Bengawan Solo was founded in 1979 by Tjendri Anastasia, originally from Indonesia. Anastasia came to Singapore where she met her husband, Johnson Liew. After getting married, Anastasia's interest in Indonesian delicacies continued in the little home kitchen of her HDB flat. Gradually, word of her tasty goodies got around and before she knew it, orders for her cakes and kueh came rolling in. Her home-made specialties even made it onto the shelves of supermarkets and emporiums, albeit produced without a food manufacturing licence.