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!