Jakarta’s first and oldest Hakka Chinese restaurant Wong Fu Kie a hidden haven of authentic food and culture

A Chinese-Indonesian diner who asks to be identified only by his first name, Ben, has been a regular at Wong Fu Kie, a Hakka restaurant in Jakarta’s Chinatown, since his former lecturer took him there some 20 years ago. The place is legendary among the Indonesian capital’s Chinese community, and has been open for almost a century.

Ben’s favourite dish is mun kiaw mien, the restaurant’s signature braised noodles with shrimp, pork, fried wonton, button mushrooms, celery and jicama.

Wong Fu Kie is located deep down a narrow, nondescript alley beside a branch of Bank Central Asia. It moved to its present location in 1975. Making it even harder to find, the restaurant lacks any signage. Inside, the decor is basic and unpretentious.

One of the oldest known mentions of the restaurant was an article in Indonesia’s now-defunct Star Weekly magazine on February 14, 1953, which translates as: “In Jakarta, there are hundreds of noodle shops, selling mostly ordinary fare, but there are one or two that stand out. The first, and the oldest, is Wong Fu Kie in Kongsi Besar. Wong Fu Kie’s noodles are renowned for being thin, chewy, with a seasoning of soft, minced pork, that is sprinkled on top of the noodles.”

As recently as several years ago Wong Fu Kie – which closes at 5pm – was not such a bustling place, Ben says, but “then it got popular on social media”.

University student Intan Purnamasari first came across Wong Fu Kie on social media when she saw a video by vlogger Nex Carlos, who highly recommended the restaurant. “It’s already hard finding Chinese food that tastes authentic,” Intan says.