Kafe Indiana a Native American treat

Kafe Indiana is a canyon the American Indians would like -- vast, open and extraordinary in its lack of people.

When my dining companion and I set out to discover what lay behind the log cabin facade of the newly renovated restaurant in Kemang, South Jakarta, its staff seemed surprised to see customers.

Puzzling, but if the emptiness of Kafe Indiana can be attributed to a lack of publicity since its October-November hiatus, and corrected, this bar and grill may yet reach its aspirations of hipness.

Kafe Indiana is worth a try. The atmosphere is creative Native American kitsch. The bar, stage and dance floor are well set up for weekend bands, and there's a pool table upstairs. The food, though unexceptional, is adequate. As my dining companion commented: "All it was missing was people."

Kafe Indiana -- not Indiana as in the flat Midwestern U.S. state, but apparently Indiana meaning "of the Indians" -- is actually a bar and grill. Its menu is large, offering surf 'n turf options, pasta, pizza and Mexican dishes, but the choices are not adventuresome. With so much energy in Kafe Indiana's decor, I was surprised the menu choices were not more creative and that their names did not play on the Native American theme.

One note of menu caution, though. Pickings are slim at Kafe Indiana for strict vegetarians. There is a salad category, but it includes choices like Chicken Salad Hawaiian, made with an unusual combination of chicken, pineapple and cocktail sauce, or a shrimp salad, but there are no simple leafy green salads.

We started with onion rings as an appetizer. These were not made with the beer batter of my dreams, but they were crispy and not greasy.

My dining companion chose the Grilled Sirloin Steak made with Australian beef as his main course. His steak was not very thick or evenly cooked, though the chefs did reasonably well at hitting his medium-rare request. The steak was served with vegetables and a baked potato, which was undercooked and served without enough sour cream and butter. Overall, however, he enjoyed his meal.

I selected the Salmon Minute Steak, billed as grilled Norwegian salmon with lemon and tamarind sauce. My entree was also more a fillet than a steak, and was doused in a thick brown sauce. It was similar to the thick brown sauce slathered on my companion's sirloin, except that one had mushrooms and the other had a slight tamarind tang.

The most unique dessert choice, a fried banana done with honey, orange brandy and sesame seeds, was not available, so we chose among the standard favorites. My friend enjoyed his Homemade Apple Pie, but thought the crust was too thick and questioned the stripes of chocolate syrup on top. My Indiana Crepe Suzette had stayed in the microwave too long, and the golf- ball sized scoop of ice cream did not satisfy my sweet tooth. As with the salads, a chocolate dessert choice was curiously missing from the menu.

Throughout dinner, service was friendly and appropriately attentive. Meal portions were adequate though not heaping. Prices, like the food, offered a range of choices. Burgers and pasta ranged from Rp 7,000 (US$2.90) to Rp 10,500; Mexican food cost Rp 14,000 to 16,000; and meat, chicken and fish offerings were in the teens and twenties.

The major reason to go to Kafe Indiana is to enjoy the decor. Dinner or drinks at Kafe Indiana is a treat of Native American Americana, a collection of kitsch not found elsewhere in Jakarta. Uncle Sam smokes a peace-pipe with an Indian chief on the placemat. Oversized Navaho motifs are painted on the ceiling. Airbrushed portraits of Indian chiefs, posters touting New Age- Native American creed, and political posters from the American Indian Movement litter the red walls.

The best artwork is a mural of an Indian chief summoning the power of the heavens. His form grows out of an upside down cattle skull, which makes the chief look like he has breasts.

Just inside the front door is a shop with Native American inspired handicrafts, earrings and leather goods -- made in Bandung and Sukabumi, both in West Java. No need to visit Arizona's reservations when such souvenirs can be made in Indonesia.

Kafe Indiana is a unique addition to the theme cafes, bars and restaurants in Kemang, if only people would go to check it out.

-- Epicurus