BIKO Group’s Next Round Begins

From Beer Garden to new digital touchpoints, dining-led concepts and bar venues with serious food credentials, BIKO Group is shifting how Jakarta eats, drinks and gathers

From the Very First Pint

The year was 2010, and a simple after-work drink in Jakarta was starting to feel expensive. People wanted somewhere easy-going to let off steam, order a few beers, and stay for a weekday catch-up without thinking too hard about the bill. Beer Garden arrived in Kemang at exactly that moment, offering affordable beer and laidback social space.

Sixteen years after its opening and fourteen years after BIKO Group was formally established in 2012, that laidback beer spot has now grown into a hospitality-driven lifestyle group with 11 different concepts across 13 venues. Now, with its membership app, dynamic website and upcoming openings, BIKO Group is ready to reveal what awaits in its next round.

Beer Garden’s arrival in Kemang already carried the traits that would later define BIKO, offbeat in its refusal to follow the usual bar formula, genuine in the social culture it built, and warm in the way it grew with its guests. Those character pillars now extend through the openings of their other venues ranging from Fūjin Izakaya, Acta Brasserie, Silk Bistro, Kindling, Pippo Italian. Costa to Beer Hall, Duck Down Bar, Cantinero and many more.

As BIKO has grown into a culinary lifestyle group, the way guests engage with its restaurants has grown as well. Venues are no longer only dining addresses, but places where people celebrate birthdays, gather with family and friends. The BIKO Membership app is built to accommodate those needs and offers a simpler way to move across the group’s various brands.

Through the app, guests can make reservations across BIKO outlets, reschedule bookings, receive reminders and check receipts in one place. The loyalty programme gives members one point for every IDR 10,000 spent, with three tiers starting from Patron, Friend to Family, each has its own benefits based on yearly spending. Members can also access birthday treats, member-only promotions, exclusive deals and a rewards section curated with items they are likely to use.

In BIKO’s own ‘offbeat’ style, the app acts as a direct channel where guests can book across outlets, earn points, receive birthday benefits, access member-only promotions, follow brand and event updates, reschedule reservations, receive reminders and check receipts in one place. It also opens up behind-the-scenes stories from across the group, giving guests a closer look at the chefs, sommeliers and people shaping each outlet. This is one of the ways BIKO continues to build genuine connections with its guests.

That connection also begins before a guest opens the app. BIKO’s website works as the first portal for anyone curious about the group, where visitors can get a fuller view of the brands, menus, see what is happening across the group, and find a reason to move from one outlet to the next. (Keep an eye out on Gunawarman, another new-concept outlet will arrive there too around July 2026!)

As BIKO expands, the group still knows where its story first caught on. Beer Garden may have begun in Kemang, but its original spirit soars high at Beer Garden+ in SCBD. Bringing back one of the simplest pleasures associated with its earliest days, the outlet now offers its “Cheap Ass Beer” promotion, available every day until 9pm, featuring Heineken and Bintang Regular for IDR 35,000 with prices subjected to applicable tax and service charges.

BEER GARDEN +
SCBD PARK, LOT 6B.
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53, South Jakarta
biko-group.com/beer-garden | @beergardenjkt

Brought by Friendship, Bound by Flavour

Acta Brasserie and Fūjin Izakaya show how far BIKO Group has moved beyond its early association with beer and bars. NOW! Jakarta spoke with Chef Rui Yamagishi, Executive Chef of Acta Brasserie and Fūjin Izakaya, and Banny Parasutha, Operational Manager of Acta Brasserie and Fūjin Izakaya, to understand the thinking behind both brands.

The first noticeable thing is how easily they speak over and around one another, one can tell right off the bat that they’re not colleagues but lifelong friends. “Before BIKO, we had already known each other for a long time,” Chef Rui recalls. “We both grew up in Bali, within the Japanese-Balinese community. Our mothers were part of the same circle, and we often met through school, extra lessons, birthdays and community gatherings.”

That friendship strengthened even more over shared passion for food and hospitality, and eventually found its way into their future careers where Banny found his place in operations and guest experience. During this time, Chef Rui honed his skills as a chef in Sydney, drawing on the Japanese discipline he inherited from his mother, Balinese seasoning, and Indonesian tastes. They later reunited in Bali, and opened their first restaurant with another partner. The experience became part of the foundation for their journey with BIKO, leading to Fūjin Izakaya and, later, Acta Brasserie.

Acta Brasserie brings BIKO’s dining portfolio into a fuller all-day format, first through Senayan and later Gading Serpong. The concept is built around comfort, airy interiors and a refined brasserie setting, with a wine cellar of more than 200 selections as one of its centrepieces. In the kitchen, Chef Rui starts with familiarity but keeps the flavour bold. “When I design the menu at Acta, the key is umami,” he says.

