Across the open-air courtyard, a swing hangs at the edge of the garden where pandan leaf and lemongrass grow.

In the distance a vibrant, traditional Indian fresco spans a nine-meter wall. The house has come a long way from the kost (boarding house) it was just a year ago.

Now you can lounge in lesehan seating or pull up a chair to a custom table in one of the five converted, boldly painted rooms. Your choice: indigo, chili pepper red, saffron yellow, fuchsia, or lime.

Sangam House is a place where contemporary design and traditional artwork meet retreat-like calm, and where classic Indian dishes such as chicken tandoori hide the fact that you’re actually dining in Central Java.

Opened in April by Jean Pascal Elbaz and Restu Surbakti, Sangam House is situated in a quiet residential area off Jalan Kaliurang in northern Yogyakarta, close to Gadjah Mada University.

In addition to serving traditional Indian cuisine, Sangam House boasts a thoughtful boutique and meditative art space. Sangam House may be tucked away from view, but locals and visitors alike are finding their way through its door, which made a journey of its own from southern India.

Over their vegetarian entrée of palak paneer, a Canadian couple reminisced over their first visit to Sangam House. “We’ve been to over 80 countries and this is one of the most beautiful restaurants we’ve seen,” said Anil Rastogi.

But Sangam House is not just about aesthetics and dining. Look closely and you’ll see the décor tells a story. It’s a story of times when India’s reach into Indonesia was more apparent. Beyond the temples of Prambanan or Borobodur, which are obvious reminders of the ties linking the two countries, India and Indonesia share a history of trade relations, Hinduism and Sanskrit roots.  

“The very concept of this restaurant is to try to revive link between India and Indonesia,” says Elbaz.

With that, he explains the artwork: traditional paintings from the Gond tribe in central India, Indian batik (which Indonesians later adapted) from Kalamkari in southern India, a painting by Bhajju Shyam, and a hand-painted movie poster given to him by friends in India. Beneath some of the glass-topped tables, you’ll see 18th  century Indian batik created for Indonesian traders in exchange for spices such as cloves and nutmeg.

This connection between India and Indonesia captured Elbaz’s interested in 1989 when he decided to make his first trip to Indonesia. Later, when he was director of the French Cultural Center in Yogyakarta between 1997 and 2002, he spent his weekends visiting the lesser-known Hindu temples in the area. One day he met an archaeologist to whom he pitched his idea for a guidebook on these treasures. They later published Sites out of Sight (by Rizky Sasono, Jean Pascal Elbaz and Agung Kurniawan; text in French, Indonesian and English).

Elbaz met Surbakti in 1991 while working for the French Embassy in Jakarta. When a potential property became available in Yogyakarta, they decided to open a restaurant, figuring there would be no better place to drum up a revival of India’s influence in Indonesia than the city of Ramayana performances, batik and temples.

Before becoming the chef and partner in the Sangam House endeavor, Surbakti spent more than four years studying culinary art in Chennai at the Madras Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology and informally in the homes of Indians living in Kolkata and Kashmir. Originally from the northern Sumatran town of Pangkalan Brandan, he was well acquainted with Indian influences on Indonesian food.

“When I first visited north India I didn’t like north Indian food, so when I landed in south India, I liked it,” he says. “It was easy for me to eat, it reminded me of Aceh.”

The menu reflects his attentiveness to Indonesian palettes with the inclusion of coconut milk in the malabar jingga curry, three soups not found in India and the guava lassi. There’s an Indonesian twist
on the raita salad, a tangy combination of fruit with cashews in a yogurt and mint sauce, and an addition of sesame to the Madras mutton curry. He also makes every attempt at authenticity by crafting paneer (Indian tofu made from milk rather than soy) a few times weekly. He grinds his own garam masala from cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper and cumin.

Before you get to dipping vegetable samosas in tomato curry sauce, wander through the front of the property, which is a boutique stocked with handicrafts from India including pillow covers, carpets, wooden shoes, clothing and shawls.

“We thought let’s try different things in the different spaces,” Elbaz says. “I must say we had no experience in restaurant or boutique business, but we decided to bring things that we loved from India and see if we could sell them.”

Adjacent to the boutique is an art space where yoga classes are held five days a week. The three yoga styles offered include Hatha (classical including breathing and relaxation), Tantra (holistic yoga for health and mental peace), and yin (a meditative style where postures are held for longer). Instructors Sebastian and Marice both learned from Indian gurus. Recently they began offering a meditation class where participants are invited to practice together.

Cultural awareness and social responsibility are two themes that resurface in discussing decisions that went into making Sangam House. The art space is also used for film viewings, exhibitions, discussions and dance performances.

As its Sanskrit name meaning “confluence” suggests, Sangam House is indeed a meeting place. And, it’s the kind of place where you can meet and linger a while.

— Photos by Todd Teetzel

Sangam House

Traditional Indian cuisine,
boutique & art space
Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (closed Tuesdays)
Pandega Siwi 14
Jalan Kaliurang Km 5, 6
Yogyakarta

Tel: +62 274 562 132
Email: sangamjogjakarta@gmail.com

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