At NIHI Sumba, street food becomes cultural luxury

So when we heard that NIHI Sumba was bringing a Jakarta hawker legend into its dining programme, our first reaction was honest surprise. Not scepticism. Surprise. The good kind, where you lean forward rather than fold your arms. NIHI is not a resort that plays it safe. It has twice been named the number one hotel in the world by Travel + Leisure, and it holds a three-key MICHELIN distinction. It does not need a hawker stall to prove anything. Which is precisely why the decision is so interesting.

The hawker in question is Soto Betawi H. Ma'ruf. Founded in Jakarta in 1940. Same recipe since the very first bowl, built on coconut milk, cow's milk, and a broth that has held its shape across three generations of the Ma'ruf family. Mufti Ma'ruf, the grandson, made the journey to Sumba this April as part of NIHI's new Hawker Legends series. The series is curated by Kevindra Soemantri, the gastronomy strategist and host behind Netflix's Street Food: Asia, a man who has spent years arguing that street food deserves the same seriousness we give to fine dining. At NIHI Sumba, he finally has a stage worthy of that argument.

Nobody changed the recipe. That matters enormously. Because the temptation, in a setting this elevated, must have been real. A little refinement here. A garnish there. Some truffle for good measure. The Ma'ruf family resisted all of it. And NIHI let them. That kind of mutual respect is rarer than any ingredient.

What NIHI understood is that authenticity cannot be produced. It can only be protected. The Soto Betawi did not become resort food. The resort became worthy of the soto. That is a meaningful distinction, and it separates genuine cultural curiosity from the kind of luxury that merely cosplays it.

For those of us who find meaning in both worlds, who can debate the merits of a Jalan Alor satay stall with the same enthusiasm as a Michelin table, Hawker Legends feels like a conversation we have been waiting for. It says that depth and informality are not opposites. That the most memorable meals are often the most honest ones. And that the most extraordinary thing a world-class resort can sometimes do is step aside and let a grandmother's recipe do the talking.

Hawker Legends continues at NIHI Sumba throughout 2026. We will be watching closely. And eating even more closely.

More on Hawker Legends at NIHI Sumba nihi.com/hawker-legends.