Merdeka Walk the hottest hangout place in town, cafe, resto, exhibition, entertainment at Lapangan Merdeka.
Kesawan Square is located along Ahmad Yani street, before Merdeka Walk. It offers unique atmosphere for pleasure. Open only @ 6pm til' 1am everyday. Numerous vendors provide various kinds of cuisine, the majority of which are Chinese. Each vendor has "halal" or "non halal" label on their stand. However, the toilet facilities provided in the area are abysmal.
Mansyur Avenue, used to be a hang-out place for USU students, the avenue has developed in recent years into one of the hottest hangout place in town, lining with new cafe and restaurants which serves great food with student price.
Tip Top Restaurant, used to be THE restaurant in Medan, this unique restaurant can trace its history back to the Dutch colonization. Located in Ahmad Yani street, the food has a nostalgic taste clinging on every bites, such as the ox-tongue sandwich and the bitter-ballen, but the best experience you could have here is watching the buzz of Kesawan Square from your rattan chairs in its verandah.
The Traders serves great food at reasonable prices (for westerners). Classy atmosphere and tasty wine.
Selat Panjang and Semarang Streets is where some of the oldest Chinese eateries in Medan serves their reknown cuisines, such as mie pangsit tiong-sim (noodle served with stuffed dumplings), kwetiau goreng (wok-fried Chinese rice-fetucinne), pokpiah (Singapore-style vegetable-stuffed dumpling) and many more. Of course, you should beware of the pork content in the dishes, but you could always ask for a no-pork version of the dish and a different wok to cook your food in.
Mie Aceh Titi Bobrok, which has been dubbed by one of the Indonesian lifestyle magazines as the most popular local dish in Medan. A simple dish of noodle served with chili sauce and crab, rumour has it that the secret ingredient which make the Aceh-style noodle irresitistible is a dash of Acehnese marijuana, which is the commonest drug that could be imported illegally from the region. But that, of course, only heightened the mystery and the notoriety of the delicious Mie Aceh.
Ondo Batak Grill, is a unique Batak restaurant where you can find the gems of Batak dishes, without all the germs! Set in cafe-like ambience and accompanied by non-stop jazz music, the new Batak restaurant in town serves a reasonably-tasting saksang (a pork dish cooked in pork blood), panggang (Batak/Karo-style chopped roast-pork) and arsik (Batak-style fish dish). Don't forget to taste the hot pora-pora (a dish of sauteed papaya and cassava leaves cooked in coconut gravy and rawit chili)!
Garuda, never forget to visit the famous local Padang restaurant. Well known for its rendang (Padang-style beef dish cooked slowly in coconut gravy and chili) and ayam pop (Padang-style chicken dish cooked in coconut gravy), Garuda also mantain its status as one of the first local restaurant who expands itself by franchising.
Lontong Sayur Kak Lin, serving tasty and cheap lontong sayur (rice cakes in hot vegetables curry), this humble eatery in Cik Di Tiro Street is not much to look at for the uniniatiated. But judging from the crowd that line in queue to buy their breakfast and lunch here, you can be sure that you have met the darling of Medan local dish.
Cahaya Baru Indian Restaurant, the North-Indian restaurant is one of Medan's best kept secrets, which recently has been featured in Kompas as the only restaurant in Medan which serves a wide range of authentic North-Indian cuisine. Visit the restaurant in Cik Di Tiro Street for its endless choices of delicious vegetarian and curry dish!
Pagaruyung Alley , located at Medan's "little india" or refered as "kampung keling" by locals. They offer ,of course, Indian and Indonesian cuisine. Begin their business when the sun sets till 2 a.m. They are well known for satay (chicken, lamb, liver, intestine, etc.) , fried rice and Martbak Telur (egg pancake topped with diced potatoes, and onions, often served with curry).
Durian is one of the most famous fruit in Medan and North Sumatra. Get the best price and taste when the season comes, which on July and December. North Sumatra has a lot of durian fields like; Sibolangit, Brastagi, Langkat, Sidikalang, Sibolga, Nias, Padang Sidempuan, Lima Puluh, Perbaungan, etc.Get Medan Durian at Jalan Sumatera, Jalan Semarang and Jalan Adam Malik.Price start Rp.5000,- to Rp.15.000,- per each.
