Opened at the beginning of July 2011, Union is the most happening bar in Jakarta at the time of writing. The owners are also behind Loewy and Cork and Screw, and they haven't changed their concept: Union has a retro setting, serves expensive "chic" food (but with average taste) and its atmosphere is both cosmopolitan and busy. The best thing about it is actually its location, with a view on the Plaza Senayan Courtyard, which I find quite unique in Jakarta:
I visited on a Thursday afternoon, and it was so full that we had to wait about 10 minutes to get a table. The waiter was friendly, but visibly overwhelmed and still new to the job, which is normal only a few days after opening. The menu has something for everyone: Burgers (one of them with foie gras, yuk!), pastas, grilled meat, asian favourites, etc... Nothing very original. The prices are quite high: On average, a meal will cost you around Rp150,000k without drinks.
I tried three dishes there, but I have only photos for 2:
 |
| Caesar Salad (Rp60,000++) |
 |
| Union burger (Rp55,000++) |
The third one was the rib-eye steak (Rp195,000++). The food did not come with a nice presentation. On the photos it may look fine, but that's only an impression. In real, nothing looked appetizing.
The salad was the best dish among the three, but it wasn't very fresh and there was so much sauce it would have been healthier for me to drink a glass of oil. The french fries that came with the burger were not well-cooked, and more importantly, the beef patty had so little flavours I thought it was a vegetarian burger. The worst was the rib-eye, which was not medium as we had ordered it, and was an average-quality steak with some boring accompanying vegetables.
Overall: I may sound negative in this review, but I actually liked Union because the location is great, the design is neat, and it feels busy. Yet, I'm disappointed they came up with almost a copy of Loewy instead of taking the risk to create a more original venue. I also think the food, though not terrible, is too expensive for the quality you get. My recommendation would be to try Union for a drink (small Heineken=Rp30k++) and to avoid in particular the grilled meat.
Opening Hours:
Everyday, from Breakfast to late Dinner.
Union Jakarta
Brasserie, Bakery and Bar
Plaza Senayan Courtyard, Ground Floor,
Jalan Asia Afrika No.8, Jakarta
Phone number:+62-21 5790 5861/63
Phone number:+62-21 5790 5861/63
Website: http://www.unionjkt.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/UnionJkt
nie resto parah banget gak enak uekk.. gw dah ke sini juga and very2 over priced..! :O gak worthied kalo mesen makanan mah... yang resto lain bisa menyajikan sama dengan kualitas lebih bagus dan harga jauh lebi murah
ReplyDeletenot recommended
latah emang org jakarta kalo ada baru pada di serbu mentang2 konsep bar loungge lagi ngetrend yeh.. hadehh... elu makan di porotin bgitu? gile keknya banyak yg kualitas sama atau lebih malah lebih friendly priced mah.. :O
ReplyDeleteI have been to Union 3 times in the last month that it was opened and I found each dining experience very enjoyable.. I think the price of the food and drinks is reasonable and comparable amongst restaurants in Jakarta alike in concept. The salmon entree is amazing, I highly recommend. Overall, always a great time in Union with me and my friends!
ReplyDeleteyg commment diatas yg punya resto tuh..hak,hak,hak,,
ReplyDelete:D
the food is average, the service is average but the price is unbelievable expensive
ReplyDeletehmmm.. harganya sih ga mahal ya menurut gua.. walopun belum pernah ke sana, dan thinking to go there tonight, tapi baca2 review, mostly says sucks??
ReplyDeletewell orang jakarta biasanya makanan ga enak pun bsa di bilang enak kalau lokasinya bagus, tapi ini kalo lokasi bagus, dekornya bagus, makanan masih di bilang ga enak, berarti bener2 ga enak.
so..
too expensive, really not worth it to eat here!!
