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 ).
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/
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.
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:
TWG (The Wellness Group) is a distributor of quality teas founded in 2008. On their logo, which is a copy of the one of Mariage Frères, it is mentioned the date 1837 but it is obviously a deception. They also have some words written in French such as "Mélanges Exquis" or "Grand Crus Prestige", probably aimed at making consumers believe it is a French brand. But TWG is from Singapore and there is no shame in that. Part of their marketing strategies is the creation of high-end boutiques / restaurants / tea salon. There are already over 40 branches around the World, especially in Asia (only 1 in Europe and a few in US). The ideas is to position TWG as a luxury company by opening in premium locations, with a chic design and fine dining service. I had TWG Teas on several occasions and they were good for a non-expert like me. It seems to me that tea is a basic product, a commodity and I don't think there are "Grand Crus" like there are with
Sana Sini (Here and There in Indonesian) is the new Restaurant of the Pullman Jakarta Indonesia. This Hotel, strategically located on Jl Thamrin near Bunderan HI and Plaza Indonesia has been under huge renovation in order to compete with the new 4-star and 5-star Hotels in the City (like The Hermitage or Double Tree Hilton to name a few). The Sana Sini is the main Restaurant of the Hotel and it is located on the first floor close to the reception and the Makaron Bakery. The first impression is that the place is very wide: You have the impression of being in a fancy department store ! You can walk through the different corners, each of them representing a different type of cuisine. You have Indonesian food at the back, a Chinese corner, a Japanese corner and Western food. You also have a very good selection of breads and cheeses. It is headed by a French Chef.
Le Quartier ("The Neighbourhood" in French, pronounced like the jewelry brand "Cartier") is a new French Restaurant, opened in 2013 in Kebayoran Baru, near Senopati. I liked the building facade of the Restaurant as well as the interior design. The decoration is well done and it really gives the feeling you are in a French bistro, with also a few modern touches. The overall impression is that it is an elegant and luxurious place, especially with their beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
Eric Kayser Indonesia is now opened in Plaza Senayan. Just like Paul Bakery and Patisserie , it is an international French Bakery chain, very famous in France and in some big international cities (New York City, Tokyo, Singapore). Now that Eric Kayser is in Jakarta, I can compare those 2, in order to know which one is the Best Bakery in Jakarta (and where to find the best baguette!).