In Bandung, the main clients of bars and nightclubs are the students coming from the hundreds of colleges, academies and universities you can find in the city. Most students only hang out in non-alcoholic cafés and cheap restaurants (ex: Warung Pasta), especially girls. Drinking alcohol in bars is restricted to a small part of the students, from rich families, sometimes Chinese.
The most typical student bar is Camden, which is not bigger than your living room and offer great prices on drinks. It is a place for hanging out with friends, smoking, drinking and listening to music. Similar joints I came across are 18Hours café, Escobar, The Loft (all with live music). In those places, usually very simple and friendly, you will see that there are usually a few groups of 5 to 10 folks from the same school. If you come alone, I don’t think you will meet many people. I saw very few foreigners, most of them being young expats teaching English to those same students.
The mall Paris Van Java is also a popular place for students, with a few cafés, among which the Manchester United Resto.
Those students go clubbing in a few nightclubs, all quite similar in terms of size, crowd and music: Legacy, Embassy (now named MOX as of 2014), Fame Station, Mansion and Amnesia to name the most popular. If you are familiar with the nightlife in Kemang (South Jakarta), maybe you will find some resemblances here: Affordable drinks, young clients, easy-going atmosphere, etc… The majority of the crowd is made of students, but you will find also a few expats/tourists (especially in Amnesia) and some Indonesian young executives/business owners.
All these places get really lively starting Wednesday night, with many girls dancing on the tables and everybody getting as drunk as they can (You may see a few drunkards puking in the toilet or being evacuated by the security…). The music is changing constantly, from house to RnB to Top 40.
If you want to meet girls, I would say these clubs are your best option. In all of them, I saw a few working girls, but it is very discreet. The majority of them are nice, normal and fun ladies who don’t see that many foreigners.
- The tourist nightlife scene: On weekends, the hills surrounding Bandung attract a lot of visitors, mainly families and group of friends from Jakarta. The cool air and the nice views have made Dago Atas and other uphill areas of Bandung (like Sersan Bajuri) some very popular nightlife and dining spots. In these places, the prices are more expensive than average, in particular a few tourists traps such as The Valley. Venues I recommend are Maja House, a restaurant, lounge and club, and Cloud 9. Both have spectacular views over Bandung and great cozy design. I think it is best to go there with a group of friends or with a date. With a car, it is a 15-20 minutes trip approximately and it get chilly so bring something warm.
- The red-light district nightlife scene: As in every city in Indonesia, there are numerous girly bars, clubs or karaokes. In Bandung, I think it is limited to two areas:
1) Jalan Braga has a lot of karaokes (Gryphon, R Karaoke), bars, pools (Klab Sentral) and clubs (Caesar’s Palace) for male customers (though ladies are welcomed too), among which wome westerners. It isn’t too bad, and you may meet some expats or backpackers there, for instance in North Sea Bar. Most of the venues are a little bit old though, except for Entro Lounge or Renaissance Karaoke, inside the Caesar’s Palace.
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2) The Saritem red light district is 100% Indonesian/Chinese, with no expats around. I didn’t enter any venue, except for Queen Rose and El Cavalo, which are quite recent. There is live music or DJ sets, and even if you’re not looking for a girl, it is fun to party there. Walking down Jalan Gardujati and nearby streets, I saw dozens of karaokes and massage parlours too. From what I heard, there are two luxurious spas in Bandung, similar to Malioboro in Jakarta: The Venetian Spa (in Paskal Hypersquare) and the Octopus spa, in Carrcadin Hotel. You also have a famous luxury karaoke near Setiabudi called Vegas.
Overall, I don’t think that Bandung nightlife possesses as much variety as Jakarta nightlife, but it is more laid-back and less expensive. If you live in Jakarta, it is worth visiting the city for a weekend trip since Bandung surroundings will keep you busy during the day, while you will have no trouble having fun at night.
Some practical infos:
Taxis: Use Blue Bird/Gemah Ripah/Cipaganti. In some areas, it is very difficult to get them, so if you have your driving license, try to rent a car for the weekend.
Prices: In students bar, a beer will cost you around Rp18,000, and Rp25,000 to Rp45,000 in a tourist place in the hills or inside a nightclub. Entrance fee for these is usually less than Rp50,000.
Hotels: A good area to stay if you have a budget of around Rp200,000 is on Jalan Cihampelas. Many hotels there, all of them with similar features: Air-con, old standard room, small TV and fridge, etc...