ReplyDeletega bakal nyesel deh klo dateng ke union,selain makanan nya oke banyak server nya yg oke jg loh klo udah service,pasti bakal mau dateng lg deh
ReplyDeleteI only recommend the bakery, especially red velvet cake... Delicious! Overpriced food?? Absolutely yes... But for that cake I don't mind
ReplyDeleteAverage food with expensive price. Pas kesana coba spagheti aglio olio with seared scallop tp spagheti nya keras kayaknya msh under cooked. Btw, Red velvet cake nya very recommended. Gak bakal lg balik kesana kecuali kalau sepi dan ga perlu waiting list. Kalau mau cake2 nya yg enak mending take away aja.
ReplyDeleteWill visit there only for desserts.
ReplyDeleteFor price, in my opinion, ok kok. They offer straberry juice for 25k, and latte for 35k. I mean, Coffee Bean offers a latte for 39k. So price was fine. Food taste, standard, but the Red velvet cake is highly recommended. Service, friendly. Ambiance, nice. Overall 8/10.
ReplyDeletegak enak.. overpriced pula haaaaah
ReplyDeleteGrup ini (loewy dkk) emang specialized di minuman kali yah, mknannya emang ga ada yg enak. Emang buat hang out rame2 dan cr ambiance
ReplyDeleteItu mah yg bilang makanannya gak enak biasanya makannya di warteg Dan harganya murah, so jgn banding in lah dgn makanan pinggir jalan
ReplyDeleteDengan harga Burger yang Rp 80,000an termasuk pajak, menurut gue not worth it. Tapi ya obviously tempat seperti itu OK cuma buat hang out atau ber gengsi ria, seperti pada halnya sebuah situasi yang saya saksikan dimana berada 3 tante tante girang yang berpenampilan eksis meng-apply make up setiap 5 menit sekali (satu dari antaranya mirip dengan Michael Jackson oleh karena hasil dari operasi kecantikan)
ReplyDeleteah lebeee segitu dibilang mahal. yg lebih mahal banyakkk!
ReplyDeleteThe place is very pretentious. It is truly a place to "show-off" how nicely dressed you are or how "bule" you are, ... Perfect for the nouveau riche IMO.
ReplyDeleteTip: when making a booking (on the phone), use english, you'll have better chance...
It IS overpriced. What you pay for here is not the cuisine or how it should taste, but more the chance to be pretentious.
Sorry to be harsh, but I'd rather spend my money somewhere else, thank you.
The chocolate tart that i take out was good. Whilst, i never get a seat at Union, was told that it was all reserved, even though i only saw 4 out of many tables were occupied at around 5ish pm on the weekdays. Will never ever be bothered to dine in, the service staffs were very unfriendly, unpleasant, and Cocky!
ReplyDeletebuat gw resto ini bad review bgt, meskipun gw tergolong sering makan disini gara2 ga tau knapa temen2 gw pada suka bgt, tp emang sih red velvet cakenya enak bgt, dan wajib dicoba, bad review soalnya mereka tergolong angkuh sbgai resto baru, soalnya kalo lo dtg di jam makan siang lo ga bakal dilayanin, trus overall utk makanan disini ga terlalu enak2 bgt kok, biasa aja.
ReplyDeletetalking about red velvet.... i've tried id... wueekkkk dah mahal ga enakkkkkkkk well every bakery have their own standards, but this one taste too sweet "litteraly sweet" the caramelized pean ut taste bad...
ReplyDeleteif i compared with convivium's red velvet, of course convivium is the winner!
even i didn't eat the foods, i know they only sell the place not the foods....karna makanannya overpricedd and banyak review yg bkg not nice
gue sebenernya suka ama makanannya, lumayan enak, yang gue ga suka adalah sama pelayanannya yang cenderung pilih kasih, kalo ama bule2 baiiiiik minta ampun, kalo ama yang indo tulen pasti deh "pasang muka jutek tampang ga butuh customer"....kalo misalnya gue walau punya tampang indo niat pengen beli semua menu disana, gimana? tetep diusir gitu???? "maaf mas udah penuh...", padahal resto sepi, ga ada antrian, banyak meja kosong.... eneg gue...
