Bar Kotak — Restaurant in Jakarta

Food Food was okay for most of the parts. I personally didn't order any, while friends set their eyes on curry chicken rice, udon, egg-melted chicken rice (pardon me for the lack of details). The flavor of each of these is unique and made with care. It looks good and tastes good, but nothing special yet. The real deal for me is the dessert: matcha with red bean as its foundation and original cheesecake (as you can see in the one of the pictures). God, they both taste so heavenly. They use premium matcha with just the right balance of sweet and bitter taste, and the red bean foundation completes the whole texture. Meanwhile, the original cheesecake beats many other cheesecake exclusive shops with its soft, creamy, and sweet cheese.

Service Service is very adequate. They answer our questions immediately and act responsively to help solve our concerns. They even give a nice display of thoughtfulness by serving the dessert a little bit later at the end of your main course, so that you can enjoy your cakes at their best form!

Scene By God, the scene here is top tier. By scene I'm talking about the indoor ambience. The interior design is lovely with the vintage and homey vibes, boxes full of vinyl records, and cushy couches. It's unfortunate that in the noon the sunlight overpowered the ambience inside. The music? Not live, but super enjoyable. They were playing old romantic songs when I went here, such as: "I Remember You" by Jo Stafford, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by Dinah Shore, and "Embraceable You" by Nat King Cole. This is just the right place for you to expand your music library!

Definitely and absolutely will revisit...

The place was so great, but the staff n bartender? So unfriendly. I have bad experience in here‼️❌

Me n my friend just arrived to that place, and the table wasn't available so they offered me to bar, i said it's okay while waiting the another table avail, they said i'll be in first queue, and then other guest with no reservation is came. After the table avail, they give the table to guest next to me. I ask why, they say bcs im not the member, HAH? But before that they say nothing about that and say if "I in the first queue if the table available". ok i'll try to understanding they rule, After that another table is available, but they still didn't give the table to me with reason: there have another reservation, but no one is coming after i wait for 1hr 30min? HAH?. After i ask again when i can get the table, then he said if yea i can use the table with min spend?? OMG, it's not about min spend bro. Why u played with your guest? I need the table bcs i need a comfy space for 6pax. I thought if the they have a good service, but the truth is SO...

Visited Bar Kotak last night, and while the place looks absolutely stunning with its sophisticated design, the experience didn’t live up to the hype.

The ambience is beautiful, but the service felt too casual for a high-end bar. The bartender casually used “lo” and “gue” with customers, which felt out of place and unprofessional. They were also severely understaffed, so we often had to search for staff to take our order.

I ordered the Djakarta cocktail (IDR 250K++), and it was a big disappointment—it tasted like a mocktail with no detectable alcohol at all. A cocktail should be smooth but still have that kick, and this just didn’t deliver.

We also tried the sushi; it was just okay, nothing memorable, and service was slow.

In summary: Bar Kotak is all style and no substance. Great for Instagram, but if you’re after quality cocktails and service that match the price, this...