Ever find yourself trapped in a traffic jam in the center of Jakarta; or simply need an escape from the city's hustle bustle? Then Jl. Veteran I in Central Jakarta might just be the place for you.

The street boasts old buildings, some of them cozy caf*s and restaurants serving miscellaneous heritage cuisine, ranging from oxtail soup to homemade ice cream.

The one-way street can only be reached from Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, heading to Jl. Juanda, near Juanda Station and the city's iconic Istiqlal Grand Mosque.

Make the Newseum Caf* your first stop.

Newseum, a contraction of "news museum", is located on the second floor on one of the old shop-houses.

The caf*, which used to be the famous French-style caf* Black Cat, also has a historical private room, where Dutch captain Raymond Westerling and Sultan Hamid II met to plot a rebellion.

The caf* wall - all the way from the entrance to the meeting room - is chock-full of clippings of the front pages of various newspapers, as a sort of chronicle of the past decade.

The Newseum is a combination meeting room, museum, gallery and caf*, and is usually booked for group discussions.

Guests can also take a look at archives on the history of the press, and enjoy art in the gallery and art performances on a small stage.

The Museum of Journalism is located at the back of the caf*, where various press documentations are kept, including the works of Indonesia's first press figures, Tirtoadisuryo and Marco Kartodikromo, as well as research documentation on "100 years of the Indonesian Press from 1907 to 2007".

The museum also has an archive of the front pages of 365 selected media, as well as biographies of 100 noted Indonesian press figures and daily notes of the country's press from 1908 to 2008.

The gallery, located at the side of the museum and caf*, displays paintings and sculptures.

From June 17 to July 17, the Newseum is holding the Bataviase Nouvelles festival at the gallery, which features a photo exhibition titled "Juxtaposition: Di Batavia sampe Jakarta". The exhibition also includes discussions, live music and a photography workshop on July 4 and 5.

Your second stop should be Domus, an Italian restaurant dubbed one of the top 50 restaurants worth visiting in the world.

Domus was inaugurated in 1978 by former foreign minister Ali Alatas. The name was taken from the Latin for "house".

Entering the restaurant, you'll notice the wide bar and brick fireplace. Some arty decorations are also displayed in the room, including a life-size gold sculpture of Shiva Dancing.

The restaurant has two private rooms that can accommodate 10 and 20 people.

One of the rooms boasts fluorescent paintings of Indonesian presidents, which glow under ultraviolet light. The rooms are usually used for discussions.

Pizza is the main menu at Domus, besides local fare such as nasi goreng (fried rice) and garlic cassava. The restaurant offers up 15 kinds of pizza, cooked in a 250 degree Celsius wood oven from Italy.

Next to Domus is the gallery of the Indonesian Heritage Trust (BPPI), an organization dedicated to safeguarding the sustainability of Indonesian heritage. The gallery is often used for exhibitions and a monthly discussion.

Another unique place worth visiting on Jl. Veteran is Dapur Babah Elite, a restaurant representing a mixture of Betawi (native Jakarta), Chinese and Dutch cultures.

The word Babah in Java is commonly used to address mixed-blood people from marriages between Chinese settlers and native Javanese women. It is also used for ethnic Chinese whose daily culture was strongly influenced by the local Javanese and the Dutch who lived on the island.

With its classical interior, the restaurant has become a favorite location for pre-wedding photo shoots.

The restaurant is divided into six rooms, each of which has its own unique interior.

The Kwan Im Room, a private meeting room that can hold 25 people, is dominated by red. Three sculptures of the goddess Kwan Im are the room's main attraction. The sculptures were made in three versions: China, India and Sri Lanka.

Another of the rooms is the Megawati Room, in tribute to the country's former president for inaugurating the restaurant in December 2004. This room is also fitted out in red, which the Chinese consider a lucky color.

The VOC room features a collection of antiques from the rule of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, the Dutch chamber of trade during its occupancy in Indonesia. Among the items are guns, swords and a replica VOC symbol.

The Angela Room, located in the center of the restaurant, is a small private room decorated in classical style.

The Tao Bar brings together the cultures of Thailand, India and Tibet, under the theme of "The Mystery of the East". Guests can rent monk costumes and take pictures in this room.

The last room is an open-air one called the Dapur Babah Garden Area. Located at the back of the restaurant, it is the biggest of the six rooms.

Among the heritage cuisine at Dapur Babah Elite are nasik tjampoer babah (pandan rice mixed with nine kinds of Javanese dishes), bebek goreng boemboe lengkoeas (fried duck marinated in galangal sauce), biefstuk compleet oen (pan-fried beef tenderloin served with fried potatoes, beans and carrot) and sop boentoet rempah tugu (special recipe oxtail soup).

As you wind your way to the end of the street, your last stop on this heritage trip is Ragusa Ice Cream.

The restaurant, established in 1932, is renowned among Jakartans for its homemade and preservative-free Italian ice cream.

Favorites include the spaghetti ice cream, cazatta sicilliana and tutti frutti.

The restaurant's interior remains the same as it was when it first opened its doors, thus drawing back its elderly customers to reminisce in the classic ambience.

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