King Cobra House

Laksmi Pamuntjak

Aw, lighten up. You won’t be here if you aren’t a) looking to boost your sex drive, b) ailing from some kind of disease, c) nursing a reptile fetish, or d) plain curious. So choose your animal; if it’s snake, then you have a choice of two kings—cobra and python—and a host of minor, untitled gentry. If it’s The Rest, you will find biawak, bat, monkey, rabbit, turtle and Mr. Alligator himself. Then choose your method of cooking: deep-fried, satay or soup before you sit down either inside, in the full mustiness of such a den, and in the resplendent glory of reptiles slithering in cages behind the cashier, or outside, where you can watch snakes being gutted and skinned and the passersby who ogle them. You also watch people come, sit down, drink snake blood, get up, pay and leave.

Cobra meat is deceptively meagre and scaly; much better is the python, whose flesh is firmer, but similar in taste as chicken. To get rid of any lingering intimation of sleaze, opt to have the python fried as much as possible (as in fried chicken); you won’t know the difference (especially after downing a couple of beers). When ordering crocodile soup, don’t expect a mega-bowl of protein, as it comes in a pitifully small bowl with nary a croc. The meat is white and also tastes like chicken, but is firmer, sweeter. 

A cup of blood of one kind of snake will cost Rp 50,000 but most people request the blood of up to three different snakes in one cup for Rp 150,000 to Rp. 220,000.  A bottle of King Cobra blood mixed with traditional Chinese wine costs between Rp 800,000 and Rp 2,500,000 (depending on the size of the snake). Snake-skin products also abound: bags, wallets, belts, jackets, you name it. Around since 1965.  Also on Jl. Matraman Raya no. 100, Jakarta Pusat, Tel. 858 3777; Jl. Kapten Tendean no. 23, Jakarta Selatan, Tel. 520 7169; Jl. Palmerah Raya no. 11, Kebayoran Lama, Jakarta Selatan, Tel. 530 4747; Jl. Imam Bonjol no. 47, Cibitung (near gas station).