Visit to Cafe Batavia, from Dutch colonial time

Since we arrived Jakarta, we haven’t done much local exploration, out of laziness, heat and traffic. This is about to change as we are trying to do a bit more on weekends so we don’t leave the city in few years and haven’t visited the must visit places.

This Saturday we checked the first MUST visit place, Cafe Batavia. I reserved a table by the window per my friend’s recommendation. getting there was not hard, 30 min or so and we got there. Surrounding area is old and run down but when we got to the square, we were surprised by the colonial ambiance of the place. Cafe Batavia is one of the oldest building in the square, originally part of the government building during dutch colonial time.

we put on our batik for the occasion. The color scheme of our batik matched perfectly.

For food, we ordered assorted dishes with dutch, chinese, local influences.

dutch meatball

chicken satay with rice cakes

tofu steamed with spices in banana leaf

dimsum platter

and lamb satay

after lunch, the girls rent a bike around the square

It was a nice visit, somewhere we would take to guests when they visit Jakarta.

We got home just before Lizzy’s piano lesson at 2:30pm. Half day out is perfect amount for me so we can chill in the afternoon. 🙂

Girls started the summer I turned pretty after dinner while I continued with my book, finishing tomorrow!