A day after M and I married, we found ourselves on a plane to the lovely island of Lombok, Indonesia to hole up in a villa for twelve and bask in the Indonesian sun.

This was my first time in Lombok, and after spending 7 days here, I doubt it’ll be my last. Lombok felt so overlooked and I’ve been telling friends and family about all the great things to do there, so I decided to consolidate all my thoughts in this wee article. If you are planning a trip to Lombok, I hope you find it helpful!

Top restaurants in Kuta, Lombok

By the end of the trip, I concluded that Lombok has just about one great restaurant of each (non-Indonesian) cuisine, and that Lombok has burgers as a category on lock. Other takeaways are that most reservations are done over Whatsapp and it was easy getting reservations for big groups.

This is a personal ranking of my top 4 restaurants (and a couple of honorary burger mentions) in Kuta, Lombok only, but you can find more food recommendations at the best beaches in the following section.

1. Elamu

This was the only restaurant M and I visited twice during our stay, and we both agree that this was our favourite restaurant in Lombok. Elamu serves authentic, fresh and affordable greek food in the heart of Kuta, in a beautiful setting.

Both times, we got a mixed grill platter (185K IDR) to share, which consisted of 2x chicken skewers, 2x Greek meatballs, 1x small beefteki (burger patty), and portions of tzatziki, hummus, and taramosalata, and French fries and pita bread. The value of the platter is commendable as you get to try all three chef-recommended grilled meats. M particularly liked the Greek meatballs, which are served in a tomato sauce. We also tried their falafel (45K IDR), halloumi cheese (65K IDR) and grilled squid (95K IDR). All were great; of the three, I felt the falafel was a stand-out.

As a bread hardo, I loved that pita bread comes unlimited with most dishes at Elamu.

Elamu Menu | Reserve a table (+62 812-3456-789)

2. Cantina Mexicana

Cantina Mexicana was a very close second. We had dinner here on our last night, and were still raving about it at the airport the next day.

When in doubt, get pulled beef short rib everything. We had the nachos (110K IDR), tacos (85K IDR for two), quesadilla (95K IDR) which were all fantastic. If you are more of a chicken eater, friends raved about the chipotle chicken as well.

While I usually get baja fish tacos, I would give this one (65K IDR for two) a miss – it was a solid 3/5 and paled in comparison to the other dishes. I also tried the jalepeno poppers (50K IDR for three pieces) and the tepic mushroom taco (45K IDR for two), both of which I enjoyed and would highly recommend.

Pro-tips: Cantina Mexicana offers 60K magaritas till 7pm, and honours taco tuesdays (free taco with every margarita). We missed both of these pro-tips so – that’s why I’m writing this article so you don’t make the mistakes I did.

Cantina Mexicana Menu | Reserve a table

3. Jiang Nan Lombok

My good friend A spent two weeks in Lombok last year and told me she “went to a Chinese place 3 times in 24 hours” because it was that good. This Chinese place was Jiang Nan Lombok. I was incredulous and had to try it for myself.

TLDR: It was good. No complaints from the table. If you are craving Chinese food while in Lombok, I would highly recommend this restaurant. The cumin lamb noodles (105K IDR) were spectacular, and the beef noodle soup (95K IDR), which tastes exactly like how it looks, had a light and refreshing broth. Our friends also had the spicy prawn and garlic noodle (95K IDR) which looked amazing as well. Crispy lemon chicken (75K IDR) was well-liked by everyone at the table, and I enjoyed the chili oil shrimp and chicken wantons (50K IDR).

Jiang Nan Menu | Reserve a table

4. Mama Pizza

If you are craving pizza while in Lombok, Mama Pizza will hit the spot. We enjoyed their burrata pizza (we had the one with mortadella and pistachio) and carbonara, and all our friends enjoyed their pizzas/pastas as well.

p.s. If you have sensitive skin, I would refrain from sitting on their wicker (plastic?) chairs. I had an allergic reaction to the material and broke out in hives which took over a week to subside…just sit on the wood chairs!

Honorary burger mention 1: rocco warung
We came to this warung on the first day in search of local indonesian food. With a 4.8* Google rating, I expected more from the mie goreng and nasi goreng but they were only 25K IDR each and many other guests seemed to really enjoy these dishes. However, I decided to include roccos warung in this list anyway as one friend raved for days about the Mega Burger (35K IDR), which includes layers of fried chicken cutlet, an egg and hash brown.

