North Jakarta'€™s gated community Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) has become increasingly popular as Jakarta'€™s next food haven with a rising number of new eateries from international franchises, mostly of an East Asian variety, locating to the area.

Many of the businesses, located in shophouses marked by typical, template designs have invested in new decorations to make them attractive enough for young patrons to take pictures and then share them on social media, especially Path and Instagram.

However, the businesses attract not only young people but also families, some coming all the way from Bekasi or Bandung in West Java.

Maria Gyang Prakasita, for instance, drove roughly 57.5 kilometers from her house in Tambun, East Bekasi, West Java, to PIK to visit a bus-themed restaurant she had become aware of from social media.

'€œSeeing many reviews of the restaurant, I became curious about it. So, I decided to go there with my boyfriend,'€ said Gyang, adding that she usually visited more than one eatery in a visit.

Some restaurants, however, were recommended by visitors primarily for their attractive design features, not necessarily the food, said Gyang, who plans to visit PIK for a third time.

In line with Gyang, Margareta Ajeng Kusumastuti was also willing to go from Kota Bumi, Tangerang, Banten, to PIK, just to eat a bowl of Japanese ramen and nitrogen ice cream.

According to her, aside from enjoying delicacies, in PIK she found places with gorgeous backgrounds, and she could use these to capture plenty of good moments with her friends.

Ajeng said that she initially did not know that PIK contained such refined eating places before she found a picture of green ice cream served in a oreo ice cream cone on the photo and video sharing platform Instagram.

Besides being home to trendy dessert parlors, PIK also offers many kinds of non-halal food for the Chinese-Indonesians who live in the area. From pork soup called '€œbak kut teh'€ to crunchy fried pork belly, PIK, like the more established Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta, is the place to go for Indonesian pork fiends.

Besides pork menus, PIK and the neighboring Muara Karang of Pluit have long been famous for seafood eateries, available in both upscale restaurants and cheaper tent stall alternatives.

'€œFor those who like eating seafood in warung tenda [tent stalls], they could go to the PIK modern market in the evening,'€ suggested North Jakarta resident Giovanny Saully, adding that people should go as early as possible because the tables were often fully occupied.

PIK'€™s modern market offered numerous delicious foods reasonably priced, according to Gio, noting that the food stalls at the Food Plaza PIK were also open in the morning with different menus.

Priscilla Anggerina Prabowo, the owner of the ice cream shop North Pole, said that she and two friends decided to open their first shop last year because they were reassured that PIK was a potentially growing area.

Moreover, after conducting a survey, they found that residents in PIK tended to spend more money for desserts compared to those in Kelapa Gading.

'€œIn PIK, many people do not mind spending around Rp 35,000 for a cup of ice cream, although it is not a primary food,'€ said Priscilla, citing that North Pole usually welcomed around 100 visitors a day.

Ratna Juwita, the owner of Bumbu Moyang, said that before opening her restaurant, she considered PIK a potentially attractive area for food and beverages.

'€œWhat I thought before was eventually proven in a short time. Almost all of the shophouses were already occupied,'€ said Ratna, who has been running an Indonesian restaurant since 2011.

Bumbu Moyang'€™s visitors, ranging from locals to expatriates, came from many parts of Jakarta, including South and West Jakarta, Ratna said.

The neighboring Pluit also contained recommended places that were popular even before the advent of social media fever. The seafood stalls in Muara Karang Market serve as an example.

Besides the obvious food places in the Baywalk Mall and Pluit Village, the neighborhood contains independent restaurants scattered along Jl. Pluit Indah Raya and Jl. Pluit Putra Raya among others. (agn)

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