Eating & Drinking in Timor-Leste

Timorese food is built on rice, corn, fish, greens and coconut. The dish you will eat most is ikan sabuko: whole fish wrapped in banana leaf with garlic, chilli and lime, grilled over charcoal. Markets and beachside stalls sell it all over the country, and when the fish is fresh, which it usually is, it is excellent.

Batar da'an is the rural staple: corn cooked with mung beans, pumpkin and sometimes shredded coconut. It is cheap and filling, and most Timorese outside Dili eat it every day. Look for it at local markets and in highland villages. Koto is a vegetable stew of moringa leaves (ai-marungi), pumpkin and whatever greens are in season.

The Portuguese left caldo verde (green soup), pasteis (pastries) and a taste for strong espresso-style coffee. Indonesian dishes are everywhere: nasi goreng, mie goreng, bakso (meatball soup) and tempe. Most local restaurants serve a mix of all three.

Dili is the only place with a real choice of restaurants. The waterfront strip on Avenida de Portugal has a handful serving grilled seafood, Portuguese-style dishes and cold beer. A main course at a mid-range restaurant costs $8-15; a local meal at a warung is $2-4.

Lecidere Night Market is where Dili residents eat in the evening. Stalls set up each night with grilled fish, satay, fried rice and fresh juice, at $1-3 a dish. Go hungry.

The food court at Timor Plaza has Indonesian and local dishes. It is air-conditioned and reliable, if dull. Dili also has a growing number of cafés serving single-origin Timorese coffee. Ask which cooperative grew the beans; staff are usually glad to tell you.

Outside the capital the choice narrows fast. In Baucau, Maubisse and other towns, warungs (small eateries) serve rice with fish or chicken, fried noodles and seasonal vegetables. There is rarely a menu: you eat what was cooked that day. Expect $2-5 a meal.

On Atauro, eco-lodges and guesthouses usually include meals in the price: grilled fish, rice and vegetables from the garden, simple and very fresh. Atauro has a few restaurants, including Manukoko Rek and Linissa.

In the far east (Com, Tutuala, Lospalos) there is little food to buy. Bring snacks from Dili or Baucau. Guesthouses may cook for you if you arrange it in advance, but do not assume they will. Instant noodles and peanut butter in your bag are a sensible precaution here.

Coffee is the national pride. The Timor Hybrid, a natural arabica-robusta cross, was discovered here in the 1940s. In Dili it is brewed specialty-style in cafés, or traditional-style (strong, sweet, through a sock filter) at market stalls. Around Maubisse and Ermera you can drink it on the farm where it was grown.

Tua sabu is palm wine, tapped from lontar palms and fermented into a mildly alcoholic, slightly sweet drink. It is served at ceremonies and gatherings and sometimes sold at markets. Tua mutin is the distilled version, stronger and rougher. Both take some getting used to. Bintang beer, imported from Indonesia, is sold everywhere in Dili and in most towns, and a cold one at sunset on the waterfront is a Dili habit.

Fresh coconut water (bee nuu) is sold at the roadside. Tap water is not safe to drink: buy bottled water ($0.50-1 for 1.5 L) or use filtered water where it is offered.