www.bycel.com

A

After Hours

Thamrin

Sarinah Thamrin building.

Entrance in Jl. Wahid Hasim, next to Chilis.

Really a pool (billiard) venue with 2 bars. Over 20 excellent pool tables and a lone snooker table.

Two floors.

Varied snacks and meals (from Chili's next door?) which look surprisingly good.

Amigos

1) Thamrin

New - roughly opposite Sarinah dept store on Jl. Thamrin.

2) Kemang

Near Hero's supermarket

Classic Tex Mex C&W style

Tex Mex. Refried beans anyone? Why fry beans once, let alone twice?

Aphrodite

@Klub Rasuna

Kuningan

Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav C-22, Jakarta. Tel: 527-3307

On the right side of the road leading to the huge Taman Rasuna apartment complex.

Pool table, sports TV. Attached to the Klub Rasuna sports club. Smarter than the average expat pub.A very nice all-round place, at the posh end of the Jakartan pub scale but without the curse of mindless pop bands that most hotel bars insist on providing. Recommended.

It has a couple of pool tables.

Good western and Asian food: pasta, pizza, etc. 

B

Bacchus

Sudirman

Wine bar

"Gastronomic menu"

Bats

Sudirman

One of Jakarta's leading night spots, popular with expats.

Live Music usually with a foreign band, friendly ladies...

Expensive. Good reputation for girls. I mean grills. Sorry.

BBs

Menteng

Just off Jl. Cokrominoto -

Rock/music pub on 3 floors.

Acoustic on the first level, reggae etc on the 2nd, rock/blues on the top floor.  Or something like that.

I am told that the blues night on Fridays is the best.

Here's a review http://jakarta24.com/review_bar_052004.php

Yes

BCs 

Thamrin

Hotel Nikko Jakarta, Annex Building Ground Floor

(021) 3913 0559

Clubbing on Thamrin.
Open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays spinning Garage, House music and disco filtered Live

The Beat

Kemang

Jl. Kemang Raya 29
(021) 7182970

I hear about this place but never get out there. Billed by the management as a venue for "one-stop entertainment". That could cover a multitude of sins, especially to cover Jakarta's broad tastes. Must take a look.

Bengkel

Sudirman / Semanggi

Bar. Adjacent is a huge pool table venue, about 120 tables, the largest in SE Asia.

Upstairs are dance floors etc.

Black Cat

Senayan

Level 2 at Plaza Senayan Arcadia

Tel. (62-21) 5790-1264
Email blackcatjazz@gmail.com
Website www.blackcatjazz.com

Black Cat is an intimate, up-market 300 square meter jazz cub and restaurant, featuring live jazz bands and piano music

New Orleans style

Blowfish

Kuningan

Menara Bank Danamon
Kuningan-Jakarta Selatan
+62 21 390 3615

Bar and sushi restaurant apparently. Seems to be very trendy, "beautiful people", etc. so I am staying clear until I can afford the plastic surgery.

Japanese

Brasserie

Kemang

Jalan Kemang Raya 2, Kemang, Jakarta. Phone 718-3422. Fax 7179-3439

Has a nice small bar though really it is mainly a restaurant.

Excellent traditional French restaurant.

Bugils

www.bugils.com

Senayan / Taman Ria

Jalan Gerbang Pemuda 3, Senayan, Jakarta. Phone 574-7650.

Enter via the passage between TGIF and Bebek Bali, then its about 50M ahead.

A friendly neighbourhood-style semi-Dutch bar. Pool table, darts, table football, cyber corner, sometimes live music. Bar staff with style and attitude... and great service. Popular with expat women, not just the blokes.

If you are looking for the bar in "Cheers" this is the nearest but with funnier barmaids and dodgier customers.

Ladies night on Tuesday is popular.

UPDATE in early 2008: I have received several reports that sadly Bugils has gone downhill: less popular, no longer a good atmosphere and that the service is no longer great or even good. I am not in Jakarta to check this myself. Has Bugils been neglected as new pubs are opened?

Dutch specialities, pub food, and some classier items too.

Excellent steak.

Yes, you can have mayonnaise with your frites/fries/chips.

Beers include Bintang, Heineken, Corona (you call that beer?), and a nice range of fine but expensive Belgian beers, etc.

UPDATE early 2008: reportedly no more Belgian beer?

Burgundy

Thamrin

Hotel Grand Hyatt

Jl. Jendral Sudirman

Upmarket bar. Live Jazz. Modern elegance. Just about quiet enough to talk too. Expensive.

