Food Good Indonesia

Luca Pezzera, executive chef of the Union Group’s Caffè Milano and the recently opened Bistecca, shares his story of Italian roots and becoming an elite chef in Indonesia.

Since the age of 14, Luca Pezzera knew he would one day become a professional chef. He travelled, saw the world, and meet new people which further convinced him to take up a career in the culinary industry. Fast forward to 2016. The 47-year-old did what he set out to do, and currently sits at the helm of two high-end restaurants in Indonesia, and one in Singapore.

Growing up in the city of Bergamo, northeast of Milan, Luca knew his way around the kitchen as he was raised by a family of cooks. “My nonna [grandma] and my mamma are both great cooks, and I have always helped out around the kitchen. My neighbours also used to make wood-fired pizzas in their backyard, and I was always keen to assist,” says Pezzera.

His mother was his role model. She used to remind him to use fine and raw materials in his cooking. “My mother is my inspiration. She taught me to keep things simple and uncomplicated,” he says. The chef even keeps his mother’s recipe handy, an all-time favourite pasta with zucchini and prawns, used as one of the dishes at an event when his mother came and collaborated with Pezzera in Caffè Milano’s kitchen.

Pezzera’s career in Indonesia began in 2002, when he landed a job in Jakarta as a head chef at Hotel Intercontinental’s Scusa. Five years later, he moved to Singapore to open up Bontá Italian Restaurant & Bar, followed by several more outlets of another restaurant named District 10 – one that he also co-owns today. In 2015, he collaborated with the Union Group to establish Caffè Milano before ultimately deciding to move back to Jakarta after launching Bistecca.

Chef Luca Pezzera working his magic in the kitchen

When asked about his thoughts on working in Jakarta, the chef revealed that the people and culture in the capital keep his job interesting, as they always push him to become better. “I love how the people in Jakarta are so hospitable and warm, and very open to new things.

The fact that a majority of the people here appreciate good food very much also really motivates me as a chef to always serve the best quality and most delicious dishes to my customers,” he explains.

In addition to the people’s passion for food, he acknowledged that the food industry in Indonesia is now “more diverse and developed” as customers are increasingly more open to different tastes and cuisines. This in turn makes the food business in the archipelago more competitive, which also challenges Pezzera and other chefs to come up with new dishes, and step up their games.

Pezzera, for example, believes chefs these days are returning to the traditional ways of cooking. Similarly, the man himself turns out to be a fan of traditional cooking equipment. He bakes pizza using a hot stone oven in Caffè Milano, and grills all of the meat over charcoal and wood – a method which he describes as “old school” – in Bistecca.

Apart from keeping up with the trends when it comes to cooking techniques, he still prioritizes the quality of food by always using fresh ingredients, while also trying to stay focused on authenticity. These principles are all expressed at Caffè Milano, an all-day restaurant that serves classic Italian dishes, cocktails and wine. At the venue, customers can feel the dining culture from Milan and Northern Italy when they first step in.

“What also sets us apart from other Italian restaurants in Jakarta is how we are able to recreate a classic Milanese trattoria with our outdoor area. In addition, the energy we have within Caffè Milano itself is also a unique quality,” says Pezzera.

For restaurants under the hands of such a big company like the Union Group, Pezzera notes that it is important for the people working inside to have the same passion and spirit that he does. Luckily, the company’s co-founders and board of directors are able to work together with the chefs and managers to maintain the best quality of food, service and company culture, says Pezzera. All of these, according to him, are the keys for the Union Group to keep its top eateries sustainable.

Outside of work, Pezzera also has a kitchen life of his own. He revealed that a pair of knives, an old wooden block chopping board, staple ingredients of garlic, olive oil and chilli powder would never leave his side when preparing a dish at home. At night when he gets hungry, the chef often turns pasta into aglio olio for a snack. Spaghetti with sautéed scallops, garlic, olive oil and fresh Sicilian sea urchin is Pezzera’s guilty pleasure.

