Things to Do in Kesawan, Medan

Atmosphere

Old Medan commerce slams the senses—motorcycles dart past crumbling Dutch walls while spice hawkers shout prices above the drone of ceiling fans.

Price Level

$

Safety

good

Tjong A Fie Mansion

The former residence of Medan's Chinese-Indonesian tycoon drops you straight into another era—turquoise paint flakes from the walls, original Peranakan tiles cool your soles, and black-and-white portraits of concubines stare down from mahogany frames. Frangipani and yellowed paper scent the courtyard; guides trace the hidden escape routes built for jealous husbands.

Tip: Arrive at 3pm when sunlight strikes the stained glass, scattering colored shards across the marble—carry small bills for the photo permit.

Kesawan Street Morning Market

From 6-9am the sidewalk becomes a traveling feast—steam curls from pots of soto Medan thick with coconut milk, vendors slap martabak dough that hisses in black woks, and diesel mingles with the funk of fermented shrimp paste. Grandmothers sell pyramid parcels of lemang bamboo rice carrying a hint of coconut smoke.

Tip: Trail the auntie with the yellow bucket at 7am—her lontong sayur cart by the old post office sells out by 8:30 and locals swear by it.

Sri Mariamman Temple

An 1880s Tamil temple squeezed between textile shops explodes with technicolor gods whose painted eyes track your moves. Bare feet have polished the stone floors smooth; incense snakes around brass bells that worshippers strike with oily fingers. Friday nights bring drums that thump inside your ribs.

Tip: Leave your shoes at the door but keep your socks—the stone burns after noon, and the priest shares longer stories with visitors who show up for evening puja.

Old Medan Banking Quarter

Amsterdam-style buildings along Jalan Ahmad Yani shelter banks whose brass nameplates have turned green. Inside, manual ledgers and rotary phones survive; the sidewalk carries the odor of old paper and metal stamps. Ceiling fans thunk above tellers who count cash the old way—abacuses clicking like crickets.

Tip: The Bank Mandiri museum branch lets you finger colonial banknotes and stare into the original vault—come before 11am when the elderly curator likes to chat.

Kesawan Night Food Stalls

After 8pm, flickering fluorescents light plastic tables beside drainage canals—vendors ladle kuah thick with beef tendons that wobble like amber, and satay smoke stings your eyes sweetly. The star is bihun bebek: rice vermicelli in duck broth laced with star anise and cinnamon.

Tip: Spot the cart papered with yellowed newspaper clippings—same family since 1962, still using clay pots that lend a smoky edge.

Tip Top Restaurant

Colonial-era Indonesian-Chinese

Specialty: Their durian ice cream (15k) arrives in metal dishes unchanged since 1934, paired with nasi goreng merah that dyes your fingers chili-orange.

Mama's Batak Kitchen

Batak home cooking

Specialty: Arsik goldfish curry (40k) numbs your lips with andaliman pepper, served alongside rice steamed in bamboo scented with pandan.

Kesawan Coffee Corner

Traditional kopi tiam

Specialty: Kopi tubruk (8k) leaves grounds sludge-thick at the cup's base—order it with kue bika ambon carrying the tang of fermented coconut sap.

Auntie Lisa's Martabak

Street food cart

Specialty: Sweet martabak manis (25k) loaded with chocolate sprinkles that crackle between molars, fried in cast-iron pans older than half the clientele.

Medan Seafood Alley

Evening street stalls

Specialty: Gurame cobek (60k)—deep-fried carp pounded with chili until your sinuses open wide, eaten by hand and leaving fingers smelling of lime and shrimp paste.

The London Pub

A onetime Dutch officers' club keeps its brass railings and ceiling tiles that tremble when trains roll past—English teachers and oil-patch expats argue over Bintang longnecks.

Expat regulars, live football

Kesawan Karaoke Lounge

Above a former Chinese pharmacy, private rooms with cracked leather benches host business deals lubricated by Johnnie Walker and off-key Mandopop.

Chinese businessmen, power ballads

Taman Kesawan Night Market

Plastic chairs circle oil-drum tables where students nurse warm Bintang and argue politics until the 11pm curfew—buskers work the crowd for coins.

Student crowd, cheap drinks