In 10 years in Jakarta, I had never been to Tanjung Priok at night. For those who don't know, Tanjung Priok is located in the extreme North of the city and it is home to the city's main harbour. It is not a very recommended area to hangout. Don't bring your girlfriend here on a date.
Anyway, we were actually planning to go to Senen from Kelapa Gading, but our taxi driver was tricky and he tried to extend our journey (and fare) with him.
My friend looked at his GPS and it was clear that we were completely off-track, going North West instead of going South East.
We started to argue and after a little fight with him, he dropped us off at the corner of Jalan Laksamana Yos Sudarso and Jalan Raya Enggano.
Anyway, we were actually planning to go to Senen from Kelapa Gading, but our taxi driver was tricky and he tried to extend our journey (and fare) with him.
My friend looked at his GPS and it was clear that we were completely off-track, going North West instead of going South East.
We started to argue and after a little fight with him, he dropped us off at the corner of Jalan Laksamana Yos Sudarso and Jalan Raya Enggano.
We were waiting for a new taxi back home, when we saw there were several bars, clubs and massage parlours in that area. I suggested we had a quick look as we had little chance to ever come here again.
We started our visit by the karaoke and massage parlour of the hotel MH Sepinggan, which surprisingly is not listed on TripAdvisor or Booking.com.
We started our visit by the karaoke and massage parlour of the hotel MH Sepinggan, which surprisingly is not listed on TripAdvisor or Booking.com.
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| The back entrance of the Hotel MH Sepinggan |
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| Finding the karaoke was a real challenge |
The facilities of the rooms include a floor, a ceiling, and 4 walls. The lock on the door is optional.
The karaoke was very quiet. It is a lounge with sofas and a big screen, nothing special. Some girls were waiting a bit everywhere in the hotel.
We then decide to visit all the bars of the street, which took us about 2 hours as there were about 15 of them.
To be honest, they are all very similar, they are dark, smokey and there are a lot of prostitutes. Their sizes vary, the biggest and most busy is probably Monalisa Café. The music is either live band playing dangdut and Indonesian favourites, or clubbing music that I like to call Techno Kota (but is also known as Funky House or Dangdut House).
The karaoke was very quiet. It is a lounge with sofas and a big screen, nothing special. Some girls were waiting a bit everywhere in the hotel.
We then decide to visit all the bars of the street, which took us about 2 hours as there were about 15 of them.
To be honest, they are all very similar, they are dark, smokey and there are a lot of prostitutes. Their sizes vary, the biggest and most busy is probably Monalisa Café. The music is either live band playing dangdut and Indonesian favourites, or clubbing music that I like to call Techno Kota (but is also known as Funky House or Dangdut House).
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| Cafe Dream |
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| Metropolitan |
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| Monalisa Café (the best club in the Street) |
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| Moonlight Cafe |
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| Tu' Mou Tou (A Manadonese Cafe - The customers are mostly seamen from Sulawesi) |
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| Inside Tu' Mou Tou café |
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| Morena Café and Navigator |
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| Celebrating a birthday in Morena Cafe |
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| Santana Cafe |
We ended up for a last Bintang in Morena Café, which was a very friendly place. There was a birthday for one of the customers on that evening and we were invited to share a piece of the cake. We also had the privilege of being interviewed by the MC of the evening, who shed a tear when we left.
Overall: Excellent evening but I will probably not go back. It can be a way to experience a different side of Jakarta nightlife if you live in the North of the city. Be careful though it didn't seem like a super safe neighboroud (even though everyone was welcoming).
Overall: Excellent evening but I will probably not go back. It can be a way to experience a different side of Jakarta nightlife if you live in the North of the city. Be careful though it didn't seem like a super safe neighboroud (even though everyone was welcoming).
Where?:
Bars, Cafés, Clubs, Discos of Jalan Enggano
Jalan Enggano Raya
Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta 14330
The only phone numbers I could find were the ones of Monalisa Café: +62-21 43932507 and of MH Sepinggan Hotel +62-21 4352222.
If you are interested in local Jakarta nightlife venues, you may want to read on Jakarta100bars: Pasar Rumput Nightlife and KSC 117.
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