Tapaktuan's food scene is shaped by the sea and the jungle in equal measure. Sitting along Aceh's southwestern coast, this sleepy port town serves up some of the most honest, unfussy Acehnese cooking you'll find anywhere in Sumatra. Fish is the backbone of nearly every meal here — freshly caught tuna, snapper, and mackerel grilled over coconut husks or simmered in turmeric-laced broths that carry real depth and warmth.

The morning market along Jalan Merdeka is where locals do their most important eating. Arrive early and you'll find women ladling out kuah pliek u, a rich, funky curry made from fermented coconut that's intensely savory and wholly unlike anything you'd encounter in Medan or Banda Aceh. Mie Aceh stalls fire up their woks before sunrise, and the version here — loaded with crab or shrimp and finished with a squeeze of calamansi — has a smokiness that sticks with you long after breakfast.

For a proper sit-down meal, a handful of modest warung around the harbor district do whole grilled fish with sambal ganja, Aceh's famous 'addictive' chili relish that earns its nickname. Wash it down with air kelapa muda — young coconut water served straight from the shell — and you've got the quintessential Tapaktuan meal. Don't leave without trying timphan, a steamed glutinous rice cake wrapped in banana leaf and scented with pandan, sold at roadside stalls as an afternoon snack.