KW's guide to pubs in Jakarta

[kingwilly]

Here is a much more comprehensive listing... linky

F39 Cafe.

Kemang area
Jalan Fatmawati No. 39 - no website. phone 765 6672



Although its called a cafe, in reality its an open air pool bar made of bamboo. Part of the Jakarat Expat pool league, it can get busy on wednesday nights, but other than that it's usually fairly quiet, probably due to the fact its difficult to find.

Anker, Heinekin, Bintang

decent food, friendly staff, eclectic music mix (bring your own ipod and ask the staff to plug it in!)

no aircon, often quiet and boring

$ - cheap n cheerful

........

Oscars

Blok M
Jalan Faletahan




A two story seedy looking bar at the far end (bus station)of a seedy looking street. Upstairs has a pool table, an eating area and an unwritten rule of no working ladies up stairs, which makes for a pleasant start to an evening with a few mates. Cos downstairs - its generally full of P4P trolls, drunk older sexpats and dodgy cover bands playing loud pop and Bon jovi covers - generally a good time to be had. usually open until 3.00ish

Anker, Heinekin, Bintang, a fair wine list also prices tend to be ok.

decent food, a lot of reviews online say the staff are crap but i've found that. lots of low class fun.

bit seedy, upstairs has crap lounge singer musik and allows drunk idiots the mike

$

.......

Mad Dogs



Cilandak Industrial Estate (off the outer toll road, near Ragunan zoo exit)
ph: 021 789 0071
website. Mad Dogs Group


This is in a bizarre out of the way place for a bar, as in well south of Jakarta proper. However, inside is very much like a proper English style pub, they have a large projector for all real men sports (feeds from Aus, South Africa and the ESPN channel) do sunday roasts and have a reasonable food menu. Staff are ok, but pretty useless.

They have also opened another branch in the Swiss German university near me, but it was completely empty and dead boring when i went there.

Erdinger, Anker, Heinekin, Bintang,

Sunday roast. local and western food, good sized portions.

little bit of a mens club, not much parking (but if you bring your driver, not an issue), no eye candy goes here, strictly BYO

$$

.....

Eastern Promise

Kemang
Jalan Kemang Raya


tel. 7179 0151



English sports-club-style this place has a front bar, complete with darts and pool table. go through a set of doors and you'll find the TV and a dining section and then a dance floor and live music out the back. Quite an expat hang out. I think they do latin dancing in wednesday nights. the place is owned by a friendly dutch man and serves some excellent indian food. a good place to start a weekend.

Anker, Heinekin, Bintang, wine list, guiness out of a bottle

Sunday roast. Indian and western food, good sized portions. plenty of expat girls here in weekends, good live bands & music (ie not the usual indo pop/rock covers) already in kemang so plenty of other bars and dance clubs around

cant think of anything too wrong with it.

$$

.......
Aphrodite
Klub Rasuna, Kuningan
Jalan Rasuna Said



www.aphroditebar.com

Kuningnan

Expat style sportsbar, good food selection. pool tables.

tends to attract a few of the more expensive ladies of the night, but mostly not a pickup place. largely expat crowd it still attracts a fair few Indo's

Also the home of my footy team - the Jakarta bintangs.

$$$

.....

The One Tree

Blok M Jalan Faletahan.

But its in blok M, so nestled inside all these nasty girlie type bars is an attempt to bring a proper english pub into blok m. Wood, wood, wood, plus those naff green half lights and plenty of coloured glass. It has a decent bar, friendly staff, pool table.

Menu has a pizza's, shouma's, soups, burgers, and the usual asian and western options. prices average about 40,000-60,000 rupees which has the local sexpats outraged and predicting its demise as a business I'm disappointed.

Nay, mortified. The reason? After all the build-up and expectations, One Tree is simply too expensive for me to use as a regular Blok M eatery.

erm, thats about $5-$6 or 200 baht - not cheap, but not expensive either!

Anker, Heinekin, Bintang, extensive wine list - most of them visible behind the bar.

Decent attempt to make an English style pub, good menu, doesn't have those naff bands that all the other bars in Blokm do. Not full of hookers and coffin dodgers - actually a place in blokm that you could take your galfriend too.

