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