Tangerang Old Market Tour

Monday, 2022-10-03

One of my wife's hobbies is visiting traditional markets. When we go on a holiday, domestically or abroad, she will never miss the opportunity to visit the local traditional markets. She loves the crowds, the noise, and the haggles. I don't find it particularly enjoyable because of the heat and humidity.

Last Sunday, she was bugging me to take her to the Tangerang Old Market. Tangerang is located on the western border of Jakarta, about 25 km from where we live, the third largest urban center (population 2.5 million) in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area. It is known for its pig farms and supplies pork to Jakarta. In the older days of the Dutch colonial era, the town of Tangerang was known as the town of Benteng (city of Forts). The old market there has been designated a tourist destination where you can find old buildings from as early as the 17th century.

My wife has been there a few times with her friends. She told me there's a good noodle shop and a traditional coffee shop inside the market. I got curious and agreed to go there for noodle breakfast and coffee. We left the house around 8:15, and we took the highway. When we arrived, it was around 9:00, and the market was quite busy. It took us a while to find a parking spot.

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The old market area with a building with a big sign "KAWASAN WISATA PASAR LAMA" or Old Market Tourism Area. One of the entrances to the market is from beside the building, on the right side of this picture.

This entrance we took to go inside the market. Notice the "Museum Benteng Heritage" sign on the post.

As you can see various kinds of stalls on both sides of the narrow alley sell all sorts of things from flowers, snacks, vegetables, and dried produce to meat.

A peep of what it looked like to give you an idea. A plastic/canvas tarp is stitched together as a roof to make some shade to protect visitors from direct sun.

There are also many shops in the area.

Some of the streets designated for motorbike parking space.

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As we had not had our breakfast yet, we decided to go to the noodle shop my wife was talking about. On the way to the noodle shop, we passed the Benteng Heritage Museum. It was still around 9:30 and the museum was still closed. The main entrance to the museum was inaccessible and completely blocked by vegetable stalls. We asked and found out that the museum opened at 10:00.

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JOY Noodle Shop

Finally, we arrived at the noodle shop. When we opened the main door, the place was full, no empty tables and there had been a few people already on the waiting list. We registered our names and waited outside. Luckily we didn't have to wait long. There were 2 seats available and we took them. We ordered the special noodle and they came within less than 10 minutes.

The noodle, the broth and the deep fried pork meatball side dish was indeed DELICIOUS! No wonder the place was packed!

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Gouw Coffee House

There's nothing better than having a cup of good coffee after a satisfying meal. The Gouw coffee shop is only 5 shops down from the noodle shop so we decided to stop there and have a cup. The coffee shop opens from 07.00 to 16.00, and only sells local beans that come from 14 regions of Indonesia. They have robusta, arabica, and house blends called Gouw coffee. We both ordered the house blends.

The coffee was strong and there was a hint of bitterness, the way I liked it. When we were done, we were surprised with the price. A cup of GOOD coffee was only 0.4 USD (40 cents)!

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Boen Tek Bio Temple

Full stomach, and a good cup of coffee, I was happy and ready to explore more despite the heat. We traced our steps back to the noodle shop because the old Chinese temple was located across from it. We went inside the temple but got out as soon as we found out the place was so smoky from burning incense. The smoke was thick and the smell was intoxicating.

The main entrance to the temple.

Access from another alley to the temple. You can see the roof of the main temple building at the far end of the picture above. The noodle shop is on the left of the junction.

Boen Tek Bio Temple is the oldest temple in Chinatown, Tangerang City. The temple was built and dedicated to honoring the Goddess Kwan Im, one of the Gods revered by Confucians. Boen Tek Bio Temple was built around the end of the 17th century / early 18th century. The first building erected was the center of the current temple. This building underwent a big renovation in 1844. The left-right wings of the building were built in 1875, while the building extension on the back was built in 1904.
Reference

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Old Buildings

From what I understand from asking the locals, there are still a couple of surviving old buildings from the past two centuries ago, but it was too hot to explore every alley and my wife did not seem to be too enthusiastic. We found a couple of buildings on the way that we managed to take a picture of.

This old yellow building is intended as a Culinary Museum. From what I understood, this house is only used for cultural activities, and open during special occasion such as Chinese New Year and other important holidays, and receiving special guests.

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Benteng Heritage Museum

The Benteng Heritage Museum is a traditional Chinese architectural building that, according to estimates, was built in the mid-17th century and is one of the oldest buildings in Tangerang City. This building is located in the middle of the old market, which is also the Zero Point of the City of Tangerang. We went in and were told to leave our phones and camera in a locker. Taking pictures was strictly prohibited inside so decided to leave.

In this Museum, you will find many unique things and artifacts behind the history of Chinese ethnic life. These artifacts are silent witnesses of past life, starting from the arrival of Zheng He's fleet with a group of about 300 large and small junks carrying nearly 30,000 followers. Some of these groups, led by Chen Ci Lung, are believed to be the ancestors of the Chinese population of Tangerang (China Benteng) who landed in Teluk Naga area in 1407. The city of Tangerang was formerly called the City of Benteng when it was first formed.
Reference

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Pork Satay

A trip to Tangerang old market won't be complete if you haven't tasted the famous pork satay. Since we had just had our noodles, we decided to take them home. So we ordered 25 skewers to take home.

The satay was delicious with tender, succulent meat and sweet.

I sat by the main door of the satay stall's main house while waiting for our satay to be prepared. I could help but notice the old furniture in the room. It must be from the early 1900 if not older.

Once we got our satay we decided to go home. The time was around 11ish and it was hot. I was sweating bullets and felt very uncomfortable from the heat. We took another exit, the one leading to the main road of Chinatown. The road where the old market is situated is parallel to the main street.

Unlike Jakarta, pedicabs are still allowed to operate here.

Food carts on the side of the road parking.

The main street of Chinatown on the other side of the market..

The existence of the market has blocked and hindered access for 4-wheeled vehicles and caused problems for car owners who live there. The market is not much different than any traditional markets in Jakarta except for the pork satays. I would definitely come back again for the noodles, coffee, and of course the pork satay.🍜☕

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A baby boomer who's trying to embrace and adapt to the new digital world. Worked for over 30 years in the IT industry before retiring and now run an online vegetable delivery and hydroponics equipment business. Enjoy traveling, cooking, writing, playing pool, and all IT-related stuff. You're always welcome to leave a comment or feedback, and an upvote or reblog is also greatly appreciated.