The Barrels (Summarecon Mall Serpong)
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The Barrels is one of the few decent beer-drinking joints you will find in Serpong/Tangerang. It is inside Summarecon Mall, on the downtown walk, and it is basic but lively. You have a big poster of a cave with barrels on the walls, some high tables and chairs in line, and the barrels... For a little above Rp250k, you can order a small barrel of Bintang to share with your friends. They also have local live music bands on weekends. Opening Hours: 10am to 1pm The Barrels Summarecon Mall Serpong (Downtown Walk #DGF-3), Tangerang Phone: +62-21 4586 4959 Instagram: The Barrels 1767 & The Wine Place
I had been to Camden bar in Bandung , but never to their two branches in Jakarta. I corrected this mistake last weekend by visiting both Camden Gandaria and Camden Cikini in one evening. Both bars are very popular, almost any day of the week with a clientele of Indonesians in their early 20s. Cikini's crowd is more upper-class (including a few foreigners - backpackers and interns) while in Gandaria you have mostly young students. Typically, they will buy a beer tower (IDR250,000) and share it at a table with some snacks.
It may seem like an obvious thing to say, but if you are looking for the best Chinese food in Jakarta, you should go to its Chinatown, in Glodok. I had already tried a few weeks ago Hunan Kitchen , and I had promised myself to come back to try some of the other popular Chinese restaurants in that area. Lac Mei Che Huo Kuo is also specializing in Sichuan cuisine, but with a focus on seafood. It was full when I entered, and apparently the customers are mostly Indo-Chinese, from the upper-class. The main room is pretty basic, just some boring tables and decoration. The only thing you will notice is the aquarium, with live fishes, turtles and some weird, huge oysters I had never seen before.
Abuba Steak sounded to me like Abuja Steak, the capital of Nigeria, so I had a strong feeling against this restaurant before visiting it... Fortunately, it was a great surprise and a place I recommend to everyone, excluding vegetarians. The outside doesn't look so great and would need some painting. The inside is similar to that of a warung, basic but clean, with some posters of meat ads. You have about 30 tables, and 1/4th of them were taken when I visited. Many people seemed to complain on internet about the smoke of cigarettes, but in the Abuba I visited, in Wahid Hasyim, no smoke at all since there is a private/closed room for smoking. There is also a small musholla for praying in the back... My only concern was that the AC was not functioning very well, so it was a bit hot for eating. Click on the picture to see the menu
Ampera is the largest chain of Sundanese food restaurants in Indonesia, with so many branches that it would be hard to list them all. I tried the one in Jalan Agus Salim (Sabang), near Sarinah.
Bumbu Desa is a chain of Sundanese food restaurants, popular in Jakarta and in other Indonesian cities. There are quite many branches, at least 27, so I cannot say if the quality is the same everywhere. The one I tried was in Bandung, near Paskal Hypersquare.
I came all the way from Sudirman to Jalan Pangeran Jayakarta, in Glodok, because I was told this street had some of the best Chinese street food stalls and warungs in Jakarta. When I arrived, it was already late but some venues were still crowded. I chose one of them, Chasio Garing Acc, for a simple reason: They had air-conditioning. It turned out their unit was not functioning very well, so I had a chance to sweat a little, and also to get a few mosquito bites. There isn't much to say about the inside as it looks like any typical warung: 4 walls with kitschy ornaments and posters, basic chairs and tables, and uncertain hygiene. I had eaten the best Grilled Duck ever a week earlier in Liyen , and the one in Chasio Garing Acc was quite disappointing. Since it is twice as cheap in the latter, there wasn't much to expect anyway. I also tried the Beef Kwetiaw: The ingredients were not very fresh and the meat low quality. I only had a few bites and couldn't
Ikan Tude Manado is a cheap and basic restaurant in Jalan Blora, between Jalan Sudirman and Plaza Indonesia (Pronounce it "tooday"). The food in Tude is manadonese, my favourite Indonesian food, and it is particularly tasty. Very popular, it is packed with Indonesian office workers every day at lunch... Just like in any Manado restaurants, expect the food to be very spicy! The cost for one meal is between Rp. 35k to Rp. 70k.
Kafé Betawi is a chain of Indonesian food restaurants located in various malls in Jakarta. I tried the one in Plaza Indonesia. Their concept is to sell typical street food dishes in a clean and cozy atmosphere. The prices are low, especially for malls and they are usually popular venues to eat probably for this reason. We had a few dishes in Kafe Betawi:
Kamseng restaurant is the equivalent in North Jakarta of Dim Sum Festival in the South: Opened 24 hours, it is filled with party-goers and clubbers from nearby entertainment venues. My boss once told me about a place near Hayam Wuruk nicknamed the "wh*res' porridge", and now I think he was talking about Kamseng. If you go there late, you'll understand why. After trying a few restaurants in the area, namely Hunan Kitchen and Lac Mei Che , I had high expectations, but what I tried there was nothing more than a busy warung serving cheap, yet average food. Kamseng has a lot of waiters, but it is so busy you could get more attention in a McDonald's during rush hour. If you are looking for a nice, quiet dinner, this is not the place.
