This Sunday, after going to church I promised my mom to visit one of our close relatives. We haven’t seen them in many months and we wanted to give our greetings. At the same time, we miss hanging out with them too. But when I informed my aunt about it, she asked me if I wanted to travel somewhere for lunch. I thought it would be just a lunch in the city but she ended up taking us for an hour drive to another town to get lunch at a place called Srasadesa in Madiun.

Madiun is known for its various miniature world landmarks. You can see the Statue of Liberty, the eiffel and some mosques. There’s even a merlion too in the park. But since our main destination wasn’t the park, we only passed through it. My aunt has 2 children that enliven our journey to the place. They were singing and bickering which was really entertaining to see.

We even stopped by the rest area and got ourselves a grilled sausage. The best part during a car drive is definitely the rest area stops. There are many snacks and for some reason they taste better than the normal store 😂or maybe because we typically tend to be hungrier so, it tasted better.

After that one hour drive, we eventually reached Srasadesa. The place is a mix of modern and ethnic architecture. It takes us back into the old time when people were still serving food in banana leaves with earthenware dishes. Entering their main compound we were greeted by servers who dressed traditionally and welcomed us to our preferred dine in the area. There are more than 4 areas to choose from including the indoor and outdoor seating plans.

Since we were a group of 9 people, they placed us inside the main compound which has this intricate bamboo woven decoration inside the place. It was quite unique but because the car ride wasn’t great, I wasn’t that ecstatic about the place.

When I scanned through the menu, I got a headache. They have too many to choose from and that can be quite confusing. Their main menu is Sambal, a spicy Indonesian condiment that can be paired with assorted protein of our choice with rice included.

The Food

I ended up choosing Sambal with skipjack tuna and for the drink I got Es Pisang Ijo, an indonesian dessert made of banana wrapped in a green pandan-flavored rice flour dough served in an ice cold coconut milk with rose syrup. My mom chooses Nasi Bakar Ayam, a fragrant rice dish wrapped in banana leaves and grilled until it becomes a little burnt. Our table was so full but I didn’t get pictures of it all, I only got a picture of mine and my mom’s.

Their food is too spicy to my liking and that's coming from someone who likes extremely spicy food, theirs is just too much that it was really difficult to actually enjoy the meal. I asked around my family, they said that some of them tasted extremely spicy but some is quite mild. But overall, their food is okay. I wouldn't say it's great but it's just the typical common flavor in a family restaurant.

The Area

After eating, I explored the restaurant compound. I wanted to see if they have any type of pond since the concept is echoes of the village where visitors can feel as if they’re transforming back to the village and its scenery. They have this small fish pond and that was it. But at least, they have a pond haha.

There are some carts around the area that really transforms us back in time. This Es Puter that you can see below is an example of it. Es Puter is an Indonesian ice dessert made of coconut milk. It tasted really good and back in the day, sellers would go with this type of cart around the neighborhood. You know, fun story, I actually ate this type of ice again in Thailand 2 years ago and I haven’t found them since.

After we left the place, we also visited a famous bakery in town. It’s called Bluder Cokro but I was not in the mood to get out of the car. It was too hot and I’d rather be inside the AC all the time. So, I only take pictures from outside the place.

We got home around the afternoon and were extremely tired and full. I didn’t expect I would even travel to another town just for lunch 🤣 but it reminded me something that our family used to do back in the day, we used to travel to another town just for dinner or lunch almost everyday. I guess that’s what prompted my aunt to relive that happiest moment in our family and reliving that tradition again.