Have you ever heard of the place? The, uh, quite unusual name was actually the acronym of its original spirits; ZOE – Zone Of Education and entertainment, pronounced as "z-o-e". Getting widely covered by mainstream medias for the last few years since it was opened for public in June 2006, the distance location from the main hemisphere of Jakarta seems made it only known for a number of university students of Margonda.
The place boasted its vast collection of comics, a handful on Indonesian’s most popular books and novels, some magazines (either new or old), quite satisfying number on sociology and political subjects, and of course as already mentioned, the comics. And the library. Some friends stated that even they offered some DVD and movies related and/or attached to the comics, but not yet available in the regular markets, i.e. the powerful 21 Cineplex connection.
The bookshop is not just interesting in its interior design and layout, but most of all, because it provides huge discount for the books. No wonder, because by having this kind of bookshop, it could save the cost expended by regular bookshop chains either in electricity, building rental, prime location fee, management fee, etc. We witnessed some of the books were sold with 40% discount, and they’re still in a very good condition. Sure it made me yelled in frustration; because I just bought some of them on normal price. Hhhhh..
On weekend, they provided live music played on Top 40 and some oldies. As usual on everywhere else, people could come up with their own requests, or even singing their own songs. And don’t forget to take notes on the attractive violinist, who was able to share his enthusiasm and passion to his audience. Luckily the place not having any liquor, for at least a middle age man had gone nearly mad in joyfully responding to the music, to the embarrassment of his wife. It was quite an entertainment itself! Hehe.
Don’t have the ears for the tunes? Don’t worry. Most of the patronages were spotted just need an indulgence where they can happily surf the net (broadband lines provided pro-bono), being close to friends and relatives (some full family were came there, too), or just be there by their own in such a nice and cozy environment with various great position to sit, a wonderful tropical garden to be enjoyed (although it got a humidity problems at nights), a gorgeous Guest Relation Officer (which kinda aloof to her customers, hehe), and an army of nice and helpful waitress.
But the place was not all about books and movies and music, it also well prepared in serving its guest with a great length of food and style. I wonder how hard it’s gonna be to work as their chef, have to practice all those meals and beverages. Luckily I have the privilege just to sit down and have my food prepared!*grin. The meals were amazingly served with clever appearance and yet on such amazing budget price! No wonder the place was a huge success among students, and yet could also attracted family and spouses seemingly from all ages, background, and groups.
I have to bitterly mentioned though, that the taste were not that good, but the Iced Mocha Frapuccino (picture as shown below). Some should be more than mediocre, like the Zouppa Soup; if only we could add some salt and pepper on it. Another things delivered to us were simply below that level. For instance, “the Chicken Cordon Bleu” I used to order anywhere else just to judge the café. No matter how great the cook might had been, the chicken on my plate tasted like it has been buried and forgotten in the refrigerator since the Ice Age. It was, uh, disastrous.
Another worth to be mentioned was the portion of the meals. Beware! It was soo small, even whilst looking at the menus on arrival, we already knew that we have to ordered 2 (two) different kind each, to enable us to satisfy our appetite after a long day at the University of Indonesia nearby.
Sure they have something more to offer. Besides, what do you expect from a budget café located just next to some of the biggest educational institutions of the city? Well, learn and (try to) live with that, and you’d be surprised to find out that you started to fall in love with the place. And the memories printed in the shadows.
In fact, I did.
ZOE -Library-Shop-Café-
Jl. Margonda Raya No. 27, Depok
+6221 777 5473,
+6221 7721 3738
Cuisine: Asian, Western, Coffee, Indonesian, Italian, Chinese
Come, have a coffee with me
Books & comics for everyone
and dont forget bout the music
the way I smelled you ..mmm..
a nice & sweet frapuccino
2 Comments
Take nothing but picture(s)..
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 | Yummmy, pasti lebih enak daripada capucinno instant yang di sachet |
 | hey, this is great, yo, esp the discount :-) will try it someday. |
 | wah, bang Dion pasti seneng nih tempatnya di-review bagus hehehe |
| Kapan-kapan ke sana ah, di seberang kafe buku Margonda kan? |
 | Keknya asik ya Mas :-p
Hem hem hem... nanti deh ke sini kalo ke Depok lagi :-D |
 | I'd prefer kafe buku than zoe though.kafe buku lbh humble,koleksi bukunya lbh ok n kopinya lbh enak plus bs menyepi tanpa tganggu oleh anak2 yg nongkrong sambil main capsa :p |
 | waktu kencan kesana,
teman kencanku tidak mengajak mengobrol, melainkan sibuk membaca.
akh.
untunglah saya menikmatinya juga, hahahhaa. |
 | hohoho..pernah masuk TV nih tempat ini..kynya emang asik sih..
baguslah. orang jakarta/depok mulai kreatif yang positif :D |
 | Zoe.... panas... makanannya yet enak
but saya dukung untuk semua hal yang mendukung minat baca bangsa |
 | tempat mangkalnya alip selain kafe buku yang ada di sebrangnya, kan dulu alip pernah rekomendasiin waktu komentar soal koleksi buku mu yang bertumpuk2 itu loh... |
 | Taunya BUBU.. ini seblah mana yah... hmmm |
 | oh man!!!! this place was the *i dunno how to impress* place ever, i usually do my sketch, coding, talk with friend there, in the second floor. last time, long time ago, you just bring this memory back, thank you. :) |
 | Curang nih, tempat2 kayak gini nongolmya setelah gw cabut dari situ! |
 | kayaknya keren nih...banyak komik..patut di jelajahi |
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Yummmy, pasti lebih enak daripada capucinno instant yang di sachet 