Toko wine have great wine at http://www.tokowine.com/ at reasonable prices. order online only for Medan city. Perfect for wedding, ceremonies, parties and other events. Soon the shop will open at grand angkasa.atau hubungin kita di 061(7353149).
Kebab Turki Visit merdeka walk kebab turki small stand near the pizza hut restaurants. kebab turki provide tasty meat in tortilla roll. kebab turki is one of the largest franchise for small fast food chain in indonesia. visit us at http://www.kebabturki.com/. if happens to visit Kebab turki at Merdeka walk please go for Kebab with Egg or Cheese. taste super Good.
http://wikitravel.org
Agustus 10, 2007
See...in Medan
Many tourists choose to use Medan as a quick thru-point to travel elsewhere in Sumatra, but the city offers a glimpse of a large Indonesian city still unfrequented by western tourists, and shouldn't be quickly dismissed. However, Medan is more chaotic and has a bit more litter than Jakarta or Denpasar and open sewers abound. Furthermore, not as many people speak English in Medan as in other large Indonesian cities, but even a short list of useful expressions goes a long way, and Sumaterans are still unjaded by westerners.
Maimoon Palace ----->
Vihara Borobudur (Buddhist Temple)
Vihara Gunung Timur (Chinese Temple)
Mesjid Raya Mosque
Kesawan Square
Merdeka Walk (5 mins from Kesawan Square)
Get around in Medan
Medan city are swamped by Becak and Taxi (the preferable choice to get around)
By rail
Medan is connected by rail to other conurbations on the eastern coast of Sumatra, such as Tanjungbalai, Rantauprapat, Siantar and Binjai. Executive, business and economy class trains are available, but if your budget allows, take the better class trains, which are faster and more comfortable. Tickets cost between Rp.9,000 (economy) to Rp.70,000 (executive).
By becak
Also known as trishaws or pedicabs. You have to be good negotiator if you want to ride on becaks, with price ranging between Rp.5,000 to Rp.10,000 depending on the destination (near or far).
Inflation seems to have hit the Becaks in Medan (Jan07). Most drivers wanted Rp30,000 which came down to Rp15,000 when spoken to in Bahasa Indonesia. Locals can still get short becak ride for Rp5,000 to Rp10,000 but Rp15,000 is standard for longer (10 minutes or more) rides.
Very few becak drivers speak more than a few words of English, but a map and lots of pointing will get you to the right place, even if it takes twice as long as you thought.
As you can get a hotel taxi for Rp35,000 to almost anywhere in Medan, paying more than Rp15,000 for a longer ride is probably not a good idea. Local taxis are now Rp30,000 to almost anywhere. They will not bargain much with tourists or visitors (people from Java!). The only difference I could detect between the becak and the taxi was that the taxi kept you dry when it rained, not much difference apart from that.
By taxi
Cost Rp.20,000 (2005) to go anywhere around the city (close or far). Be careful of picking up a taxi. Try to pick taxi from a reliable place such in front of malls, shopping centres or airport.
(Jan07) Taxis wanting Rp30,000 for most rides now, shorter ones maybe Rp20,000. Better taxis can be hailed from shopping malls, but not hotels apparently. Suggest use hotel taxi rather than street taxi.
A Chinese Temple under construction-->
By bus
Public transport is not reliable and not suggested for travellers, though they have fixed price from one destination to other destinations.
Small minivans have painted numbers (1 to 267 in Medan) that signify their routes, which even locals don't have memorized. If you speak Bahasa Indonesian, just ask where people are standing by the roadsides which "bus" number corresponds to your location and what the price is in advance. When a van with the appropriate number approaches, flag them down as they don't make scheduled stops (just drive along a given route and drop off passengers when told or pick up new passengers when flagged). If you are a westerner, be sure to confirm the price before getting in. This type of transportation should only be braved by those with a point-to-point knowledge of Medan and a working knowledge of Bahasa Indonesian so they know where to tell the driver to stop, unless you have a local friend whom can take you around.
One easy route is Minibus #3 from the great mosque (at the side of yuki mall) to the Medan Mall, which is Rp 2,000.
http://wikitravel.org
By rail
Medan is connected by rail to other conurbations on the eastern coast of Sumatra, such as Tanjungbalai, Rantauprapat, Siantar and Binjai. Executive, business and economy class trains are available, but if your budget allows, take the better class trains, which are faster and more comfortable. Tickets cost between Rp.9,000 (economy) to Rp.70,000 (executive).
