Dapur Babah

During my recent visit to Jakarta, I had dinner with my mom and my mom's friends. They took me to Dapur Babah Elite. At first, it didn't look like any fancy restaurant from the outside (not that it mattered where I was being taken), because it was located in a small street, just off the Central Merdeka Square. Its location is within the historical 1940's shop houses during the old Batavia era. As I entered, I was transformed into a different dimension, like as if I was brought back into the past.

The first thing I noticed when I entered, was the traditional "Es Campur" machine. I grew up in Indonesia and I've seen countless of historical artifacts all over the archipelago. However, those artifacts were either in museums and other historical places, not so much in restaurants.

A Javanese woman showed us to our table, but I wanted to look around, because I was amazed to see the fusion of modern and classic art incorporated into this masterpiece.

Along with Dapur Babah Elite, was an extension, a bar called, Tao. The room was decorated in bold mixed pastel and crayon combination from walls to ceilings, table cloths to chairs and pillows, with massive wood columns dividing the room spaces and large Hindu and Buddha Gods and Goddesses stone statues.

Of course, I had a guide named 'Tio', dressed in traditional Javanese outfit, who gave me a quick tour and shared a few historical facts. One thing amazed me about this guide, was his ability to speak a few Tagalog words, which he then told me that he met plenty of Filipinos while growing up. His name is actually Tagalog he said. Nice huh?!

This attraction is believed to be of "Babah" culture. A culture of a distinct group that emerged during the Dutch Colonial era, wherein the Chinese migrants married local Javanese women. In historical facts, Chinese migrants had one local wife and many concubines who controlled the kitchen and prepared meals. It also showed the different classes of society, and their significance during the Colonial era.

As we went along with my short tour, I was taken to this room, with a long table overlooking the garden patio. This room was said to be where President Megawati Soekarnoputri holds her dining pleasures with friends and family.

Overlooking from the Megawati room, is a semi-open terrace that was inspired by the Babah Oei family kitchen, with a kitchen goddess statue and antique traditional cooking paraphernalias during the era.

My tour was cut short when Mom called me to eat. Hehe! The menu was in old Javanese language, which they seldom use now. The menu comprised of the different traditional recipes fused from the Chinese, Dutch and Javanese heritages. Yum!!!

As we ate our dinner with endless talks, the room was filling in more guests and more delicious delicacies with different fragrant aromas were flowing from one table to another. This just made me feel even more at home, as we relaxed ourselves and let the night take us away into the past. History was indeed enjoyed to the fullest!

For more historical facts about Dapur Babah Elite and Tao, please visit:
http://www.tuguhotels.com/taojakarta/index.html