Honorary burger mention 2: Aloha beach club at Tanjung Aan – see below

Top beaches in Lombok

One great draw of this island are the beaches – we visited quite a few and here are our top picks and where to eat!

1. Tanjung Aan – best overall

The crystal-blue waters and fine white sand left little to be desired. Surfers were further out from shore, and you will find locals and tourists playing together along the shore. This beach was 5 minutes from where we lived, and we visited every other day.

Each time, we parked ourselves at Aloha Beach Club, and I can’t recommend this place enough. Sunbeds are at a first-come, first-served basis with no minimum spend. The servers were friendly and hospitable, and food and drink reasonably priced. Bintang beer was 40K IDR (pretty standard pricing across bars and restaurants) and the grilled ham and cheese was amazing for 90K IDR. Friends also enjoyed the King of Lombok (chicken sandwich) and the Bacon Eggsplosive burger as well, but note that the burger was truly explosive (read: messy).

Things to look out for:
Parking: There is a generous parking area for cars and scooters allocated to Aloha’s guests, so steer clear of parking anywhere else as we had some local people beckoning to us to pay them a “parking fee” when we first turned in towards the beach.

Peddlers: As this is a popular beach, there are many locals peddling goods along the beach, including shirts, towels, mats, bracelets. They will come up to you and this can get quite annoying after the 20th time, but you can gently turn them away or ignore them. On one of the days, we did end up buying a couple of shirts (I’m wearing the shirt as I type this) from one of the locals for only 80K IDR each, which is well-priced. He shared that he procured the shirts for 60K IDR and was making a 20K IDR profit. Many of the other locals were trying to sell us the same shirts for 150K, while shops in Kuta town were selling the shirts for 100K and up.

2. Selong Belanak – best for beginner surfing and water activities

Selong Belanak is another great beach we enjoyed. There were no beach clubs in Selong Belanak; rather, local surf shacks rent out sunbeds for 100K IDR / 2 sunbeds, and sold a limited drink menu including fresh coconuts, juices, and Bintang (~40/45K IDR). We picked the surf shack / warung just beside the restaurant we were planning to visit for lunch, I’d say you can pick any of the surf shacks that calls out to you the most. In our case, while they were firm on the sunbed rental price, they offered surfboard rentals for 50K IDR (original price 100K). As we had an experienced friend guiding us that day, we did not require lessons, but they do offer lessons as well.

I’ve surfed once before on Canggu beach in Bali in 2018, and all I can say is that I am not built for surfing – I’m built for lying horizontally on a sunbed, occasionally flipping myself like a rotisserie chicken. However, after watching 10 year olds ride the waves, I decide to join some of our other friends in the water. The waves were indeed perfect for beginners, but they were waves nonetheless. I got tossed around, swallowed some seawater, and attempted to ride a few waves before M came to retrieve me for a celebratory that’s-enough-surfing-for-this-trip Bintang.

For lunch, we ate at Laut Biru Bar and Restaurant, which served great food. M and I split the chicken shnitzel burger (90K IDR) and rendang daging (95K IDR).

Laut Biru Menu | Reserve a table (+62 821-4430-3339)

3. Mawi beach – best for surfing (advanced)

Mawi beach is not an easy beach to get to – you will require a scooter or car (scooter recommended) to take you through about 13 minutes of rocky dirt road before you reach the beach. It’s not the easiest trail, we saw a guy fall off his bike in front of us who got scraped up. Once you reach the beach, it is a small strip with rockier sand (similar to Kuta beach) with some surf shacks by the parking area.

At other surf spots, you’d often require a boat to take you out to the waves, here, surfers can just walk out from shore to catch waves. Our friend (an advanced surfer) who surfed every day on the trip was incredibly happy with his surf session at Mawi.

If you’re coming here for just the beach, I wouldn’t really recommend it. There are large, sharp rocks in the shallow waters (I cut my toe pretty deep) so please wear water shoes. The sand here is made of large, coarse but perfect round sand grains that are less pleasant than the fine white of Tanjung Aan. When M and I went, we stayed for 20 minutes and spent our time watching surfers in the distance and picking colourful seashells along the coast.

4. Mawun and Tampah beach – most peaceful

Mawun beach was very empty when we were there, and it was very peaceful apart from a few local children trying to sell us rope bracelets. We grabbed a couple of sunchairs at Jordi Place and a couple of Bintangs (40K IDR) and hung around for awhile before hitting up Mawi beach. The sand here is coarser and darker than Tanjung Aan (think Sentosa), but the waters were as blue.

