Dangdut with a difference at De Leila
By David Schiller
JAKARTA (JP): Well fellow Jakartans, now that the final vote has been cast and those days of demos, doubt and unpredictable traffic drama quickly fade into calm and stability, it is time for us all to come out of "Kris-Mon" hibernation and once again sample the best in nightlife our city has to offer. Yes, Blok M never burnt down, B.A.T.S. is still there and Tanamur just simply never stopped cranking. But what of the few new establishments that bravely opened their doors during this second "Year of Living Dangerously?"
As Mega was being sworn-in as Indonesia's new vice president, I was finishing my fourth pint at the Sportsman tavern and decided to pay a little postelection visit to one such establishment called De Leila. Situated on Jl. Gatot Subroto, Central Jakarta, at the previous location of the Asmat Disco (just before the Gondola Restaurant), De Leila first opened in April and is owned and operated by the same inspired management that brought us such hugely popular Jakarta nightspots as JJ's and the Tanamur Disco. And the best part is there is no cover- charge. But if you are expecting a similar venue at De Leila, you are definitely in for one mega surprise.
The theme of De Leila is distinctly Middle-Eastern, from the staff's silver Raja costumes to the massive Ali Baba (minus the forty thieves) that hovers over the main bar. The restaurant menu features a mix of Arabian and Indian snacks such as tabbouleh, dolmeh and samosas, while the musical entertainment comprises a steady rotation of live dangdut performances and Arabic disco. De Leila has also firmly replaced the Tiga Kuda Bar in Menteng as the nightclub of choice for the well-to-do Arab-Indonesians and Middle-Easten expatriates residing in Jakarta. Even the tiny front door appears to have been borrowed from the entrance to some cabaret hidden deep in a Damascus back-alley labyrinth. But that's not to suggest that this upmarket dangdut club is small. In fact, as I stepped through the spacious lobby into the main bar/disco, I found the dimensions of De Leila to be absolutely palatial, with a wide variety of more intimate alcoves.
Bevies of beautiful Indonesian women lined the bar as I made my way for a closer inspection of the overflowing dance floor. The music blared, the ladies stared, I ordered a beer and sat myself down at a vacant table. A gorgeous singer in a ruby red dress writhed sensuously on the stage -- her gentle lilting voice complimented by a hand-picked band of some of Jakarta's finest dangdut musicians. If you are a lover of quality dangdut, I honestly doubt that you'll find a better venue elsewhere in town. But one thing I never understood was why you need a band the size of a small kampong to create that erotic, mesmerizing wall of sound that is dangdut?
I was beginning to fall under the magical spell of dangdut and didn't really care for an answer, and neither did the throbbing mix of exotic races and nationalities that was spilling onto the dance floor. The band departed, a booming Arab number started, then all hell broke loose as several of the Tanamur Dancers made a surprise visit and mounted the top of the speaker stacks. I grabbed my beer and headed upstairs for a better view of the disco- and dancer-induced pandemonium. From the edge of the crow's nest balcony I saw a happy 100 or so people -- spinning, chanting, screaming, shaking -- sometimes erupting into wild rapid-fire Arabic clapping. No, there wasn't much English being spoken down there, but the vibe was absolutely electric and unique.
My glass was nearly empty as I approached the bar and surveyed the adjacent well-lit billiard area. The upstairs bar at De Leila definitely makes for a more cozy happy hour watering hole; but if it's a game of eight-ball you're after, you may not find it at these tables later in the evening. The house game is an unusual breed of "rotation pool" where snookering is key and you can temporarily move a ball if two balls are touching (amongst several other equally bizarre rules). I got a new beer and teamed-up with a friend. We got trounced our first few games, until we finally figured out the alien strategy and starting kicking some serious butt with our well-honed Blok M billiard skills.
While enjoying a hard-won pitcher of beer, I saddled up to one particularly lovely waitress and asked her a question I'd been wanting to ask all evening. No! ... not for her phone number, but what exactly was the meaning of the nightclub's name? (an ongoing enigma that was never fully resolved in an earlier The Jakarta Post review). As it turns out De Leila has nothing to do with the any old Eric Clapton songs; rather it is the Arabic expression for "night"; or the Indonesian word "lela" which loosely means "to rage" (although that's not too inaccurate a description of the typical state on the dancefloor). The name apparently concerns the ancient Middle East story of Samson and Delilah.
As you may recall, Samson was a Nazarite strongman -- adverse to strong drink and haircuts -- who falls for the awesomely beautiful but misguided seductress Delilah. Enticed by Philistine silver, Delilah tricks Samson into revealing that his hair is the source of his awesome power (which he once used to slaughter around 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass). And talk about a rough morning-after! - Samson awakens in his Gaza bungalow weak, hairless and surrounded by a horde of angry Philistines who then proceed to gouge out both his eyes with a hot poker. The only good news is that the razor-wielding Delilah didn't apply any below-the-belt carving tips from Lorena Bobbitt while she was lopping off his mojo locks!
Well folks, the morning after my night at De Leila I awoke in my Kuningan bungalow weak, partially blind, but fortunately neither hairless or surrounded by angry Philistines. In fact things were exceptionally calm, and the Jakarta morning traffic appeared to be perfectly normal for the first time in many a month. I don't know all that went right, but the city certainly seemed to be thoroughly at peace with the dramatic final outcome of the elections. I guess the time has come for me to finally retire my electric-superzapper and the tube of toothpaste (an alleged teargas remedy) that's been bouncing around in my glovebox for the last six months.
As for De Leila, Indonesia has long been a land where the Middle East meets Asia, and Jakarta now has a conveniently- located, quality nightclub that's devoted to a tasteful fusion of these two diverse cultures. Based on my evening (and Samson's) at De Leila, the best advice I can offer is to check it out, make sure to consume plenty of beer and strong drink, and to avoid any offers of late night haircuts from strange women, no matter how beautiful they might be.