Jakarta 484 years – Cafe Batavia

If you come to this Cafe to have good and cheap meals, you are bound to be disappointed. Residing in a building in the old Jakarta city area just across the square of Fatahillah, the main attraction is the interior. It was constructed between 1805-1850, and underwent a renovation in 1993. The Cafe was established in 1930. One of my aunties told me that in the 50s this place was not as grand as today. It is a beautiful old building with a lot of history inside. Don’t forget to bring a camera (and money) when you come here.

The moment we enter the place the ambiance changed into the vintage Dutch colonial era. It is of no surprise many of the older generation like this place, bringing them back to the years of living dangerously in Indonesia.

Walls are decorated with pictures of famous persons by famous photographers.

Even toilets have pictures hanging all over the walls. Make you wonder whether you come into the right rest room or not.

The menu is a limited selection of European and Asian dishes with high price tags. Alas in the recent years the quality has gone down. New management just took over end of June 2011 and promised a better quality cuisine.

Churchill bar on the second floor was twice voted as the World's Best Bar by Newsweek in 1994 and 1996.

Passing the Churchill bar we'll enter the main dining area.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor by Cecil Beaton, nineteen-tweenty-something.

A cozy corner on the second floor with antique mirrors and lamps.

The big windows on the second floor, sun and a little luck will get you nice portraits, like this one of my lovey wife Peggy. My lovely daughter Mara was playing with the Lumix LX3 experimenting by herself out of the frame (Ooops, I forgot to change my ISO setting, it was on 2500!).