Sundanese food is the reason many Indonesians make the trip to Bandung. The cuisine relies on fresh vegetables, light broths, and a restrained use of chilli compared with Padang or Javanese cooking. The classic format is nasi timbel — steamed rice wrapped in banana leaf, served with grilled chicken or fish, tofu, tempeh, lalapan (raw vegetables), and sambal. Eaten with your hands, ideally at a table overlooking a rice field or koi pond.
Street food is strong here too: batagor (fried fish dumplings with peanut sauce), siomay (steamed dumplings), and mie kocok (beef noodle soup with kikil tripe) are Bandung inventions that have spread across Indonesia but taste best at the source.