The Indonesian Restaurant Where Dessert Comes First | Bon Appétit

"A dazzling Indonesian-Chinese restaurant in Portland, Oregon, led by chef-owner Feny, was named one of the 20 Best New Restaurants of 2024 and received this year’s Best Dessert Program award for its crave-worthy, snackable Indonesian desserts. Modeled on the bustling morning and night markets of Jakarta, the space is filled with patterned sculptures, bags of snacks, and sentimental trinkets, and the menu channels push-cart kue—compact, subtly sweet, texturally diverse bites meant to be eaten throughout a meal rather than only afterward. A self-described “snack person,” Feny intentionally swaps traditional components and manipulates a range of flours and extracts to produce distinct aromas and mouthfeels. Offerings range from sticky, rose-colored cantik manis to chewy, bright-purple talam ubi made with purple sweet potato and a tapioca-coconut layer; a pandan-scented spongy cake with vanilla-like, grassy aromatics; a pudding-like mung-bean and coconut-milk dessert studded with mini tapioca pearls and jackfruit; bronzed, crisp piscok (fried lumpia-wrapped bananas with dark chocolate); and mochi-like orange-yam dough balls filled with coconut palm sugar and rolled in coconut flakes (served with a warning to eat them whole to avoid splatter). Together these desserts are designed to be integrated into a savory feast, offering a wide range of compact textures and restrained sweetness." - ByNina Moskowitz