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A Russian restaurant on the island of Bali? You may think that’s odd considering the tropical climes of our island paradise, but it’s actually a shrewd china business idea. Bali has around 2,000 Russian expats, not to mention the thousands who come every year to vacation in upmarket areas such as Nusa Dua where Slavyanka is conveniently located.

Nestled in Bali Collection, an open-air complex of restaurants, cafes and retail outlets, Slavyanka was the first Russian restaurant to be opened in Indonesia and is definitely out of the ordinary. Owner, Vedanta Wijaya originally ran a travel agents which catered for Russian tourists travelling to Bali. He told me that this tourist exodus started around ten years ago, several years after the USSR dismantled and businesses were privatised, “allowing people the wealth to travel and although not originally in large numbers, it was quality rather than quantity.” December to March are the busiest months for Slavyanka as Russian tourists flock to Bali on the four flights a week available from Moscow.

During the peak seasons at Slavyanka, the kitchen can churn out 400 servings of traditional Russian soup of beetroot, cabbage, carrot and pork (Borscht) and 50 kg of dumplings (Pelneni) a day. These two dishes are favourites here, with 95% of customers being from Russia, and the remaining 5% Australian, Japanese and Indonesian. This was my first authentic Russian culinary experience and we sampled enough to get an idea of what Russian cuisine is all about.

To start, we tried the Polevoy Salad, a refreshing and healthy start to a meal, along with a Vinegret Salad, a purple mix of boiled beets, potatoes, carrots, pickles, onions and sauerkraut. Then we got heavier with Borscht, a hearty soup originally from the Ukraine containing beets and pork, followed by dumplings served with sour cream — Vareniki (dumplings filled with potato) and Pelneni (dumplings filled with meat). Rich and dangerous for the waistline, but tasty all the same. Then we sampled Sashlik, grilled skewers of pork, beef or lamb meat.

And what do most punters drink at Slavyanka? Vodka, and lots of it apparently. “Some of our guests will sit outside on the patio during the day, have a beer and drink vodka while reading the paper,” Vedanta tells me. The most popular brand being Smirnoff as import duties make the price of Russian vodka too expensive for anyone’s liking. Wines, beers and non-alcoholic drinks are of course also available at reasonable prices.

If you have Russian clients visiting, or you’re keen to try something different, definitely take a trip to Slavyanka. The décor in itself is enough to entertain — Tsars in gold frames decorate the walls, a decadent chandelier welcomes you upon entry, and red curtains swoop down around you and the jet-black floors. Food is authentic as is the company – Russian diners will surround you. Na zda rov ye!

Slavyanka

Bali Collection Block A3 9-10-11, Nusa Dua

Phone: +62 361 770 225

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 “White rice is lacklustre, lifeless, tasteless and irritating to prepare; brown rice is flavoursome, wholesome and easy to prepare”.
Maud Grieve F.R.H.S. (1858-1941) – A Modern Herbal (pub. 1931)

Every society has a staple food: my London upbringing revolved around potatoes, varieties such as King Edwards in winter for baking and Whites for salads. We grew them in our back garden. My mother also made a delicious rice pudding with sultanas and raisins; it was boiled in milk, then baked for a while with a sprinkling of nutmeg on the top.

Later, as an adult, I’d enjoyed the occasional Chinese takeaway with white rice, Indian meals with basmati rice and vegan meals with brown rice bought from the community wholefoods store. Yet, not yet being a traveller, I knew little about the other 40,000 plus varieties of rice – yes, there are really that many, nor that Indonesian alone has about 7,000 varieties, suitable for uplands, lowlands or tidal swamps.

Shortly after I arrived in Jakarta in pre-internet days and began the process of acculturation, I was somewhat taken aback by Indonesian’s obsession with food – meaning rice.

Sudah makan, belum?

It is thought that around 1000BC rice cultivation spread to the Malay-Indo archipelago from the Bronze Age ?ông S?n (Dongsan) culture centred in the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam. This brought irrigated rice-growing techniques, as well as husbandry skills, buffalo sacrifice rituals, bronze casting, the custom of erecting megaliths, and ikat weaving methods. Some of these practices survive today in the Batak areas of Sumatra, Tana Toraja in Sulawesi, parts of Kalimantan, and Nusa Tenggara.