Acta Brasserie Gading Serpong brings a different approach by leaning toward a family-oriented audience. The venue offers broader menu choices, easy drop-off access, wheelchair-friendly movement, a diaper room and plans for a playground. Its Nasi Campur Babi has become a favourite, with Balinese flavours on a generous plate of pork, sambal, vegetables and rice.

Fūjin Izakaya Kelapa Gading carries a different mood. First established in 2015, the brand has grown from its Gunawarman beginnings into a larger Kelapa Gading home, with more room for guests to gather. Banny’s personalised hospitality appears in small details, such as welcome cards on reserved tables, while the menu stays close to the bold flavours Jakarta diners enjoy. “My part is to think about how guests can feel comfortable and want to return,” he shares.

The menu consists of both old and new signatures, from Chicken Nanban, which traces back to the group’s Bali roots, to newer highlights such as pork chop and ramen. “At Fūjin Izakaya, everything is handmade, not instant,” Chef Rui says, pointing to ramen as the clearest expression of his cooking.

To make the dining experience linger a little longer, Acta Brasserie Gading Serpong and Fūjin Izakaya Kelapa Gading are offering 50% off all spirits for guests.

Bar Bites Made Better at BIKO

As Executive Chef of BIKO Group, Chef Rafael Triloko Basanto oversees Beer Garden+, Beer Hall, Cantinero and Duck Down Bar, sharpening the food identity of venues known for their bar culture. At Beer Hall and Cantinero, he shows how a place built for drinks can also give guests a reason to come hungry.

“Food in a bar should not just be ordinary bar food,” is the first thing Chef Rafa emphasises. “When guests come to eat, they should get a different experience.”

At first glance, and certainly from its name, Beer Hall may sound like a place to settle in with a cold pint of Bintang or Guinness. Ask for the menu, however, and it quickly becomes clear that the venue offers far more than drinking snacks – there’s a wide-ranging selection that spans from Indonesian to Asian and Western comfort dishes.

That mix of good food and great beer is what has helped Beer Hall grow into a versatile social space since its opening in 2017. With its spacious industrial-style interior, wide bar, tap beer selection, spirits and liquors, guests can unwind, enjoy a satisfying meal and ease into the night at their own pace.

Long-standing favourites such as Soto Betawi and Babi Kering Sambal Matah have become the kind of dishes that pull first-time visitors back for a proper meal, while the seemingly simple Salted Egg Chips show Chef Rafa’s attention to detail, as it’s made with raw salted duck egg yolks, steamed and turned into a butter-like paste, then paired with chips made in-house. No BIKO kitchens ever take the easy road when it comes to their menu.

Moving into a bar with a different kind of rhythm, BIKO’s Mexican-themed bar, Cantinero is tucked underground and opens to a warm, festive space filled with bright colours, hand-painted signs, playful décor and música. More precisely, Chef Rafa describes Cantinero as a Mexican cantina, shaped around freshness, spice, sourness and drink-friendly food. The flavours remain rooted in Mexican inspiration, but are adjusted for Jakarta’s palate.

“Mexican food plays a lot with freshness, juiciness and spice,” he says. “There is a spicy kick, but what is stronger is the sour, tangy and refreshing element.”

For first-time diners, tacos are the natural starting point, as they’re light, comforting and easy to pair with drinks. Cantinero offers both crispy and soft tacos, with fillings that range from shredded chicken with cotija cheese and avocado to carne asada, beef tongue, mushroom, fried barramundi and crispy pork belly.

When it comes to drinks, Cantinero lives up to its lively nature. Guests are offered a wide range of options, led by tequila and mezcal through slushies, signature cocktails and classics, from Tommy’s Margarita and Paloma to brighter house creations such as El Dinero and Baila Picante. Its weekly programmes keep that energy going, with Margarita Monday and Taco Tuesday to DJ nights, shooter specials and selected DJs every Friday and Saturday.

Across Beer Hall and Cantinero, Chef Rafa’s work challenges the assumption that bar-led venues only need food as an afterthought. The cooking is designed to support the drinking experience, but never disappear behind it.

“What matters the most,” he concludes, “from the moment guests arrive, sit down, order, drink, eat, and leave, everything becomes part of an experience that they remember and that makes them want to return.”

To explore BIKO Group’s brands, menus, promotions, and upcoming openings, visit biko-group.com and follow @biko_group on Instagram

Dinda Mulia

Dinda is an avid explorer of art, culture, diplomacy and food. She is also a published poet and writer at NOW!Jakarta.