Jakarta

A weekend here might look like

• Morning: Monas jakarta - The National Monument, a 132-metre obelisk at the heart of Merdeka Square topped with a gilded flame, commemorating Indonesia's struggle for independence, with a lookout near the top.
• Lunch: Café Batavia - A restaurant and bar in a nineteenth-century building on Fatahillah Square, its upstairs dining room panelled in teak and hung with old photographs.
• Afternoon: Kota Tua - The old Dutch trading town of Batavia, gathered around Fatahillah Square and its colonial-era museums, with brightly painted bicycles to ride across the cobbles.

More to explore

• Istiqlal Mosque - The largest mosque in Southeast Asia, completed in 1978, its vast white prayer halls facing Jakarta Cathedral across the road. Visitors are guided through by volunteers.
• National Museum of Indonesia - The national museum, known locally as the Elephant Museum for the bronze elephant at its door, with statuary, ceramics and textiles from across the archipelago.
• Taman Mini Indonesia Indah - A large park of traditional houses from each of Indonesia's provinces, with gardens and museums that show the country's range in an afternoon.
• Plataran Menteng - Cooking from across the Indonesian islands in a restored colonial house in leafy Menteng, with a garden terrace.
• RM Pagi Sore Cipete - Padang cooking on Jl. Cipete Raya, serving since 1973 and one of Jakarta's best-known names for it. There's no ordering: waiters cover your table with dozens of small plates, and you pay only for what you touch. Rendang and ayam pop are the dishes people come for, alongside curries, sambal ijo, dendeng and fish head in yellow curry. Spacious, clean and air-conditioned, with room for a big group. Come early or book, because it fills up and parking is tight at peak times.
• Remboelan - Senayan City - Indonesian cooking done properly, on level five of Senayan City. The menu is long and ranges across the archipelago, from Java to Manado, with plenty of dishes you won't find on a standard tourist menu, and photographs plus English descriptions to help you choose. Portions suit sharing between two or three, so order broadly. Stylish and comfortable, and priced fairly for a mall restaurant.
• harlan + holden coffee - Plaza Indonesia - A sleek coffee bar on level two of Plaza Indonesia, from the Manila fashion-and-coffee label Harlan + Holden. Ordering is app-only and self-service, which keeps the queue moving once you've worked it out. The drawcard is the butterscotch latte with its cookie crumble, and the sea salt latte runs it close, though there are aromatic single-roast espresso options if you'd rather taste the coffee. Cakes, cookies and brownies at the counter. An easy pause mid-shopping.
• Anomali Coffee Menteng - Indonesian specialty coffee on Teuku Cik Ditiro in Menteng, from one of the country's pioneering roasters. Single origins from across the archipelago, brewed however you like, with beans by the bag in a range of sizes to take home. There's a proper food menu too, plus cakes, platters and appetisers. Roomy indoor and outdoor seating, plenty of power points, decent parking and a prayer room, all a short walk from a bus stop. Quiet enough to work through the day, busy at night.
• Djournal Coffee Grand Indonesia - A relaxed Indonesian coffee chain on the ground floor of Grand Indonesia's West Mall, going since 2013 and built around beans from local farmers. Regulars are called Djournalists, and the idea is a third place between home and work: comfortable, unhurried and open until midnight. Order an Americano or a cold chocolate, try bajigur if you want something local, and pair it with cake. The food menu holds up better than most coffee shops, with pasta and nasi goreng both worth ordering. Free wifi, halal, and vegetarian options.

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