Monty's Restaurant and Whisky Bar (Senopati)
By
Tibs
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Monty's is one of the hippest and most exclusive venues in Jakarta at the moment. The day I visited, you had 1 Ferrari, 1 Lamborghini, 2 Porsches, 2 Jaguars and several nice sports cars parked just in front. That should give you an idea of the crowd. It was opened by Klabo , the same group behind Nip & Dram and Ivy Kitchen. From what I've heard, the owner of Blue Bird Taxis is one of the shareholders. The Restaurant On the first two floors is a restaurant serving classic European food. They have all the priciest ingredients that you can possibly import in Indonesia such as caviar, lobster, truffle, charcuterie, cheese or wagyu beef. There also serve several organic and healthy dishes. The kitchen is headed by a Norwegian expat who previously worked in Grand Hyatt as an executive sous-chef. The price is rather expensive: On average for a 2-course meal you'll spend at least Rp500,000 (without alcohol). You can try it for lunch as they have a
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).
In Pacific Place Mall, on the fourth floor, you have the possibility to enjoy a nice coffee at Liberica. That's what I did last time I went there. This place really looks like Starbucks but in a more elaborated way: Modern decor, cozy area, coffee to order at the counter, american pastries... This small coffee chain is Indonesian and currently has 5 outlets (Pacific Place, Kemang, Gandaria City, Central Park and Cilandak Town square). The name Liberica is taken from a rare coffee bean variant of Liberica beans. The main difference with Starbucks is that you can buy Beers and Wine. This is a weird concept when you think about it, Coffee and Wine ! Liberica Coffee in Pacific Place Pastries & Beverages Barista area
Bacco is Wine Lounge and also a Restaurant located in Lotte Shopping Avenue Mall in Kuningan. It's the same type of wine venue as Cork & Screw or Vin + . I wanted to try this place for a long time because I didn't find a Wine lounge in Jakarta where the restaurant is worth it. Well Bacco is worth it in my book ! The decoration is full of wood, which makes it a warm atmosphere. The big leather couches at the entrance are also very comfortable and makes it a cozy place. When you get into the restaurant, from the mall, you can see the bottles of wine nicely display which makes it part of the decor. The prices of the bottles of wine, like any other Wine Lounge in Jakarta, are very expensive. Wine is a very luxury product here and you cannot find it for cheap ! I recommend the food here, it is subtle, tasty, and nicely put together. I had a sirloin and it was really good. The Lemon cheescake is also totally worth it.
Altitude is a group of 3 restaurants located on the 46th floor of the Plaza tower, one of the most expensive office buildings in Jakarta (also home the the Keraton hotel). 46th floor, yes: Great view of course, but make sure to book in advance and ask for a table near the window (if possible in the angle of the building). Luckily for my wallet, I only tried one of the three restaurants, Gaia, the Italian. The food was good, but not spectacular for the price: 550k for one appetizer and one main course. The quality of the service and the attention that we got, not only from the waiters but also from the managers, including 3 foreigners, may have been what we are really paying in the restaurant. One thing felt very wrong: The music was clubbing style and they only had one CD. So we had Gangnam Style and Party Rock Anthem twice each in one evening. That's twice too much. In Altitude, there is also an Australian Steak House (Salt Grill) and a Japanese (Enmaru) that I haven
Cork & Screw is one of the most popular lounges and restaurants in Jakarta. There are currently two locations in the city, one in Wisma Kodel, and a smaller one in Plaza Indonesia. Though their food is very average for the price, they are trendy places to have a drink, in particular wines. They have a large collection of bottles coming from Vin+ shops, most of them around Rp300k/400k. That's about twice as expensive as in Europe but unfortunately, this is the norm in Jakarta. Overall, I do not recommend Cork & Screw for eating, but you can share a bottle of wine with a few friends. It is quite busy so you may also want to book your table.
Rosso is the fine dining Italian restaurant of the 5-star Shangri La . In the same hotel you may also find Satoo , a top-notch all-day buffet restaurant, and B.A.T.S , a popular expat bar. I visited on a Monday night and it was almost full, with mostly expatriates and business travelers. Consequently, though the waiters were very efficient, they were not always immediately available and it gave me the impressions they were understaffed. The design of Rosso is chic and modern, with a high, painted ceiling. The sitting is comfortable, on sofas or in a booth, and the tables are distant enough to allow for private conversation. There is also a cozy lounge in Rosso's smaller room. I didn't try the wine, but there seems to be quite a large selection on the menu.
Vino Embassy is a wine lounge in Kemang, by the Amor Group which also owns the Amor Club . A second lounge has recently opened in Dharmawangsa Square, following the success of this one. Vino Embassy surfed on the wine trend a few years ago, providing amateurs with a design lounge and store. They rely on a quite big collection of over 1,000 bottles, among which a few collectibles. The place is peaceful, with low chillout music during the day, but the music gets housy later in the evening. It's not my favourite wine lounge in Jakarta because I don't really like the setting which is too impersonal and cold. It is a good place for shopping though. Moreover, I'm still not used to the concept of drinking wine without eating and Vino Embassy doesn't have anything very tasty in its restaurant. I would not buy an expensive wine and have it with onion rolls.
Vin + is a wine lounge located just below Red Square and Black Cat, in Senayan Arcadia. (the original branch is in Kemang). Though French, I'm not a great wine connoisseur, but what I could tell is that the wine was pretty expensive, 100,000rp for the cheapest glass of white wine, which I found outrageous since I can get Champagne for that price back home. Great place for talking though since the music is at the minimum, and the sitting is quite comfortable, making Vin+ a recommended place to go before or after clubbing. They also have a spanish restaurants, pricey as well.