By becak
Also known as trishaws or pedicabs. You have to be good negotiator if you want to ride on becaks, with price ranging between Rp.5,000 to Rp.10,000 depending on the destination (near or far).
Inflation seems to have hit the Becaks in Medan (Jan07). Most drivers wanted Rp30,000 which came down to Rp15,000 when spoken to in Bahasa Indonesia. Locals can still get short becak ride for Rp5,000 to Rp10,000 but Rp15,000 is standard for longer (10 minutes or more) rides.
Very few becak drivers speak more than a few words of English, but a map and lots of pointing will get you to the right place, even if it takes twice as long as you thought.
As you can get a hotel taxi for Rp35,000 to almost anywhere in Medan, paying more than Rp15,000 for a longer ride is probably not a good idea. Local taxis are now Rp30,000 to almost anywhere. They will not bargain much with tourists or visitors (people from Java!). The only difference I could detect between the becak and the taxi was that the taxi kept you dry when it rained, not much difference apart from that.
By taxi
Cost Rp.20,000 (2005) to go anywhere around the city (close or far). Be careful of picking up a taxi. Try to pick taxi from a reliable place such in front of malls, shopping centres or airport.
(Jan07) Taxis wanting Rp30,000 for most rides now, shorter ones maybe Rp20,000. Better taxis can be hailed from shopping malls, but not hotels apparently. Suggest use hotel taxi rather than street taxi.
A Chinese Temple under construction-->
By bus
Public transport is not reliable and not suggested for travellers, though they have fixed price from one destination to other destinations.
Small minivans have painted numbers (1 to 267 in Medan) that signify their routes, which even locals don't have memorized. If you speak Bahasa Indonesian, just ask where people are standing by the roadsides which "bus" number corresponds to your location and what the price is in advance. When a van with the appropriate number approaches, flag them down as they don't make scheduled stops (just drive along a given route and drop off passengers when told or pick up new passengers when flagged). If you are a westerner, be sure to confirm the price before getting in. This type of transportation should only be braved by those with a point-to-point knowledge of Medan and a working knowledge of Bahasa Indonesian so they know where to tell the driver to stop, unless you have a local friend whom can take you around.
One easy route is Minibus #3 from the great mosque (at the side of yuki mall) to the Medan Mall, which is Rp 2,000.
http://wikitravel.org
Get in Medan; by Boat
Medan is not located by the sea but nearby Belawan is a major port with domestic and international boat and ferry services. Belawan is listed as a visa-free and visa-on-arrival entry point (see the Get in section of the Indonesia page).
To/from other parts of Indonesia: Pelni boats link Belawan with various ports in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands.
To/from Malaysia: Daily ferries run to/from Penang, Malaysia. Operated by Langkawi Ferry Services, Tel: +62-61-4521666/4527555 in Medan; +60-4-2642088 in Penang.
Since March 2007 there is a ferry from Medan to Lumut (Perak/Malaysia). It's RM100 one way and RM180 for a return ticket. The ferry leaves on Friday and Monday at 10:00 am from Medans port Belawan and on Wednesday and Saturday at 10:30 am from Lumut. As schedules changes check the schedule before (Indonesia office: sukma@medan.wasantara.net.id, +62-6261-7320421 in Medan, Malaysia office: imn_tsc@streamyx.com, +60-5-6056804000 in Lumut).
http://wikitravel.org
To/from other parts of Indonesia: Pelni boats link Belawan with various ports in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands.
To/from Malaysia: Daily ferries run to/from Penang, Malaysia. Operated by Langkawi Ferry Services, Tel: +62-61-4521666/4527555 in Medan; +60-4-2642088 in Penang.
Since March 2007 there is a ferry from Medan to Lumut (Perak/Malaysia). It's RM100 one way and RM180 for a return ticket. The ferry leaves on Friday and Monday at 10:00 am from Medans port Belawan and on Wednesday and Saturday at 10:30 am from Lumut. As schedules changes check the schedule before (Indonesia office: sukma@medan.wasantara.net.id, +62-6261-7320421 in Medan, Malaysia office: imn_tsc@streamyx.com, +60-5-6056804000 in Lumut).
http://wikitravel.org
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