READ NOW - Jakarta Magazine

Robert Johnson’s famous
song ‘cross Road Blues’
has inspired so many
blues and rock numbers since
the 1930s that many call him
the father of the blues and all
the music that shares its roots.
Legend has it that as a young
man living on a plantation in
rural Mississippi, Johnson was
branded with a burning desire to
become a great blues musician.
he was “instructed” to take
his guitar to a crossroad near
Dockery Plantation at midnight.
there he was met by the Devil
who, after playing a few tunes
on Johnson’s guitar, gave him
mastery of the instrument in
exchange for his soul. through
his deal with the Devil, Robert
Johnson created the ‘Delta’
blues for which he became
famous, but only well after his
death at 27, supposedly at the
jealous hands of the juke-jointowner
husband of his amorous
focus at the time.
after that kind of a story, any place
named crossroads has a reputation to
live up to and the one in Kemang takes a
RESTAURANT REVIEW
no need to sing the blues
at crossroads
pretty good shot at it with good food, icy
cold beers and, of course, great music.
While hardly a juke joint, crossroads
is tucked away at the far end of a
dusty dead-end street and its glowing
marquee is a beacon of light on a dark
monsoon night. if you like disco or any
techno-house thing like it, crossroads
ain’t your style. in fact it can be a bit
sleepy when i get there for an afternoon
tipple, but by the shank of the evening
the place gets busy with folks playing
on one of three pool tables, hanging
out by the well-stocked bar or enjoying
the extensive pub grub menu, from
antipasti bruschettas to prawn mee,
lamb goulash and crispy pizza. Often,
a multi-page menu with too wide a
variety of choices is not a good sign, but
crossroads offers a selection of asian
and western favorites that would be
popular in Johor Baru or new Orleans.
Much of the menu, including tom yam
soup, bee hoon and laksa comes from
the ‘hawker’ food styles of singapore
and Kuala Lumpur. Other items such
as gehakt ballen, Dutch meatballs,
reflect a european touch. Perhaps the
menu also reflects the culinary choices
of charles and Rina hoeden, who have
a hand in everything from the kitchen,
to keeping the staff at their best and
hosting pool league nights with teams
competing from around Jakarta.
For starters, try the sausage rolls,
curry puffs, fried popiah or bitterballen
with a cold draft or two. in fact, have
several coldies no matter what you eat,
as crossroads has some of the chilliest
beer in town and the draft never
seems to have that ‘pipey’ taste that
unfortunately spoils the brews at some
other places where they
don’t pay attention to the
right details. next, try
the seafood hor fun with
kway teow noodles or
the indian mee goreng
or hokien mee, also
tasty noodle dishes. if you’d rather go
western, try the chili con carne, with
more beer, or the BBQ beef ribs, also
with more beer.
crossroads actually has two menus,
one with the aforementioned selections,
and one with all italian offerings. i’m
partial to the Diavola pizza, with salami
and jalapenos (highly recommended
with beer) and the prosciutto e funghi,
with mozzarella, smoked beef and
mixed mushrooms. the pasta alla
boscaiola, with sausages, mushrooms
and cream is a good choice along with
several other pasta platters such as the
gamberi e pomodorini, with shrimp and
cherry tomatoes.
Because of its proximity to the keg,
i tend to wolf my food at the bar, but
for the more civilized, the dining area
at crossroads even has tablecloths
and is sufficiently far enough from the
clacking of pool balls, but not so far
that you are neglected by the friendly
waitstaff. On occasion a large screen
projector features sporting events in the
same area, but only by prior request. a
smaller room near the back has a few
stools and a deep-seat couch which is
sometimes hard to get out of after too
much cheese-stuffed ravioli and, you
guessed it, beer. the back area also has
a couple of wide-screen monitors, but
they are not the focus.
the focus is more on a convivial
atmosphere where expats and
indonesians come to mix it up and have
a good time, but without the noise and
crowds of some of Kemang hangouts.
it’s a place Robert Johnson might have
enjoyed while wandering through and
playing the street corners of Mississippi
delta towns. Johnson supposedly had
an uncanny ability to establish a quick
rapport with his audience and would
establish ties to the local community that
would serve him well when he passed
through again. he would be pleased
to call in on crossroads, a place that
serves his musical reputation well, not to
mention some pretty good food. (ww)
Crossroads Café and Pub
Jl. taman Kemang, no. 29
t: +62-21 718 3007
Located almost at the end of the road
that is perpendicular to the Mansion/
Kem chicks.
28 | MAY 2011 www.nowjakarta.co.id www.nowjakarta.co.id MAY 2011 | 29