ReplyDeleteHeheh seru bgt bacanya, gw di bali jd ga bisa lgsg meluncur utk cek sendiri, tp kalo kalian ke bali, ke Brewers Beer Garden yg di Legian, rooftop garden luas dan tempat diciptakan oleh org indonesia untuk orang indonesia khususnya :) mereka buat bir sendiri, cobain deh...support local brands and local bands!
ReplyDeletebeen there once. emm twice actually, but i didn't get seated although the restaurant almost like half empty. the second time i came there, i only tried the red velvet cake which is Union famous for and most of the people there had it. The red velvet is good (50k), not too sweet, in terms i don't like "too-sweet" desserts esp cakes. and yes it is overpriced with bad service. you have to booked for lunch and dinner.
ReplyDeleteAmbience is great and always fully booked even during weekdays. However, the service and the politeness is unimaginably bad. I (and i believe everyone) hates STEREOTYPING. I called to make reservation, long story short, the person asked for my phone number and i told her that i dont remember it and she answered me with " iihh!!" ( the word in bahasa to describe disgust), and managed to gave it still. Afterwarda when i said thank you, she just said "ok" with unhappy tone and hung up. Was the attitude because i am not caucasian or just because i couldnt recall my phone number ?
ReplyDeleteMy advice to union is to stop being stereotyping, bcause we local people still can buy the most expensive drink and food you guys offered and we can give you lots o tips that will fit your mouth down to your stomach. So treat every customers the same.
- untuk tempat oke bgt
ReplyDelete- pelayanan lumayan baik.. (apa karna muka gue agak bule?)
- food and drinks standard aja rasanya, harga lumayan ada yang kemahalan ada yg ga..
- overall lumayan deh :)
Union is such a great restaurant to go,love the foods such as nachos which is the nachos ever and the sirloin steak is very delicious as well! And the price is very reasonable as well for a restaurant that has a quality and various type of foods like this. Union is great!
ReplyDeleteSepertinya dibuat khusus untuk orang bule yang notabenenya adalah orang-orang yang mau membayar makanan dan minuman yang tergolong mahal untuk orang-orang indo tulen
ReplyDeleteIt seems made specifically for the foreigners who are mostly people who are willing to pay for food and drinks are quite expensive for the Indonesian people
Bagi gw sih UNION itu sudah ok bgt!!dari segi makanan,minuman dan servicenya..scara mereka membentuk semua itu utk menjadi UNION pastilah tdk mudah,.jadi bagi yg merasa makan di UNION tdk enak atau mahal, LEBIH BAIK MAKAN di pinggir kali aja.karna anda tdk bisa menilai sesuatu itu dr negatif sj. Mereka menciptakan makanan & minuman itu pakai ilmu utk menghasilkan seni yg indah...pretlah buat org yg bisa comment "mahal & g enak" klo takut miskin jgn makan di union boss wkwkwk..like buat union.
ReplyDeleteyang comment di atas kyknya pegawai union...jutek
ReplyDeletehahahahhaha,,,,
santai bos...
ya iya sih d buatnya pake ilmu, tpi klw masakin sphageti aja ga bener, keras, yakali mw balik lagi.
Eh tapi menu2 nya ga originally made by UNION kan
pasaran gitu..diresto sejenis juga banyak.
You should speah english and behave lika a foreigner to get a better + fast service.
ReplyDeletenice atmosphere but poor quality food and for me its the food that counts so uuuuuhhhh not done
ReplyDeleteslow bro, inikan hanya sekedar komen setiap orang. kalo memang menurut anda enak ya belom tentu menurut orang lain enak, jadi slow aja ga usah pake emosi huahaha
ReplyDeleteThe foods are very average. Typical bar-foods. More specifically, bar-foods with foei gras, probably so the owner can charge more. I bet the foei gras is of low-quality, and won't go well with the rest of the dish! Don't even think about ordering bakmi ayam with foei gras!! That's a NO-GO. I tried some of their dishes, some pastas and signature burger, nothing stands out. Even I can cook better, and I'm not a chef!
