Mataram city center (Cakranegara district)
★ 4.3(1,640 reviews)
Grand Imperial is Mataram's flagship Chinese banquet restaurant, serving Cantonese dim sum, Sichuan mains, Peking duck, and seafood across two large halls. Mid-range pricing 80-220k IDR per dish, popular with local Chinese-Indonesian families and tourists. Best for groups, banquets, weddings, and travelers craving proper Chinese food in Lombok.
# Grand Imperial Mataram: Lombok's Chinese Banquet Restaurant
Grand Imperial has been Mataram's flagship Chinese restaurant for over 25 years, serving Cantonese dim sum, Sichuan mains, Peking duck, and live-tank seafood to a steady crowd of Chinese-Indonesian families, business diners, wedding parties, and tourists craving real Chinese food in a province where Chinese restaurants are rare.
The restaurant occupies a large two-story building in the Cakranegara district of Mataram — the city's traditional Chinese commercial area. The ground floor handles regular dining and dim sum service across about 40 tables, with private booths along the side walls. Upstairs, two large banquet halls handle weddings, business dinners, Chinese New Year gatherings, and corporate events.
The decor is unapologetically classic Chinese restaurant — red and gold color scheme, round banquet tables with lazy susans, large fish tanks at the entrance, calligraphy on the walls. It hasn't been refreshed in years and feels like the 1990s, but in a comfortable rather than tired way. Chinese-Indonesian families bring their grandparents here for a reason.
Dim sum (35-75k IDR per piece) — served 10am-3pm daily:
Cantonese mains (90-180k IDR):
Sichuan section (95-180k IDR):
Peking duck (280-480k IDR):
Live seafood (by weight, 200-650k IDR per kg):
Grand Imperial sits mid-range for Lombok dining:
That's mid-range for Mataram and noticeably more expensive than local warungs, but reasonable for the quality of cooking and the breadth of menu.
Dim sum is the obvious draw and runs 10am-3pm daily. The format is partly trolley service (carts wheeled around with various dumplings) and partly menu order (specialty items not on the carts). Order conservatively at first — you can always add more.
A solid dim sum order for two:
Total: around 250-320k IDR. Sufficient for most appetites.
The fish tanks at the entrance are functional, not just decorative. Available species rotate but typically include:
Pick your seafood, agree on weight and preparation style, and it's cooked to order. Total time about 25-30 minutes from selection to plate.
Lunch crowd skews local — Chinese-Indonesian families, business meetings, occasional Mataram politicians and businesspeople. Dim sum brunch on Sundays is the busiest service.
Dinner draws more tourists alongside the local regulars. Group bookings are common — wedding pre-celebrations, birthday banquets, business dinners. The two upstairs banquet halls handle the larger gatherings.
Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken by senior staff, making the restaurant comfortable for Chinese-speaking visitors. English is reliable too.
Vegetarian: dedicated section on the menu, around 15 dishes. Chinese vegetable greens, vegetarian dim sum (mushroom siu mai, vegetable bao, taro puff), mapo tofu (vegetarian version), Buddhist-style mixed vegetables.
Vegan: most vegetarian dishes can be made vegan (no egg, no oyster sauce). Inform staff at ordering.
Halal: this is important to clarify — Grand Imperial serves pork (BBQ pork, twice-cooked pork, char siu bao). The restaurant is NOT halal-certified. Inform staff if strictly halal and they'll guide you to halal-friendly dishes (chicken, beef, seafood, vegetarian sections).
Gluten-free: rice and rice noodle dishes work; many soy-based dishes contain wheat. Inform staff for guidance.
Strengths: authentic Chinese cooking by trained chefs, dim sum quality, live seafood freshness, multilingual staff, banquet capacity. For Chinese food lovers visiting Lombok, this is the obvious destination — there's nothing comparable on the island.
Weaknesses: dated decor, mid-range pricing (not cheap for casual lunch), Sichuan dishes sometimes toned down for Indonesian tastes (specifically request authentic spice level if you want the real heat), service can rush during dim sum peak. Not halal-certified — pork on the menu.
Best for: Chinese food lovers; groups celebrating something special; Chinese-Indonesian travelers wanting hometown food; Mandarin-speaking visitors; business dinners; large family gatherings.
Skip if: you want a cheap casual meal (try Sasak warungs in Mataram); you need strict halal certification; you want a beach view or atmospheric setting; you want quick lunch service (dim sum lunch is leisurely).