One Seafood Paradise in Indonesia

Indonesia’s vast archipelago supplies us with its aquaculture diversity and its rich resources.

Here are some on the list:

• Many of the best diving sites are found in this archipelago – so, I was told by my Japanese friend who used to frequent some of the beautiful diving sites.
• The extensive mangrove environment that acts as the buffer of the land.
• Pearl farm
• Seafood – Seafood – Seafood *smile*

During my trip to Makassar, the host of the event invited us to Dinar (one of the famous local seafood restaurant in the city). The plentiful order covered a whole range of seafood such as: three kinds of fishes (grilled and deep fried), grilled squids, crabs, soft shell crabs (kepiting soka) with black pepper sauce, lobsters, otak-otak (snack made of fish paste steamed/grilled in banana leaves).

The lobsters were huge. I think it's a slightly bigger than a whole chicken. Oh, man... it tasted so good! The accompanied several kinds of chili sauces were swelled too! The otak-otak was really big and tasty. I really had the time of my life during the seafood feast *smile*. I was embarassed when they said that only me and one of the guy were still eating - the others already stopped eating. I couldn't help it *smile*.

Losari Beach (Pantai Losari) is located in front of our hotel (Imperial Aryaduta Hotel) and it used to be the seafood center for people in Makassar.

When I checked in for the flight back to Jakarta I saw many boxes of Surya Restaurant. Later a friend told me that Surya is another seafood restaurant in Makassar and many people bring crabs - one of the restaurant's specialities - as oleh-oleh (gift). Hm... if I didn't return that day I'd have the chance to try the crabs from Surya *smile*.

Yeah, Makassar is not only famous for seafood but also coto Makassar, sup konro, markisa, and other local snacks. One of the things that I missed during my visit was that I didn't have the chance to eat durian.


Several links:
The History of South Sulawesi
Makassar
Tana Toraja
South Sulawesi Travel Guide
Official Website of South Sulawesi Province