Wednesday, May 25, 2005

STIX Bar at Park Lane Hotel

I have mentioned before that Stix Bar used to be my second home. I met my buddy Neeraj when he was managing the bar there. I was there almost every day for happy hour when I moved back to Jakarta. Until now they still have the same happy hour deal called “Cow and Chicken”. Every day from 5pm – 8pm there is the happy hour. You can go in and order whatever drink you want, be it a beer, double JD coke, or wines. They wil then give you a metal coil about 1 inch in diameter with a cow on one side and a chicken on the other. You flip the coin and if you get a chicken your drink is totally free, if you get a cow you pay the full price of the drink. I have been there at times where I have had more than 20 drinks and walked out paying nothing at all! But on days like that I would usually leave a very phat tip. Having Neeraj working there we did have a lot of the game rigged and usually only paid for 20-30% of what we drank. The happy hour does not apply to food. They have a couple of good items to snack on at the bar if you are feeling peckish. The fries are really good.

Happy hour does not get too crowded there but things do pick up later in the evening. They have a live salsa band from Colombia that also plays the top 20 hits. There is a dining area where they serve dinner. The menu is not huge and extensive but it focuses on a few dishes that are all spectacular. They serve US and Australian steaks in various cuts, burgers, and some grilled chicken stuff from what I can recall. All of which are very well prepared and top of the line. The clam chowder is one of the best I have had in the country. The first class dining could be attributed to the main restaurant in the hotel which is RIVA, and they have a much more extensive menu. They are first class and the chef is very reputable.

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