Space Roastery 1890 is a specialty coffee shop on the south side of Yogyakarta, but it is worth visiting for the building alone. It occupies Ndalem Pembayun, a Javanese house built in 1890, and the coffee arrives with a heavy dose of Javanese culture. Here is what makes the place unusual.
Coffee in a Historic House
Space Roastery 1890 is the newest branch of Space Roastery, set inside a heritage building formerly known as Ndalem Pembayun. Alongside serving specialty coffee, the owners work to keep the building’s history visible. It sits at Jl. MT. Haryono No. 9, Suryodiningratan, near Plengkung Gading and the southern square, an easy trip from central Yogyakarta.
You arrive at a solid, classical Javanese building with a wide forecourt that doubles as parking. The house was built for a member of the royal family and it still reads that way. Inside, a long bar runs down the middle of the main room, with tables and chairs arranged around it.
The History of Ndalem Pembayun
The 1890 in the name is the year the house was built, so it has stood for well over a century. It has come through more than ninety earthquakes, including the large one in 2006. Only part of the left pavilion was damaged. The rest held.
Ndalem Pembayun originally belonged to Sultan Hamengkubuwono VII, who built houses for his children around Yogyakarta. Through a ruislag, an asset exchange that reportedly included an onthel bicycle, the building passed to the family whose descendants now work with Space Roastery. One of its more interesting features is the senthong, a traditional room with its own function and meaning in a joglo house.
What a Senthong Is
The senthong belongs to the joglo, the traditional Javanese house that royal families lived in. A joglo is laid out around social hierarchy, and every part of it carries meaning. The senthong is the third section, part of what is called the omah njero, the inner house, which served as family space.
It divides into three: left, right and centre. The baristas at Space Roastery 1890 work in the Senthong Tengah, the central room, which held real importance in royal household life. It was used for meditation, as the room for newly married couples, and for offerings to Dewi Sri, the rice goddess in Javanese belief.
The senthong is decorated with fertility symbols. Among them are the loro blonyo, a pair of statues representing a bride and groom, and the klemuk, vessels holding rice and water as a prayer for enough food.
The Menu
Beyond the building, the menu earns your time. The baristas will walk you through the options. Filter coffee is the thing to order here, brewed through a tricolate, a pulsar or a hoop, each pulling something different out of the same beans.
Roasted beans are sold from the display beside the bar, alongside merchandise such as t-shirts if you want to take something home. The best known roasts are Halu Pink Banana, Gayo Apple Cider, Originutt and Strawberry Fields. There is also a tasting station where you can try a filter coffee before buying the bag.
Once you have ordered, take a table inside, or sit at the slow bar and talk coffee with the barista. If you would rather sit outside, the front terrace has wooden tables and chairs looking onto the forecourt.
Image by Setya Dewanta from Tim Omah Ralin
Specialty Drinks
Alongside espresso, cappuccino, latte and filter coffee, the house has its own specialty drinks that put a modern turn on traditional recipes. Two worth trying are Wedang Bajigur and Kopi Ronde. Both are Javanese classics, here with espresso added.
- Wedang Bajigur is usually made with coconut milk, palm sugar and spices. The espresso gives the version here a flavour you will not find elsewhere.
- Kopi Ronde: ronde is normally served with glutinous rice balls filled with peanut. With espresso stirred in, it lands somewhere between dessert and coffee.
Both are good, and both give coffee drinkers something they have probably not tried before.
Image by Setya Dewanta from Tim Omah Ralin
History, Culture and Coffee
Space Roastery 1890 belongs on the list for anyone in Yogyakarta who cares about coffee. Set inside Ndalem Pembayun, with drinks that bridge tradition and invention, it offers something the city’s other cafes do not.
Drinking coffee here is not only about the cup. It is about sitting inside a piece of old Yogyakarta. The place manages to be modern and traditional at once, and keeps a piece of Javanese heritage in use rather than behind glass. Whether you came for carefully processed specialty coffee or simply for the atmosphere, it stays with you.
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