Loewy (Jakarta, Mega Kuningan)
By
The Jakarta Team
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Note: I wrote this review 10 years ago but it is still up-to-date! Everybody was telling me about a place called "Louis" in Mega Kuningan, but I couldn't find where it was or what it was. It took me two months to realize that people were actually talking about Loewy, that you should pronounce like Loui (English speakers) or Louis (French speakers). Loewy is a retro-chic French bistro, with a cosmopolitan vibe: Half the customers are foreigners, and the other half Indonesians, usually between 30 and 45 years-old. Most of them are from the upper-class. It is owned by some of the folks behind Potato Head , from which they took the idea to partially open the restaurant to the air. This is quite bold for Jakarta, and you may feel hot inside when it is packed. Since it opened in 2008, Loewy has always been a happening venue, anytime of the day. People go there for lunch, for brunches, for an after-work drink, and finally to party. They have decent European food (i
To my knowledge, Turkuaz is only the second Turkish restaurant to open in Jakarta. Sesai Zorlu, its owner and chef, worked in the first one, Anatolia, for 10 years. From what I've heard, since he left, the quality of the food in the latter has been deteriorating and it is no longer the great restaurant it used to be. If anyone can confirm it would be appreciated... Turkuaz is quite small, with only about 30 seats available. There are plans to expand by the end of the year, with two private rooms and a lounge upstairs to smoke shisha. When we visited, on a Saturday night, it was full and we had to wait for 10 minutes to get a table.
H&S Swillhouse is a hip-hop and R&B club that replaces Hide and Seek , in Fairgrounds SCBD. In the same complex, you also have popular venues such as Fable , Lucy in The Sky and The Pallas . I visited on a Friday night around 1AM. I was warned at the entrance that all the tables were occupied and that I could only stand at the bar. I was fine with it so I went inside, free of charge. The design is as minimalist as it can be. It is basically just a mid-size rectangular room with concrete walls and floors, neon lighting and sofas on the side. Positioned at the entrance, the bar is quite large and it wasn't too crowded. On the contrary, the narrow dance floor was packed all the way from the bar area up to the DJ booth. It was almost impossible to move, let alone dance. Something particularly annoying was that there is only one toilet at the back which is quite difficult to reach. While the music in Hide and Seek was often electronic/techno, the Swillhouse is f
Savoi Lounge is a new boutique nightclub in Senopati, just in front of Monty's , in the building where Ms Choo used to be located. It is owned by the same people behind Empirica in SCBD (Enzo Group). I visited it on Saturday 29th April 2017 at 1 AM. It occupies 3 floors: - The first one is a private room that I wasn't able to see. - The second one is the largest. It has a DJ booth, a stage, a bar, and small tables filling as much space as possible. There is no dance floor and most people are sitting down with a group of friends. It is so packed that you can easily socialize and network with those around you. That's the whole point with a place like this. - The third one is a mezzanine from where you can look at the main stage. It is a bit more quiet and relaxed, and the bar is larger. The music is commercial EDM, Hip Hop and Top 40 at a bearable sound level. They also have live music on most days (see their Instagram ).
The Union Group (behind Union, Loewy, Cork&Screw, Benedict, Casa, E&O, The Dutch, Canteen, etc...) opened Caffè Milano almost 2 years ago. Following its success, they are opening a sister restaurant called Bistecca. This new venue is still under project and it will open in August 2016. It will be located next to The Dutch restaurant, one of the trendy spots in Jakarta nowadays. As the name suggests, the food will be mostly steaks and grilled meat, Italian-style. They will also sell fine Italian wines. The Head Chef is still Luca Pezzera. I will add information about prices, menu, opening hours, etc. when I receive them. Please comment if you know something! Update August 2016 : Bistecca is already open. Full menu available here: Drinks and Cocktails Menu Bistecca and Food Menu Bistecca .
Prohibition is a restaurant, bar and speakeasy lounge located in Senayan Arcadia, just next to Plaza Senayan. It was opened by some of of the people behind Black Cat , Hacienda, Red Square and Boutique KTV. As the name suggests, the whole venue has a 1920s' prohibition theme from the interior design to the staff uniforms and the menu. The Restaurant: Chicago-Style Chop House Prohibition specializes in broiled meats, a cooking method similar to grilling. These include chicken, salmon, pork, mamb, and imported US beef. The prices range from just over Rp100,000 to Rp400,000 for the 200-g prime rib-eye steak. If you come with a small group, it's a good idea to share their 600-g "gangster" meat platter for just over Rp1M. Gangster Meat Platter If you are on a budget, they also serve a variety of pasta dishes for less than Rp100,000. You can see the full menu here: Menu Prohibition Jakarta . The Bar and the Secret Speakeasy Lounge I visited P
Cloud is a rooftop bar/lounge/club located on the 49th floor of the Plaza Tower, just 3 floors above Altitude which is part of the same group. For many years, Jakarta was missing a real rooftop bar. Some clubs, restaurants and lounges were located on higher floors but never opened on the outside (for instance Vertigo, Pure, Kampus). SHY in Kemang was one of the first rooftop lounges but the Papillion building where it is located did not offer a very impressive view. Being located on top of one of the tallest towers in the city, SKYE was the first real rooftop bar in Jakarta, with an immediate success. It probably encouraged others to copy it and I am sure that we will see even more of them in the future.
