When you arrive in a  new country, what’s the first thing you should do to get short bursts of sustenance to survive the day? Yes, you need water and important fluids, but you also need snacks. The cheap stuff you can snack on to stave off the fervent craving for dinner, that’s what.

So that’s what Kenn & I did when we were in Jakarta last month; they went snack-searching. Why? Because if you’re a gamer who wants to play hard in Indonesia but don’t know what snacks to munch on, you can use this quick guide to help you out.

If you’re visiting your gaming pals either for a gaming expo or gaming tournament, this snacks guide can sort you out if you’re not sure what to buy and rather not take the safe route with American and Korean snacks. Plus, these Indonesian snacks won’t break your wallet; they only hover around the US$2-3 range.

In fact, we have our top three snacks just below; keep reading to find out! There’s a ton of other snacks out there in Indonesia, and we only have so much bandwidth to sample a few of them; just keep that in mind.

Garuda Kacang Atom

This translates to “atom nuts” which is something Captain Atom has. Easiest low-hanging fruit to reach(around) at.

They’re just laced with the right amount of salt so that you can get the taste of one of Indonesia’s natural nuts. There’s even a garlic variant which adds a bit more zest to the crunchiness. This snack has been around for a long while, so in case you can’t hit up the seasonal flavours we will talk about below, you could do worse than eat these.

Chitato Beef BBQ “Sapi Panggang” Flavored Chips

The packaging was enticing, to say the least. In the end, we felt that this exclusive Indonesian snack was mediocre AF.

There is nothing “beefy” or “barbeque-y” about it. It’s bland slightly salted chips with a hint of beef preservatives that don’t make your taste buds go nuts. You can do so much better.

Chitato Mango Sticky Rice Chips

Do you like chips that taste like mango confectionary but with some crunch to it? Then try this mango sticky rice chips! It’s sweet and potato-esque because potato chips. This mixture is similar to how teriyaki-flavoured chips work, but in this case, the mango essence envelops your taste buds far better.

If you have a couple, the tastes start to smush together and before you know it, it transform into potato chip cake flavour. What is cake flavour? Imagine a cake with just icing and flour with some mild sweetness to it. Yep, that “bland” flavour crops up if you take in too many pieces into your mouth.

Chitato Indomie Mi Goreng Chips

If you are craving for Indonesia’s signature Indomie instant fried noodle original flavouring, but rather just have it in chip form, this exclusive flavour will sort you out. Personally, I was hoping the “perencah” flavour was stronger and a bit more overpowering, but Chitato opts to dish out a hint of it without coming off as starchy. I almost admire that.

These chips felt like a novelty at best; perhaps you’ll feel differently if you’re a die-hard Indomie addict. Now, onto the good, good stuff!

Beng-Beng Crispy Rice Chocolate (Recommended)

Beng-Beng is Indonesia’s version of Rice Krispie treats but with some hint of nougat, caramel, and wafer. This may sound like excess but believe me: this combination is just godlike.

Imagine if Cadbury made their chocolates a lot more wafer-y and gave it the ability to “snap, crackle, and pop” without infringing on Kellogg’s copyrights. That is Beng-Beng: it’s joy in your mouth.

These sweet delicacies come in two forms: a small bag with mini Beng-Bengs and a chocolate bar form (which comes in regular and extra versions).

Simply put, Beng-Beng is the literal Indonesian sweetness that I highly recommend you bring alongside your gaming sessions.

Chitato Fried Golden Salted Egg Yolk Crab Chips (Recommended)

Perhaps the only Chitatos flavour worth a damn during our Jakarta time there. This crab flavour is what happens when you take the leftovers of your giant-ass salted egg yolk crab dinner, take out the excess oil, and just dump in the remains onto your Chitato potato chips bag. It may not literally be that, but that’s what I’m actually tasting when gorging through a single bag of these.

Within minutes.

Yes, that’s how addictive this flavour of chips is: the salted egg yolk and crab ultra combo is overpowering yet not to the point of making your tongue feel worn out by an “oily” aftertaste one gets from most American chips. Perhaps the only other potato chips that can go toe-to-toe is a similar-tasting cousin…

Potabee Salted Egg Chips (Recommended)

What’s better than “godlike”? God-“godlike”? Because these salted egg chips are the epitome of that title. These Potabee gold mines are a slight step above the Chitato crab chips: the salted egg taste is strong with this one.

Best of all, these chips don’t break the bank unlike other salted egg snacks out there. Buy a whole bundle of them if you have to; these chips are worth the time and hassle to get and complement your gaming habits if you happen to be in Indonesia.

Verdict

If you want to go nuts on snacks when you’re in Jakarta, we recommend Beng-Beng if you want the sweet stuff. If you want savoury, go for the Potabee Salted Egg chips and Chitato Salted Egg Yolk Crab chips. If you’re old-school with your approach, go get yourself some Garuda Kacang Atom.

Hope you guys like this break from the gaming features/news norm. We’ll go back to regular-scheduled programming now.