iEat Petak Enam in Chandra

Everything old becomes new again

Chandra shopping centre was built decades ago; it is one of the oldest modern marketplaces in Jakarta. Petak Enam was opened inside this shopping centre to cater to the younger generations of locals and new visitors. Glodok is slowly but surely becoming a more important transit hub: in a couple of years, the Jakarta North-South line will be passing by here.

Parking lot-turned-community space

Petak Enam used to be a parking lot for Chandra's visitors. The front side facing Pancoran Street is where a Mandarin bookstore and Chinese sweetened and pickled fruit stores used to be. These stores boasted an authentic Chinese ‘Peranakan style’ often found in Chinatown. As they were in structurally bad condition, the initiator of Petak Enam suggested documenting all the technical and historical data and rebuilding them exactly as they were. Now, the stores are home to a coffee shop and pempek (fishcake) shop. The original Mandarin bookstore and fruit stores also moved inside the complex.

Tradition meets trends

The variety of culinary goodies at Petak Enam reflects the vibrant culture of the old and new generations living in Chinatown Glodok. Here, you can enjoy classic comfort food, from the locally famous rare fried jack fruit (Cempedak Goreng Cik Lina) to famous fish cakes (Pempek Eirin) and Hainan mixed rice (Nasi Campur Sedap Wangi). You can also find contemporary Chinese dishes like fried noodles (Holai) and a selection of tea and local goods at Pieces of Peace. All the new stalls are designed to look like the original shophouses, down to the font.

Reusing old roof tiles

The original roof tiles of the old shops were preserved and reused to make the newly built stores look as authentic as possible. This was a challenging feat since many of the tiles were damaged, so the management had to go on a scavenger hunt to find similar tiles in town to use for the new buildings.