Probably, never asked.

C

Cafe Batavia

Kota (old Batavia)

Taman Fatahillah
Kota, Jakarta, Indonesia
Tel. (62-21) 691-5531, -5334

The upstairs bar next to the restaurant was rated in Newsweek's Best Bars in the World a few years ago. Great cocktails, beautiful building but just so far away...

High class Western and Chinese food in the adjoining restaurant. Expensive.

Cazbar

www.thecazbar.com

Kuningan/Sudirman

Mega Kuningan

Lot 8-9 No. A9 

Kuningan.

Near the Ritz Carlton hotel, 

facing the big area of open ground.

Smart and friendly place in the heart of the business area. Why face the traffic after work, just settle in here for an hour or few. Free wi-fi so you can pretend to work. Pool table and big screen TV in the upstairs bar. There is even a lift in case you can't cope with stairs... for any reason.

Western and Asian, very good, restaurant quality & style.

Champions

Kemang

Sports theme, live music

Yes, American style

Chilis

Thamrin

American style bar/restaurant. Good service, well run.

Reportedly Chilis does not serve chilli peppers. How can this be allowed in Indonesia?!

Full menu, mostly American, some Asian etc. Nothing fancy but good quality.

Cinnebar

Thamrin

Jl Iman Bonjol, opposite the Mandarin Hotel.

Elegant bar next to the restaurant.

The restaurant menu offers some of the finest food in Jakarta.

CITOS = Cilandak Town Square

Cilandak

South Jakarta

A large indoor eating and drinking venue full of coffee shops, restaurants, a wine bar, etc. Very popular and relatively well-behaved.

Yes

CJs

Senayan

Mulia Senayan Hotel

Dance, clubbing. Young crowd, affluent.

Crossroads

Kemang

Opposite Kemchiks?

Moved there from its old address in Dharmawangsa Square

(This applies to the old bar before the move to Kemang). Two nice bars, one on the ground floor, one in the basement. Smart modern style, 2 good pool tables and a dart board. Very friendly, even to Aussies.

Good Asian & Euro food including some Singapore dishes.

Cuba Libre

Menteng

Cigar bar

D

D's place

Blok M

Jl. Falatehan

Relatively normal bar downstairs, popular after work. Upstairs is a  intensive hunting zone for the Blok M ladies.

?

De Hooi

Pondok Indah Plaza 2

Next to Trattoria & Citibank

Another in Bart's excellent pub chain, following Bugils, Cazbar, Eastern Promise and One Tree. Going global next?

E

Eastern Promise

Kemang

Jl. Kemang Raya 5, Kemang  7179 0151

Rebuilt mid 2006 under new ownership related to Bugils and Cazbar.

Main indoor bar has 9ft pool table, darts.

Free wi-fi internet, international newspapers.

Large open air beer garden out back. Live music some nights.

Indian menu and pub food such as pies.

Full breakfasts.

Everest

Blok M

Jl. Falatehan, Just a few doors from Sportmans.

Jakarta's only Nepalese bar - why is that? Mainly guys, expat and local. A couple of good pool tables. Massive cinema size screen for major sports events. Friendly staff. NOT a girlie bar.

But sometimes has live music which my friends find unbearable and we are out within minutes of it starting. I suppose it must attract some customers...?

OK bar food, very good burgers.

F

Fez Lounge

Kemang Raya

Ground floor of Kinara Restaurant

Large modern bar with good Indian restaurant upstairs. Pool table.

Indian food I assume.

Flanagan's

Thamrin

Hotel Sari Pan Pacific

An attempt at an Irish pub in Jakarta. Pleasant enough though looks like it was made from a kit.

Nice pool table area.

Interesting range of Irish theme dishes. Guinness, Kilkenny and Boddingtons beers as well as the usual imports and local brews.

Front Row

Senayan / Taman Ria

Sports bar, lots of TVs and a huge screen. Impressive but rather American and plastic for my taste.

Yes, varied menu

G

Gillians

Sudirman/Subroto

Plaza Semanggi, just follow the traffic jams on Sudirman. This Plaza made the traffic even worse. Why was it allowed? Moan, moan, moan.

On the 5th floor I think

+62 21 2553 6339

Cocktail bar with pool/billiard tables.

Yes

Green Pub

Thamrin

Djakarta Theatre Buidling

Jl. Wahid Hasim

Is it still there? Country and western bands

Tex mex food?

