Chew Love

Want to wine and dine your loved one in a no-hassles setting? Relax, just do it.

Jakarta’s dining scene has undergone big, bold, even brassy, changes. We have moved on from ’80s formal hotel bites and ’90s café culture, including the brief dalliance with celebrity-owned sidewalk cafés during the crisis-crunch, through to today’s wave of trendy supper lounges, on par with Singapore and Hong Kong.

Sometimes, though, the experience comes with an unwanted complimentary serving of attitude dancing, whether it is too-cool-for-school waiters, an overdone, trying-too-hard ambiance or the general air, and airs, of fellow patrons. Not a good recipe for those of us simply seeking a pleasant, relaxed meal.

Here’s our picks of some welcoming eating spots, where you have your choice of comfort food in comfortable surroundings.

AMUZ

2^nd Floor, Energy Building

SCBD Lot 11a

Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53, South Jakarta

Tel. 021-250-5064

CONCEPT: As its whimsical name suggests, fine contemporary French cuisine by chef Gilles Marx in a classy but not stuffy setting. The longtime Jakarta resident, who was behind Park Lane’s Riva becoming the city’s leading French restaurant in the early 2000s, realized his dream of opening his own restaurant in 2010, in partnership with businessman Arifin Panigoro. Clean, modern, predominantly earth-toned décor, with the local touch of Indonesian paintings. “We wanted to keep away from the intimidation factor in fine dining. We are a French restaurant but in Indonesia. I don’t want people stopping at the door and wondering if they want to come in,” says Marx.

EATS: Marx has brought some of his signature dishes, including pan-fried Dover sole, to Amuz, but this time the menu is more contemporary French cuisine. The degustation selection, offering a taste of up to seven courses paired with wines, is recommended.

CROWD: Weekdays: businesspeople sealing the deal and entertaining clients; on the weekend: families, from French expatriates to Indonesians who love good French food (closed Sunday).

PLUS POINTS: Marx is hands-on, making his rounds of the restaurant every day. Diners are free to make requests of this laid-back, amiable chef (“we will accommodate them as much as we can”), get wine recommendations or simply hear his tale of how he came to Jakarta on a short-term posting in 1998, met his Indonesian wife and, 13 years later, is still here.

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TIN PAN ALLEY

Thamrin Nine Podium

Lobby Floor #F

Jl. MH Thamrin No. 10, Central Jakarta

Tel. 021-3000-7881

CONCEPT: Swank, industrial-designed restaurants-cum-lounges-cum-bars (next up, cum-malls?) are a dime a dozen right now. Tin Pan Alley, with its vintage gramophones and other antiques, exudes a tad more warmth than the usual cold glass and steel fixtures. Owner Nathalia Thanos Bernhard pays homage to New York City and the US, with the restaurant decorated like a 1930s Big Apple watering hole. “We wanted this to be casual and really good value in a nice, comfortable setting,” says the New Jersey-raised, Cornell-educated interior designer. “So many places want to be posh and glamorous, but we want to be welcoming and cozy.”

EATS: Everything is all-American at this eatery, from the burgers (interesting combination with pineapple sauce) and stacked sandwiches, salads, pasta and steaks. Generous but not gargantuan portions. Signature iced drinks include a fresh lemonade that, Thanos Bernhard and partner Irine Tjandra say, is just like kids sell on the sidewalk in the US of A. “For us, it goes back to whether the food is good or not, because that is why people go out,” she says.

CROWD: Weekdays: young professionals and groups of arisan ladies who lunch; weekends: families turn out to feed on a little chunk of Americana. The friendly waitstaff diligently speak English to foreign diners without making them feel like they are trapped between a fop and a hard rock place circa 1996, if you get my drift.

PLUS POINTS: For those so inclined, puff away all you want at the separate smoking section at the café entrance. Coming up is a baked goods section, offering American treats of chocolate chip cookies, lemon meringue pie and bagels.

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LYON

Mandarin Oriental Hotel

Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta

Tel. 021-2993-8888

CONCEPT: We Jakartans have come to expect gargantuan all-you-can eat buffets that leave us feeling weighed down although light in the pocket. There is no rest from the buffet bonanza on Sundays, when the city’s finest hotels really go to town with sprawling smorgasbords. But the Mandarin’s French restaurant, Lyon, is giving the weekend brunch a refreshing twist. Instead of a groaning Sunday brunch, it offers a Saturday version where the sometimes obscene wastage (and attendant guilt trip) from all that food is removed. For main courses and desserts, you choose from an extensive list of à la carte dishes, which are served in small, gorgeously presented individual portions. You can order as many dishes as you want from the menu board.

EATS: On the day I ate there, the mains included brunch faves of eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce and pain perdu warm French toast, sole, succulent grilled beef tenderloin with truffled potato ravioli, lamb loin and seared foie gras with apple compote and a green bean and walnut salad.

Desserts ran to strawberry melba, a delectable vanilla millefeuille, chocolate raspberry macaroon and crème caramel – and those are merely the tip of the taste iceberg. Also included is a substantial salad bar – Caesar salad, full cheese board, antipasti, Moroccan lamb stew, couscous and breads – and a crepe station.

CROWD: Decorated in creams and pastels, the restaurant has a casual, welcoming atmosphere. The other diners on the day I ate made an interesting mix: young and young-ish couples of all persuasions, a family gathering, a foreign businessman grabbing a meal on his weekend off. The casualness extends to the weekend-friendly dress code, with shorts and sneakers not a problem. The staff is professional but personable and there is none of that sometimes present hoity-toity hotel feel.

PLUS POINTS: Prices are downright friendly for a five-star hotel spread: Rp 325,000++ for brunch and nonalcoholic beverages, Rp 380,000++ for brunch, nonalcoholic drinks and beer and Rp 440,000++ for brunch, nonalcoholic and alcoholic drinks, including wine and beer. You can really eat, drink and be merry all brunch long.

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