I also hear good things about Tampah beach from our friends, we did not visit Tampah beach ourselves but our friends tout it to be peaceful as well, until a herd of cattle came and took some large dumps right in front of them (!) so they left. Nature’s healing… If you visit Tampah, our host recommends Biras Beach Bar.

5. Kuta beach – most convenient from Kuta but would skip

We headed to this beach on the first day and spent 5 minutes here, 3 of which was spent trying to clamber through the sand back to solid ground. To be fair, it was 4+pm and the sun was quickly fading, making it a chilly time to be on the beach. Pro: The beach is 2 minutes from Kuta town, making it very accessible. Cons: The sand is similar to Mawi, coarse and quite unpleasant to walk in, and for some reason, our feet kept getting stuck in the sand. It was like walking through quicksand. There were loads of rubbish on the beach when we were there, and local children were trying to get us to buy rope bracelets from them every other minute. While trying to park our scooters, some locals were trying to scam us into parking in their “parking lot” for a fee and insinuated that bad things will happen to our scooters if not, but there were scooters literally parked on every street corner so we ignored them, but it made us feel uneasy.

Other things to do in Lombok

Apart from surfing, lounging on the beach, and eating your faces off, here are a few other things to do and places I recommend you do them at.

1. Attend a yoga class at Ashtari Yoga

Perched atop a hill in Kuta Lombok, Ashtari Yoga is a beautiful, peaceful sanctuary offering yoga classes. During our week here, we attended 2 classes with Free, who is a gentle and rooted yogi who guided us well through our flows and meditation. We did the vinyasa ashtanga class one morning and came back for yin sound bath on our last evening. The venue is an open platform facing hills and in the distance, the ocean, so you are surrounded by only the sounds of nature and the guiding voice of your teacher.

Classes were 75 minutes long, and 130K per class (350K for a 3-class pack). I understand they also offer cooking classes, so if this is of interest, do check them out.

2. Work out at Xeno Fit

Xeno Fit is a beautiful open-air gym with unique bamboo architecture. Minimally, you’ll have to purchase a day pass for 225K, which gives you access to the open gym, and classes available that day. If you are training for Hyrox or looking for equipment beyond the standard gym, it is likely Xeno gym will be able to provide what you are looking for.

We did the Crossfit class, but they have other classes like Hyrox, mat pilates, yoga, boxing conditioning and glute & core. The class was doable and suitably challenging – as everything takes place in open air, get ready to perspire more than usual.

After the class, grab a protein shake or breakfast at Xeno hub (their cafe onsite) – we found the food surprisingly good, and our friend loved the croque madame.

3. Get a massage

We tried three massage places during our time here: Lina Spa, Dayang Spa, and Aster Spa & Massage, and here are the two worth mentioning.

Most aesthetic/premium: Lina Spa
First, we went to Lina Spa, a Turkish bathhouse-style establishment. They offer massages, facials, as well as traditional hammam. We went for the 60 min aromatherapy massage, which was IDR 350K and I’d say on the pricier end for Lombok. The atmostphere was thoughtful and relaxing, and the massage technique was pretty good. Before the massage, they offer you a welcome drink while you choose from 3 essential oils and have your feet washed. After the massage, you are offered hot tea with a little sweet treat. It was an enjoyable experience and worth the penny.

Best massage technique: Aster Spa & Massage
While Lina Spa was good, we wanted to try other spas out as well. The first time I tried to walk in to Aster Spa, they were fully booked so I made an appointment for the next day. In the meantime, we went to Dayang Spa which was a minute’s walk away. Dayang Spa was very basic and hit-or-miss, two masseuses were good, mine was okay but too gentle, and the fourth didn’t seem like she wanted to be there. Overall, I would not return.

Now, on to the good stuff. M and I returned to Aster Spa the next day and understood why it was fully booked the day before – there were only two beds! On first impression, the place is really random, almost sketch, but this was the place we recommended to all our friends, and I to you.

Since I have no pictures, picture this – you hop off your scooter and find yourself facing an open perforated aluminium gate with graffiti on it, with a little “Aster Spa” sign beside it. You walk in, and there is a traditional saung gazebo to your right. One of the three ladies who run the place is there to greet you. Beside the gazebo is a small house-looking structure where the massage will take place. If you are early, the lady asks you to wait at the gazebo till your turn.

