Late-Night Food & Drinks in Kuningan: Where to Go When You Are Not Ready to Call It a Night

It is 10:30 at night in Jakarta.

You have just returned to your hotel after a long day of meetings.

Or perhaps you have checked into an apartment in Kuningan after a late flight.

Maybe you live nearby, finished work much later than expected, opened the refrigerator and decided immediately that cooking was not going to happen.

You are hungry.

But you do not necessarily want a nightclub.

You do not want another meal sitting on the edge of your hotel bed.

And ordering delivery to your room somehow feels like admitting defeat.

Sometimes you just want to get out for an hour.

Find somewhere nearby.

Order proper food.

Have a cold beer, a cocktail, coffee or something non-alcoholic.

Sit somewhere that does not require an occasion.

Then head home when you are ready.

For travellers, business visitors and residents around Kuningan, finding late-night food in Jakarta can become surprisingly important.

Staying in Kuningan? You Are in One of Jakarta's Busiest Neighbourhoods

Kuningan sits at the intersection of several versions of Jakarta.

It is a major business district, filled with offices and corporate headquarters.

It is also home to hotels, serviced apartments, residential towers, shopping centres and embassies.

That means the neighbourhood does not simply empty when offices close.

Business travellers return to their hotels.

Residents return to their apartments.

Visitors arrive after flights.

People finish meetings at strange hours.

And eventually, somebody gets hungry.

The challenge is that the time you become hungry and the time every kitchen wants to feed you are not always the same thing.

The Hotel Restaurant Problem

Hotel restaurants can be excellent.

But after several days travelling for work, there comes a point when you do not necessarily want another evening inside the building where you are sleeping.

Breakfast was downstairs.

The morning meeting was in the lobby.

You answered emails from your room.

Perhaps you even had lunch at the hotel.

By evening, sometimes what you need is not simply food.

You need to leave the hotel.

Walk outside.

See some of Jakarta.

Sit somewhere different.

Have a burger.

Order a drink.

Hear other people talking.

Then return to your room feeling as though you actually went somewhere.

When the Hotel Kitchen Has Finished for the Night

There is another, more practical problem.

Restaurant hours and hotel hours are not always the same thing.

A hotel obviously remains open all night.

Its full restaurant menu may not.

The same applies to cafes, mall restaurants and many conventional dining rooms.

If you have arrived late from the airport, finished an evening event or had a meeting run far longer than planned, you can suddenly find yourself searching:

Food open late near me.

Or:

Late-night restaurant Kuningan.

Or simply:

Where can I eat now?

This is when knowing a few places with genuinely late kitchens becomes useful.

Serviced Apartment Does Not Always Mean You Want to Cook

Kuningan also has a large number of apartments and serviced residences.

Many provide kitchens or kitchenettes.

That is extremely useful when you are staying for several weeks or months.

But having a kitchen and wanting to use one are two completely different things.

After ten hours of meetings, the existence of a frying pan in your apartment does not automatically create enthusiasm.

Residents understand this too.

Sometimes there are groceries at home.

Sometimes there is even food already prepared.

And you still want to go somewhere else.

That is not really about hunger.

It is about getting out of the house.

Late Dinner After Work

Jakarta does not always respect dinner time.

A meeting scheduled for 5 PM becomes 6.

Traffic turns a short journey into a long one.

An event finishes late.

Someone says, Let us just finish this first.

Suddenly it is 9:45 PM and nobody has eaten.

This is particularly common around business districts such as Kuningan, Mega Kuningan, Rasuna Said and Setiabudi.

For people working in these areas, a restaurant with a late kitchen is not a novelty.

It is useful.

You do not need to rush through dinner because somebody is already cleaning the kitchen behind you.

Late-Night Food Does Not Have to Mean Fast Food

There is absolutely nothing wrong with fast food at midnight.

Sometimes it is exactly the right answer.

But sometimes you want an actual plate.

A burger made properly.

Fried rice.

Pasta.

Chicken.

Something to share.

Something hot from a kitchen rather than something that spent the last 25 minutes travelling through Jakarta on the back of a motorcycle.

Late-night dining is better when you still have choices.

Burgers Make Particularly Good Late-Night Food

We may be slightly biased here.

But burgers make a lot of sense late in the evening. Read more about what makes a great burger.

They are substantial without requiring a formal dinner.

They work with fries.

They work with beer.

They work with cocktails.

They work perfectly well with iced tea or a soft drink.

And after a long day, there is something reassuring about food that does not require much explanation.

Beef.

Bun.

Cheese.

Toppings.

Eat.

Things do not always need to be complicated.

What If You Only Want a Drink?

That is fine too.

Perhaps you ate earlier.

You returned to the hotel, looked around the room and realised it was only 9 PM.

Going to sleep seemed ridiculous.

This is where a relaxed neighbourhood bar becomes useful.

Not somewhere you need to dress for.

Not somewhere that assumes you are staying until 3 AM.

Just somewhere you can order a whisky, gin, vodka, beer, wine or cocktail and sit for a while. If cocktails are new to you, our guide to tempat minum cocktail di Jakarta untuk pemula is a good place to start.

One drink is enough.

Two if the conversation is good.

Then back to the hotel.

Travelling Alone Does Not Mean Staying in Your Room

Business travel can involve a surprising amount of time alone.

You fly alone.

Take a taxi alone.

Check into the hotel alone.

Attend meetings all day.

Then return to the hotel alone.

There is nothing wrong with that.