ReplyDeleteRed velvet cake is very nice, creme brulee is all over the place, pandan cake quite avarage, carrot n banana cake is sooooooo pedestrian!! even my neighbor in australia can bake a better batch!!
Overall, typical bar-food.
may I add,
ReplyDeletebar-foods are the kind of foods that you get at a bar for a very cheap price. The standards are usually quite average, but not "gourmet", because usually other commoners can cook the same food better than bar-cooks. People don't usually go to the bar for the foods. They go there to have a drink, and only eat when they're hungry.
as my self as a an Food and beverage person I can't recall a place where I paid 550.000 RP frr two people with bad hostess manners and nearly raw salmon(125 000rp) with so much inept staff. Mistakes can be made if it's busy but the supervisor was only busy with his own guests than taking care of others.
ReplyDeletethe success is the seen to be seen( over powdered aunties) and the nice view on the Senayan. Other than that highly not recommended.
yakin la lama2 juga bakalan tutup once red velvet fever is over... what so good about that... ingat sugar makes u fat!!! better eat korean or japanese food la. ato skalian aja ke emilie yang jelas gak ala2
ReplyDeleteThey're trying to be authentic with the carbonara, but... Eeeegh... It doesn't taste like that back in italy. It's just that... It doesn't taste right. It's so wrong! It tastes like when you wanna make carbonara but ran out of half-n-half. You can't just use modern recipe, omit the half n half, and claim it to be the original. People will thinks you're a cheapstake.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a non-smoking restaurant, and they don't have a non- smoking section. They have a time limit written on a little piece of card, telling you what time you should get out. Very busy, very noisy atmosphere, very dark, very lousy service, don't be fooled by their candle-lit ambience. It's not a romantic place. You can hear the whisperings from both your right and left tables quite clearly.
ReplyDeletejujur sejujur2nya gw yakin tmn2 gw atau mgkn kebanyakan org yg dtg ke sono bukan cari tempet/makanannya, tapi cari gengsi. supaya keliatan berkelas. mkny kl ga ad acara ap2, ato cuma mw hang out gw ga bkl mau diajak kesono, mending di tempet lain deh.
ReplyDeleteBad service, bad food. nice place tho. i like the concept and decoration. but nothing special.. red velvet cake? not that good.
ReplyDeletefor the staff, please be nicer with indonesian :)
Gue suka banget review-an yg diposting ini. Cukup obyektif, and the opinion is based on more than one point of view.
ReplyDeleteLike the post!
Kalo ada review tentang Loewy boleh dong paste di sini....
Like and dislike.....normal !, mr. HRD of that resto, ...please give your staff good training, how to serve customer profesionally, your resto is not WARTEG , isn't it ? Anyway why should you hired bad attitute WAITERS ? Your costumers are paying their salaries and give you lots of incomes and benefits !!!! Hope this input can bring you better services in the future and make your resto has better popularity ...in very good way !!!
ReplyDeletei was there last friday around 12am. i think it has the best music in jkt. a bit of deep house, tech house, nothing too uptempo or clubby .. fits the vibe of the place totally.
