Jl. Kramat Raya comes alive
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.