H

Hailai International Executive Club

Ancol
Ancol Village, Pademangan
North Jakarta City 14430
+62-21-645 9868  
+62-21-6471 3227

Jakarta's biggest nightspot? Nightclub, restaurants, karaoke bars, etc. Total capacity over 5,000 I think.

In the middle of the Ancol recreation area in the far north of Jakarta, close to its delightful off-black beaches and oily waves.

Yes

Hard Rock Cafe

Thamrin

Plaza Indonesia - Entertainment X'nter Jl. MH. Thamrin Kav. 13 Telephone: (62-21) 3199 0164

Live Music late evening. Can be busy from 5pm until late.

Full western menu especially burgers, tex-mex, etc.

Highlander

Kemang

In the Kemang Hotel opposite Kemchiks supermarket

Scottish theme pub, like an Irish one with tartan. Pool table (not tartan, sadly). Nice place.

Haggis & neaps? Good selection of pub-style food.

J

Jalan Jaksa

(a street rather than a single pub...)

Thamrin/Menteng

Jalan Jaksa

This is the main backpacker street, with a selection of bars, cafes, etc. Cheap and cheerful but a couple of more upmarket bars with air-conditioning.

Lots of choices, especially the ubiquitous backpacker food favourites which seem as globally standardised as MacDonalds these days.

Jalan Jalan

Kuningan

Top of the Imperium building at the Menteng end of Jl. Rasuna Said.

Live Music & DJs. On 2 floors.

Jamz closed

Thamrin

In the Lippo/Aston apartment complex near Semanggi

Live Music. Several bars including live jazz. I hear it has now closed. Sad. So where is the good jazz in Jakarta now?

Jaya Pub

Thamrin

Opposite the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel, behind the Jaya Building over a sometimes smelly canal... not as bad as it sounds.

Live music. One of Jakarta's oldest pubs, opened in 1975... and home of the oldest pub band? Scruffy but fun. Seems to be more jazz/blues earlier in the week (and far better in my opinion), more mainstream standard pop at the weekend, yawn.

Felix, the Irian Jayan singer, is an institution, or should be in one. (Felix has since passed away to that great gig in the sky. R.I.P. Gone but not forgotten.)

Entry charge on Friday and Saturday evenings. A review: http://jakarta24.com/review_bar_032004.php

Pub food. Good steaks. If the band gets boring, watch the cooks in the open kitchen, the flames can be quite spectacular.

Jimbani

Kemang

JJs

Closed?

Tanah Abang

Next door to the famous Tanamur. Small dance floor, big pick-up scene.

Bordello-style pool area upstairs, another pool table in the quieter outside area.

Very quiet until late evening.

Open until... dawn?

Entry charge on Friday and Saturday evenings.

J Lounge

Kuningan

Hotel Gran Melia

Jl. HR Rasuna Said

Tel. 526 8080 ext 2388

email granmel@indo.net.id

J Lounge

K

Kelts replaced

Kuningan

Hotel Gran Melia

Jl. HR Rasuna Said

Tel. 526 8080 ext 2388

email granmel@indo.net.id

Now gone, reincarnated as J Lounge (above); I wonder what they did with Stonehenge? The original entry stays here because I am fond of it:

The weirdest "Irish" bar on the planet? A model of Stonehenge (which is in England and is pre-Celtic) is the key feature.

When it first opened... The staff dressed in orange, the colour of the Protestant 'enemy';  there was no Irish beer; the (real) Irish singer performed traditional Irish songs of.... Eric Clapton and Bob Marley. Surreal. Apart from that, nice but rather dull.

Kudus bar

Hilton Hotel

Senayan/Sudirman

The Hilton Hotel's main bar. Quiet, semi formal atmosphere. Popular for quiet business meetings.

Rather dull but I like it on a gloomy rainy day, watching the  "jungle" outside the window while sipping some tropical cocktail (OK, a Bintang beer is all I can afford there really).

Piano & singer most evenings.

Beware, the toilets are a world record distance from the bar; go there before you need to go, if you see what I mean.

But about six restaurants in the hotel.

L

Lava Lounge See Maha Lounge

Senayan / Taman Ria

Replaced by Maha Lounge

M

Mad Dogs

Cilandak Industrial Estate

Friendly and well arranged bar with pool table etc. Convenient for the far south of Jakarta, but quite a hike from the centre.

Popular with oil guys etc from the industrial estate, also with the Harley bike crowd who are a friendly bunch (despite appearances?).

Yes, good pub fare.

