IO – Enjoying the fresh air of a natural setting amid a pandemic; sipping coffee while smoking and enjoying the company of friends. Nubi Coffee, Eatery and Chill, which was founded on February 26, 2018, is the right choice for that.
Thomas Aquinas R.W., the Owner of Nubi Coffee, revealed that initially, the place used by Nubi Coffee was the ITB 81 Alumni Secretariat – the alumni often gather in this place until they decided to turn it into a coffee shop.
Nubi Coffee has a cool place to hang out: a backyard-themed cafe. Inside, there are many trees so that it looks natural and cool even though you hang out outside. Therefore, said Thomas, many visitors drop by because of the cozy ambiance.
“Coffee is synonymous with cigarettes; hence Nubi Coffee takes an outdoor theme. Unlike other places that have a smoking room, we have a large outdoor area,” explained Thomas who is also a filmmaker for commercials and advertisements.
Nubi Coffee is spread over an area of about 300 square meters. The outdoor area of Nubi Coffee can accommodate 90-100 seats during a pandemic, and more in normal conditions. Nubi Coffee also provides indoor rooms with a capacity of 2025 people during normal conditions – during the pandemic, indoor room capacity is only 12 people.
Thomas revealed that the most important advantage at Nubi Coffee is its cozy ambiance to hang out, share, tell stories, and relax in the outdoor space. Thus, Thomas named it “Nubi” which stands for “conscience to speak”. “In this place, people can chat about anything, from the inside of their heart, which is really from their conscience. There is no other thing,” he said.
Visitors average 18 to 33 years of age – during the pandemic, around 70 drop by on weekdays and 150 on weekends.
Hidden Place. Uniquely, Nubi Coffee has a hidden entrance – it is as if Nubi is a secret place so it has a very calm atmosphere. There are two entrances to the Nubi Café; during weekdays, the entrance can be via Jalan Gaharu I/6A, Cipete, South Jakarta. From the front of the house and the car park, there will be a small entrance on the side of the house to the backyard.
Meanwhile, when there are many visitors, on weekends, there is an additional entrance from the side of the Al-Ikhlas Mosque/Al-Ikhlas school, through a small unidentified door, as if we were entering a house from the backyard.
The door next to Al-Ikhlas opens until Nubi Cafe closes around 21.00 WIB. “The entrance is like a surprise, it is also used as an acoustic for the interior so traffic noise is shut out,” said Thomas, who also deals in the interior sector.
Cooperation. Nubi Cafe collaborates for its coffee with Kata Kopi. The coffee that is highlighted at Nubi Cafe is Kopi Kokoh, a combination of coffee and coconuts, giving a different sensation. “This is what people look for,” explained Thomas.
Other drink menus consist of Espresso Based, Manual Brew, Flavored Latte, and Identity Coffee. The Espresso Based menu consists of Single, Double, Long Black, Espresso Macchiato, Cappuccino, Cafe Latte, Caramel Macchiato; the Manual Brew menu consists of V60, Aeropress, and Vietnam Drip.
Meanwhile, the Flavored Latte menu consists of Avocado Latte, Cafe Mocca, Vanilla, Hazelnut, Caramel Latte, Salted Caramel, Creamy Camellia, Cookies, and Cream Latte. The Identity Coffee is called Sweet Coffee.
Nubi also served teas including lemongrass, peach, lemon, lychee, green tea leaf, and apple mint. The milk-based menu consists of Chocolate, Taro, Red Velvet, Green Tea, Cookies, and Cream. For mocktail menus highlight Virgin Illusion, Lychee Yakult, and Lychee Squash.
For food, Nubi offers various snacks and rice bowls. Snacks consist of Fried Potatoes, Fried Skin, Salt Tofu Chili, Cireng, Fried Bananas, Fried Cassava, Egg Rolls, and Fried Enoki, Toast, and Grilled Banana. There are also Spaghetti menus such as Bolognaise and Aglio Olio, as well as Platter.
There are four Ricebowl menus: White Flour Chicken, Meat White Rice, Fried Chicken Flour Rice, and Meat Fried Rice, served with a choice of sauces including Padang sauce, black pepper sauce, geprek chili sauce, chili matah mercon, teriyaki and soy sauce.
“The favorites here are Ricebowl White Rice, Chicken Geprek, and White Rice with Black Pepper Meat. For snacks, the favorites are Kulit and Cireng,” said Thomas.
Nubi Coffee provides live acoustic music every Saturday, which during the pandemic period starts from 17.00 to 21.00 WIB. Nubi Coffee can also be rented as a venue for events such as birthdays, gatherings, and others.
To introduce the cafe, according to Thomas, they rely on mouth-to-mouth promotion. Currently, they are also building a YouTube channel, Nurani Bicara, which contains the sharing of someone’s experiences that come from their experience.
Nubi Coffee currently also has a branch at Club House Springhills Jakarta, which opened six months after Nubi Coffee Cipete was founded. Nubi Coffee at Springhills is based on a garden concept. “My target in the future is to open another branch after the pandemic,” he said. (Kartika Indah)