From The Crown by Kirk Westaway, to Copa at 25hours The Oddbird, these are the Jakarta restaurants redefining fine dining, nightlife and modern Indonesian cuisine.
Jakarta is rapidly emerging as one of Southeast Asia’s most exciting culinary capitals. While cities like Singapore and Bangkok have long dominated conversations around luxury dining in Asia, Jakarta’s restaurant scene has ohquietly evolved into something far more dynamic, creative and culturally layered than many travellers expect -and it’s affordable
Today, the Indonesian capital is home to globally recognised chefs, sophisticated tasting menus, exceptional local cuisine and stylish restaurants that blend fine dining with the city’s energetic social culture.
For luxury travellers, food lovers and discerning diners, these are the Jakarta restaurants you simply cannot miss.
The Crown By Kirk Westaway
An absolute standout dominating Jakarta’s high-end dining scene is multi award winning The Crown by Kirk Westaway. Created by two Michelin-starred British chef Kirk Westaway, the restaurant delivers refined contemporary dining with the precision and polish that has made Westaway internationally respected.
Unlike overly theatrical fine dining concepts, The Crown focuses on clarity, premium ingredients and deeply considered cooking techniques. Food is modern British, and the concept is a culinary journey through some of Britain’s most famous dishes from potato soup (like you’ve never tasted) and lamb, a nod to Westaway’s childhood growing up in Devon. (Devon has been brewing sheep for hundreds of years due to the terrain and climate, and Devon lamb is a thing in the UK as it is grass fed, naturally raised and has a mild, clean flavour).
The restaurant’s elegant interiors include Winston the sheep, another nod to Devon, Westaway’s homeland, and elevated service create a sophisticated atmosphere that appeals to Jakarta’s luxury travellers, business elite and international dining crowd alike.
Signature dishes often celebrate premium seafood, perfectly executed meats and refined sauces, while desserts carry Westaway’s signature balance of nostalgia and modern finesse. It is the kind of restaurant that signals Jakarta is now operating on a truly global fine dining level.
Copa
At the very top of the city’s newest openings is Copa, the striking South American-inspired restaurant inside 25hours Hotel The Oddbird. Fast becoming one of the city’s hottest dining destinations, Copa brings a vibrant Latin American energy to Jakarta’s luxury dining scene.
Helmed by energetic and passionate Chilean chef Matías Mardones, the restaurant combines bold South American flavours with a lively, design-driven atmosphere that perfectly reflects the personality of the hotel itself. Interiors are warm, theatrical and effortlessly cool, while the menu focuses heavily on flame-grilled meats, fresh ceviches, smoky vegetables and vibrant cocktails.
Signature dishes include beautifully charred steaks, fresh seafood with citrus and chilli, and share-style plates designed for long social dinners. Combined with Jakarta’s growing appetite for experiential dining, Copa feels exactly like the kind of globally inspired restaurant modern luxury travellers are searching for. Read more about The Oddbird Jakarta here.
August
One of the city’s most critically acclaimed restaurants is award winning August, which has become synonymous with modern culinary artistry in Jakarta. Created by chef Hans Christian and restaurateur Mert Nople, August combines European technique with Indonesian storytelling and ingredients.
The tasting menus (typically there are two two choose from) are thoughtful, contemporary and beautifully executed without feeling intimidating or overly formal. Dishes often highlight local Indonesian spices, seafood and tropical produce while maintaining a distinctly international standard. The restaurant’s intimate atmosphere, polished plating and intelligent flavour combinations have positioned it among the city’s most important dining experiences.
(Find more of Jakarta’s hot spots here)
Panja
Panja is another restaurant helping redefine Jakarta’s food scene. Focused heavily on modern Indonesian flavours, Panja takes local culinary traditions and reinterprets them through a contemporary lens. The restaurant feels creative yet deeply connected to Indonesian identity, with dishes built around smoke, spice, texture and regional ingredients sourced from across the archipelago. The menu has everything from oysters to salads, steaks and vegetable dishes.
Make sure you go upstairs, and the bar is also pretty fabulous for a pre-dinner drink.
Cocktails infused with herbs, tropical fruits and local spices add another layer to the experience. The silver “punch bowl” filled with negronis and matching cups on the side is truly unique. Panja represents a younger, more experimental side of Jakarta dining — ambitious, stylish and increasingly influential.
Franco
For one of Jakarta’s best social dining experiences, Franco delivers a completely different energy. Known for its vibrant atmosphere, live music and exceptional duck dishes, Franco has become a favourite among Jakarta’s fashionable crowd. You must book to get in.
The restaurant balances elegance with warmth, making it equally suited to long dinners, celebrations or lively evenings that continue late into the night. Its signature duck has developed an almost cult following, praised for its rich flavour, crisp skin and refined presentation, and is stored hung in fridges within the restaurant. Combined with strong cocktails, good wines, polished service and live entertainment, Franco captures the glamorous side of Jakarta nightlife exceptionally well.
Roma
Meanwhile, Roma remains one of the city’s most popular casual yet upscale dining venues. Unlike some of Jakarta’s more formal fine dining restaurants, Roma leans into a relaxed, social atmosphere that encourages long lunches and easy dinners with friends. The menu focuses largely on European and Mediterranean-inspired comfort dishes, including handmade pasta, wood-fired meats and pizza, and fresh seafood plates designed for sharing.
Stylish yet approachable, with a fabulous happy hour, Roma has become a reliable go-to for Jakarta’s creative, fashion and business communities who want quality food without excessive formality. The margaritas and negronis are legendary It is less about theatrical fine dining and more about effortless contemporary dining done well.
For something highly theatrical and uniquely Indonesian, Namaaz Dining continues to stand apart. Known internationally for its avant-garde tasting menus, the restaurant transforms traditional Indonesian dishes into surprising, artistic creations that challenge diners’ expectations. Familiar comfort foods are reconstructed into entirely new forms while still retaining authentic Indonesian flavours. The experience is playful, immersive and unlike almost anything else in Southeast Asia.
High above the city skyline, Henshin at The Westin Jakarta remains one of Jakarta’s most iconic dining destinations. Combining Japanese and Peruvian influences, the restaurant offers dramatic city views, the highest rooftop restaurant in Jakarta alongside sophisticated Nikkei cuisine. Guests come for premium sashimi, robata-grilled dishes and beautifully balanced cocktails, but also for the atmosphere, which transitions from refined dining to glamorous nightlife as the evening progresses.
For travellers wanting a deeper connection to Indonesian culinary culture, Kaum Jakarta offers one of the city’s best explorations of authentic regional Indonesian cuisine. Developed by the team behind Bali’s Potato Head group, Kaum celebrates recipes and cooking traditions sourced directly from communities across Indonesia’s vast archipelago. The result is a menu filled with smoky grilled meats, richly spiced curries, sambals and traditional cooking techniques presented in a sophisticated contemporary environment.
Meanwhile, Plataran Menteng offers a more heritage-driven luxury dining experience inside a beautifully restored colonial-style mansion with birds walking around outside. The restaurant focuses on elevated Indonesian classics, including fragrant satays, richly spiced rendang and refined Javanese dishes served within one of Jakarta’s most elegant heritage settings. It is ideal for lunch – and plenty of instagrammable moments.
What makes Jakarta particularly exciting right now is that it still feels somewhat under-the-radar internationally. There is a confidence and ambition driving the city’s restaurant scene, fuelled by talented chefs, rising luxury tourism and Indonesia’s extraordinary diversity of ingredients and culinary traditions. Increasingly, Jakarta is no longer simply a gateway to Bali or the Indonesian islands beyond — it is becoming a serious d
