Eastern Promise- popular Pub & Restaurant in Jakarta

March 5th, 2011

Eastern Promise is a long established pub, restaurant and live music venue in the Kemang residential area of Jakarta, very popular with both expats, and many local customers who come in particular to enjoy the entertaining live bands that play in the outdoor beer garden on weekend nights.

The pub is prominently located at the top end of Jln Kemang on the left side when coming down from Jakarta. You enter the low building directly from the street front, and the invariably always full, car spaces out front. Inside the entrance is the front bar, which seems to be populated with patrons at all hours of the day. The decor is in “European pub” tradition- think dark timber wall panels, bar and furniture, low ceiling, loads of pub memorabilia on the walls and that “homely” feeling that is not so easy to create. Friendly bar staff greet regular guests by their first names and the atmosphere is relaxed and casual.

Moving further inside there is a separate pool room, and then down a step to the main dining room. The kitchen has a long tradition of serving excellent value and quality Indian dishes, together with the more regular Western pub comfort fare.

Out through a side door from the dining room is another larger space reserved for sports enthusiasts- with a large projector screen and numerous LCD TV panels.

And out the back door of the dining room lies what was originally an outdoor beer garden, but more recently has become a “hot” venue for some of Jakarta’s better live bands. The space has now been entirely covered by a large overhead frame with awning fabric and ensures that rain does not interrupt any performances. For previous regulars of the original “Bugils Cafe“- the timber bar from that outlet has been salvaged, and takes a prominent place serving the weekend crowds in the beer garden.

In recent years, under the new ownership and management of the “Bugils Group”, Eastern Promise has enjoyed a true renaissance in popularity, and is now one of the most popular pubs in Jakarta. Always a safe choice for a quick pub meal, or just to hang out at the bar, and for the party minded- the weekend live bands provide all the entertainment necessary to keep the guests drinking and the bar staff busy until the early hours of the morning.