Aphrodite Bar and Restaurant

Despite being named after the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture, Aphrodite is not a girly bar but probably Jakarta’s best sports bar. Huge plasma screens dominate the set-up and they show a vast range of sports from football and tennis to cricket and even that strange game from down-under where butch men squeeze into very tight shorts to the delight of obviously very camp crowds. 

Besides the plasma TVs, there are also a couple of billiard tables at Aphrodite if you fancy shooting pool.

Getting here should not take too long from most central Jakarta offices (less than three hours during rush hour) but watch out: the bar is located dangerously close to Bakrie Central where a well-known business scion (some would say megalomaniac) is creating a mini-city in his own name (he has even named a university after himself, and, most incredulously of all, a mosque!).

As you’d expect from a sports bar, the grub at Aphrodite is pretty good on the whole and reasonably priced to boot.

Like many places in Jakarta, though, Aphrodite has its quirks and the wonderfully deceitful happy hour reminds me of how Jakarta department stores inflate selling prices by 50 percent almost immediately before holding a “50 percent discount on all items” fire sale. So don’t be too surprised that the "buy one get one" deal isn’t saving you that much money: the cost of the first beer has magically increased from Rp30,000 to Rp46,000 for the duration of the happy hour!

Despite the bar’s focus on sports, Aphrodite has had the foresight to designate two nights a week (Thursday and Saturday) as ladies night. This has become a very popular night out for Jakarta’s good time girls, attracted by the offer of free drinks between 8pm and 1am. And it’s not bad for the guys either: hell, even Torres could score here! Hahaha!

Aphrodite Bar and Restaurant
Jl. HR Rasuna Said Kav 22
Jakarta 12920
Telp: (021) 527 3307