But eating every evening in your room can get old quickly.

A comfortable bar or restaurant is one of the easiest ways to break up the routine.

Sit at the bar.

Order dinner.

Have a drink.

Watch what is happening around you.

Nobody needs to know why you are there.

Solo dining is completely normal in a business district.

And You Do Not Need to Drink Alcohol

Going to a bar alone does not mean you have to drink.

Neither does going with colleagues.

Maybe you are driving.

Maybe you have an early meeting.

Maybe you do not drink for personal or religious reasons.

Maybe you have simply had enough alcohol during the trip already.

Coffee, tea, soft drinks and other non-alcoholic choices are just as legitimate.

The important part is having somewhere comfortable to spend an hour outside your hotel or apartment.

For Residents, Sometimes You Just Need Somewhere Nearby

Travellers are not the only people searching for somewhere late at night.

If you live in Kuningan, Setiabudi or the surrounding neighbourhoods, there are evenings when travelling across Jakarta for dinner simply does not make sense.

You want somewhere close.

Somewhere familiar.

Somewhere you can eat without planning three days in advance.

Maybe friends are visiting.

Maybe you got home late.

Maybe you simply do not want to cook.

A useful neighbourhood restaurant should work on ordinary nights as well as special ones.

Drinks After a Late Dinner

A late meal does not always mean the evening needs to end immediately afterwards.

Sometimes dinner becomes another drink.

A burger becomes an Old Fashioned.

Pasta becomes a glass of wine.

A shared plate becomes another round of beer.

Other times dinner ends with coffee and everyone goes home.

The useful thing about eating somewhere with a proper bar is that you do not need to move again.

After navigating Jakarta all day, that can be a considerable advantage.

Somewhere Between a Restaurant and a Night Out

There is a large gap between going for dinner and going clubbing.

Most nights fall somewhere in the middle.

You want music, but still want to talk.

You want drinks, but are not necessarily going drinking.

You want food, but do not need a formal restaurant.

You want to be around people, but do not need a crowd.

That is the space a good neighbourhood bar occupies.

And it is particularly useful when you are travelling because you do not need to understand Jakarta nightlife before walking through the door.

Late-Night Food at The Bank Bar & Burgers

This is one of the reasons our kitchen hours matter to us.

The Bank Bar & Burgers is a small neighbourhood bar and restaurant at Kuningan City in South Jakarta, serving food from morning into the late evening.

Our menu is not built only around drinking.

There are burgers, comfort food, Indonesian and Asian flavours, pasta, tacos, sliders and dishes for sharing.

Behind the bar you will find cocktails, whisky, gin, vodka, beer and wine.

And if you are not drinking, that is completely normal too.

Come for food.

Come for one drink.

Come because your meeting finished late.

Come because you are staying nearby and need to escape your hotel room.

Come because you live five minutes away and do not want to cook.

No larger reason is necessary.

Staying Around Mega Kuningan?

If you are staying in Mega Kuningan, you are already close to one of Jakarta's largest concentrations of hotels, serviced residences, offices and apartments.

Kuningan City is also within the wider Kuningan business and residential district, making the area useful for people staying nearby who want to leave their accommodation for dinner or drinks without committing to a journey across Jakarta.

The same applies if you are around Rasuna Said, Setiabudi or the surrounding Kuningan area.

When you are choosing somewhere late in the evening, distance matters.

After spending the day in Jakarta traffic, sometimes the best restaurant is simply a good one nearby.

Before Heading Out Late, Check the Kitchen

One practical piece of advice wherever you decide to eat:

Check the kitchen hours, not just the closing hours.

A venue might appear open on Google until midnight or later while its kitchen finishes service much earlier.

If you are specifically looking for late-night food in Kuningan, call ahead or check the restaurant's latest information before travelling.

It is a small step that can prevent a very disappointing arrival.

For Visitors: You Do Not Have to Experience All of Jakarta in One Night

There can be pressure when travelling to constantly find the best place.

The best restaurant.

The best cocktail bar.

The best nightlife.

The place everybody on social media says you absolutely must visit.

Sometimes that is fun.

But business travel and longer stays are different.

On the fourth night of a trip, you may not need Jakarta's most famous restaurant.

You may need somewhere ten minutes away where the food is good, the drink is cold and nobody cares that you are wearing the same shirt you wore to a meeting six hours ago.

Those places become part of travelling too.

For Residents: That Is What a Neighbourhood Bar Is For

A neighbourhood bar is not supposed to be somewhere you visit once.

It should be useful.

Tuesday after work.

Friday with friends.

A late dinner when you forgot to eat.

One beer while waiting for traffic.

A burger when the refrigerator at home has absolutely nothing interesting inside it.

Somewhere close enough that visiting does not become a project.

That is the kind of place we have always wanted The Bank to be.

When You Are Not Ready to Call It a Night

Jakarta is a big city.

But at the end of a long day, your needs can become very small.

Something to eat.

Something to drink.

A comfortable chair.

A little music.

Maybe some conversation.

And somewhere other than your hotel room, serviced apartment or living room for an hour or two.

If you are staying or living around Kuningan and find yourself looking for late-night food, dinner or drinks nearby, you will find us at Kuningan City.

No need to make a night of it.

Unless, of course, you want to.

Late dinner. Burgers. Comfort food. Cocktails. Beer. Coffee. And somewhere to sit when the day is not quite finished. See our full menu and kitchen hours, or check this week's promotions here.