Tummy Prosperity: June 2016

Another new kid on the block! Lately, I guess Japanese restaurants are back into trend in Jakarta as I've seen so many new ones come up, adding the crowd to the abundant number of Japanese restaurans already available in town. This weekend, I was finally able to visit one of the new comers located in PIK, Saine Daise.

As some postings have been popped up on my timeline, my curiosity on this new restaurant has reached its peak. I've even set my mind on which dishes I wanted to try, far before I could finally come here. Arriving at the restaurant, I immediately fell in love with the classic and chic design of the venue. Big windows that covered the place allowed natural light came in. Using marble-themed furniture, it successfully created a super instagenic place!

At the first storey, they had their Patisserie, EIO, specializing in cakes and cookies, and bringing the signature menu of Japanese cotton cheesecake. Packed in simple-yet-elegant tin, their cookies reminded me of Japanese Omiyage. Not only beautifully packed, their cookies also tasted quite lovely, especially the coffee one.

A warm service was delivered as I came up to the second floor, where Saine Daise restaurant was located. The waiter and waitress quickly greeted my friends and I, directed us to the table, and came up with the recommendations on their most favorite dishes to try. As said before, I'd had on my mind the list of dishes I wanted to taste and thereby, it didn't take me long to mention my order. So here it was, the view of my table.

To kick-start our full-course lunch, we had the beautifully-served Smoked Salmon Pizza (IDR 65k). Served with truffle oil, this starter dish doubtlessly captured my interest with its great aroma. The salmon was so fresh and the thin crust pizza came as flawless companion to it.

For main courses, we ordered 2 dishes. First one to enjoy was the good-looking Ami Ebi Angel Hair (IDR 80k). Neatly presented, this dish didn’t only steal the attention from its fragrant, but also its appearance. The great combination of color was brought-out by the black fish roe, ami ebi, as well as leek. And once again, the truffle oil impeccably made me drool as it simply smelled too good to be true. Taste wise, I enjoyed this dish though I had to admit that it’s not as successful as the second main course in winning my heart.

Not want to make you come up with question marks in your mind, let’s immediately go to this award-winning dish of the day, Gyudon (IDR 115k) with Additional Foie Gras Toppings (+IDR 95k). If you now feel that you really want to lick your phone looking at these super tempting slices of beef and the runny egg yolk, please don’t blame me as I do share the same feeling right here right now when I’m writing about this. Hands down to this dish! The beef was juicy, tender, and perfectly seasoned; making this bowl certainly be the first reason to come back to this place! For me who’s not that big fan of foie gras, only having the gyudon was already heaven of earth. But just for your reference, for my friend who’s a foie gras lover, these additional toppings seemed like brought her to the seventh heaven LOL.

As I titled this post with ‘full-course’, for sure the desserts part will come. Even for me, this is the most important part as a dessert-addict. To be honest, the first ones making me want to visit this place were the desserts before their other dishes. Without having to think for long time, I could easily mention the 3 desserts I’d been craving to try.

Starting with the signature Cheese Cake (IDR 200k for whole cake), which could be ordered in slice in the restaurant. Specific for cheesecake, I’m more to the type who fancy the creamy one. However, for light and spongy kind of cheesecake, I could say this one was worth-to-try.

The next choice went to this Valrhona Chocolate Mousse (IDR 55k), which was delivered in awesome presentation with its shiny brown color and kind of splash chocolate effect on the plate. Coming in moist texture and just-right sweetness level, this dessert could line-up in your list of dishes to try in Saine Daise.

Saving the best for the last, here was the final one to mention, Yuzu Cremeux with Almond Sable (IDR 55k); the dessert that gorgeously closed my full-course Japanese feast in this restaurant. I typically was not that appealed to desserts which had sour taste. Nevertheless, as my friend kept saying that this one was a must-try, I then finally ordered it as well. Now, I couldn’t thank her more for recommending this as I was completely in love with this dessert until the very last lick from the spoon. The mixture of fresh and sour taste from the Yuzu (Japanese orange), with the sweet crème and crunchy almond sable, made me end up desire to finish it by myself! If I awarded the Gyudon as the main course which made you certainly want to go back to Saine Daise, then this Yuzu Cremeux was the ‘Gyudon of the desserts’ here.

Overall, I was really satisfied with my dining experience in Saine Daise. To be honest, my standard for Japanese dishes had increased after my experience staying for 7 months in Japan last year. Thus, I was beyond blissful when I found out there’s another one in Jakarta to please my palate. Even now, I’m already looking forward to the next visits!