BuGils bar ready to open on weekend

JAKARTA (JP): A new bar in the style of the old brown cafes in Europe will open this weekend at Taman Ria Senayan in Central Jakarta.

The manager of The BuGils, Bartele Santema, said on Wednesday the bar's grand opening on Saturday would be limited to 500 invitation-only guests.

The doors will be opened to the general public on Sunday, he said while making final preparations for Saturday's launch.

Designed as a typical European-style brown cafe and located near the Taman Ria lake, The BuGils intends to create a warm, intimate and easy-going atmosphere where guests can enjoy a leisurely drink and good conversation, Santema, a native of the Netherlands, said.

"We also have an open kitchen with 10 seats available for guests," he added.

There are 80 wooden seats inside the bar, and on the lakeside terrace there are an additional 40 rattan seats.

"The designer of the furniture is a (female) friend of mine, who also designed the furniture for (former president B.J.) Habibie's house," Santema said.

How much will a night out at BuGils cost? Beverages range from between Rp 10,000 and Rp 25,000. A glass of Bintang draught beer, for example, costs Rp 14,000 nett, while a bottle of Heineken beer costs Rp 23,000 nett, which is the same price as one of The BuGils' specialities: Loe Sama Nenek Loe Aja (a mixture of gin, vodka, stripe sec, midori and drambue).

The food, mainly European, is also reasonably priced at between Rp 20,000 and Rp 40,000. One of the house specialities is the Paupiettes De Beuf, which costs Rp 39,900++.

What about the sizzling name of the bar, which in Bahasa Indonesia literally means naked?

"We like the word 'bugil'. It's a good name. But 'bugil' here stands for bule gila (crazy westerner). Since we're not allowed to use the word 'bugil', we put an 's' at the end," Santema said. (bsr)