#SoreDiHonje
One easy Monday, around 11.30 am I got a direct message from someone on twitter. #SoreDiHonje. Blogger Gathering. It looked like an interesting invitation, but I wasn’t sure where Honje was. Was Honje a restaurant attached to Dowa outlet in Mangkubumi street? Umm.. What did Honje actually mean?

Btw, I should tell you a bit about Dowa first. It’s a company that creates woven products. The products Dowa creates are basically woven handbags. They also create clutch bags, wallets and accessories as well as things like scarfs!

Dowa Bag outlet on Godean street was the first showroom for the company and also a factory outlet (or you call it a workshop). It’s here that you can see the crafters working on Dowa products. If you want to get a classy souvenir from Yogyakarta or just a gift for your friend or even for yourself, Dowa is worth checking out.

I digress. “Sure! I would love to join #SoreDiHonje. Thanks for the invitation“.

Kika representative of Dowa Bag yogya inside Dowa outletDowa Mangkubumi

Blogger meet up
That evening was the very first time I attended a blogger gathering in Yogyakarta. We did a tour to Dowa store, listened to Miss Kika, a representative from Dowa, who explained about Dowa’s history, inspiration and story. We also did a tour to Honje’s kitchen and some food tasting.

In total there were about 20 bloggers who had turned up to the event. I sat at one table with Mimid (or Mimit?) of www.dianparamita.com and Thomas, who have been blogging since early 2000. We talked, ate food and I made some new friends in Yogyakarta.

honje kecombrang

Honje restaurant
Honje is a kind of spice and the flower, fruit, stem, and seeds can be use as raw vegetables. Indonesians are probably more familiar with Kecombrang than Honje. Though they both are in fact the same thing. I am not sure what Honje is called in English though. If you ever try “Sambal Matah”, then it is most likely created using the young stem of Honje as one of the ingredients.

In the Honje restaurant, attached to Dowa outlet in Mangkubumi street, they use Honje a lot. One of the things on the menu that’s quite unique is the salad. For the Honje salad you’ll get mixed vegetables and fruit in your bowl together with Honje syrup as a dressing. The syrup taste was sweet and great with the fruit, but I think it doesn’t work well with the vegetables. But it might be only me!

Other than the Honje salad, we tried a lot of food. One of the tastiest meals on the menu was the mushroom soup. It looks simple (and pretty), but it has a great taste!

honje salad and honje menu
mushroom soup at honje and steak

Don’t miss it!
The Happy Dessert! Though I wasn’t sure at first about this dessert and was tempted to pick Churros, after hearing the description from one of the restaurant staff I choose the Happy Dessert! It is a vanilla ice cream with coffee jelly and one shot of Baileys. I was like, mmm.. interesting mix and yummy! Just like its name, the Happy Dessert tastes of happiness.

If you come to Yogyakarta and love local woven fabrics then you should give Dowa outlet a chance. I have this lovely pouch for my GoPro. Oh, don’t forget to taste the Happy Dessert!

happy dessert at honje yogya dowa pouch jogjakarta

Dowa and Honje Restaurant
Jl.Mangkubumi 125
Yogyakarta 55232

Have you ever visited Yogyakarta? Did you visit Dowa and Honje? If you haven’t been there.. Go check them out and let me know your thoughts!

Still need to book your hotel for Yogyakarta? Save yourself some time! Here’s a list of the best hotels near Malioboro for every budget.