When your turn comes, you enter the room and are relieved to find it air-conditioned. There is a simple footwash area and two massage beds. They provide robes and disposable underwear, the former of which you wear for 3 minutes while they wash your feet and then your massage begins. The ladies have really great technique, and we returned every day after and the quality was consistent across all four days. The massage was 150K for 60 minutes and well-worth the money!

Note that the place is cash only and you should definitely make an appointment via Whatsapp (+62 851-5505-8594).

Things to buy in Lombok

1. Shirts from local establishments

Souvenir shirts were a hot commodity among our friend group. We bought shirts from Mama Pizza (RTP 180K per shirt, and we negotiated a 10% discount since we were buying a few), and some of the group bought Lomdogs shirts (350K IDR), which were available at Elamu and some other retail shops. Lomdogs merchandise are produced by Shelter for Lombok Dogs, a legally registered Non Profit Organisation that help provide sterilisation, vaccination, medical care and adoption services for the many precious strays that peacefully roam the island.

2. Island life core

Just like Bali, items like sarongs, batik, printed fabrics, elephant pants, flower hair clips are a dime a dozen. If you are down to bargain, head to any of the local shops and go nuts. Personally, I don’t enjoy bargaining and found an unassuming souvenir shop Bayan lombok gallery & handicraft that was really well-priced and fixed price only (so skip the bargaining and just buy from places like these). I got a flower hair clip for 17.5K IDR, while other shops were quoting me a starting price of 50K IDR.

You can also dress your house up with woven rattan, wood or mother-of-pearl household items – think woven rattan lamps, MOP and wood cutlery, plates, and bowls, and rattan and MOP napkin holders!

3. Pearl jewelry

You will see many street peddlers selling pearl jewelry by the roadside. I checked some of them out, but found the quality quite poor and priced too high. I bought a few pairs of pearl earrings as gifts from Bayan lombok gallery & handicraft, which were set in silver and had a fixed price.

4. Indonesian snacks

At the local supermarket, there are tons of interesting chips and snacks to try. I liked these chicken curry samosa chips that reminded me of those sambal prawn rolls we eat at Chinese New Year, nori crackers, and tempeh crisps. I would suggest just trying all that catch your eye and bringing the ones you like best home! We also brought home bags of Yava granola which is technically from Bali, but we noticed many of the local cafes and restaurants (and our villa’s private chef) using this granola mix in smoothie bowls.

We bought the above and more from Pepito Express, which is the best and largest supermarket in Kuta.

Pepito Express Kuta Mandalika
Jl. Pariwisata Pantai Kuta No.45, Kuta, Kec. Pujut, Kabupaten Lombok Tengah, Nusa Tenggara Bar. 83573, Indonesia

Getting there

Scoot offers direct flights from Singapore to Lombok. Flight prices start from $200+ and can easily rise to $400+ during peak periods or if you are booking last minute, so try to book your flights in advance!

Getting around

I’d hazard a guess that whoever in the Indonesian government leading the revitalisation of Lombok plays Catan, because just like the game where you build roads before cities, the roads in Lombok are a few years ahead of the rest of the island. The roads are smooth, wide and quiet, which made getting around enjoyable and relatively easy (I was pillion princess so this is only my guess and what I heard from the drivers in the group). I’d recommend scooting, getting a private hire car, or taking a Grab. If you are inherently a hazard however, please take a car – we had two scooter incidents within our friend group alone!

Best for getting out of the airport: Grab

We took a Grab from the airport to the villa, and similar to Bali, locals will aggressively try to get you to cancel your ride and go with them instead. Just make your way to the Grab counter at the airport and Grab staff will direct you to your ride when it arrives. For the rest of our trip, I personally did not hire another Grab. Some of our friends also ordered Grabs on occasion, but it definitely feels like a less popular option in Lombok.

Best for getting around the island: scooter

Our villa charged us 95K IDR/day for a scooter below 150cc, and 150K IDR/day for 150cc. Since M was tooting me around on his back, we got the larger 150cc scooter to be safe. Gas costs around 10K IDR per liter at the gas station, but local shops also have bottled diesel which they typically charge 20K-25K IDR.

Best for a night out: private hire car

When we went out for dinner in the town, we ordered private hire cars so we didn’t have to worry about scooting back in the dark. We had the cars for 4 hours each time, and for friends who got tired earlier on, the cars could take them back to the villa first at any time, and come back for the rest of us after. Our driver Jack was a hoot and had great energy. We also took a private hire car for our final drive to the airport.

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That’s about it for now, till next time xx