Location - it is still in Blokm and that will always limit it. (think Penny black in soi cowboy)

$$

.....

D'place

Citos mall, Cipete

This is an aussie style pub inside a food mall. It has a decent menu with good steaks and (for jakarata) an excellent selection of imported beers and wines. A good place to sit and chat. Its quite small and cosy, the have a band that play most nights of the week too!

Anker, Heinekin, Bintang, Strongbow, Guiness, some belgium beers etc etc

beer selection

Location - in a mall means its a place to sit and chat, no pool table,

$$$


***********************
Star Deli
Kemang



They are going for a 1950's american diner theme, couple of pool tables, some live bands most nights doing rock and pop. It's a large pub separated into 3 rooms making the worst of the available space. play live music on weekends.


Anker, Heinekin, Bintang,

- good music, decent sort of crowd. kemang location which means plenty of food/music/disco options nearby

- weird layout, 3 separate rooms can make it feel disjointed

$$

[slimboyfat]

Is Anker the same as Anchor?

[kingwilly]

I recommend the steak, they come in sizes of 150grams, 200grams, 300grams and for the real men 400grams sizes!
I usually choose 200....
last night I decided to get garlic butter rather than my usual pepper or mushroom sauce! So i dont think too many people wanted to get close to me!

[kingwilly]

slimboy - i think so. I may well have used the indo spelling.

[kingwilly]

I forgot to mention one added plus is that since it is hidden behind a business & down a small alley-the place manages to avoid some of the religious idols that forcibly. close places during Ramadan (due to start in 10 days fine!)

[kingwilly]

here's an inside pic of Mad Dogs bar.

[kingwilly]

here's a pic of the outside of eastern promise, i might wander down there tonight for a bit...

[buriramboy]

Last time i was in Jakarta was 2001 and stayed at the Paragon (spelling) Hotel, which was walking distance (10 mins) from the Hard Rock Cafe, a bit of a different experience from Thailand in that the girls will all smile at you but won't approach you, YOU ACTUALY GOT TO MAKE THE FIRST MOVE, but smile say hello, buy a drink and well as they say the rest is.................

But back in the early 90's Jakarta was my introduction to Asia, my father was working there and i came for a holiday, 92 i think, for those of you who know Jakarta his house was in Bintaro, anyway the Tanamour, which i now believe to be closed was my introduction to Asian Night life at the ripe old age of 20, to say i nearly shot my load in my pants on my first visit there would be an understatement (ok i did, but the clean up deserves a thread on its own).

Anyway 4am i'm pissed off to bed, will carry on tomorrow.

[kingwilly]

Bintaro is where I live also.

I wont bother doing a best pubs in Bintaro thread - since offically Tangerang is a dry city! but now we do have 3 or 4 beers options....... but they are all pretty dire....

Tamani Cafe, ( a chain restaurant of Indonesian western style food.
Okz CAfe - Indonesian style bistro that has lives band each night
Muleh - another new cafe/restaurant that has white tiles on the floor and crap indo food
and 69 - a pool hall (of 4 tables) that generally has half a dozen indo teenagers in it, one girl working and only bottled beer and barcadi breezers....

[kingwilly]

I almost forgot, September footy: So I'll be off to Aphro's tonight! Report to follow!

Fellow Bintangs

"During September, everything in the Big Durian seems just a little more heightened. The colours are brighter. Food tastes better. Emotions run high. And that’s because there’s one thing on everyone’s minds – finals footy. It’s in the air. It’s that feeling of anticipation. That feeling of knowing you’re a part of something big." That's what the AFL web page says anyhow and they're calling it Septopia!

Today begins the Big Durian Septopia so start flexing those drinking biceps in preparation for the biggest GF outside of the G.

Friday Night Footy is getting bigger by the week and it should be huge tonight given the game is on at 7:30pm. Come down to Aphros to watch Qualifying Final 2 between Port Adelaide and the 2007 premiership team, the West Cost Eagles.

With a 600,000 and climbing jackpot up for grabs, Pick the Margin will be hotly contested again. In fact i'm going for multiple margins of 9, 19 and 29. Send your margins to me or Doc or tonight at Aphros before the game (honesty system).

