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STIRRING UP THE PAST

Dapur Babah's obsession with the bygone flavors of Java has spiced up Jakarta 's dining scene

Jakarta 's growing taste for Peranakan cuisine has finally found a worthy home. Dapur Babah Elite, the first culinary outing by Indonesia's acclaimed Tugu Hotels Group, is set in a pair of refurbished 1940s shophouses located just off the city's central Merdeka Square. Its mission: to celebrate the wonderful mishmash of dishes shaped by Dutch and Chinese influences during Java's colonial period. Anhar Setjadibrata, the affable owner of Tugu Hotels and a long-time collector of Indonesian antiques, designed the restaurant and adjoining bar himself, with an eye to capturing the rich nuances of early-20 th -century Java. The result is a menagerie of period mementoes and paraphernalia, such as reclaimed teak furniture, rustic housewares (scales, meat grinders, pestles and mortars), and the signboard advertising Hap Liong Tailor, the shophonses original tenant. Thankfully, Mr. Setjadibrata has brought a touch of whimsy to the project, which saves it from feeling like a museum exhibit. Rooms are painted in bold pastel-crayon combinations of red and green, black and red, purple and blue, while stone statues of Chinese, Hindu, and Buddhist gods smile down on dinners.

The food itself is a study of contrast. Recipes and ingredients have been painstakingly sourced from around the island, creating a happy medley of classic Peranakan specialties. These range from Dutch style bitter ballen (croquettes stuffed with vegetable puree and minced beef ), to hawker-style meatball soup and Hokkien-style noodles. But the restaurant's highlight is a mountain of fragrant pandan rice, chicken satay and savory peanut crackers arranged atop a banana leaf on a wooden platter; the Nasi Goreng Bang Samin, a plate of fried rice named for a legendary street vendor from the East Javanese city of Malang . Mr. Setjadibrata's home town, comes with a tangy garnish of pickled cucumber. It all washes down well with a glass of “Plasir d'Amour”, a zesty mix of fresh tea, lime, brown sugar, and bay leaves that might just transport you back in time.
		Steamed rice with duck, a Dapur Babah specialty.

Dapur Babah élite
Jl Veteran I / 18, Jakarta Pusat 10110
Tel: +62 (21) 385 5653, Fax: +62 (21) 385 3040
dapurbabah@tuguhotels.com
www.tuguhotels.com