Summitmas Tower I
Ground Floor
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 61-62
Tel. 520 1233
It is not a hoax after all: the red oval entrance, the “tigers” at the gate, the clubby discreetness of it all. The space beyond, startlingly sleek five years ago, is now just like any upscale modern dining room of a certain “minimalist” persuasion, divided into a few private rooms on the one side and a main dining room on the other, between which runs a corridor paved with an elongated wine rack. The main dining room, dressed in linen and all the grey neutrals, is slightly precious (why are all the tables so large and banquet-like?); a little toning down would doubtless bring in the hip crowd and enliven the place somewhat.
But the food, several cuts—I should add—above your normal Japanese, is where all cynicism should end: yes, it is that good. And beautiful to boot. A generous bowl of complimentary crisps (lotus roots, tempe, zucchini, cassava—almost oil-free and drop dead gorgeous) opens up to a feast of superlatives: the tsukuri basara moriawase is a veritable work of art, both visual and gustatory: there are toro, hamachi, sake and kanpachi, glowingly radiant in threes or fours; delicate pieces of saba, gelled by lemon slices; a few pieces of sanma glistening with ginger, chive and vinegar, and very smooth uni, almost orange in its freshness, served on its spiky shell.
At any rate, order the wonderful mushroom salad (kinoko ataka salad)—expect no mayo overload or any other common hitches associated with mushroom or salad. An appetizer of herbed deep fried octopus (tako komi age) and a very pretty platter of crab sticks dotted with cucumber and tomato speckles (karikari ebi) endorses the restaurant’s deft hand with frying; of coarser batter is the magu gyoza, fried dumplings stuffed with tuna, and hardly as complex.
But the real star of the evening is the hot stone Matsuzaka beef—hailing from the Matsuzaka region of Mie, Japan, this bright red meat with white fatty marbling, with the highest fat-to-meat ratio known to man, is served Western style: there it is, quivering and sweating on its plate, slathered in teriyaki sauce, noble and supreme—superior, even, than that more internationally known wagyu: the Kobe beef. Matsuzaka has double the marbling fat of Kobe, which accounts for its nonpareil buttery taste and for it being double the price of the latter. But since the fat contains mono-saturated oleic acid—the same found in olive oil—the cholesterol level remains moderate. Or so we are made to believe.
There’s a good bar and plenty of good wine; do try the wonderful umeshu, a Japanese plum liquor from whence everything came.
Price range: Around Rp 850,000 for 3 (with alcohol). An order of Matsuzaka is around Rp 700,000; an order of Kobe is around Rp 350,000).
Operating hours: 11:30 – 14:00 (lunch);
18:00 – 22:00 (dinner)
Dress code: smart casual
Atmosphere: awkward formal
Alcohol: yes + wine
All major credit cards accepted
Reviewed: September 2007
Main Series Bareng Nicholas Saputra, Lee Sang Heon Jadi Bisa Masak Orek Tempe
Sebagai infomasi, Nicholas Saputra berperan sebagai Chef Arif yang berada dalam pusaran konflik antara Ha-Joon (Sang Heon Lee) dan Maya (Julia Barretto).
