Rumah Makan Taman Hek (Taman Hek Restaurant) is a well-hidden cozy spot in East Jakarta. If you feel like having a low-budget dinner with a wide range of choice for the food and a unique atmosphere, this restaurant is worth a shot.

Upon arriving at its entrance, it’s a fat chance that you feel that you’ve made a mistake about coming to this restaurant in the first place, because Taman Hek’s appearance from outside is unattractive, to say the least. However, don’t start your car and leave the place just yet, follow the kind gentleman who will show you inside and you will discover that Taman Hek Restaurant may not be such a disappointment after all.

The romantically lit restaurant cleverly creates a natural feel in using wood and bamboos as its building material. The seating area is divided into the usual chairs and tables area and the lesehan-refers to the manner of eating of which you sit on the floor-area with low tables and no chairs. The restaurant’s floor is supported by small pillars and poles and beneath the floor is a large fishpond. The fishpond, along with greeneries here and there, flatter the whole interior of Taman Hek Restaurant.

At the center of the restaurant is a stage where live music is played every night. The audience could request songs and even sing along with the band on stage. Not all of the diners have the voice of a professional Soprano, though, so if in some parts the song starts to lose its shape you might as well view the performance as, say, a comedy instead of a musical one.

The food, unfortunately, is not very special albeit the many choices available, ranging from European to Asian. The restaurant seems to be leaning towards the safer side, hence the lack of flavor. The mushroom soup and fried chicken is all right, and the calamari is quite tasty, but not enough to be crazy about.

Many say that when you are eating for this restaurant you are actually ‘paying for the place’ and not the food, but even the blandest of food could be appetizing when eaten in the right mood, so imagine the possibilities available for the moderately good food served in Taman Hek Restaurant.

Rumah Makan Taman Hek
Jl. Raya Bogor Km.21 No 17
(021) 915-4312