D'Marco Café (Martabak)
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Jakarta100bars
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D'Marco Café is located on Jalan Sabang, 5 minutes walking from the backpacker street Jalan Jaksa . It is a simple place to hangout, with minimalist design and cheap prices. Opened on May 2012, it is becoming a popular hangout spot as the three owners are quite active to promote their restaurant and to organize events. The concept of specializing in Martabak , the Indonesian streetfood favourite (a sort of thick pancake) is also helping. It's a little more expensive than eating it in the street, but still very reasonable as the prices range from Rp10,000 to Rp26,000.
Self-proclaimed "the best value steak in Jakarta", Ali Baba is indeed a cheap, but clean restaurant. At the time of my visit, the prices were Rp38,000 for a New-Zealand tenderloin, and Rp75,000 for Australian tenderloin. It should be noted that the NZ steak tasted pretty much the same as a local one. If you want to eat something decent for western standards, you have to choose the Australian beef. Ali Baba is all new, with some vintage decoration. It doesn't look high class, but it is far better than competitor Abuba Steak in terms of design. Regarding taste, if you choose the imported meat, I think it also tastes similar. But for those who know it, I would rate Suis Butcher in Bandung a bit higher.
Absolute is one of the only bar in Jaksa with air-con. Lots of English teachers and journalists, and also some girls from Jaksa. Free pool table, darts, cheap beer, Premier League Soccer games on screen and always quite crowded by the same group of people. Nice.
Bar of the african community, especially Nigerians, in Jakarta but some bule go there also. It is quite cheap, like most places in Jalan Jaksa. Address: Ali's Bar Jl. Jaksa No. 25
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.
Last Saturday, despite it being Hallowe'en, Jaksa mid-evening was quieter than usual, so we repaired round the corner, to a place called Baku Dapa, which means ‘handshake’ in the Manado language. Manado is up on Sulawesi island, and I’ve not been there, but the bar was fine, excellent live music, old songs from the 50s, 60s and 70s, both local and Western, and beer at Rp.36.00 a bottle. It runs till 3am, and when we moved on at 1 o'clock, people were still arriving, mostly respectable Indonesians, but a few Arabs, though I was the only Western patron. It didn't seem to be a pick-up bar, though waitresses/hostesses will happily sit and dance with customers - once you've got to know them, it is no doubt up to you and your hostess if the friendship deepens!
Bakudapa Café & Resto is a live music spot featuring local artists playing old Indonesian favourites.. After you enter the door, the mamasan (indonesian pimp) will sit you with one of the girl hostesses, to whom you are invited to pay a drink and do some chit-chat. Very empty, and very sad music so it makes the whole experience very depressing... The only patrons are indonesian men in their forties... Worth to grab a beer if you don't know this kind of place. It is very close from the backpacker street Jalan Jaksa, less than 5 minutes by foot.
Cafe popular with both expats and Indonesians. On Saturday nights, good live band, rock or reggae. It was used as a setting during the shooting of the sinetron Jalan Jaksa. It's quite cheap and basic, and you can eat something there too. Contact details: Betawi Café Jalan Jaksa No. 18a Open until 2am approximately.
Cocktail and Friends is a popular place on Jalan Jaksa for the student crowd mostly, with always some expats/backpackers. Not bad and probably the best and cheapest venue to drink spirits in that street.. Quiz nights on sundays (at least the sunday I was there!).. For those familiar with Jalan Jaksa, Cocktail and Friends replaces BFC. Operating hours: Everyday from 3pm to 4am.
It's not very good... same as Sing Sing So... Thanks to one of our most precious team member, we have a hilarious video of the girls there wearing boyscout uniforms and dancing sexy dangdut! Click here to watch!
A must-try!! The nightlife in Jakarta is not only about glamour places or girlie bars. Dyna's Pub is a very, very kitschy but so authentic, near Jalan Jaksa. The deco is made of postcards from old Batavia, posters of naked women, wayang puppets, plastic flowers... The owner (which we're still trying to decide whether she's a girl or boy) will welcome you will a big smile and popcorns. It's a strange but great addition to Jakarta's nightlife. For music: Ask whatever you like. Dyna Pub Jakarta Jl. Wahid Hasyim no 116 We made a post about it on our french blog ( click here ) about our favourite night spots for party in Jakarta.
Very popular with Indonesians in their 40s, they have live music (old indonesian favourites and dangdut).
Small café in Jalan Jaksa with good live music, usually rock, indie or reggae. They have little information about events on their facebook fanpage: Equal Park Jaksa . Equal Park Bar Istana Ratu Hotel Jalan Jaksa No7a Kebon Sirih, Jakarta Phone: +62-21 391 8547 Open everyday from 6pm to around 3pm (later on weekends)
The most popular bar in Jalan Jaksa. It has a live music band almost every night, playing a mix of favorite indonesian pop song and classic Top 40. The drinks, especially beer is really cheap, around Rp. 18,000/bottle, so you will meet many backpackers, english teachers and mid-class indonesians. Lots of gays and “professional girlfriends”, hoping to meet a boyfriend among the travellers.
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
Ocha & Bella is a restaurant in Morrissey Hotel (ex-Citadines) which opened in March 2011. I didn't try the food there yet, only the cocktails, so I will keep this blog review short. For me, Ocha & Bella is one of the most charming modern-design restaurant in Jakarta. Its designer, Willis Kusuma, is also behind Social House and Pesto , but it reminds me even more of Maja House in Bandung. Ocha & Bella has a different vibe whether you sit near the bar, in the open-air garden, or in the main dining room. For this reason, I think it is suitable for any occasions: Dates, late drinks with colleagues, hang-out, or even solo.
I don't know why I forgot to review Pappa Café, because even though it's far from being the best bar in town, i think it is a memorable bar in Jakarta. It competes with Memories Café as one of the most famous bars in Jalan Jaksa, and Im sure 95% of backpackers in Jakarta already ate or enjoyed their first Bintang there. Pappa Cafe is probably almost alway open, and almost always a little empty. It depends. Usually, it is better to go there very late, at 3am or around, because you encounter weird specimen. Drunks backpackers flirting with ladyboys, a Papu trying to sell you shabu-shabu, a preman (mafia-like street owner) coming to shake your hand and proposing you to sleep with his cousin girl, etc... Many great crazy nights there for me!
Being an observant soul, I noticed an intriguing ad outside the Akmani, promising 'all the beer you can drink' for Rp 130,000 between 7pm and 10pm on a daily basis, so in we went last Thursday. It's located on what they call the Podium level of the first floor, which is basically one floor up from ground. The place is very dark, but clean and paradoxically bright, - after all, bianca does mean white - and its furnishing and decor is extremely modernist.
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++.
Ya Udah bistro used to be one of the only reasons (the other one being girls) some of Jakarta's finest expats ever set foot in Jalan Jaksa. Indeed, the food there was really something worth spending a few hours in a cab... The place closed for a while and reopened in a new location, only a few hundred meters from where the previous place was, on Jalan Johar. (that is: when you are at the end of Jaksa, instead of turning right to Sarinah, in Jalan Wahid Hasyim, turn on the left and you will see YaUdah, all in yellow). Yaudah bistro is mostly german food with some indonesian specialties (nasi goreng, noodles, etc). Expect big portions, even for the starters. It is not that cheap, about 80,000rp for a good meal with drinks, but it is well worth it, and maybe one of the best value for money in town. Open every day from 8am to 12pm (2am on friday and saturday)