The New York Times named Mercado Sin Nombre’s Bad Honey Bunny one of its most memorable dishes of 2025, praising its precision and perfume. Food reporter Priya Krishna wrote that the coiled pastry “looks almost cartoonishly perfect,” adding that “the heady scent of cardamom and honey hits you before you even take a bite.” Despite its beauty, she noted, the $7 bun “tastes every bit as plush and elegant as it appears.”
The national recognition may come as no surprise to Austin diners who’ve already discovered the café tucked behind a nondescript alley off Pleasant Valley Road. But for many, Mercado Sin Nombre still feels like a secret.
Austin American-Statesman restaurant critic Matthew Odam has argued that the café defies expectations for a walk-up window. Calling it “one of the great hidden gems of Austin,” Odam wrote that “just a few bites and a slight investigation lets you know that there is much more to Julian Maltby’s coffee shop than meets the eye.” While Maltby emphasizes Mexican corn and coffee traditions, Odam notes that “the food program is being helmed by the kind of major talent you expect at award-winning restaurants, not walk-up windows.”
The NYT nod suggests the rest of the country is now catching up.
But the story behind Yeni’s Fusion is just as compelling as its desserts.
Odam has chronicled chef-owner Yeni Rosdiyani’s mission to bring Indonesian cuisine to Austin, a city with far more Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese and Japanese options than Indonesian ones. “She has a point,” Odam wrote. “The city has no shortage of [those cuisines]… but I only know of one Austin restaurant serving a menu of Indonesian dishes.” Rosdiyani, who grew up in Java, has become, in his view, “the best possible ambassador” for the flavors she grew up cooking with her father.
He describes her cooking style as meticulous — a discipline passed down from a parent who was “specific and picky,” often critiquing her work until the flavors were right. “It doesn’t take more than one bite of Rosdiyani’s food to know that time goes into everything she prepares,” he wrote.
Rosdiyani opened her truck in 2021 after leaving a corporate career in Indonesia and moving to Texas more than a decade ago. She brings “an obvious joy” to the kitchen, Odam notes — and that joy appears to be resonating on a national level.