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Indonesia's Very Own Original Kopitiam: Warung Kopi Phoenam in Makassar
If you have less than 24 hours to spend in a new city, where would you go to? For me, the answer is pretty easy, as I would first and foremost, head down to the best coffee place in town that the locals flock to.
Where it all began: Warung Kopi Phoenam Jampea, Makassar
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It was a no brainer question to Pak Gosal, a native Makassar, who was assigned to accompany the guests from Jakarta, including myself during our visit. Pak Gosal pointed me to Warung Kopi Phoenam (pronounced as /phu-nang/) on Jalan Jampea, the first and original location of the 6 decades-old legendary kopitiam in Makassar, or what used to be called Ujungpandang.
The Kopitiam signature: Kaya Toast, Teh Tarik and Kopi Susu
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Warung Kopi Phoenam or Phoenam Coffee Shop could be said to be a pride of Makassar, because it originated from the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, circa 1946. Today, more than 60 years down the road, Phoenam has expanded its reach to other cities across Indonesia, including several franchised stores in Jakarta. I suppose no other coffee shop in Indonesia comes close to Phoenam in terms of the legacy. The history of Warung Kopi (warkop) Phoenam is aplenty online, so I won't bore you with History 101.
A vintage photo of the three Phoenam founders
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As we pulled into the driveway of the warkop on jalan Jampea, the place has obviously undergone a facelift since it was first open. Today, the coffee shop looks like a modern shophouse with white tiled floor and there's even free wifi for the guests!
The main area of the coffee shop is actually open air and allows smoking guests, but for non-smokers, there's a separate non-smoking area with air conditioning, accessible through a door near the back of the shop.
I saw a middle aged Chinese lady near the cash register...Upon some casual inquiry, turns out she's related to the first generation owners of Phoenam. The folks there were not intimidated by a camera-wielding bleached blonde chinese girl taking photos of their store, so I guess they must be used to it (the fame) already.
Over the strong Toraja coffee, Pak Gosal pointed out to me that coffee shops in Makassar were mostly run by Hainanese migrants and they were usually located in street corners or junctions. I suppose coffee-drinking habit is as much ingrained in the Chinese' blood as it is to Italians.
Unlike kopitiam in Singapore / Malaysia, there's not much theatrics when making teh tarik here
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The menu is pretty straightforward, the usual offerings at kopitiams: black coffee with sweet condensed milk, Ovaltine (hot chocolate), kaya toast, teh tarik and such. Oh, I saw cappuccino on the list, but you can have that in any modern cafe. If you're feeling gutsy, try the Kopi with Telur Susu Madu (black coffee stirred with egg yolk, milk and honey). Sounds like it'll make you puke, but this is actually a pretty popular traditional coffee combo in Indonesia, I've never tried it myself so I wonder how it would taste like...
The Phoenam black Toraja coffee is, to put it bluntly, very bitter and overbearing, even to someone who is used to drinking black coffee like me. After just a few sips, I gave up my cool and finally mixed in the sweet condensed milk, not too much though. Pak Gosal personally recommends to order the Kopi Susu and request for the milk to be separated, because sometimes the standard serving might be too sweet to some people. Besides that, I ordered the Teh Tarik out of curiosity, just to see how they 'pull' the milk and tea mixture. Turns out it was quite an ordinary method, still interesting to shoot). The Teh Tarik is quite sweet, maybe I'd enjoy it better, served with ice.
Kopi and sweet condensed milk IDR 15,000
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As for the food, the choices are typically comfort food in a kopitiam; either toasted or egg-soaked and fried egg or instant noodles with various toppings. If you are used to biscuit like crispy and crumbly kaya toast in Jakarta, Phoenam's is slightly different, as the bread is thick and soft, but crispy outside. The kaya jam is made in house and could be made as a souvenir for your folks back home, selling at IDR 30,000/jar.
Phoenam Kaya Toast IDR 12,000
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The prices are reasonable, although not cheap, it's still cheaper than the prices in Jakarta. Oh, the lady actually used a traditional sempoa (abacus) to total my bill, this is a rare sight nowadays, don't you think? The next thing I will do, is to try the Phoenam coffee shop in Jakarta, I heard the coffee composition is slightly adjusted to suit the market in Jakarta. Among the flock of kopitiam franchises in Jakarta, Phoenam is not as well known, but it has a great potential yet untapped by the local market, because Phoenam has what others don't: history.
Article Credit of Culinary Bonanza
Kopi Es Tak Kie Jakarta
At this time, I along with other foodies want culinary around Jakarta, which is probably a lot of people who are rarely found, especially for young people, like today. So here we go!
Honestly, the first time I walked around into Jalan Pintu Besar Selatan, Glodok. And I never thought that in a small alley like this, there's so much foods and so impressed the past. Hmm oh ya, the way to this place is a bit cramped because of many food vendors or kitchen fixtures along this alley. So, you have to be patient!
Now, I found a hidden gem at Gang Gloria (Gloria Alley) at Glodok, West Jakarta. Yeah, it's Kopi Es Tak Kie, a pretty old-fashioned coffee shop. Hmm okay, that I've in my mind when entering this place is LEGENDARY, maybe the right word to describe this place. Which is said, this place has started serving coffee since 1927. Wow!
This is the atmosphere in the Tak Kie coffee shop. Surely, most people who come here are Chinese and I rarely find youngster who 'play' in this area. Indeed, this isn't like a fancy restaurant that is popular in nowadays, but the food here is very tasty and affordable price.
Nasi Campur, as my favorite foods. Why? Because in this menu I've got some various types of pork. HAHA! And you can see by yourself, it does not use hainanese rice, but they're using white rice in general. And it seems no less tasty with the use of hainanese rice, idk why.
And to complete this delicious meal, served also a bowl of warm soup with vegetables. The perfect complement! What do you think, is a portion enough for you?
Chicken Noodle, because pork noodles are sold out, so we finally ordered this one. The noodles are very tasty and enough to make me addicted.
Meatballs and Dumplings
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Else than that, we also ordered a bowl of meatballs and dumplings. Because eating noodle becomes less complete without this. Haha.
Iced Black Cofee (with milk and no milk)
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In here, they're only serve two choices : black coffee or coffee with milk (with ice or no ice). Black coffee (IDR 10.000) and if you wanna add milk, just plus IDR 1.000. It's quite cheap for the size of the legendary coffee shops like this. At last, I ordered an iced black coffee and iced black coffee with milk.
Anyway, Kopi Es Tak Kie can be one of the culinary past the city that should be kept its authenticity. Unfortunately there are only open until 2PM only on each day, so don't oversleep if you want to try it.
Article Credit of The Delicacies Journal
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What do you think, folks? Not for sitting around in for hours but a good spot for a quick one if you know you need to stay awake during a long show. You could easily while away a whole weekend at this place. Home-made cakes, home-made sandwiches and consistently brilliant coffee. We think, coffee is an art here and it's delicious!
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