In Indonesia, you’ll find that between all the meals a person can have in a day, brunch rarely comes out on top. Breakfast-lunch-dinner is the name of the game, and while brunch has gained a sizeable weekend fanbase in larger cities, most people stick to the conventional culinary timetable. But for something that is simply a portmanteau of the words ‘breakfast’ and ‘lunch’, brunch denotes to more than just the time of day at which it’s had. When you hear the word ‘brunch’, you think of a lush cafe, gorgeous crockery, and food as colorful as the seasons. Brunch is an occasion.

One of the first things my friend and I said when we stepped into RM Demangan was, “wow, this place would be great for brunch.” By then, it was well into the afternoon, verging on dusk, but it was plain to see that this was a place that had seen many 10 a.m. gatherings before. The walls inside were charmingly dimpled and painted in a juicy shade of coral pink. Greenery was a trend carried out throughout the space; a banana tree here, a wall of plants there. With all the windows and skylights, I’d imagine the cafe had been beautifully bathed in daylight a couple hours prior. Ah yes, heaven for the occasional brunch photographer.

The menu further confirmed our suspicions that this was the place to be for a midday get-together. It was comprised of a number of Indonesian classics such as bakmi Jawa (a savory Javanese noodle dish) and gado-gado (an Indonesian salad with peanut dressing)—not the brunch fare most would imagine, but varied enough that it guaranteed that everyone in a group could find something they fancied. It was more of a snacking situation for the two of us, however: pisang goreng (banana fritters), es doger (a pink shaved iced-like dessert), and iced coffees.

As the sun went down and the cafe switched on its string lights, I could only hope of coming back for a proper brunch. In any case, a visit to RM Demangan is sure to prove delightful no matter the time of day.