Basque is one of the most happening new restaurants/bars to open so far this year in Jakarta. It is a Spanish restaurant / Tapas bar with a great design, good food and a trendy feel. Currently, I see that more and more expats are hanging out there instead of Loewy. It is a good pick-up place for girls also. The location on the 8th floor of Noble House offers a nice view on the surrounding buildings of Mega Kuningan. The food is not so expensive, you can get a decent meal for less than Rp200,000. It is open every day for lunch and dinner. After 11pm, they generally turn up the volume and it turns into a bar. The music is a mix of popular songs from the past 20 years. Basque Bar de Tapas - Spanish Restaurant 8th Floor, Noble House Building, Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta 12950 Phone number: +62 (0) 21 2978 3111-12 Website: http://basquejkt.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BasqueJakarta Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basquejkt/
Lola is a new bar and lounge that just opened in December 2015 near Senopati, on Jalan Gunawarman. It is a bit hidden, below their sister Japanese restaurant FŪJIN. It is owned by the Biko Group which is also behind Beer Garden . They are following the worldwide trend for speakeasy bars, started in Jakarta by venues like Prohibition, Artoz , Bauhaus and Nip & Dram . Since last year, you also have Hemingway and Proof.
The Dutch restaurant is a new gastropub set to open early 2016 in the SCBD area. Owned by the Union Group, it will be headed by Chef Chris Moes, a Dutchman who previously worked for Casa in Kemang and Canteen. The restaurant will follow a smokehouse concept: Cold cuts, cured meats, smoked meats and sausages will be prepared in-house. You will also have comfort food and some BBQ specialities. There is a big chance that it will become a popular hangout place even if the taste of the food is not good. Please leave a comment below if you've tried it. I'll make a full review a few months after the opening.
Hause is a small bar and restaurant located on the rooftop of MD Place in Setiabudi. You have a long selection of cocktails, Western and Indonesian food, live music on selected nights, and a hipster vibe. 90% of the crowd is made of twenty-something Indonesians, among which a lot of pretty girls. The building is only 6 floors high so you don't expect a fantastic view. There are plants and flowers everywhere and it's what I liked the most about Hause. It truly feels like an oasis in the city (especially in that area of Jakarta where you don't have any green spaces). A similar venue is Lucy in the Skye in SCBD.
Update 2 January 2017: There was a fire in Paragon Hotel and it is closed at the moment. The Grand Paragon is a complex located in Jalan Gadjah Mada. It is mostly famous for having one of Jakarta's most popular luxury karaokes with package prices ranging from IDR500,000 to IDR1,000,000 per hour.
Following the opening of Central retail store and Uniqlo in Grand Indonesia, there has been a few new restaurants opening in this part of the mall. The two most popular are Publik Markette and Caffè Milano. I tried both of them for a quick double lunch on a weekday. In that same area, you also have Union Deli, Benedict and Nomz that I did not visit. Publik Markette was opened by Ismaya ( SKYE , Kitchenette , Pizza e Birra , Fook Yew, etc) and Caffé Milano is owned by the same people behind Union (some of which are also shareholders in Loewy , E&O and Cork & Screw ). The Union group's venues, concept and design, are more geared towards Westerners while Ismaya's concepts are very popular among local Indonesians and less among expats (except for a few venues such as Dragonfly ). Ismaya is usually more playful, more creative and innovative, while Union stays more classic and chic. Caffè Milano:
Wilshire is a new restaurant located in one of the hippest nightlife areas in Jakarta, in the Foundry 8 (SCBD). It is just next to Canos , Blue Monkey and Empirica . All nearby restaurants have a very similar design and they are hard to differentiate. As the Foundry 8 is only a temporary location (it should be destroyed in a few years), I imagine that each venue only wants to invest the minimum to look good enough. Wilshire is simply designed if we compared it with Loewy , Union or E&O , but it is elegant and comfortable. The main original feature is the copper sticks display hanging from the ceiling, a great and inexpensive idea to decorate the room!