Jakarta, Indonesia – Friday, April 21st 2017 is Kartini Day and the Lara Djonggrang restaurant staffs are celebrating it with their beautiful uniforms.
I asked, “do you wear this uniform as today is Kartini Day or is this the regular uniform?”
Spokesperson of Lara Djonggrang, Mayang Pratiwi stated, “The uniform today is different, but the uniform is still a kebaya but because this is Kartini Day. So, it’s special, the kebaya is different than usual.”
Lara Djonggrang is a restaurant established and opened in 2005. The restaurant has an experience of 13 years in business. It is located in the bustling streets of Menteng, it’s a 5 star restaurant and reservations are needed on a busy day.
Their signature dishes are Nasi Merah Gunung Kidul which contains Sayur Lodeh (vegetable soup), fried chicken, and onion chilli. There’s also Pasar Sate Tugu which is the specialty food at Lara Djonggrang. On top of it are cow tongue sate, tempe sate, squid sate, shrimp sate, goat sate, beef sate, chicken sate moroc, sate lilit bali fish, chicken sate with cane stick. There are six variety of sauces; Matah sauce, dabu-dabu sauce, soy sauce, terasi sauce, tomato sauce, and lombok hijau sauce. And of course, we ordered Nasi Bakar Ayam (Chicken Roasted Rice) and an Indonesian favorite, Bakwan Jagung with Chilli. As for the dessert, Es Dawet.
The interior design of each room has its own unique character and charm. Annette Anhar is the director of the Tugu Hotel Group, she created the idea for the interior and Imperial Indonesian food menu concept. While the company owns the Lara Djonggrang restaurant.
I asked,”What is the actual theme of the restaurant? Is it universal?”
According to Mayang Pratiwi’s statement,”The actual theme is from the owner that loves to collect pieces from everywhere. And even any places in Indonesia and at any country. She appreciates her desire and wishes in this way. So, it’s not just about Indonesia. She wants to appreciate the antiques in this world. The items and stories that’s in other countries, not just Indonesia.”
The first room that Pratiwi introduced me to is the Soekarno Room which includes his memorabilia (pictures of him with his family and colleagues), pictures of him as the first president, Soekarno’s signed document from the Indonesian invasion era, bamboo runcing photograph, a painting of Prince Samber Nyawa (Soekarno was a fan of him), and the tables with seats from Oei Tiong Ham (king of the sugar industry) for Soekarno (It was given by Megawati for the owner of the restaurant).
The second room is called China Blue as most of the owners are Chinese people. The room has an iconic statue of Beerwah, the guardian of the heaven door and the artwork portraying Yama, which is the god of death.
The third room would be the La Bihzad bar and lounge which has a replica of (Afghanistan painter) La Bihzad’s painting. There are only three La Bihzad’s original paintings in the world. Another fascinating piece would be the wooden cantilever beam which supports the building and it’s from a temple in Tuban, Central Java. They recycled it from a torn down temple.
The last room would be the Lara Djonggrang room which has a Javanese atmosphere to it. Lara Djonggrang is based on a famous Javanese folklore.