Jakarta Nightlife Guide (Updated 2016)

For more articles about nightlife in Jakarta, please visit these links: Jakarta Nightlife Update 2014 or Jakarta Nightlife 2015.

1)Where to party in Jakarta?
Before starting to explore the city, it's important you have some idea of where the party places are in Jakarta so you won't lose time going from one place to another.

Bar hopping is great in Jakarta: A good night out should always include the right mix of low-class/middle class/high class places, alternating expat and more local clubs, and if possible in at least two different areas.

The main areas for partying in Jakarta are the following:

In South Jakarta

South Jakarta has mostly normal nightclubs and bars with no open prostitution or striptease. This is where most foreigners and expats will go.

Blok M/Jalan Falatehan
My Bar, Top Gun, D's Place, Highway To Elle

This is a street with hostess bars popular with oil and gas expatriates.

Kemang
Triple 9, Nu China, Tipsy, Hangover, Eastern Promise, Murphy's Pub

It used to be a trendy area for partying but as of 2015, it is not that happening. Many expats live in Kemang though so there are some decent expat bars and small clubs.

Near Jalan Sudirman
The Sudirman area has the highest density of good bars, clubs and lounges. They are usually expensive and trendy.

Senayan: X2 Club,  Prohibition, CJs (Hotel Mulia) Domain, Portico, Revolution, Red Square
Senopati: Hemingway, H Gourmet and Vibes, Branché, Pao Pao, Monty's
Gatot Subroto: Dragonfly, Blowfish, Popular
Mega Kuningan: Safe House, Loewy, Bauhaus, Basque
SCBC (Sudirman Central Business District + Pacific Place): Empirica, Fable, Potato Head, Cork and Screw, Hard Rock Café, Foundry 8, Level II, Beer Garden
Plaza Indonesia / Grand Indonesia: Cloud, Immigrant Bar, SKYE, Dreams, Social House

You also have a few local bars in Pondok Indah, Gandaria or Cipete.

Central Jakarta

Sarinah/Jalan Jaksa

Memory's Café, Tiga Kuda, Dyna's Pub, Jaya Pub, Beer Garden Menteng,

Obviously not the best area for clubbing. Many bars in that area are cheap and popular with backpackers / English teachers.

In the area, the best places are two rooftop bars called BART and Awan Lounge.

North Jakarta

It is also referred to as Kota nightlife. I consider that everything North of Monas is North Jakarta (though it does not follow the official city limits).

When you enter this part of Jakarta, there are almost no clubs for foreigners. Most venues in that area are targeting male clients with sexy dancers, massage rooms, karaokes, etc. There is usually a lot of drugs too.

Pecenongan (Emporium, Velvet Bar, Goldmine, Tease Club, Classic Club)
Kota (Old Town, Colosseum, 1001)
Lokasari and Mangga Besar (Mille's, Newton, Haze Karaoke, Travel Hotel, Exotis, Pujasera)
Gadjah Mada (Malioboro, V2)
Hayam Wuruk (Illigals, Stadium, Emerald Disco)
Ancol and Mangga Dua (Hotel Alexis, Segarra, Fashion Hotel, M-Star)
Kota Indah (also called Peng-J with some massage parlours and disco-bars)


The Rest

Taman Anggrek (mostly massage parlours), Pluit and PIK (many cafés and small bars), Kelapa Gading (spas and karaokes).

What we usually do is to start partying in the south, and then head up-north, so that the more drunk we are, the wilder the party gets. Clubs in Kota also close later so it's good to know if you still feel like partying at 5am. Clubs that are still open at 5am include Stadium (closed now), Mille's, Exotis, Pujasera. Karaokes in Golden Crown and Colosseum are also still open until late.

2) Different party atmospheres

North Jakarta: Prostitution and Drugs

Generally speaking, the norther you go, the more prostitutes and the more drugs you will find. Many Jakartans never venture in North Jakarta because it has a very bad reputation and it is considered as dangerous. It is partially true: In this area, you will see that people outside the clubs are more annoying and aggressive. They will try to get money from you one way or another, asking you the more often for parking money (they make sure nothing happens to your car while you park) and taxi money (they stop the taxi for you. Very annoying because you can do it yourself. Avoid that by walking away a few 100 meters, otherwise pay something like rp2000).

