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Dapoer is a Jakarta restaurant that serves Indonesian food with strong influences from other cultures - its menu classifies dishes according to the culinary influence they most strongly identify with, whether Dutch or Indian or Chinese. The setting is airy and warm, as the restaurant building is an old house with a large verandah shaded by trees; the interior evokes a prosperous bygone era.


All these elements converge to create a truly Indonesian dining experience best enjoyed with like-minded friends.

Dutch, Arabic, Indian, and Chinese Influences

Indonesian food fresh from a warung (roadside stall) may be cheap and filling, but such meals have nothing on the dishes you find at classier Jakarta restaurants like Dapoer. At Dapoer, you don’t just fill your belly, you get your fill of a unique cultural context: Indonesian cuisine in a home remade to invoke a prosperous home from the 1950s.

Indonesian cuisine traces its roots from a number of different cultures, each of which have washed up on the archipelago’s shores successively throughout the country’s history. Indian and Arabic visitors introduced curries and satays respectively; the Dutch introduced maize and peanuts.

The Chinese influence in particular runs long and deep. In Malaysia and Indonesia, this manifests as Peranakan food, created by Chinese settlers who intermarried into Malay families and created a whole new culture from the blended heritage.

(For an example of a city where Peranakan culture is ever-present, see Penang in Malaysia.)

Dapoer (Malay for “kitchen”; pronounced "da-POOR") draws from these many cultural roots. Walking into the restaurant feels like entering the home of a prosperous Indonesian businessman whose walls harbor mementos from a long and successful life.

Dapoer’s menu (helpfully written in both Bahasa and English) affects an archaic spelling style as it lists the house’s specials, divided into Indomalay, Dutch, and Indochinese offerings.

Retro Interiors with Ample Space and Light

The house that Dapoer repurposed for its premises is set in Barito, a South Jakarta neighborhood adjoining Ayodya Park, and the management has taken full advantage of Barito’s open, green spaces.

The house’s windows are large and perpetually open, affording views of the park beyond the property walls. The verandah wraps around the house, allowing al fresco dining in comfortable weather. The ceilings within the house are high, completing the impression of airiness and light.

Inside, great effort is made to cultivate the atmosphere of a gentler, bygone era: colorful floor tiles, heavy teak furniture, wrought-iron lamps hanging from the ceilings, and Dutch porcelain hanging on the walls. The effect isn’t oppressive, much the opposite: one feels like “coming home” to Dapoer, where every corner seems conducive to a gathering with friends over good food.

Indonesian Food Like "Amah" Used to Make

And the food doesn’t disappoint. The menu leans heavily towards dishes from the intersection between Indonesia and other cultures, and the pickings are rich indeed.

Take the lontong tjap gomeh: a chicken dish stewed in coconut milk and spices, enriched with hardboiled egg and fried liver, with a soy cracker garnish. This is a dish served by Indonesian Chinese for special occasions, and the Dapoer take on this festive food is hearty and fresh. Its spiciness is moderated somewhat by the rich coconut milk broth, but no more than necessary: this is still a dish with a lot of zip.

The tahoe boengkoes “Amah” purports to be beancurd skin the way Grandma used to make it, and I know my own sainted grandma would approve: the beancurd skin is a deep-fried pouch containing shrimp, beancurd cubes, and mushrooms, and the contrast in textures and flavors is amazing to behold once you crunch through the crispy deep-fried outer layer.

Reasonable Prices for Great Indonesian Eats

Dapoer’s dishes are not meant for the abstemious, as the menu abounds in deep-fried foods and rich sauces. Perkedel djagoeng, for instance, is a fried cake with mashed corn, celery, and shrimp. It partners well with rice and a relish of sambal mangga, Dapoer’s shrimp paste, chili and green mango concoction.

Your guide was most enamored of Dapoer’s fried chicken, and had it in two ways: the ayam goreng Dapoer, or fried chicken served with shrimp paste; and koelit ayam krioek, or fried chicken skin. The latter can be ordered as a snack or as an appetizer.

For all its charms, Dapoer’s prices are quite reasonable: you can order a full meal for four at about IDR 200,000, or $20. It’s a great value for such a wonderful spread, in such a cozy setting to boot.

Dapoer Information

Address: Jalan Lamandau III/V, Barito, South Jakarta (6°14'40.16"S, 106°47'39.86"E)
Phone: +62 21 724 3286

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