Maha Lounge

Lot-14 SCBD, Sudirman 52-53, Bengkel Night Park Tel = 5140-2521

Manchester United bar

Thamrin

Sarinah Building, above the big MacDonalds, where the Hard Rock used to be

Not visited yet. Have not even heard of anyone going there. Maybe being a Man U place puts off all the fans of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Charlton & Millwall? And Barcelona, Benfica, Ajax, etc etc.

Manhattan

Manna

Senayan / Taman Ria

Mario's Place

Menteng

Mata Bar closed

Sudirman

Young people's bar on top of a Sudirman high rise. Great views.

Investor warning: This venue tends to go broke and emerge as something new every few years.

UPDATE: It closed down, broke again I suppose.

Basic bar menu.

Morgan's

Menteng/Senen

in the Aston Atrium hotel.

Smart bar, mostly young Indonesian professionals when I was there years ago. A Morgan car was on display, the only one in the country?

Musro

Menteng

Borobudur Hotel

Dance club

My Bar

Blok M

Jl. Falatehan

Very popular new girly bar, seems packed when I have looked in, but I have never stayed long enough to work out why - 30 seconds was enough. But others like it obviously.

Update: There is a quieter lounge bar upstairs, and above that a very nice bar with 2 good pool tables.

Update 2, 9/2007. I hear the upstairs bars are closed.

Yes, upstairs at least. Surprisingly good too.

N

New Age Closed

Thamrin

Above Hazara Indian restaurant

Jl. Wahid Hasim

Very laid-back, understated, stylish, discrete. Post-backpacker eco yuppie land, lounge on the Indian cushions..

Hazara restaurant downstairs. Excellent North Indian food.

New China

Kemang

No details yet

News Cafe

(1) Kemang

(2) Kuningan

Cafe with a news and journalist theme. Sometimes live music

Varied menu

Nine Muses Club

www.ninemusesclub.com

Kebayoran Baru

Jl. Wijaya 1 No. 25, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta

tel 7221188, fax 7279 0849. www.ninemusesclub.com

Upmarket and cultured bar & restaurant with live music etc. I have not been there but it sounds very impressive.

Review in Jakarta Post

European and Asian menu

O

One Tree

Blok M

Jl. Falatehan

The new kid on the Blok, near Oskars. Have not been there yet. It seems not to be the usual sleazy Falatahan bar.

Here's a rave review (but it's a blog so maybe other stuff will replace it).

Yes

Oskars

Previously Oscars

Blok M

Jl. Falatehan

In the seedy heart of Blok M. Downstairs drunken expats frolic with local ladies to the variable tones of the live bands.

Upstairs is quieter and almost well behaved, with a couple of battered pool tables, and a small crowd of equally battered regular drinkers. UPDATE - the upstairs is far smarter these days, almost too smart for the Blok.

Western & local food & snacks upstairs.

P

Paprika

Thamrin

Pasir Putih Closed

Kemang

Pitstop

Thamrin

Hotel Sari Pacific

Jl. Thamrin 6

Tel: (62) (21) 39831926

Long established nightclub/dance spot, popular with well-heeled locals and some expats. Live bands. Expensive.

Planet Hollywood

Subroto

Jl Gatot Subroto Kav. 16
Jakarta
12930

+62 21 526 7827

Kartika Chandra, same building as Hollywood cinemas.

A large circular bar at the entrance and a restaurant inside, sometimes has live music late in the restaurant area. A good place to hang out before or after a film at the cinema upstairs. They will organise your cinema tickets and call you before the film starts.

Burgers (good ones too) and the usual upmarket American style fast food.

Prego

Blok M

Jalan Iskandarsyah 12-14, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta. Phone 723-2547.

Bar above Italian restaurant

R

Red Square

Senayan

Plaza Senayan Arcadia (a new building behing the Plaza Senayan shooping centre car park), where only Russian spies will find it.

Tel. 5790 1281

www.redsquarejakarta.com

Now what, a Russian bar to add to the Nepalese, Scottish and whatever. Where will it end? I may open a North Korean pub as the last straw. Anyway this is a  non-Soviet effort, very designer and up-market from what I remember during my one vodka- & whisky-sodden evening there. I think it was a nice place. 

Yes

Retro

Subroto

Hotel Crowne Plaza (Holiday Inn)

Jl. Gatot Subroto

Up market clubbing.

S

Salsa

Kemang

Latin dance theme. Salsa dance instructors and dance partners available (still?).

Yes

Satu Lagi

Pondok Indah /

Fatmawati

Hotel Le Kristal

Friendly pub/restaurant, way down south.

Varied menu.