In the north, you also have to be very careful with taxis. You will discover many taxis' names you had never heard before, and most of them try to copy the appearance of the trusted Blue Bird or Express. When I can, I always try not to catch a taxi right outside a club, and prefer to walk until a larger road, where i will take a Blue Bird or an Express. I don't think it's so dangerous, but I don't like being in the car of someone I don't trust. Apart from that, the reputation of Kota as a dangerous area in Jakarta is over-exaggerated, especially if you compare it to the dangerous areas in western countries, where you would never walk alone.

Clubs in North Jakarta ALWAYS have prostitutes, usually a combination of freelance prostitutes and girls under contracts. It has to be the biggest red light district in the world.

Contrary to Western belief, prostitution in Indonesia is not imported by sexual tourism, it is a very common practice among Indonesian of all classes. In only a few clubs in Kota you might meet some"normal girls": Stadium (closed), Colosseum and maybe Mille's on sunday mornings. The crowd in North Jakarta is mostly male, with some clubs more chinese-oriented (Sun City, Club 36), some mostly Indonesian (Mille's) or both (Golden Crown). Once again, apart from Stadium, few foreigners go there and you will probably be the only one on the dance floor.

There must be over 100 nightclubs and entertainment places in North Jakarta and it takes a lot of time to visit them all. The first time someone go there is always a surprise. After all, you thought you were in the biggest muslim country on earth! Some clubs are incredibly luxurious and decadent (Alexis Hotel, Sun City) and other are so trashy you are will feel uncomfortable inside (the Palme d'Or goes to Monggo Mas Club). Overall, you go from surprises to surprises and you never get tired.

Drugs, mostly ecstasy, crystal meth (shabu-shabu, called yaba in Thailand) and heroin (putau in Indonesian) are very common in Kota, to a point you cannot even begin to comprehend. In some clubs, everyone is on pills, for instance in Sydney 2000. You can read my article: Drugs in Indonesia.

South Jakarta: Westernized clubs with pockets of prostitution

South of Monas, you have a majority of upmarket classy clubs and bars, though not only.

In Blok M, the Falatehan street is a small red light district aimed at expats and sex tourists. 99% of the girls are prostitutes or professional girlfriends, working their ways to your wallet one way (direct payment) or the other (sugar daddy). I rarely party in this area and I don't really like it except if I'm really drunk.

Hotel bars, especially BATS-CJs-Tiga Puluh are pick-up joints with 85% of the girls working as freelance prostitutes. You can also just enjoy the live band and meet other expats (male mostly). Girls in these hotel bars are usually smarter and better educated than other girls in Blok M but that just means they will know better how to scam you. BE CAREFUL! Cheating rate is 99%! Most of them already have one or two boyfriends in Indonesia or elsewhere.

Some bars and clubs have a mix of prostitutes and normal girls, for instance X2, Eastern Promise, Dragonfly. It can be quite difficult to guess who is who. I know more than one man who had the surprise of having to pay for a one-night-stand with a girl they genuinely thought was normal.

You probably want to meet girls who will sleep with you just for the fun of it. Maybe you are looking to engage in a healthy relationship. In that case, I would not recommend meeting a girl in a bar in Jakarta. Please read my guides Meeting Girls in Jakarta and Online Dating in Indonesia to avoid making the wrong choices.

In the south, most of the best clubs are very posh, even by Western standards.. The most famous ones are Empirica, Fable, Dragonfly, Blowfish, Immigrant and X2. Every month or so, a new club opens for socialites, models and expats, but the competition is tough on this segment and most of them fail.

You also have popular smaller clubs in Kemang, but they target younger people, mainly college and high-school students, between 18 and less than 25.

The dress code is usually stricter for woman than man. For man, a polo or a shirt, jeans (not torn) and casual shoes is enough. For woman, you may have to wear high-heels and a skirt.

Some areas cater to a specific audience: Jalan Jaksa is where most backpackers and expats on a budget go for a drink. Senopati is for hipsters. Cikini is popular with Middle-easterners. Some venues specialize in latin music and salsa (see my guide: Salsa in Jakarta).

For more information on nightlife in Jakarta, you can also read this post: Prostitution in Jakarta and how to avoid it.

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