By the 1st century AD, small kingdoms, collections of villages subservient to petty chieftains, evolved in Java*. The island’s constant hot temperature, plentiful rainfall and volcanic soil was ideal for wet-field rice cultivation. This largely self-sufficient organisation, with surplus rice being stored for communal use in times of drought or festivities, could explain why the Javanese developed a seemingly more feudal society than the other islands. Dry rice cultivation is not such a collective enterprise.

However, the population explosion last century – from c.50 million in 1900 to c.110 million in 66/67 – led to rice shortages. President Sukarno advocated the eating of corn, or rats from the rice fields – accounts vary but the populace were unimpressed either way – and the famine was temporarily and partially alleviated by USAID rice aid shipments.

The Bureau of Logistics (Badan Urusan Logistik/BULOG), a government-owned company which deals with food distribution and price control, was originally established in 1967 to purchase rice for the provisioning of the armed forces, the civil service, and state corporation employees. It now monitors and sets prices for a much wider variety of foods. (Since its foundation, Bulog has raised the living standards of farmers, but it’s also proved a much larger source of illicit funding for its managers.)

In 1968, Suharto launched his ‘Green Revolution’ aiming for food self-sufficiency. The government provided subsidies for fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation, which helped to increase yields and production.

By 1978, programs to build up the rural infrastructure, such as irrigation canals, water supply, bridges and roads, amounted to 12% of the national development budget, demonstrating the importance of rice to political stability. This worked for a while; in spite of a drastic drop in production due to the 1975–76 wereng (brown planthopper) plague, by 1984 rice production exceeded domestic consumption for the first time. Suharto was honoured for this by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in November 1985.

However, Indonesia became a net rice importer once again in 1988 and the rural rakyat were advised to eat ubi (cassava) as their staple food. It wasn’t until last year (2012) that Bulog had “the highest ever rice stocks” with 2.3 million tons, having imported just 700,000 tons.

The ‘Green Revolution’ and the recent move towards genetically modified seeds has had several unfortunate consequences. Farming on an industrial scale with centralised distribution of insecticides, pesticides, fertilisers and ‘standard’ seeds has reduced the fertility of the soil, with chemicals leaching into the water table via run-offs from the fields. Farmers, who had localised and inherited knowledge of the terrain they were working, have been displaced, many becoming workers in the fields their families once owned.

In 2007, the government, through national seed company, PT Sang Hyang Seri, launched a major hybrid rice programme in association with such Indonesian oligarchs as Tomy Winarta and Jusuf Kalla. Since then, many farmers have experienced crop failures because, as Prof. Dr. Kasumbogo Untung, an entomologist at the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta said in 2010, hybrid seeds are especially susceptible to pests such as brown planthoppers.

Rice fields by David Metcalf

Many farmers have reverted to more traditional methods such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). This was developed in India and seen yields per hectare increase by as much as 40%. It is based on eight principles which are different to conventional rice cultivation. They include developing nutrient-rich and un-flooded nurseries instead of flooded ones, ensuring wider spacing between rice seedlings, preferring compost or manure to synthetic fertilizers, and managing water carefully to avoid that the plants’ roots are not saturated.

Another major advantage of SRI is that it relies on local knowledge, which increases the likelihood that the seeds used would be more resistant to prevalent infestations

SBY, who has a PhD from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, supports SRI because, “it increases production, yet does not damage the environment. We should think about the future of our children [and] the lives of the next generation.“(video: http://srivideo.zoomshare.com)

I’m with SBY on this: support local farmers, not the genetically modified conglomerates.

*Stamford Raffles, in his History of Java suggests that the name is derived from the Sanskit word ‘yava’, which means barley.

Did you know?
Rice farming is responsible for 14% of total global methane emissions.

