A beach-style oasis of food, fun in the heart of the CBD

A beach-style oasis of food, fun in the heart of the CBD

A few years back, one of Jakarta's most popular places for a
pleasant dinner and a spot of hanging out was Kafe Tenda
Semanggi, a complex of two-story, wooden framed, Balinese style
restaurants located in the Central Business District no man's
land between Jl. Sudirman, Rasuna Said and Gatot Subroto, just
off the Semanggi intersection.

The place was packed every Saturday night and there were
hundreds of restaurants and boutiques to choose from as well as
regular live music and entertainment. Many of the restaurants at
the Kafe Tenda were apparently owned by Indonesian celebrities
and the complex had the feel of an inner-city park; a supine,
coastal kampung-style oasis surrounded by skyscrapers.

Unfortunately, the powers that be did not take the opportunity
to turn Kafe Tenda into a permanent attraction. The land on which
it stood, Jakarta's exact geographic center, is no doubt worth
squillions of dollars per square meter and those wooden
restaurant shacks were all too easily shoveled up by bulldozers.
Inevitably, Kafe Tenda Semanggi was demolished and in its place
we can now sample the dubious delights of the Auto Mall and
Electronic City.

Alas, cold capitalist consumerism triumphed. But wait ... Kafe
Tenda still exists, albeit in a smaller form. The spirit of the
original restaurant complex has been kept alive in what is now
known as Kafe Taman Semanggi. Barrel around the mini ring road
that encircles the Auto Mall and Electronic City until you see
the golf driving range on your left (aren't driving ranges weird?
The golfing equivalent of masturbation, I guess). Directly
opposite the driving range is the entrance to Kafe Taman Semanggi
or KTS as the inevitable acronym goes.

KTS is a much smaller operation than the original Kafe Tenda.
There are 15 or so restaurants here compared with the multitudes
that used to ply their trade in the original park. However, Kafe
Taman remains true in essence to the original Kafe Tenda. The
restaurants are all two-story, wooden shacks that surround a
central courtyard area. KTS is softly lit by strings of fairy
lights and there is plenty of seating outside the front of the
restaurants from which the casual diner can take in the ambience
of the whole square. Along the path from the car park to the
restaurants there are also a few boutiques and clothing shops to
check out. All in all, it is an infinitely preferable dining
experience to the classic mall food court and I would even take
it over more custom-built restaurants and cafe plazas such as
those in Cilandak Town Square.

So, what of the restaurants themselves? Well, as with the
original Kafe Tenda, they are all reasonably priced and offer up
a wide variety of dishes. You will find branches of well-known
Indonesian bistros such as Dapur Sunda, Warung Si Doel and the
awesome chicken dishes of Wong Solo (it will take more than bird
flu to stop people from coming here for a feast). If you are
after a more international menu, then you could give Dixie a go.
They have a few branches around town and serve a good selection
of seafood, pasta and Asian dishes. Other eateries in KTS include
Hitam Putih and China Box. Those of you looking for more than
just dining can play a few frames of pool at Boss or take in some
live comic acts at the Comedy Cafe.

On my last visit to KTS I enjoyed a tasty meal of Tom Yam Soup
and pasta at Dixie to the accompaniment of salsa cover versions
of various punk rock and new wave classics by Joy Division,
Depeche Mode, The Clash and PiL. The way all the fury and angst
of the original tracks had been massaged away by the percolating
Latino rhythms was, I thought, a fitting metaphor for the way
that Kafe Taman soothes away the urban migraines of its patrons
with a bit of beach, holiday-style atmosphere.

Those of you new to Jakarta should definitely check out KTS.
As for you old-timers who miss the glory days of the old Tenda
Semanggi -- it is still here! Come down for a nostalgic Ayam
Goreng and forget all of your troubles. -- Simon Pitchforth