Paulaner Brauhaus German Restaurant
By
Tibs
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Ya Udah Bistro and Die Stube have a new competitor. Paulaner Brauhaus is the most upmarket German restaurant and Brasserie in Jakarta and it is part of the luxury Kempinski hotel. It is in a central location within the Grand Indonesia mall, just next to Social House. It is almost always busy, any day for both lunch and dinner. The crowd is a mix of expats, business travelers and Indo-Chinese customers who seem to enjoy the non-halal pork specialties. They serve a complete menu that includes any kind of sausages you can think of. One of their most popular dishes is actually a huge sausage platter that costs Rp140,000.
Artoz is a whisky bar/lounge located in the Energy Building in SCBD. It replaced Marley's Bar which closed down a while ago. It claims to be the largest collection of Whisky and Cognac in Jakarta, but I am not sure it is true as I believe there is quite an extensive spirit menu in Nip & Dram as well. I visited Artoz during Ramadan, probably not the best time to do so and unsurprisingly it was empty. Artoz is similar with Nip and Dram actually, both in terms of concept, size and setting: You have comfortable leather sofas and chairs spread across a windowless room, with a bar on on side and a live music stage on the other one. The main difference I saw is that Artoz is not as dark and it seems they don't have those crazy minimum spend amounts. The prices are pretty steep still, about USD15 for a standard cocktail. You are also given the menu of the French Restaurant Amuz , which belong to the same person (Chef Gilles Marx, also behind Auroz).
Double Doors is a live music pub located opposite of Puri Indah Mall in West Jakarta. There are not many other expat bars in the area so it attracts a small (but growing) community of foreigners. I visited on a weekday at 6pm and the place was reasonably busy with a mixed crowd of young expats and Indonesians. There were some girls too, seemingly office workers. The bar is part of the same group behind Eastern Promise , De Burse and De Hooi . The operate all their venues with a similar concept: Affordable pub food, regular events, friendly and outgoing waitresses, live music, and sports. They are not inside malls and they have a rustic charm that matches the traits of their Dutch owner Bartele Santema. The place is built on 3 floors: The ground floor is the bar area, the second floor the live music room, and the last one is dedicated to sports (or it can be booked for private events). Overall : I recommend you to visit Double Doors if you are looking for a place to social
Beer Brother Bar + Kitchen is located in Taman Kemang, a residential area of Kemang which has seen a recent surge in bars and restaurants. This new nightlife area comprises Umbra, Cowboy Bar, Parc 19, and the Colony Building. Beer Brother opened about a year ago and it has managed to become successful rapidly. It is quite similar with other joints such as Bremer or Beer Garden , but there are a few notable differences: The design and marketing of the bar is more sophisticated and original, the music louder, and the choice of food and drinks really extensive (the menu must have 25 pages). The prices are not that cheap though except for basic beer. I was there just before a Champion's League quarterfinal, on a Tuesday, and it was full with a crowd ranging from young expats to hip Indonesians and high school kids. Most people come with a big group.
After Beer Garden Kemang and Beer Garden SCBD, Beer Garden Menteng is now open, right in front of the Oria Hotel, not too far from Ocha & Bella . Same concept, same furniture, even the same Rooftop Bar like in SCBD. Those places really look alike. The place opened in October 2013 but has already a good basis of customers who already went to the other Beer Gardens. Since the place is all open, you would definitely get hot and sweaty, thus drink more beer to refresh yourself ! You get the concept ? Live bands, affordable prices and good choice of imported beers.
Hard Rock Café used to be in Ex, near Plaza Indonesia but they moved to Pacific Place Mall in December 2013. Very nice Rock decor, truly American. I am not a huge fan of this worldwide franchiseI hace to admit but in Jakarta it has a particular taste. The music and the cocktails are good, the food is very pricey: 180K for a CheeseBurger. I tasted it and it was very average and there was no pickles... I went there a couple of times and it was very busy, especially during lunch time. With Paul Bakery and Patisserie , Odysseia and now Hard Rock Café, Pacific Place Mall have some nice outdoors Restaurants and Bars.
Molly Malone’s Irish Pub opened in August 2012 on the ground floor of Plaza Arcadia Senayan. It is one of two authentic Irish bars in Jakarta, the other one being Murphy's in Kemang (same owners actually). Molly’s is divided into two separate sections, a traditional Irish pub and a live music venue Overall: With its location one floor below the infamous Red Square, it is ideal to kick start your weekend. There also have three comfortable VIP booths available to rent if you want a semi private area to enjoy the live music and soak up the party atmosphere.
Established in Indonesia since 1979, Amigos is a popular family restaurant , the first with Mexican food in Jakarta (now there is also Hacienda ). It has two main targets, American expats who miss their tacos, and Indonesian middle class families eager to discover another continent's cuisine. Actually, we are seeing a lot more of these lately as expats are being spoiled with much better places to eat... The food is junk food, but the atmosphere is friendly. If you want to eat quietly, don't go in the evening because they have live music which can be quite loud. Happy hour from 4pm to 7pm (50% off soft drinks, juices and beer). There are two branches: Amigos Kemang (It is the one with the best reputation) Jl. Kemang Selatan I