Jun Njan offers cuisine and ambience

Jun Njan offers cuisine and ambience

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"How many persons, sir?" a waitress asked politely.

She raises her eyebrows on knowing that I was all alone. But,
with a kindly manner and a big smile she quickly escorted me to a
table.

For various reasons, people sometimes want -- or need -- to
eat meals alone, as I did that evening. However, the Jun Njan
Seafood Restaurant is definitely not a good place to eat alone.

It has nothing to do with being antisocial, but rather because
of the portions of food: Almost all of the dishes at the
restaurant are served in big portions -- big enough for four
people or more.

The waitress said that a portion of deep fried gurame or king
prawns with sauce would be enough for five people.

If anyone is unable to decide whether a specified dish is too
abundant for one person, just consult with the patient
waitresses.

Jun Njan restaurant offers various dishes, from soups, shrimp,
crab, squid, various fish, noodles or rice and vegetables. The
restaurant also offers chicken, pigeon and frog.

For soups, guests can picks from shark fin, asparagus or sweet
corn all combined with crab meat soup. Fish ball soup and sop
tahu (bean curd soup) are also offered.

Shrimps are served steamed or fried combined with sweet or
sour sauce.

That evening, about eight people sat around a table. They
enjoyed fried shrimps with sauces. They also ordered cah cap cay
or boiled vegetables with fish balls.

If visitors crave squid, there are some choices to pick: fried
squid in butter sauce, saute squid with baby corn or fried squid
ala Jun Njan.

Gurame and Kerapu, freshwater fish, are served fried or
steamed.

The food at Jun Njan Restaurant is just fine, but it's really
the restaurant's comfortable ambience that particularly attracts
people. That is why even though there are now a lot of sidewalk
seafood vendors across the city offering lower prices, Jun Njan
can maintain its existence until today.

Unlike many new restaurants in posh malls or office buildings
that feature luxurious decoration, Jun Njan Restaurant on Jl.
Sultan Iskandar Muda, Pondok Indah, in South Jakarta is simply
decorated. Several lamps hung from the ceiling give a subdued
light creating a serene ambience.

The restaurant also has a spacious room on the second floor
for parties. But, it's only really suitable for groups of 50 or
more.

The only thing that might discourage people from coming to the
restaurant is the lack of car parking. Visitors have to compete
with customers from other shops nearby to get a parking space.

A senior employee, Chandra Gunawan, said Jun Nyan has been in
operation for three generation.

Now, there are three Jun Njan Restaurants in Jakarta: in
Pondok Indah in South Jakarta, Batu Ceper in Central Jakarta and
Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta.

"The restaurant was first opened in Priok, North Jakarta. The
owner today is the grandson of the founder," he said.

The fact that Jun Njan could weather the tight competition in
Jakarta's food sector is proof of its ability to satisfy
customers.

But if you want to eat there, don't forget to bring some
companions!