Tengkleng Pak Manto Solo: quite simply the BEST restaurant I have ever been to in Indonesia!

A long time ago I came up with a list of the top ten restaurants in Jakarta. 

Now while these venerable establishments remain among my favourite eateries in this great city, there is one place that I would definitely add to the list if I were to compile it today: the rather ungainly sounding yet completely authentic Tengkleng Pak Manto Solo in Bintaro, South Jakarta. 

Nope this eatery won’t win any prices for having the coldest aircon or the fanciest cutlery or even the finest furnishings. Because this is a humble place where the rakyat can afford to eat. 

And the food is fantastic! 

Specializing in goat meat dishes, the restaurant is named after its trademark dish, tengkleng, which is basically a kind of goat bone soup cooked with tons of Indonesian spices and of course chilies! Other dishes include goat sate and, my favourite, garang masak, a dish containing small chunks of goat meat cooked with – you’ve guessed it – lots of Indonesian spices. 

The food is cooked out in front of the restaurant in huge woks, which are tossed to one side so they can be cleaned before they are used again. 

To be honest, I never really enjoyed goat meat before coming here, as in many places it tends to be too chewy and fatty. But at Pak Manto’s the meat is so tender and flavoursome, it has to be tasted to be believed. 

Many Indonesians believe that goat meat is high in cholesterol and that you shouldn’t eat it too often, although from what I’ve read on the net that’s not true at all and it’s certainly just as healthy as beef. 

Another interesting thing that Indonesians believe is that eating goat meat makes you horny. On this particular point, I tend to concur. So just make sure you bring your partner here and don’t come by yourself! Hahaha! 

 

Tengkleng Pak Manto Solo 

Jl. RC. Veteran Raya, 

RT.3/RW.11, 

Bintaro, 

South Jakarta