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I recently have been having an affair with raw food. This type of food may not be everyone’s favourite, but has become a rising trend lately, especially in Ubud.

Raw foodies believe that consuming uncooked food regularly is the best way to maintain health. Unlike food made from animal products, raw food leaves no side effects that can harm the body in the long term, and believed can enhance the detoxification process in the body, especially if combined with nutritious juices.

My food affair this time lands me at a new raw food restaurant in Ubud, Living Food Lab, located only a few metres away from the famous Monkey Forest. This is actually their second outlet; the first one, which also has the same name, has been serving nutritious cuisines to school students at Green School for about one and a half years.

When I step up on the second floor, I am drawn to a cosy open-space restaurant, beautifully made from bamboo with a view of rolling rice fields on the other side of the building. Some busy staff working at the bar greet me with their warmest smile and a glass of watermelon limeade to refresh me on this very hot day. Right away I fall in love with this chic restaurant that provides a relaxing atmosphere, and of course, delicious healthy cuisines.

Food with a purpose

The business started with Avara Yaron selling raw food at Green School’s warung. Yaron has been a raw food chef for the last five years, and started a living-food catering company in the States, right before she permanently moved to Bali about three years ago.

The idea to bring it to a higher level happened when Yaron met her co-founder, Steve Munroe, an ex-UN staff who fell in love with Ubud. Munroe’s interest in raw food started after having survived consuming miserable foods for years when he was sent to conflict areas across the world.

When Green School then agreed to partner with them, Living Food Lab was born.

“We were very excited about the green school community, and about the idea of basically getting kids to eat the healthy stuff and the educational experience for them,” said Munroe.

Living Food Lab also sources ninety percent of their ingredients locally, supported by local suppliers that partner up with local farmers. One of their suppliers is East Bali Cashews, which empowers cashew farmers and educates them how to process their cashews locally, where before they sent it to India and Vietnam for processing.

Healthy temptations

Proponents of raw food lifestyle believe that vegetables can lose its important nutrition when cooked or heated. And with the absence of animal products or ingredients that must undergo cooking/heating process, a handful of creativity is absolute in the making of raw food, especially to substitute those ingredients.

Living Food Lab has many creative ideas when it comes to delicious, healthy raw foods. One of the examples is the pizza. I am quite surprised when a plate of pizza is served on my table. Instead of getting slices of baked dough with tomato sauces, melted mozzarella and different toppings, I sample two beautiful gluten-free crusts made from sunflower and flux seeds, topped with cashew paté and dressing choices of pesto or sundried tomato.

I have to admit, I love the taste. The combination of tomato salsa and basil leaves sprinkled on top of the pizza gives a refreshing sensation that blend well with the soft texture of the cashew paté and its tasty dressing – I almost forget it is raw. Not only delicious, it also cools and pleases my belly.

To boost the energy of their customers in the morning – both adults and children – Living Food Lab offers granola bars. Different topping choices such as cashews, sesame seeds, goji berries, flax seeds, cacao nibs, sunflower seeds, almonds, oats, dates, mixed with different liquids, such as cashew milk for vegans or cow’s milk and yogurt, really sound perfect to nourish the day.

For lunch, the granola bar is replaced with mixed green lettuces, along with 12 different toppings, such as a variety of seeds or vegetables, and five different dressings, which are changed regularly, for only Rp.35,000. Mango wrap is another favourite, combining mango paté, baby romaine, zucchini and other vegetables, drizzled with sesame garlic dressing.

Choices of raw chocolates – children’s most favourite nibble – are displayed to opt for perfect desserts, along with raw cakes, such as raw apple cake or delicious strawberry cheesecake, that taste as delicious as cooked cakes. Another temptation is the Protein Bar. This bar full of good protein from different nuts, answers the question of where raw foodies get their protein; sweet and chewy, perfect for a healthy afternoon snack.

Raw food may be a new thing, but why not try to tuck on this healthy, unique, but delicious temptation for your diet? Although it might not give you a flavour kick like a succulent steak or fat patty in a cheeseburger, raw food is uniquely delicious when it comes to flavour, very interesting to try, and gives nothing but good to your body.