ReplyDeleteBad service.. I dunno whether i didnt dress well like the others, nor union had no attentive waiters.. Lots of empty table with no reserved labels, yet i ought to have my lunch on the bar section.. Ordered the tortilla, quite good.. But the lemonade, was a so-so.. Frankly that bad service thing make me dont wanna come back there
ReplyDeleteUNION ga banget, mau reserved 20org minimal harus 4juta, baru kali ini reserved restaurant ada minimal nya. kecewa banget, ga jadi gua makan disini, sorry2 aja
ReplyDeletegood place at first sight, but not so good on service and BAAADDDD foods, this place is so overrated, twice came here twice the disappointment, not forget to mention of silly limited time dining, picky service on customers, first time I visit I had to wait for around 30 minutes for the seat and there was group of people already seating on the half round sofa table, I noticed they didn't order much, only 1 plate of nachos and several drinks for each person, and then my name called for a table for two and before the waiter point me to seat she told me that me and my GF only got 1.5 hours for the dining, that was so silly in my opinion that I had to wait for 30 minutes and got a limited time, but well it was okay because I didn't intend to stay long anyway, only want to try their foods, 1 hour passed and we finished eating with disappointment with the foods quality especially the fried stuffs, they smells so bad like they didn't cycle the frying oil so it smells like abang2 gorengan, and such a waste on foie gras, it's like they don't know how to process foie gras properly and charge more for the burger with slapeed in foie gras,
ReplyDeleteand after the waiter saw our meals were finished they picked up the plates and what more terrible was that he reminded me that we have to leave in 30 minutes because our seating time was almost over, so then I said yeah we are finished anyway so give me the damn bill, and after I paid and complained about their foods quality, I saw at the table when I was on queue that seated with the bunch of people that order only nachos and drinks, and guess what?! the same people were still sitting there, so WTF they ordered less priced food and drink but still seated and didn't "kicked" out like we did?!
second time the visit, I don't have to mention it, still terrible experience
Only came for the view (relatively nice for Jakarta and handy location). Agree that the service wasn't very good. But this is common in Jakarta. Where service staff are paid very low, under educated and untrained. This is to maximize the profit of owners. They could've hired quality staff, alas, those ones are snapped up by places like Mulia, and hence, decently paid. I do understand where they're coming from, I mean how could you be friendly to your customers who look exactly like you, but who are lucky enough to be able to afford to go to place where the average bill is the price of your monthly kost (boarding room) in slummy kampungs, why not me (the waitress) in their shoes. While the bules and orientals indonesians are the bosses with money, and they don't look local so deserve to be treated better. And who knows if being nice to them, one will marry me and take me to place like this. Anyway.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, food was average, and presentation de cuisine on the plate is not worth the gourmet price. But again, I came for the location. And as one of the comment said, I look a bit bule with a bit of accent (just move to Indonesia), so maybe that's why the service was alright. Though I can see how the staff treated others (especially to native Indonesians).
Been to some establishments run by ISMAYA group. Will not say so far as the group on par to International standard, but maybe this place should be taken over by ISMAYA? Shame on the waste of good location.
Buat tante yg mau happy...^^
ReplyDeleteShortTime/LongTime
Book 3 Days Before
For Price:
Benny 082110399432 (Call/SMS) - Area Jabotabek
email: bennysyah89@gmail.com
Info: http://www.facebook.com/benny.justforfun
For Serious Only...
just went there last saturday....i think they have a good service (i'm indonesian) but the woman who takes down the waiting list was a bit cocky. average foods, my friend ordered salmon blabla and it was sickening i ordered creme brulee and it tastes too sweet the rests are just average...buat gengsi2an is the highlight of this place and we paid more for it
ReplyDeletesaya pernah kerja di sebuah restoran sebagai server.. cuma satu komentar saya, "they who never work at a restaurant as a server, will never know how hard to be a server".. we should understand all about food and beverage.. we should be smarter than the cooks and the bartenders.. we should be the nicest person, when some customers have no polite!
ReplyDeleteabout the food, i can't say much coz yes, it's NOT that good, and overprice..
but the beverage, they're the best if you are an alcohol addicted! :)
yg comment diatas gw dulu pernah jadi server komputer? LOL.waiters kali ah..
