Kuning shop has been established since 1977 and since then has become a legendary dish and a must try in town, loved by locals and tourists. The shop is located in the city center, so we ordered a few as takeaway breakfast to eat in the car to fuel the day's journey. The rice is served with spicy Cakalang fufu fish (smoked skipjack Tuna), shredded beef, boiled eggs, dabu-dabu chili (a Manadonese tak to Mexican salsa) and serundeng (coconut flakes). The yellow rice was fragrant, soft and hot while the Cakalang fish was packed with flavors and slightly spicy, and crispy serundeng flakes also add a nice crunch to the dish while the dabu-dabu chili was refreshingly tasty. This was easily my one of the most memorable dishes in Manado.
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| The Store's Front |
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We had the yellow rice for breakfast in the car, it was a great decision to skip hotel's bfast!
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RM. Nasi Kuning Saroja
Rp, 14,000 per portion
When you visit one of Manado's sightseeing place, the Tondano Lake in South Manado, you have to make time and try the Minahasan seafood specialties! The restaurant is afloat on the tranquil lake and we had the best view of the entire Lake Tondano and the mountain range. The lunch was a stunner, really delicious and filling, with the lake’s own freshwater prawns, nicely charred grilled fishes, fried Nike fish cake (tiny Manadonese-bred salted fish) and local vegetables, best served with the local’s compulsory condiment, the fresh red Roa chili and dabu-dabu chili sauces.
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| Fresh, delicious and affordable! |
RM. Astomi
https://goo.gl/maps/o8vbHmMAY6Q2
Soto Rusuk Ba Ko Petrus & Es Kacang Coklat – Petrus’ Pork Flank Soup & His Icy Red Bean Chocolate Dessert
This is a great dinner option when in city center Manado. The humble stall is another local’s favorite restaurant and has many outlets spread across the city for its popularity. According to its tag “100% pork”, it was also 100% delicious, and 100% satisfaction guaranteed! The pork flank was marinated with sweet soy sauce before grilled to tender pieces and paired with the savory, hot pork broth served with rice vermicelli and pickled vegetables. When in Manado you cannot miss the Es Kacang Coklat. It literally is served as a staple dessert in every restaurant in Manado, and the sweet icy, chocolate-y dessert never disappoints.
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| Two soups with boiled pork flank and one grilled pork flank, I prefer the grilled one. |
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| The Es Coklat Kacang Merah |
There are many branches, but this one near the city center is where I went.
Pisang Goreng Johu
Have you ever eaten a fried banana with chili sauce before? Well in Manado, everybody does.
Back in Jakarta, we ate banana fritters with cheese, chocolate, honey or even served plain, but in Manado, a dish is not considered complete without chili. In Manado even a sweet banana fritter have to be served with their local favorite Roa chili; a popular Manadonese chili made from small Roa fish. Surprisingly, the banana and chili thing works and became quite addictive for me.
This snack can be eaten throughout the day and can be found in any local restaurant in Manado.
Have you ever eaten a fried banana with chili sauce before? Well in Manado, everybody does.
Back in Jakarta, we ate banana fritters with cheese, chocolate, honey or even served plain, but in Manado, a dish is not considered complete without chili. In Manado even a sweet banana fritter have to be served with their local favorite Roa chili; a popular Manadonese chili made from small Roa fish. Surprisingly, the banana and chili thing works and became quite addictive for me.
This snack can be eaten throughout the day and can be found in any local restaurant in Manado.
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| Can't stop eating this! |
Gardenia Country Inn, Tomohon
This is a recreational spot that you cannot miss when you are traveling to Tomohon in South Manado. Either to refresh from the long journey or for lunch, you can’t go wrong to want to stay here a while, enjoying the cool breeze and admiring the restaurant's natural concept of lush gardens with colorful fresh flowers of many kinds.
The restaurant area is well decorated with a market-style, picnic theme, with fresh flowers on every table and views directly to the majestic panorama of Lokon Volcano. I must say, it is quite a remarkable view, no wonder that every tourist can’t stop taking pictures and documenting every corner of the place in awe.
Tomohon itself is a recreational destination, in the highlands of Manado where many fresh fruits and flowers flourished, it also held an annual International Tomohon Flower Festival where many global flower enthusiasts would come to witness the beauty of Tomohon’s florals.
This is a recreational spot that you cannot miss when you are traveling to Tomohon in South Manado. Either to refresh from the long journey or for lunch, you can’t go wrong to want to stay here a while, enjoying the cool breeze and admiring the restaurant's natural concept of lush gardens with colorful fresh flowers of many kinds.
The restaurant area is well decorated with a market-style, picnic theme, with fresh flowers on every table and views directly to the majestic panorama of Lokon Volcano. I must say, it is quite a remarkable view, no wonder that every tourist can’t stop taking pictures and documenting every corner of the place in awe.
Tomohon itself is a recreational destination, in the highlands of Manado where many fresh fruits and flowers flourished, it also held an annual International Tomohon Flower Festival where many global flower enthusiasts would come to witness the beauty of Tomohon’s florals.
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| Lunch with a view. |
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| The market-style decor |
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| Fresh produce as decorations |
Fiesta Supermarket
If you love pastries and cakes like I do.. you will love to spend time here eyeing each and every variant of the delectable Manadonese snacks from the glass shelf. Hehe, that’s what I did.
This old-style supermarket is located not far from city center, it is more of a family-owned supermarket at cheaper prices than commercial supermarkets. They are famous for their bakery as they sell really good bread, cakes and one of the famous homemade Panadas in town. Panada is another must try traditional snack in Manado, it is a doughnut-like pastry but filled with savory toppings such as Cakalang fish mixed with herbs and spices. It has that golden brown crunch and a sweet taste on the outside while bursts savory flavors on the inside, it's quite addictive for me…I find this snack quite rare on the streets of Jakarta, so while in Manado, I literally luxuriate myself every day with Panada.
This old-style supermarket is located not far from city center, it is more of a family-owned supermarket at cheaper prices than commercial supermarkets. They are famous for their bakery as they sell really good bread, cakes and one of the famous homemade Panadas in town. Panada is another must try traditional snack in Manado, it is a doughnut-like pastry but filled with savory toppings such as Cakalang fish mixed with herbs and spices. It has that golden brown crunch and a sweet taste on the outside while bursts savory flavors on the inside, it's quite addictive for me…I find this snack quite rare on the streets of Jakarta, so while in Manado, I literally luxuriate myself every day with Panada.
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| I love looking at cakes, don't you? |
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| Their best selling, premium quality (lol) Panada. It's worth every penny! |
Fiesta Supermarket
Grand Merciful Building Souvenir Shopping
You may first doubt this building as a dodgy, abandoned, old building, but actually according to my local guide, this is the most decent place in Manado to get your souvenirs fixed! So don’t miss going to this place when in Manado, you can get a complete browse of Manado specialty snacks, cakes, chili sauces, gifts, and all that good stuff.
Grand Merciful Building
There you go, that was my 7 must visit culinary spots, restaurants, cafes and gift shop that you must visit when in Manado. I hope this post helped you in navigating through the best eats in the small bay city of Manado. Safe travels & have loads of fun!
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