Hope you all have big leather couches and a 52" flat screen because the rest of the weekend should also be a ripper:

Friday 7:20pm QF2: Port Adelaide v WCE (go the big birds)
Saturday 12:30pm EF1: Hawthorn v Adelaide
Saturday 5:30pm EF2: Collingwood v Sydney
Sunday 11:30am QF1: Geelong v Kangaroos (go the shin boners)

Saturday 29 September 10:30am GF: WCE v ?

[kingwilly]

Aphrodite
Klub Rasuna, Kuningan
Jalan Rasuna Said



www.aphroditebar.com

why can't i edit the first post any more!? Can that be changed?

[kingwilly]

here's a pic of the outside of eastern promise, i might wander down there tonight for a bit...

wasnt too bad, plenty of well heeled expats, a few indo's but they had this Rockabilly Indo band playing - these guys were going off, but it was a tough crowd!

[kingwilly]

also went into Oscars last night, it was full of coffin dodgers dancing with middle aged whores, band was the usual popcorn sort of stuff....

didnt stay long.

the person in the centre is a guy... he does some pretty ok Stones covers, what is the name of that song "pleased to meet ya, do you know name?"

[Mid]

mp3sugar.com



Sympathy For The Devil

Sympathy forThe Devil

Please allow me to introduce myself,
I’ m a man of wealth and taste.
I’ ve been around for a long,long year
I ’ve stolen many a man’s soul and faith.
I was around when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain.
I made damn sure that Dilate washed his hands and sold his faith.

Please to meet you, hope you guess my name.
But what’s puzzling you, is the nature of my game.

I stuck around St. Petersburg,
When I saw it was the time for a change.
I killed the Tsar and his ministers-
Anastasia screamed in vain.
I rode a tank, held a General’s rank,
When the “Blitzkrieg“ raged and the bodies stank.
Please to meet ............. , oh yeah.
But what’s...................... , oh yeah.

I watched with glee while your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades for the Gods they made.
I shouted out, “ Who killed the Kennedy’s? “
When after all it was you and me.
So let me Please introduce my self,
I’m a man of wealth and taste.
And I lay traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reach Bombay.
2 mal Please to meet you, hope you ............ , oh yeah.
2 mal But what’s................ , is the nature of ma game, oh yeah.

Just as every cop is a criminal,
And all the sinners, saints.
As head is tail, just call me Lucifer’s
‘Cause I’m in needs of some restraint.
So if you meat me, have some courtesy,
Have some sympathy and some tast,
Use all your well learned politesse,
Or I ‘ ll lay your soul to waste, mm year.
Please to........................... , mm yeah,
But ................................... , mm easy.

[kingwilly]

^ thats it, mental blank.

[kingwilly]

here's a fairly comprehensive magazine list,
Jakarta Restaurant Jakarta - Spa Jakarta, Bars Clubs Jakarta and Hotels Jakarta Java - Bars in Jakarta

but it's not exhaustive, and you need to read between the lines a little from their descriptions....

My Bar
Good pub grub and lively, mostly expat clientele. Cheap and more popular with men than with women (see the My Bar calender competition).
Jl Falatehan 1 no16, Blok M. Tel. 739 6510. $

[Marmite the Dog]

why can't i edit the first post any more!?

Strange that, because I can.

Have you PM'd DD?

[kingwilly]

^ not yet was gonna PM u as top janitor

[MeMock]

janitor?

hehe.

[kingwilly]

more updates as we speak....

[kingwilly]

this is the outside of one tree bar....

[Jet Gorgon]

Good selection. The One Tree above looks a bit pricey, so you can take me there.

[kingwilly]

^ well it is 'slightly' pricey, relative to the other dives around it. but has a nice atmosphere, where you can talk to people with music in the background!

we played pool there Tuesday night - our team ended up drawing 6 vs 6

tell ya wot Jettie, you make it to Jakarata, I guarantee that i will take you there and buy u dinner! or just a drink if thats your preference!

[Marmite the Dog]

not yet was gonna PM u as top janitor

And as Top Janitor, I'm still only allowed to sweep up after you lot. I'll need a promotion before I'm allowed to play with any buttons.

[Jet Gorgon]

^^ sweet talker. black leather, lace and pearls, ok? mebbe we can buy the janitor a coke or something.