This is a lovely experience, perfect for a special occasion (but I'm not allowed to record which one).

This restaurant specializes in the cuisine that has been developed over the centuries in the sultan's palace. It's not every day you get to eat in the shadow of the palace itself, let alone taste dishes that have been created and honed with the royal palate in mind.

The pendopo that shelters you is very fine, the menu is a bedtime read in itself, and the dishes are served in small, elegant quantities. The flavours are delicate, subtle, and delightfully different.

And I'm going to describe every one, although I can't remember which sultan preferred which dish:

Drinks: Nigel chose Beer Djawa, which is non-alcoholic (of course), but comes with a very pretty, frothy head. It's a combo of ginger, secang (that's the wood that is sometimes called sepang, and produces a red dye), cloves, lemon grass, and lime. I went all-out for the secang, but mine also contained ginger and cloves, with the addition of citronella.



First course: kapiratu (a very thin omelette stuffed with minced meat, and served with grated carrot, acar, and chillies); and selada djawa (watercress, cucumber, egg, and tomato, topped with a creamy, eggy sauce).

Mains: Bebek suwar-suwir (pieces of duck served on pineapple, with slices of kedondong to bring out the flavour of the kedondong jus -- great acidity to complement the duck); and pecal ayam (that's chicken smeared not with peanutty pecel, but with turmeric-based pecal).

Puddings: Manuk nom (a set pudding made of fermented rice and egg); and arseng (egg and coconut milk, with sliced banana).

We ended the meal feeling duly regal. Unfortunately, this delusion of grandeur lasted only until we were told off by the Kraton attendant for daring to fire up Rufus before we'd got out of the gate... Chastened, the three of us sloped off.

Never mind, it was nice while it lasted.