For the last nine years Petty Elliot has been living a secret life. She’s ducked in and out of Jakarta’s Restaurant taking mental notes and snapping mental photos of some of the city’s best—and worst—dishes. But is the life of a food critic as exciting as it sounds? “Exciting? Yes,” admits Petty, who has been [...]

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Cali Deli is a Vietnamese chain of deli-restaurants that gained its inspiration from a restaurant in California and established itself in Jakarta 7 years ago. Although Pho would come to mind for most people when discussing Vietnamese food, Cali Deli specialises in Vietnamese sandwiches with an Indonesian twist (they do of course offer broth soups [...]

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Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea and the name of a restaurant chain operating outside of the fatherland. I had no idea what to expect from a restaurant run by the infamous North Koreans complete with North Korean staff.  I’ve always wondered why there were North Korean embassies and Ambassadors when emigration is forbidden [...]

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Gluttony is my favourite sin. Indulging in a calorific piece of kobe beef, an extra helping of bacon on your pancakes dripping with maple syrup or the bliss of losing yourself in a moist cake that could make a nun blush are pleasures I will afford to take should judgement day come. By no means [...]

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Ubiquitous, cheap, filling, and, most importantly, delicious. Street food and Indonesia are often seen as one and the same. They are outside the shopping malls of Jakarta, providing a cheap alternative to western-priced fare inside for mall staff, tucked into alleys in Denpasar, in specially designated areas in Solo, always within a few minutes walk [...]

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Jakartans who take their love of food seriously, rarely settle for a meal in a mall. Restaurants located in malls offer convenience, but nothing more. The service is horrible, and the food is bland at best. But ask anyone in the know to rattle off their top five restaurants in Jakarta and odds are none [...]

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If you’re yearning for a festive feast with all the trimmings but you lack the inclination to cook at home, then simply head to one of Jakarta’s big hotels offering Christmas Eve dinners and Christmas Day brunches. Prices range from Rp.175,000 to Rp.988,000 per person, usually not including the “plus-plus”, which is generally 21% and [...]

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What are the things you look for when choosing a venue for a dinner date? Good food, possibly to share for a bit more intimacy. Candlelight seems to make anyone look sexy, great mood lighting for a date. Maybe a bar or lounge nearby so you can continue your evening. If it’s a first date [...]

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On Jalan Kemang Timur Raya you can find an array of galleries and home decor shops; Kemang has an abundance of shops that live to fancy up homes. Some of these businesses have cleverly tempted patrons to stay longer with sweet and savoury treats. Lio Gallery Bistro, Bar and Lounge has done just that. Restaurants [...]

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Commune first opened its doors in Singapore before making its way down to Jakarta. Commune started as a furniture business before expanding into the culinary world. Chris Zikif and Julian Koh personally design all furniture and accessories sold in the Commune showroom here on Jalan Suryo. They seized the opportunity to fulfil one of their [...]

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“Order in! One Ceasar Salad, one onion soup. Followed by one Salmon, pink, one Angus Tenderloin, medium rare, truffle mash.” There has always been some form of excitement hearing the busy bustling sounds of the Chef calling out the orders, with their crew hustling after every order. Being able to hear your order being called [...]

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Every weekend thousands of people from Jakarta travel to Bandung to visit the many factory outlets and dine out at hotels, resorts and open air restaurants. Hoping to escape the traffic jams of Jakarta, many are disappointed to find that Bandung suffers a similar fate at the weekend, with thousands of B plated cars clogging [...]

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What little French cuisine we have in Jakarta is generally trop cher and requires you to dress to impress, which is where the concept for Coquelicot was born. Non-pretentious, very homely and even borderline kitsch describe this place tucked away in Cipete. The name itself refers to a red poppy that graces the French countryside [...]

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