The Golden Tooth

The Golden Tooth succeeds because it never tries to be a spectacle. The room is warm and deliberately domestic, the music is on vinyl rather than on a playlist designed to impress, and the drinks land with a clear flavour idea you can explain after one sip. Kenny Soetomo has nineteen years behind the stick, including high-volume nights in Australia, and the pace here is the opposite of rushed: regulars stay for conversation, cup noodles, and the occasional pizza Kenny orders for the room. If you want Jakarta cocktail culture without ceremony, this is the bar to trust.

Find the third-floor door above the Zodiac compound on Jalan Adityawarman in Melawai. Inside, a sky window pulls golden-hour light across a marble bar, leather stools, sofas, and armchairs arranged for talking rather than posing. The room seats around forty-five and fills with a mix of industry regulars and first-timers who heard about the Asia list debut. Dress is casual, service is generous rather than formal, and the team switches easily between English and Indonesian. Arrive early on a weekend if you want a counter seat without waiting.

Start with the Robusta Negroni, the drink that best shows the house style: reposado tequila and gin split beneath vermouth, Campari, and a punchy robusta coffee for something bold and bittersweet. The Snow White rebuilds apple pie from gin, white rum, apple yoghurt, and gingerbread, while the Smokey Highball conjures barbecue bacon through Johnnie Walker Black, agave, and sparkling lapsang souchong tea without any meat in the glass. For something playful, the Hubba Hubba lands bubble gum through blood orange gin, Solerno, peach, and vanilla. The current For The People, By The People menu adds community-built serves such as Soy Story and Butta Gangsta, and a tight classics list runs from a Bobby Burns to the house TGT Whiskey Highball.

The bar is at Jl. Adityawarman No. 71 in Melawai, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. Ride-hailing is the practical way in from central or south Jakarta. It opens daily from 17:00 to 00:00. Reserve by WhatsApp or phone at +62 878 2946 5336, or walk in when seats allow. Budget about IDR 150,000 to 250,000 per cocktail. Check Instagram at @thegoldentoothbar for guest shifts and menu updates before you go.

Kenny Soetomo found his calling watching the Japanese drama Bartender in 2011 and sharpened his craft in Australia, where two-hundred-espresso-martini nights and the 2014 Australian National Suntory Cocktail Connoisseur title taught him speed without losing finesse. At The Golden Tooth he co-founded with Andra Satar and Ali Pasha, the method is flavour memory: drinks that recall apple pie, bubble gum, or barbecue smoke through spirits and modifiers rather than through garnish theatre. The For The People, By The People menu extends that idea by building cocktails with regulars, creatives, and industry peers, so each glass carries a name and a story behind it.

The Golden Tooth debuts on the main Asia's 50 Best Bars list at No.50 for 2026, a forty-two-place climb from No.98 on the extended list in 2025. The jury cited a room where conversation matters as much as what lands in the glass, and a menu that makes ambitious flavour ideas feel approachable rather than academic. For Jakarta, the result confirms what Melawai regulars already knew: the city's most easy-going cocktail bar is also one of its most serious, and South Jakarta now places multiple rooms on the regional map alongside Cosmo Pony and Between the Sips.