5 Chic French Café in Jakarta That Capture the Charm of a Parisian Café

There are so many restaurants and café in Jakarta that offers French and Parisian style cuisines. There are also many specifically french café in Jakarta that have so many options of menu that depicts French culinary, just like in Paris. From the rich, comforting aroma of freshly flipped crêpes to the sophisticated charm of warm, sunlit interiors, these spaces offer more than just a meal, they also provide a brief escape to the streets of France.

You don’t need to buy a ticket to Paris to find a place where culinary precision meets a relaxed, urban lifestyle. Whether you are craving a perfectly crisp, savory galette for weekend brunch or looking for an intimate spot for an evening espresso, Jakarta’s culinary scene has beautifully embraced the artisan spirit of Paris.

So, here are five spots of french café in Jakarta that effortlessly nail this coveted aesthetic.

PAUL

PAUL is one of the famous French cafe in Jakarta and other big cities in Indonesia. It has so many variety menus related to french culinary. From main course, viennoiseries, pasta, salad, soup, patisserie, and desserts, you can find many casual French culinary in this cafe. You can also find other menus such as crêpes and waffles with many variations.

PAUL is actually one of the patisserie, bakery, and boulangerie legendary from France in Lille that have been founded since 1889 with more than 400 branches all over the world. PAUL in Indonesia is inspired by the French Art de Vivre, that using best products with best quality coming directly from France. So everyone can taste the true and authentique cuisines of French culinary.

There are two types of PAUL restaurant in Jakarta. The first one is PAUL Classic, and the second is PAUL Le Café which is a typical Parisian café you can find in Jakarta. In PAUL Classic, you can find much more french culinary menus with many varieties. Meanwhile in PAUL Le Café, the menus much more focused in viennoiseries, pastries, small bites, coffee, etc.

There area many recommendation menus you can try to eat in PAUL Classic. Such as Coq au Vin (French slow-cooked chicken stew), potato & truffle soup, escargot, croques, croissants, crêpes (original or flavoured), drinks, and so much more.

At PAUL Le Café, you can try any casual culinary from French such as viennoiseries (croissant, canelé, pain au chocolat), sandwiches, pasta, soup, salad, and wide variations of coffee and frappés.

Levant Boulangerie

Another French cafe in Jakarta that probably similar to PAUL is Levant Boulangerie. This French cafe in Jakarta offers many varieties of any types of French bread such as viennoiseries, pâtisseries, boulangerie, and so much more. This French cafe is located in Cipete, South Jakarta.

This French cafe in Jakarta is one of the best French artisant boulangerie restaurant you can try, with so much variations of French bread, even you can find baguette, the traditional yet iconic French bread here.

For viennoiseries, the products are like croissant, pain au chocolat, raisin roll, brioche, feuilleité (croissant dough).

For boulangerie, you can also many variations of artisan bread here such as sourdough, baguettes, yeast breads, and bretzel. One of the famous product is Kamut bread. There are also many variations of baguettes in Levant Boulangerie, one of it’s baguette menu preserve the same traditional method just like in France to make the baguette. More interesting, you can find baguettes that filled with vegetables, meat, or chicken just like sandwich, but this one is using baguette for it’s bread, instead of ordinary bread.

Meanwhile, this French cafe in Jakarta also offers pâtisseries such as tartelettes, tarts, traditional French cakes like mille-feuille and fraisier, etc, and also classic menus like macarons, madeleine, financier, eclair, and so much more.

You can also find another menus of French culinary in this cafe in Jakarta. For example, quiches, croques, salad, pizza, pasta, and also main menu like beef bourguignon (French wine beef stew).

Paris Café

If the two French cafe in Jakarta above focused on French breads, this kind of Parisian café in Jakarta gives you variation of French cuisine just like in Paris. This cafe also have other menu like sorbet that you can try. This is Paris Café, located near area of Senopati, South Jakarta.

This new Parisian café in Jakarta is have a unique concept like a Metro Paris train station. The interior is very artsy, but also look aesthetic, elegant and very Instagrammable. This Parisian café is founded by the Paris Bistro, one of the authentic French Bistro in Jakarta.

You can find many type of typical French cuisines in this French cafe in Jakarta. Such as escargots, croquette, galette (chicken ham), duck confit, sweets like cannelé, toast, mille-feuille, and so much more.

The most recommended menu you have to try in this cafe is Beef Cheek Ragu, kind of slow-cooked beef cheek with palenta and other ingredients. They have also steak menu like Steak au Poivre, using Wagyu meats.

For sweets, this cafe offers sorbet menu with many variations of flavour from mango, pistachio, to raspberry. For sandwich, it has menus like flatbreads and truffle croque monsieur that using sourdough for it’s bread.

Monsieur Spoon

Probably you know already about this kind of French restaurant because this restaurant is popular and has many branches in many malls, not only in Jakarta but also in other cities in Indonesia. But this restaurant can be your starter if you haven’t try or unfamiliar with French cuisines like viennoiseries, etc. This is Monsieur Spoon, one of the casual French restaurant you can find in many mid-to-upper class mall in big cities like in Jakarta.

Actually this restaurant not only offers the French-based cuisine in it’s menu. It also have several menus coming from Asians like rice and noodle, to Italian cuisine like pasta. But of course it has many French-based cuisines like viennoiseries and pastries such as croissants, tartlets, canelé and other cakes.

Another typical French cuisine menus in this restaurant you can try is croquette, soup, Croque Madame & Croque Monsieur (sandwich with sourdough), french toast, quiche lorraine, chicken cordon bleu, and others. They are also have menu that very suitable for have a brunch at this restaurant.

Sophie Authentique

Just like it’s name, this French cafe offers many authentic French cuisines, spesifically French bread and pastries. This is Sophie Authentique, one of the French cafe you can find in area of Kemang, South Jakarta.

This French cafe has numerous French cuisines, from pastries, crêpes, sandwich, quiche, eggs, to pasta and salad. For pastries, there are many menus ranging from croissant, Pain Suisse, Kouign Amann, canele, and croffle. For crêpes, there are many varations of flavour from butter sugar, nutella, to almond.

There are many menus of sandwich, from croque monsieur, croque madame, and others. For sweets menu, there are macarons, madeleine, meringue, to tiramisu.

Final Thoughts

You truly don’t need to fly across the world to indulge in authentic French culinary traditions. Jakarta offers plenty of elegant corners where you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the true Art de Vivre over a plate of freshly baked pastries.

The way these local spots combine rich flavors with a relaxed neighborhood vibe is highly reminiscent of international favorites like Bar Suzette in NYC, a famous New York staple known for bringing exquisite French crepes to the heart of the city.

Pack your bags, or rather, just your appetite and head over to one of these five stunning spots for your next coffee break. Bon Appétit!

About Author

Alviansyah K.

Seorang PNS dengan MBTI ISTJ-T. Railways and public transport enthusiast. Suka jalan-jalan, kulineran, ngopi.

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