Champions earns home win in Kemang
JAKARTA (JP): When you want to catch a big game and, par for the course, your trusty old TV has decided to throw a wobbler, what are you going to do? Well, the answer is pretty obvious, you're going to go to a sports bar if you have any sense!
Which one?
Well, to be frank, there's not really a lot of what I would classify as sports bars in Jakarta, that is to say rough and ready sort of dumps where you can cut the smoke with a knife, and where old winos prop up the bar all day long watching the racing and young aspiring winos do the same all night long watching the football. There's a few rendezvous in Blok M which aren't a million miles away in atmosphere from these sort of places, but even then they still have a long road to travel.
No, in Jakarta even the sports bars are thoroughly sanitized and tarted up, with waiters and waitresses all dainty and totally ridiculous-looking in their McDonald's-style uniforms, and prices that would be enough to make your average sports fan and ex officio barfly choke on his chaser (great for the Odd Couple's Felix Unger, but what about Oscar?).
But having said all that, there is the advantage of having spick-and-span restrooms, bartenders who don't spit ominously near the glasses and freedom from the attention of lager louts intent on emulating their rampaging mentors on TV.
One such upmarket sports bar, as I found out during a recent visit, is Champions in Kemang.
Location: Jl. Kemang Raya No. 10, Kemang, South Jakarta 12730.
Hours: Midday to 2 a.m. Monday to Friday.
Bill, please: In the beer stakes, Miller Draft and Lite are out in the lead by a good head at Rp 37,500, followed by Corona at Rp 35,000, and then Foster's and Heineken neck and neck at Rp 34,500, while bringing up the rear are old nags Carlsberg and Anker at Rp 18,500. Favorite Budweiser (with odds of Rp 32,000 to one) has been withdrawn due to lack of interest (and deliveries).
In the thoroughbred stakes, Chivas Regal Royal Salute won by a mile at Rp 155,000 to one over old standby Black Label at Rp 45,000 to one.
Happy hour is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and will give you 30 percent of all beverages.
Here's looking at you: Champion's is as good a testament as any to the success of the late twentieth century (and still ongoing) reincarnation of America's manifest destiny. Flanked by a McDonald's and sporting a garish red, white and blue sign, this joint might as well be in the South Bronx as in Southeast Asia.
As you enter (after passing through a Hard Rock-style foyer flogging expensive junk telling all and sundry you've been glugging at Champions), you immediately notice just how large the place is. I mean, this is a really big pub. But despite the floor space, the combination of low ceilings, dim-lighting and well- sited semi-partitions and pillars mean that you won't be overwhelmed, and even the most reclusive or self-conscious punter won't feel overexposed.
Blinking around at the entrance, you'll immediately be accosted by a waitress who'll try to lead you to a table. This could be a bit off-putting for an old shebeen hand like yours truly, especially if you've your mind set on a comfy barstool.
As for the design, well in this case you can read the book by its cover and, as with the exterior, the American theme dominates inside as well. Walls, ceilings, doors, table tops, just about everywhere you look in fact, are plastered in Americana, much of it of the baseball variety (strange to say, during my visit the large crowd of punters was glued to English league soccer while major league baseball was relegated to a lonely TV in a far off, little frequented corner).
Mind you, this prostration at the altar of all things American is not really so surprising when you discover that Champions is actually part of a large American chain, with pubs in Baltimore, Los Angeles and Boston to name but a few. And it's not that bad really. In fact, I'd much rather be surrounded by Americana than Iraq-ana or North Korea-cana, for example (even though the bar staff do insist on speaking English with American accents, for goodness sake!).
As you enter the pub proper, there's a big, inviting bar shaped like a motor racing circuit facing you. To the left of this is the main seating area fronted by an enormous screen (where the soccer was playing and the majority of the punters were ensconced), and to the left of this again is a corner devoted to pool and darts. All in all, an intelligent layout with something for just about everybody. Lots of heavy wood paneling and furniture mean that despite the size, the place is still pretty cozy and convivial.
As for the crowd, predominantly young and well-heeled (by the look of the cars parked outside), and very, very interested in soccer. Woe betide he who switches to the Discovery Channel on a Saturday night! Plenty of couples and even a few single ladies. Not too many punters of the Caucasian persuasion glowing dimly in the dark, though.
And last but not least, to add a bit of variety they've also got a great band (XTC, U2, Kurt Cobain, etc), which pipes in after the soccer is over at around 11 p.m., if you're lucky.
Odds and ends: The absence of Europeans (this is Kemang, Bule- ville, Jakarta, after all) made me wonder whether the threats issued by certain of our white-robed brethren to take to the streets with large brooms could be having an effect. The thought of having to listen to the sort of inane non-sequiturs that such groups frequently spew would be enough to make anyone want to stay at home.
Verdict: Just what the doctor ordered for anyone who is into sport, booze or music, which should cover a fair whack of us. The pleasant and helpful staff, good music and giant TVs on which to watch your team get trounced all make Champions a place you'll want to come back to (if only for a hair of the dog). Recommended! (Bill Blade)