ReplyDeleteyang namanya bisnis jasa kayak resto gini hal selain makanannya pasti juga service dong yang dilihat kalo ngga mana ada yg mau balik lagi.
lagian juga ada service tax juga di setiap billnya, jadi prinsipnya waiters dibayar untuk memberikan service terbaik supaya customer mau kembali lagi.
First, i'm not working for union atau management yang mengurus restoran union. tapi menurut gue service mereka bagus kok, bagus banget malah. gue udah dateng 3 kali dan pelayanan mereka selalu ramah. emang sih kalo dateng pasti kena waiting list, apalagi kalo weekend pasti lama urutannya, pas udah dateng juga dibatesin waktunya, which i think is normal because it's a very busy restaurant. tapi gue masih heran kok pada bilang servicenya jelek ya? gue lancar lancar aja kok pas kesana, padahal waktu itu rame dan sibuk banget. makanan gue cepet datengnya. for the foods, enak enak aja kok, walaupun nggak pake 'banget'. red velvetnya ketawan nggak cuma asal bikin, 50 ribu for one big slice dan enak juga. harga mahal bisa ditolerir lah, secara lokasi mahal dan konsep mereka juga bagus.
ReplyDeleteuntuk management union, keep up the good work. i will be coming back soon :)
average food, bad service, cocky waitress, overpriced.. untung waktu itu gw pas lg ditraktir.. tp gw pribadi cukup 1x makan disitu dan ngga mau lagi balik mkn disitu.. kalopun dibayarin (lg) gw akan mati2an usul sm yg bayarin buat pilih resto lain yg sangat jauh lebih baik.. intinya cukup 1x dan abis itu kapok...
ReplyDeleteI suggest to visit this place only for the sweets or the bakery, the drinks are adequately tolerable, the main course was very mediocre, it was not revolting but it is certainly not worth the skyhigh price. Service was most definitely NOT amiable. It's a shame how this exaggerated and contagious trend on themed restaurant quickly spreads, yet they are forgetting the main essence of culinary; quality and taste.
ReplyDeletemanusia beda" ga da yg mirip meskipun itu kembar mereka punya panca indra yg berbeda
ReplyDeletejd klo untuk enak atau kurang enak tergantung yg konsumsi jd ga ush menjelek" brand org
hargai dlu org lain klo kalian mw di hargai
good job union
Actually you might get a better chance of getting seats at UNION PIM, they're new there and the server's are more diligent I must say.. For me the Red Velvet is a sure choice for dessert.. And Bone Marrow are one of my hubby's favorite dish.. Another must try if you have the guts to get your fingers dirty.. For me eating is more of experience so not much complain about UNION so far..
ReplyDeleteI went to Union Senayan once because I was so curious about their Red Velvet. I only wanted to buy 1 slice to take away. The greeter at the door ignored me completely. I asked one of the servers about the bakery, and they just walked past as if they didn't hear me. I still don't think I look so shabby, considering I wore my favorite jeans and polo shirt. When I found the bakery on the other side, the server was bringing a new whole red velvet cake and put it beside the another half-cut red velvet cake. When I asked for a slice to go, she barely looked at me and only say that no red velvet was available. When I pointed my finger at the newly brought cake, she said they're already booked. Why bother put them on display then? Insufferable morons... I swore not to step foot inside Union ever after that.
ReplyDeleteThen they open in PIM. My cousin gave a rave review of the place, and said it was better than the one in Senayan. For sure, servers was attentive, not as crowded and no time limit for dining. But apparently, it's still true what they say about the food taste. I'm sure they used ingredients of high quality. But taste-wise, they're nothing special. Quite pricey too.
And the desserts were a disappointment. Tiramisu was awful, I don't understand whether they wanted to make a creamy version like the Italian original, or a cake version so common here in Jakarta. Texture was weird. And the Red velvet was a letdown after those rave reviews.
Overall: It's a place to go if you want to be seen and considered as socialite. Pretentious place. For the kind of financial damage I suffered, I'd rather go to the great restos at 5 star hotels.