The specialty of FM3 restaurant

By K. Basrie

JAKARTA (JP): It was a surprising experience to dine at the FM3 Restaurant near the entrance gate to the Tangerang toll road.

It was late Saturday evening and my companion and I were looking for a restaurant in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta. It was 11 p.m., but no place was open. We then got on the highway to Tangerang and arrived about 15 minutes later at the parking lot of the FM3 Live Music Karaoke, KTV Klub Salon & Restaurant. There were karaoke rooms, hotel rooms, a discotheque and two well- dressed men with walkie-talkies standing in front of the restaurant door. Instead of giving us a welcome smile, they stared at us like we were debt collectors.

A few seconds later, one of them smiled and showed us in through the sliding electric doors. We were confused by the ambience, as the area on the left looked like a restaurant but seemed too small compared to the rest of the building.

I could see three ways leading to other rooms. Later we were told by a waitress that the way behind the receptionist led to the karaoke rooms and the stairs on the right led to a discotheque on the upper level and more karaoke rooms downstairs. We were finally given directions to the restaurant by a group of nicely-dressed people.

"Right on your left, sir," one of them said politely.

The restaurant gets an A for ambience. Dominated by green, the tiny restaurant had nine tables placed closely together. The square, glass tables accommodated between three and five patrons. A long sofa was placed next to a wall and all the chairs were of an antique design made of iron.

As Kenny G entertained us, it was clear that the atmosphere was suitable for couples in love.

The only other patrons that evening were a group of five people. After waiting for about 20 minutes, our order came in room-service fashion. The hot dishes were shielded by stainless steel cases and the fried rice and dessert were wrapped in plastic. A man carried the orders first to the bar to give the waitress a chance to uncover the dishes before bringing them to our table. The desert came together with the main dishes. When I asked the waitress if she could bring the banana split later, the waitress just smiled and left.

The crab asparagus soup, at Rp 5,000 (US$2), and the kepiting saus tiram, or crab fried with special sauce, at Rp 12,500, was not bad. But the FM3 special fried rice, at Rp 7,500, was not much different than common fried rice. The banana split (Rp 5,000) was an unimpressive desert, even though my companion thought the banana was very good.

It took almost half an hour to pay the bill with my Visa card, and the delay was never explained.

Also unexplained was the strange attitude of the wait staff. While enjoying our dishes, the uniformed waitresses kept staring at our table. Sometimes they spoke to each other and when they passed in front of us they continued to stare.

We looked at ourselves and our clothes but nothing appeared strange. Later I was told by a friend, a regular visitor to FM3, that it was uncommon for patrons, especially couples, to have "serious" meals at the restaurant.

"It's just a terminal," he said with a wink. "The main business of the place is not the restaurant, but companionship."

I then remembered that the only other patrons, the group of two men and three women, only had soft drinks on their table.

When I told this to my companion, my wife, she replied: "I could see that from its long name. They put the word karaoke in front and the word restaurant at the rear, reflecting the priority of their services. That's the real FM3 specialty."