Living Food Lab
Green School, Abiansemal, Bali, Indonesia
Jalan Monkey Forest 88x, Ubud
www.livingfoodlab.com

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Chef Kamil at Mediterranea

Meet Camille Massard Combe (aka Chef Kamil). Camille is the proud owner and chef of Mediterranea, a traditional French and Mediterranean restaurant in Jogjakarta, Central Java.

Bonjour, Camille. Firstly, please tell us how you adopted the Indonesian name Kamil?
There’s a simple explanation for this. When I arrived, I realized that people started to write my name in this way and I found it quite fancy and local, so I adopted the name ever since!

Where are you originally from?
I’m from France bien sûr madame. But both of my parents’ families were originally from the North of Italy. I was born and grew up in Paris. I stayed for three years in the southwest of France, working as a chef as well.

You came to Indonesia in 2008. What was the reason for this visit and why have you stayed ever since?
At first I came to visit a friend for a holiday and I really liked the place. Then I decided to try my luck with a small restaurant, which has been quite successful, so I decided to stay.

What is it about life in Jogjakarta that you love so much? How does it compare to Bali or Jakarta, for example?
I like that it is a human-sized city, with a kind of village feeling, despite fast changes that have happened over the last five years. Jogjakarta is known as a big city but I still like it. Bali and Jakarta are definitely too packed for me.

What would you say would be the best day out in Jogjakarta, for someone who has never been before? And where would be the best place, in your opinion, for breakfast, lunch then dinner?
Of course you have to visit the main attractions like Borobudur temple and Prambanan temple, and so on. Also visit the southeast coast where they have beautiful white sand beaches. Finish up by climbing Mount Merapi, one of the most active volcanoes in the country. For breakfast, I would say have it in my kitchen with my wife and I, for lunch definitely enjoy it in my restaurant, and for dinner as well! I work 15 hours a day, six out of seven days a week, so you are most likely to find me there. There are plenty of other nice restaurants in south Jogjakarta as well.

Shish Kebab by Chef Kamil

You opened a now well-known eatery in Jogjakarta called Mediterranea Restaurant, serving traditional French and Mediterranean cuisine. How did you go about starting this venture?
After a few experiences, I wanted a large space with my own decorations. I tried to upgrade this place regularly and apparently the people like it. The restaurant is a full concept; food has to be very good but the cosiness is also important. I like that my customers take their time to eat, so they need also a nice place to enjoy the food and their surroundings.

What is the most popular dish on your menu? Have you had to make any of your recipes more Indonesian to better suit the local palate?
Mushroom risotto with duck breast on the grill is the most popular, I would say. I stick to the French traditional taste and I really enjoy that my Indonesian customers have discovered new flavours from my restaurant. It’s a part of my job.

Why did you choose Jalan Tirtodipuran for your venue’s location?
I fell in love with the post colonial house that the restaurant is in. Jalan Tirtodipuran is also one of the nicest and most quaint streets in Jogjakarta where you can find some antique shops and famous batik factories.

What challenges have you faced training local staff to cook French food?
It’s a daily challenge. I have to make my staff excited to cook using French techniques to prepare the meals. I also have to introduce them to new flavours and tastes. It’s not always easy to make them embrace a new culinary culture but it’s a very interesting challenge for me and I enjoy it.

Where do you get your produce from? Is it locally sourced?
I really try to use local products as much as I can. It’s a real issue for me. I feel extremely concerned about this matter, but of course, for example, olive oil is imported. I only use imported products when I cannot find it here. In the future, I really would like to grow some organic vegetables and use them daily in my restaurant. This will happen soon.

What are your future plans? Any plans to expand?
I have many plans in my mind, but I will keep it in the box for now.

Do you see Jogjakarta being your home for the foreseeable future?
Yes, for sure. I have one kid and the second one is on the way so we won’t be moving anywhere. I still feel that Jogjakarta is a nice family-friendly place to live.

