When I tried the famous rijsttafel feast for the first time earlier this month, I had little idea of what to expect.
Roughly translated as 'rice table', a rijsttafel is basically a sumptuous social feast that used to be conducted by the Dutch plantation lords when they hosted honorable guests, starting from around the 1910s.
The menu consists of dozens of flavors mainly from the island of Java, with the number of dishes indicating the host’s wealth and prestige.
Aside from this colonial-related knowledge, I have never actually experienced rijstafel in real life.
But when the waiters of Kunstkring Paleis restaurant in Menteng, Central Jakarta began presenting the feast using the beautifully decorated pikul-pikulan ( a yoke-like instrument), I immediately gathered that the experience would hardly be an unpleasant one.
Despite the substantial weight of the pikul-pikulan, they managed to bring it to my table in an elegant manner. I was quite flattered by the gesture.
But apparently, that was only part of the special treatment for the guests of the rijstafel dining experience.
"We usually serve the rijsttafel in our main dining room called the Diponegoro Room, which can accommodate up to 85 seats. The ceremonial presentation will be enlivened by live traditional music usually played to accompany Ondel-ondel Betawi [giant effigies]," Kunstkring Paleis relationship manager Galuh Trisjanto explained to me.
Since we are sitting in one of the restaurant's private rooms called the Colonial Rijsttafel Room, which only accommodates around eight seats, my dining experience did not include the cheerful, live music many Jakartans are familiar with.
Nevertheless, I still felt quite special dining in the gorgeous room decorated with old drawings and photographs of people enjoying the grand feast in the old days.
Kunstkring is not the only restaurant in Jakarta serving rijsttafel, but what sets it apart is the famous menu that it features - namely Rijsttafel Betawi - in a distinctively Betawi atmosphere as it was once served at Hotel des Indes, Batavia (now Jakarta), a beautiful 19th century hotel that was demolished in the 1970s.
The location of Hotel des Indes is now home to the Duta Merlin shopping center.
Waiters line up to serve the guests, and each one of them is responsible for one specific item on the menu. Thus, the number of waiters serving the rijsttafel depends on the number of items on the menu - which can vary from between two, 12, 22 or 32 and even more.
"During the colonial era, rijsttafel could comprise of up to 40 different local dishes," said marketing manager of Oasis restaurant Y. Suryasaputra Arya.
He added that in the 19th century Homann Hotel in Bandung, presently known as Savoy Homann Bidakara Hotel, rijsttafel was extremely popular and the dishes were served by male waiters.
"In Oasis, we changed the tradition a little by having 12 waitresses serve the rijsttafel dishes, wearing traditional kebaya and batik," said Arya.
The white rice is the first item served to the guests of the person hosting the rijsttafel dinner.
"The honorary guest of the host will always be served first, before moving on to other guests and the host is the last person served. This tradition is meant to show that the host is honoring the guests," added Arya.
Other than being quite a spectacle to behold, rijsttafel also offers an impressive array of Indonesian cuisine with its abundance of spices and flavors.
Kunstkring's Betawi Rijsttafel, for example, offers up to 13 delectable dishes with the highlight being the fresh karedok Betawi (uncooked vegetables stirred with peanut salad dressing), the savory bebek opor (roasted tender duck in spicy coconut curry), the rather sweet and spicy semur lidah sapi Betawi (stewed ox tounge flavored with cloves, nutmeg and sweet soy sauce).
Also in the list are sate lembut Betawi (skewer of spicy minced beef), the salty sayur gambas udang (stir fried Luffa acutangula with eggs, shiitake mushrooms topped with fried prawns) and the spicy sambal ijo teri (green chili relish with baby anchovies).
With starting price of Rp 788,000 (US$69.74), up to five persons can enjoy the combination of local food at its best and I personally find myself more than eager to experience more rijstafel feasts.
