My DIY Food tour of Sorong

Armed with some google research, I had a few foodie things to find, some restaurants to try as well as some locations to visit. I loosely divided the list into east, central and west Sorong and planned some day trips for us.

We had several days to fill in between collecting the new dinghy and getting our visa extension so we thought we’d hire a scooter and create our own food tour. So far, the restaurants we had visited had been pretty good.

Sorong does not cater to the tourist market, most visitors only come to Sorong so they can get to Raja Ampat. However, I did come across a National Park on the outskirts of the city. That was to be destination No. 1, I really fancied a stretch of the leg and some nature.

Ervin Wahana Scooter lady selfie

So, off we set, 12 km east to the park, Taman Wisata Alam Sorong.

While the traffic moved reasonably slowly I found it a bit stressful. I’m a fairly novice rider and I was very conscious of the un-helmeted extra weight behind me. My partner has very long femurs so I tend to drive the scooters as he struggles to fit his legs in and fit me behind!

Bemos and scooters wove around us as we pootled along at 30km/hr. The locals constantly honked, waved and yelled “Hey Mister” at the latest spectacle in town.

First stop on the food tour of Sorong, Billy Bakery, for Roti Abon Gulung, snacks for later in the park. Billy Bakery’s insta feed amused me. These Roti Abon Gulungs must be a bit of a souvenir or delicacy as they had quite fancy packaging and the shop was quite funky and modern. If you go there check out their pool ball light fitting. We settled on 3 chocolate ones, not keen on the meat or cheese options.

I’d noted a few places to try for breakfast on the way to the park but they all were closed. Sunday sigh… Luckily this little gem was open, Bakso Giribangun, a very delicious bakso place on the same street as Immigration.

Preparing the bakso in the front

Two yummy baksos, two ice teas, a bamboo wrapped rice packet, awesome sambal, all for 90,000. Enjoyed while being constantly and intensively watched by some local ladies.

With happy tums, we hopped back on the scooter.

Bakso Ayam at Bakso Giribangun

After overshooting the turnoff, then having to wait about 10 minutes to turn as every passing vehicle wanted to slow down, beep and yell “Hey Mister”, we entered the park.

Big fail, after driving 12km east through the city, the park road was just a big sloppy mud puddle.

Stretch took over turning the bike around and I walked, only to find myself mid-calf deep in mud. Bugger.

Disappointed, we headed back to the city. We stopped to check out the Mega Mall, one of Sorong’s department stores.

I was trying to remove all the semi-dry mud from my shoe and sock before entering when a nearby local invited me to his house to use some of his water and scrubbing brush. Very sweet of him.

While I was scraping all the shit off my leg the family was taking photos of me, then after, the obligatory selfies.

The Mega Mall was quite a trippy experience. Just an average supermarket but the floors inside are all uneven, you feel really weird walking around in there. 

As the day was still young, we drove west to check out Tampa Garam Marina.

This drive took us outside the “city limits” into the country. Little villages were doing up their streets with Christmas decorations, the locals yelling “Hey Mister” as we drove by.

Along the way, I saw a house painted up in an Argentinian football theme – thick blue and white stripes with portraits of Maradona and Messi. Excellent dedication to their team.

Again, we missed the turn-off. Stretch, at the age of 70, had decided he could no longer read road maps, which is really irritating.

We pulled down a side road towards the beach where we stopped to eat the ambon roll and check the map.

The buns really could have done with not being in a hot scooter seat for 3 hours… they were a bit runny. Nevertheless, we tucked in. The bread was nice, it had some sticky glaze over it and was covered with chocolate hail. Inside was oozy chocolate, and wtf, shredded meat… I knew shredded meat was the main ingredient of these things, but I had thought the chocolate one came without. Ha ha, a bit weird. I picked it out, gave it a taste, and left it out. It wasn’t bad, just something I didn’t want to eat.

Chocolate Roti Abon Gulung

We found Tampa Garam, it was quite full with boats. Quite remote though and not much else around there is the way of shops or warungs.

So, now at 1pm on the first day, we’d pretty much done two days worth of planned adventure.

Pretty sick of the honking and hey mistering, thirsty, hungry, we sought refuge at Mamberamos Seafood. We had eaten there a few nights earlier, we knew it was delicious, and they had cold beer. 

Fish dish at Mamberamos Seafood in Sorong

Many of the food destinations most commonly mentioned in other blogs were closed, possible covid victims? We weren’t too keen to try track down sago caterpillar, another papuan delicacy. That just left the markets to suss out and a few of the higher rated restaurants nearby.

The markets are pretty hectic. Pasar Remu, the central market, was chockers. A combination of narrow lanes and covered-over stalls, selling fresh produce, shoes, clothing, etc. We did a quick walk through, I found the amount of people and the attention we get as foreigners too overwhelming and couldn’t wait to get out of there. The clothes stalls had a wild range of clothing, they could be quite fun to sift through if you were in the mood.

We didn’t visit the other formal market, Pasar Boswezen Rufei. Near there, along the side of the road, are a whole heap of vendors selling seafood, fruit and veges. The rubbish is pretty hideous, I didn’t find this a very enjoyable experience either, but we needed to buy some fresh produce. I found a vendor who had the more honest prices so bought from him. The produce was really fresh, the green beans must have been picked that morning.

A Coffee Roaster was on my list but it was out east, and I didn’t have a decent navigator, so the idea got scrapped. After three days on the scooter I was well over all the noise of the road.

We discovered a roof top bar. On the top floor of the Belagri is a large, open bar with a great view over Sorong Harbour. (map)

View from the rooftop bar at Belagri in Sorong

The restaurants we enjoyed:

Mamberamo Seafood

Our favourite. Extensive menu with fresh seafood to choose from. Friendly English-speaking waitress, clean, cold beers and a western loo. Had selfies with every member of staff it seemed.
Map

Balobe Seafood

A close second. We tried tuna rahang, tuna jaw, for the first time and it was really delicious. While we were there the evening’s supply came in, a huge bucket of tuna heads. We had tuna sate too which was really good also. The owner sat with us for a bit and took selfies.
Map

Marina Star

Marina Star is an easy option as it is at the dinghy dock. This is a great place for a sundowner and watch the hustle bustle around the dock. Fishing fleets loading up on ice and other supplies, charter guests coming and going. The food is good. I can recommend the pandan chicken and duck. Their Sunday breakfast special for 100Kpp isn’t great, or present good value though.
Map

Coto Hb’Eng

Tried our first Coto Makassar here and it was nice. It was only in a small bowl so we thought it was some kind of entree. I’m not sure if this is how it is normally served. The grilled tuna was fantastic. I really enjoyed the three different sambals it came with as I’m a chilli lover. This restaurant is near immigration.
Map

Arbonex Seafood

A busy restaurant in the Berlin Wall area. We had a nice seafood packet – clams, crab, fish and prawns with a rich sauce. They didn’t mind us having a beer in there. There’s a shop to buy beer a few minutes walk away. Next door is a bat and dog restaurant.
Map

Rumah Makan Mini

A very highly reviewed restaurant. Funny place. Enter from a side street and through the kitchen. The interior is very clean and air-conditioned. It is near the Ramayana Mall.
Map

Tuna rahang at Balobe Seafood, Sorong

Random people that wanted severalselfies with us outside the Marina Star Restaurant