Where is your favourite place in Indonesia?
This is a difficult one, but I would say the majestic volcanoes around Java.

And finally, what is your favourite Indonesian expression?
Nanti dulu, which means ‘later on’!

To meet Chef Kamil, visit Mediterranea Restaurant, Jalan Tirtodipuran no 24A, Jogjakarta.
Phone: +62 274 371052

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Tapas Movida Cipete is going through some changes and it is all about the menu! After opening a branch in CITOS Mall with the original more casual menu, Spanish-British executive chef and owner, Manuel Verdaguer, has decided to get back behind the oven and let his imagination go wild to create a gourmet menu more attentive to details, presentation and combination of flavours. 

Tapas Movida is one of the few restaurants featuring Spanish tapas established that far south in the city, and is well known amongst the residents of Cipete and Cilandak. The tapas restaurant opened its doors in 2011 with the goal of offering Spain’s most famous delicacies, tapas, to Jakartans. Tapas is the Spanish word for appetizer and is some sort of equivalent to the Indonesian Padang; small portion meals. It is designed to be shared and encourage conversation around the table.

If the tapas concept remains, the original Cipete branch is stepping up its game to offer a more upscale gourmet menu, with more researched taste combinations and fine presentations. In order to do so, chef Verdaguer has decided to get back in the kitchen and get in the full creative mode. Indonesia Expat was invited to have an avant-goût of his new creations and even if it is still on the working board, we were particularly pleased with the huevos rotos, poached egg with chorizo, baked potatoes, fresh greens, cherry tomatoes, red pepper sauce and churros ice cream sandwich with chocolate sauce. The new menu will be revealed later this month. But don’t worry, the good old classics will remain, such as albandigas con salsa de tomato picante (meatballs in spicy tomato sauce) or Palla de marisco (Spanish rice with seafood).

Along with a reinvented new menu, Tapas Movida is also launching Latino Night starting October 10^th. Just in time to practice for the annual Latin Ball! Beginner salsa lessons will start at 7.30pm until 8.30pm, followed by a social dancing evening of salsa, bachata, merengue, reggaeton, with a live DJ.

Also taking advantage of his British heritage, the chef has also launched a good old full English breakfast menu, including English bacon and sausages, hash brown potatoes and black pudding, of course, with a Spanish touch, featuring authentic Spanish cheese.

Chef Verdaguer was born in Spain and grew up in England. Before moving to Indonesia in 2007, he worked in several Michelin stars restaurants and hotels in the UK, such as Café Royal, High Park Corner and Grosvenor Hotel.

Tapas Movida Website: www.tapasmovida.co.id

Jl. Cipete Raya no. 66, South Jakarta

Email: tapasmovida@yahoo.com

Tel: 021 751 0851

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Our expert epicure continues an undercover operation to bring you the truth about Jakarta’s dining scene. No spoon is left unturned in the quest for honest, balanced reviews, from long-established favourites to the hottest new tables in town.

This month, young crowd magnet Social House. 

Gastro geeks everywhere will have noticed the recent trend towards a more relaxed, casual approach to dining. Escoffier may well be turning in his grave at the thought of Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social in London, or the speakeasy-style eateries of today’s Manhattan. No starched linens, no trolley service, no waiters in tails. A restaurant is no longer a formal beacon of good cuisine. It is a meeting place. A co-opted office. A concept: eat, yes – but socialise too.

Social House, darling of cool-kid restaurant group Ismaya, is Indonesia’s answer to the social-eating scene. A hipster joint like this wouldn’t be caught dead in a mall in New York, but this is Asia, so the east wing of Grand Indonesia is a fitting location. Trekking your way through the shops makes for a slightly less-than-glamourous entrance, but once in you are rewarded with an open and welcoming space. The pale wooden décor is offset by trees and bits of shrubbery bedecked with fairy lights. In true social style, the space is sectioned into functional areas: there are private rooms, a bar, a raised dining area and even a wine shop (with decent choice and average prices).