Shooters

Kemang

Kemang Raya

Sounds like a serious pool bar, though I hear they only have 1 table.

Sportsmans

Blok M

Jl. Falatehan

Traditional slightly scruffy expat bar on 2 floors. Sports theme with TVs scattered around. Has an amazing ability to pick up any major sporting event in the world via satellite. Whoever handles that should teach or help the 5* hotels. Usually fairly quiet but packed and noisy for major soccer and rugby games.

2 pool tables, darts.

Not a girly pub despite the location, and even has a notice on the door prohibiting the working girls.

Good basic pub food. Try the potato skins dripping in melted cheese or the real corned beef dinner with mustard sauce.

Cholesterol anyone?

Stadium

Kota

Jl. Hayam Wuruk (east side)

The boss of the serious clubbing scene. Open 24 hours a day from Thursday night (?) through the weekend. Crowded and intense. Alcohol is not the drug of choice here. Bizarre decorations, giant dragons belching out clouds of dry ice. About 6 floors up, with 2 tiny slow lifts. Packed solid, just hope there's never a fire.

Food? Well, we have Spearmint, Juicy Fruit, Regular, ...

Stanford Arms

Blok M

In the Ambara Hotel, over the road from Pasar Raya shops.

Probably the most traditional British pub, though it looks more like one of those American "British" pubs built from a kit.

Sport on TV.

English pub food menu.

Good Indian restaurant in the same hotel.

Stix

Casablanca

Up-market Latin dance place

Sudiman International Cafe

Sudirman

Auto Mal basement level

SCBD

Jl. Jend. Sudirman kav.52-53

Lot 6

Tel: 5289 7019

Next to 10 pin bowling alley

T

Tanamur

Closed

Tanah Abang

Jakarta's most venerable disco, open since the 70's and notorious for its mix of high and low life - locals, expats, and hookers of all genders, and more. You may hate it but you must see it (or should have in its gory days). A most embarrassing place to bump into your boss, spouse or mum. Probably a serious fire hazard. Entry charge. Rip-off taxis and mafia-trained parking attendants outside. Was claimed to be the most crowded place on the planet on Friday and Saturday nights, but those days are long gone. Since the crisis years of 1997-98 it seems to have faded away.

Ayam kampung?

Tapas bar

Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza

Sudirman/Subroto

Tapas bar attached to Spanish restaurant above the hotel lobby bar.

Tapas and Spanish food. Used to be very good but rumour is that standards have slipped.

Tavern Pub

Aryaduta Hotel

Menteng

A long-standing British-German pub with live music and pretty good food. Once a top spot, now slowly fading it seems, but far from down and out.

Full menu. Used to to a top spot for steaks.

TC

Kemang

Formerly the Twilight Cafe. Sort of arty/yuppie hangout with some small boutique shops.

Eclectic menu. Now there's a good word.

Tee Box

Blok M?

Jalan Wiyaja II/123 Kebayoran Baru

Tel. +62 21 723 4475

Golf theme pub? I have not heard any reports of this place.

Yes?

The Beat

See Beat (above)

Tiga Puluh

(30)

Sudirman

Live band. Popular with expat guys hunting Indonesian lovelies. And vice versa. The main rival to BATS. Quieter bar with pool table outside the main bar.

Yes but forget it later when it's too crowded and smoky.

TGIF

a) Taman Ria

b) Thamrin

      By Ascott apartments

American style bar/restaurant. Clean, efficient, good service... and bland as most formula places are.

Full menu, mostly American

Top Gun

Blok M

Jl. Falatehan

Perhaps the definitive Blok M seedy expat watering hole. (Why is out-and-out boozing called "watering" by the way?) A couple of pool tables, friendly young and not-so-young ladies. Popular with guys from the oil fields and more remote planets. A well-liked disgrace of a bar. Would have made a great R&R bar in the Vietnam war days (some of the customers probably think that's still what it is).

UPDATE: 2006 Looks much smarter and bigger after a major renovation, knocking the several smaller areas into one big one. Also some new and enthusiastic staff.

Yes, snacks anyway. Years ago the fish and chips were really good.

U

Untitled

Casablanca

Marriot Hotel

The Marriott Hotel's successful entry into the nightlife scene. Live bands.

V

Vino Vino Closed

Sudirman

Back from the road in the DM Building (formerly Mashill) between Chase Plaza and the World Trade Center

Closed, R.I.P.

Had good food, changed to bad food, then closed. Hmm.

Z

Zanzibar

Blok M

Popular with youngish middle class Indonesian crowd.