Canteen

Located in the City's busiest street, Canteen Jakarta is one of the famous cool down place to go to. Canten has a restaurant + bar concept, and you can find most of your favorite western and Indonesian dishes. They also create special dishes on special events, like now in the holy month where they create lamb gulai dish.

I visited Canteen last Friday and they offer me a ramadhan special promotion :

so I ordered classic caesar salad and pan fried dori fillet with iced tea, while Eda ordered onion soup and pesto spaghetti. Our other companion, Otin, ordered spaghetti aglio olio, and Maico who came for a smoke decides on a cup of hot chocolate.

they add some mint leaves and basil seeds in your drink. I have to admit it compliments my iced tea as basil seeds fells funny as you bite them.

my classic caesar salad. crisp romaine lettuce, croutons, crispy beef bacons, half an egg, and grilled chicken. it is absolutely delicious and a lot! I literally have to take few minutes of break before I dig in my dori fish.I love how they use real caesar dressing, because I once ordered caesar salad where they use thick mayo as dressing. I never came back to that cafe, but canteen's caesar salad? I'm in love.

Eda's appetizer, onion soup with a slice of baguette and camembert. I'm actually never a fan of onion soup as they tend to be sweet, and I don't dig sweet but supposedly savory dish, but this soup is different. although its still a bit sweet, it is also savory and kind of pepper-y, especially when you bite the baguette after each spoonful of soup. I don't eat soggy bread, and this way of eating soup works for me.

Maico's hot chocolate. Bet he recognized my quirks by now as he repeatedly said "panda, panda! take a picture!". I now recognize his as I saw that is a monkey. But maybe its a hippo. I don't know. Hahaha.. So they serve the hot chocolate in a small glass cup with a small brownie cube. I didn't taste the chocolate nor the brownie, but judging by how Maico gulped it fast, I bet its delicious and rich in chocolate taste, but not too milky.

Otin's Aglio Olio. I never not loved Aglio Olios. I am in a deep affair with Aglio Olios. Canteen's Aglio Olios differs than any other that I have ever tasted as they toss bacon pieces, cheese grates, and some lettuce in it. Everything compliments the pasta. Simply the best Aglio Olio ever!

My pan fried dori fish, served with potato tartelle and tomato puree. They didn't mention a splash of pesto in the menu, but I'm glad they toss it in there. The only disappointment was that because it was a bit crowded, they served my fish before I finished my salad, and it gets cold when I took my first bite. I asked the waitress to reheat it, but they can't. maybe they didn't provide big enough microwaves to fit the plate, or afraid that it'll taste funny after reheat, but who likes cold fish? I didn't finish the fish nor the potato, but I did finish my broccoli, the only thing on that plate that still taste good cold.

Canteen gets crowded on weekends and you may need prior reservations to get a table.

Canteen

Plaza Indonesia Extension,

5th floor, #E02, E10

Jl. M.H Thamrin, Kav 28-30,

For Reservations : +62-21 315 6537

Central Jakarta, Jakarta

Travel options :

By TransJakarta Busway : Get off at Bundaran HI shelter, the mall entrance is on the left side of the exit. (costs IDR 3.500 for the TransJakarta)

By Taxi : Blue Bird taxis are available outside the mall. (cost depends on what taxi you're taking and where you're staying)

By Train : Get off at Sudirman or Cikini Station, then take taxi to the mall. (costs IDR 6.000 for the train, and around IDR 10.000 to 20.000 for the taxi ride)

J.

Mr. Curry : Japanese Curry & Sweet House

Decided to visit Mr. Curry for a good afternoon tea. When the waitress hand me the menu, I can't take my eyes off the Assorted Mushroom Omurice. Basically its fried rice (here you can choose between tomato rice or butter rice) in an omelette blanket, with assorted mushroom in two kinds of sauce on each side of the plate. Its like edible Yin and Yang. Unfortunately as I'm too hungry, I ate them clean before I remember that I should've took a picture of it.

I also ordered Potato Salad with Baguette. I was actually hoping for that crunchy outside but soft inside kind of baguette, but turned out they baked the baguette so its crispy inside and outside. The potato salad was cold, but not to cold, so its fresh kind of cold, which is great. The crispiness of the baguette, softness of the potato and that tangy flavor from the cherry tomato blend together in your mouth was awesome.

For the dessert, we chose Green Tea Ice Cream Parfait, a stack of ice cream on the top of crunchy cornflake, glazed with chocolate sauce and pocky sticks, topped with a cherry strawberry. That green tea and vanilla ice cream combined with cornflake is the best dessert for saucy dish. The vanilla ice cream is light, it balances the green tea ice cream, so it doesn't make you fell too full. Satisfied, but bot too full.

The view outside my booth is also intriguing, as the restaurant is on the fourth floor. Its better during the night, but because this restaurant is close to the business district, a lot of people come here after working hours and its crowded. So I recommend you come for a tea at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The whole meal cost us 156.500 rupiahs including two refillable ocha japanese green tea and tax.



I will definitely come back here for another tea time!


Mr. Curry : Japanese Curry & Sweet House
Grand Indonesia
West Mall level 3A
@mrcurry_

Travel options :

By TransJakarta Busway : Get off at Bunderan HI or Tosari ICBC shelter, then walk to the mall. (costs IDR 3.500 for the TransJakarta)

By Taxi : Blue Bird taxis are available outside the mall. (cost depends on what taxi you're taking and where you're staying)

By Train : Get off at Sudirman Station, then take taxi to the mall. (costs IDR 6.000 for the train, and around IDR 10.000 for the taxi ride)

J.