Stallone Tjia
Sep 15, 2025
Staying true to its vision of food as a tourism draw, Jakarta Dessert Week returns to spoil sweet-toothed city dwellers. For a limited time, select restaurants across town are serving exclusive creations under this year’s theme, A Tribute to Jakarta. With the help of the Jakarta Tourism Board, the journey turned into a sugar-laced adventure — hopping from café to café, sampling one signature dessert after another, and spotlighting the city’s vibrant culinary creativity.
Jakarta Dessert Week 2025 Takes Over the City
The journey kicked off at Jakarta’s iconic Monumen Nasional (Monas), a landmark that never fails to stir a sense of pride. More than just a symbol, it’s a place that brings visitors back to the stories of struggle and resilience behind Indonesia’s fight for independence.
From there, the Jakarta Dessert Week (JDW) fam trip shifted gears with a ride on the Royal Transjakarta, guided by Ara from the Indonesian Tour Guide Association. As the bus weaved through Jakarta’s streets, Ara filled the ride with snippets of history, offering a cultural backdrop to the sweet adventure ahead.
First stop: Chicory in Menteng. Tucked away in a quiet corner, this European-style bakery is deliberately hidden from the city’s buzz, creating a serene escape for its guests. Waiting at each table was a delicate surprise — Tankoko, a limited-edition tartlet crafted exclusively for JDW 2025. Inspired by the pastry chef’s childhood memories of kue rangi, this mini tart marries the creaminess of cheese with the fragrance of palm sugar and the crunch of toasted coconut. A nostalgic bite with a refined twist.
The second leg brought us to KNOTS in Kemang. For JDW, the café created two desserts inspired by beloved local snacks: The Bolen and The Rangi. Both classics, but reimagined with a touch of modern artistry.
The Bolen arrived as a crisp pastry cage encasing banana, butter, dark chocolate, and cheddar — a playful take on the traditional treat. Meanwhile, The Rangi leaned more towards cake, layering crispy rengginang with soft kue rangi, palm sugar cream, coconut mousse, and chocolate, then crowned with coconut ice cream over a pool of luscious palm sugar sauce. Each spoonful struck a balance between familiar comfort and elevated dining.
The final destination was Natsuka, Urban Forest Cipete, a leafy hotspot for matcha lovers in South Jakarta. The JDW-exclusive creation here was as dreamy as its presentation: Miso no Shiro, a cloudlike plate of contrasts. Think miso-flavored ice cream reminiscent of salted caramel, paired with crunchy roasted white chocolate, hiding within it a silky, creamy fan pudding. Sweet, salty, creamy, and crisp all at once — a perfectly orchestrated finale to the dessert-hopping adventure.
From Monas to Menteng, Kemang to Cipete, this JDW fam trip proved that Jakarta’s dessert scene is more than indulgence — it’s storytelling, innovation, and culture served on a plate.
