The North Korean government runs restaurants in some countries, called Pyongyang. I visited one of the restaurants that it is located in Jakarta. Pyongyang restaurant looks like a house from outside. The area of parking is not big. I think that only can accomodate 3 or 4 cars. When I entered the restaurant, the beautiful North Korean women greet me with their traditional dress.
I was so excited! I was wondering what this restaurant would offer me. I looked around the restaurant. The interior design is quite old style. The dominant colour is red. There is a stage with the music instruments. It has music and dance performance at 8 pm. I noticed that the restaurant’s windows have metal bar. And too be honest, it is quite rare for a restaurant.
The menu is in English and Bahasa Indonesia. The pictures in menu helped me to pick the food. The waitresses were all very friendly but I found difficulty when I tried communicating with them. Because they did not speak English and spoke very limited Bahasa Indonesia.
Do not be suprised if they bring appetizers that you do not order like sweet potatoes, cooked bean sprout, omellete etc. Those are free. My favorite appetizer is scallop omellete with onion. I ordered bimbimbap, sweet pork, fried noddle, korean bbq.You also can order North Korean soju and mushroom Whiskey. The mushroom whiskey tastes quite strong. The food price is IDR 40,000 – IDR 350,000. It is more expensive than my favorite South Korean restaurant, Chung Gi Wa. But it is worth to try especially you can see the performance by the beautiful North Korean women who sign English, Indonesian and North Korean songs. The performance is held only on the weekend.
Mary Osmond 