Jl. Kramat Raya comes alive
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Fifty-year-old Refrizon took his four family members to Atrium shopping center in Central Jakarta, to kill time before breaking the fast on Thursday and to have a special meal together at nasi kapau food stalls on Jl. Kramat Raya on Thursday.
The resident of Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, never misses the chance to indulge in Minang-style delicacies and spicy food offered at the roadside eateries every fasting month.
The row of five food stalls along the sidewalk have been there for years, but business is at its best during Ramadhan.
Dozens of diners were already seated on plastic chairs at simple wooden tables placed under plastic awnings erected in front of each of the food stalls.
When the chairs run out visitors sit on plastic mats put in the front of the office buildings next to the restaurants.
Although all of them sell similar West Sumatran Minang nasi kapau dishes: rice dressed with curry plus optional rendang (meat stewed in spices and coconut milk), chicken dishes, fish, eggs or beef jerky; competition is not tough as each has dozens of regulars every day during Ramadhan.
Like other diners, Refrizon and his family have something sweet first to break the fast.
Next to the sidewalk eateries, dozens of street vendors sell Minang-style delicacies such as lemang, kolak, sarikaya, bubur kampiun, lupis, karakaliang, and spicy cassava crackers krupuk balado.
According to one of the vendors, Agus, 49, who has made and sold the snacks for at least 20 years, the buyers do not only come from Jakarta, but also from satellite cities like Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi.
"People from outside Jakarta buy the snacks for their families at home," said Agus, whose lemang (glutinous rice roasted in bamboo tubes), according to several people, is among the best sold on Jl. Kramat Raya.
His lemang is usually eaten with tape ketan hitam (fermented black glutinous rice). Agus sold one stick of lemang for Rp 14,000.
Unlike other street vendors in the city, those on Jl. Kramat Raya only operate in the afternoon. Therefore, they are not the target of evictions by public order officers.
Agus said the street vendors had been around longer than the roadside eateries. But he said their presence helped the vendors because many of their visitors bought snacks again before returning home.
Refrizon who bought lemang and krupuk balado to be brought home said, it's a "cure for our homesickness". The food sold here is the best of its kind," he added.