Mamink Daeng Tata is a famous Indonesian restaurant, with mostly food from Makassar, Sulawesi. They have branches in Tebet, Permata Hijau and Pasar Minggu. I tried the one located on Jalan K.H. Abdullah Syafii'e, which is quite easy to find: Coming from Jalan Rasuna Said, you need to follow Jalan Casablanca, pass Park Lane Hotel and Harris Tebet, then a fly-over bridge, and if you look carefully on your left, you will see it. Daeng Tata is a very simple place, not fancier than a warung, and it brings a mixed crowd of Indonesians from various social backgrounds. You may see a few expats, but it is rare. During the day, it can get hot since there is no AC (at least in the one I went to), so it's best to come at night, with some mosquito repellent. While most customers come for its Barbeque Ribs, I advise you to try their Coto (Soup) or their Konro (Soup with Boiled Ribs) as well, two specialties from South Sulawesi. The service is very fast, I didn't have to wait more t
Mbah Jingrak is a Sundanese restaurant in Setiabudi, famous for its surrealistic decoration and its extremely spicy "Sambal Iblis" . If you are an expat, this is the kind of place you want to bring your visiting friends and family to impress them. It is an unusual venue, a little hidden, yet with quality food and service. Due to weak resistance to hot food, I could not enjoy most of the dishes and I had to rely on my Indonesian friends for this review. Generally speaking, Mbah Jinggrak seems to serve the kind of food you could find in many higher-end warungs, without anything exceptional except their sambal (spicy sauce). The quality according to them is similar to that of Bumbu Desa or Java Wok . The prices are about 25% higher though (read the menu here ), so you should spend around Rp60,000 per person for a full meal excluding drinks. It is still cheap considering the setting. Everyone at my table intended to come back, and I share the same feelings: I strongly recomme
Melly's Garden is a very popular hangout spot near Jalan Jaksa. If you are a tourist staying in the area, it is a much better choice than most of the bars located in the famous backpacker street. It is quite crowded on most nights, and the waiters may not visit your table before a moment so be patient... They have all kind of cheap snacks and food. You should stick to the local dishes, they taste much better than any of the western ones. There are some foreigners, but the majority of the patrons are young Indonesians. Overall: Recommended for the atmosphere, the open-air and the prices. Better for drinking than for eating. Advice: Bring mosquito repellent! Opening Hours: From 11am until 3AM, everyday Address: Melly's Garden has changed location. It is now Jalan Kebon Sirih Timur Dalam No 37-39 Central Jakarta Phone number: 021 91275753
Trio is one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Jakarta : It was opened in 1947 by Lam Khai Tjioe, Tan Lung and Tan Kim Po. It is still a family business today, managed by Lam Khai Tjioe's son, Effendy Sumartono. I don't know how it looked like back then, but I imagine that it hasn't changed much over time. You have about 10 basic, wooden tables, some information about the menu on the walls, and a small store at the counter. No air-con in Trio, which means that for lunch it feels hot, and for dinner you get bitten by mosquitoes.
Warung Desa is a restaurant chain with two locations in Jakarta. The first branch, the only one I visited, is in Jalan Agus Salim (ex-Sabang) while the second, more recent, is in Tebet. They serve mainly Indonesian food, with some Chinese, Western and Arabian dishes as well. The design is rather modern and the inside is clean, with air-con. It is a big step-up for the usual "Rumah Makan", even though the prices are only slightly higher. The nasi goreng for instance costs only Rp12,000++, and the mie ayam Rp12,000++.
Warung Leko is a chain of Indonesian food restaurants similar with Warung Tekko , previously reviewed on this blog. For me, there is no real difference between the two, but people always say one of them is there favourite, just as they would say Pepsi is better than Coke. They specialize in Iga Bakar and Iga Penyet (Grilled ribs and Smashed ribs with spicy sauce). They have other items on the menu, all the usual Indonesian favourites, but most customers go for the ribs only.
Warung Tekko is an Indonesian chain of restaurant catering mostly to middle class families. You will find them in all the major Indonesian cities, most of the time in malls. It is very similar with another chain of restaurants called Warung Leko (reviewed on this blog). Specializing in Iga Penyet (Fried ribs in spicy jalapeño sauce - Rp28,000), it serves good value dishes from all over Indonesia. The facilities are family friendly, clean and cozy and the food tastes good enough. Overall: I would recommend Warung Tekko for an affordable meal where you get what you pay for. However, they only have local ribs, which are usually not as tasty as those imported from Australia/US.