The Latest

To Michelle Ciam (Fishbank) and her husband Steven Suwarna (Nola) Indonesian cuisine was under-represented in South Australia’s dining scene – surprising, given the archipelago is one of Australia’s closest neighbours. Along with Ciam’s brother William, the duo opened Kafe Suka Suka to close that gap, offering a menu that riffs off both Western and Indonesian flavours.

Indo-Western fusion is seen in dishes like breakfast bakmi, a jumble of house-made egg noodles with sauteed chicken, mushrooms and greens, topped with a fried egg and crisp-fried wonton skin, and rendang Benedict – pulled beef in rendang curry with baby spinach, a poached egg and rendang hollandaise on sourdough toast.

Lunch sees a shift to more classic Indonesian flavours – a mix of the food Ciam and Suwarna grew up eating in Jakarta and Bandung, respectively – with some modern twists. There’s lumpia (crisp spring rolls) stuffed with minced beef and shredded vegetables, and chargrilled corn ribs smothered with garlic butter and snow cheese. But the menu also offers the classics, like gado gado (a salad of cabbage, spinach, potato, bean sprouts, tofu and tempeh served with boiled egg, peanut dressing and crackers) and ayam geprek (smashed fried chicken).

The drinks are just as enticing as the food – you might round out your meal with a tiramisu or “pandanmisu” latte, which both come topped with mascarpone and a ladyfinger biscuit. There’s also spiced bandrek and sticky-sweet bajigur lattes and a soda made with coconut-pandan syrup and condensed milk.