As all civilised socialising should, we began in the bar. There is an extensive list of particularly imaginative, if not always tempting, cocktails. I always think anyone who needs to dress their alcohol up as dessert (vodka crème brûlée, anyone?) doesn’t actually like drinking, and therefore probably shouldn’t. The wines by the glass, though lopsided with four reds and two whites, were reasonable quality and adequately priced. But since they have a wine shop, they could afford to add a few more whites to the list at least. We sampled a classic Californian, Robert Mondavi’s Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon at Rp.104,000, which was very agreeable, and through the course of dinner, both whites on the list, Alexis Lichine Sauvignon Blanc (Rp.85,000) and Domaine Chandon Chardonnay (Rp.144,000), which were fine.

Moving into the buzzing dining area, we saw almost every table was full, largely of groups of friends, chatting, laughing and generally making merry. So far, so social. If the mission here is to simply provide a place for the Jakaterati to have a moderate amount of chilled fun in funky surroundings – job done. But to truly emulate Atherton and co.’s Michelin-starred international social-dining successes, this place will need to impress with more than just atmosphere. The quality of the food, and the service, are key.

Alas dear readers, therein lies the rub. Because unfortunately Social House couldn’t help itself. Like a kid in a sweet shop, it just had to go for that all-encompassing catch-all of a menu, ‘international’, or as I like to call it, ‘indecisive’. Here, the food concept ranges from sushi, sashimi, noodles, fajitas, pizzas and pastas to the ubiquitous steak.

Restaurateurs of Indonesia: why, why, why, must we try to please everyone? You know as well as I do it’s impossible anyway. Yes, you’re located in a mall with a great variety of taste buds with fat wallets walking around in it. But that doesn’t mean you can successfully cater to them all.

Have conviction in your cooking and in your diners’ tastes, pick what you’re good at, and leave globe-trotting gastronomy to the hotel buffets.

Still. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. So we did – and in part, we were pleasantly surprised.

To whet our whistles on this international gourmet-gallop, we started with ‘small plates’ from a couple of culinary canons. First up, crispy roti prata with thick seafood curry dip (Rp.69,000) was both an original idea and, frankly, quite moreish. The ‘dip’ was a medium-spiced, rich Malaysian sauce perfect for scooping up with that flaky, pastry-like bread. Successful.

Alongside this was a tuna maguro tataki with crispy garlic and ponzu sauce at Rp.75,000. The portions are not large, but the fish was convincingly fresh (though of course, not that spankingly, just-off-the-boat fresh you get in Japan), and the ponzu was tasty enough.

Finally, ‘fresh’ spring rolls with shrimp, chicken, egg and vegetables (Rp.69,000) were a little boring and under-loved. It just goes to show that trying to do too many cuisines under one roof is eventually going to produce some losers.

For something more substantial, we split the Wagyu beef burger with Brie, Emmental, eggplant, rocket, sundried tomato, Social House special sauce and fries. The burger patty itself was actually juicy, though the onion rings could have been crispier. Overall this was not a disappointment at Rp.165,000.

What was a let-down was the service. Disorganised, forgetful, and just a bit too casual (even for the social-dining concept), overall the team came off as essentially inept, albeit friendly. Like lots of places in Jakarta now, their hiring policy is evidently based on the coolness of your haircut rather than any sort of ability to get the job done.

I don’t need to restate that I prefer my steak without a side of sushi. But since nothing will change the sheer breadth of this menu’s dithering, we’ll put that issue aside, because Social House does have its good points. Yes, there are improvements to be made in the kitchen, and most certainly to the service, but all in all, I admit I would go back – most likely with a group of friends, and an emphasis on conversation rather than consumption. After all, even I have been known to socialise.

Cheque please!

Food: Rp.374,000

Drinks: Rp.437,000

Service: 10%

Total: Rp.941,000 (inc. taxes) for two

Social House Restaurant & Bar

Grand Indonesia East Mall 1st Floor, JL. MH Thamrin, No. 1, Jakarta 10320,

+62 21 2358 1818, www.ismaya.com/socialhouse

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