Being named after one of my best friends who's also my food-hunting buddy, it's so easy to have this new restaurant got stuck in my mind. I couldn't remember how I could find it on Instagram, but my memory on the venue's picture that firstly captured my interest was still really clear. I didn't get bored of persistently asking my friends to come there and gave it a try and yessss, I was hyper excited that I could finally shout out today as THE D-DAY!
My friends and I initially planned to go to another restaurant in Kemang as we've made prior appointment with the marcomm. Unfortunately, there's slight miscommunication causing us have to reschedule the lunch session there to another timing. When the question on alternative plan was thrown, it just took a blink for me to pop out Leon from my brain. So yippieeee, there we were finding a parking spot at its venue at Jl Wijaya, the southern part of our city of traffic-jam (sorry for being quite sarcastic, but I was indeed quite annoyed with Jakarta's traffic particularly today as it seemed like there were heavy jams at almost everywhere. Ok let's 'shoo-ing' all those negative auras away and let's enjoy the few last hours of this weekend).
Standing right in front of the restaurant, I just found out that there was also a coffee shop occupying the building's first floor. If going there you had to turn left, while heading to Leon was turning right. Opening the entrance door, none of us had our mouths closed. We're all so amazed that we couldn't hold ourselves from having the jaw-breaking moment. Such a mesmerizing view displayed live in front of our eyes! It became even more stunning as Leon actually resided at the underground storey. So right after the entrance door, there was the way down to Leon's space itself, meaning you got the chance to get impressed by the 'scenery' from the top side.
Red bricks, grey cement floors, gigantic leather sofas, and big desk lamps; so classy and elegant, giving the ambiance of a first-class fine-dining venue. Hard to explain in words, but it felt like a luxurious experience sitting there and enjoying the meals. We were even getting worried for a moment that the price of the dishes might go to the ceiling, but fortunately we could say it much affordable than expected, especially after taking the quality and the quantity into account. Standing ovation from me for Leon's ability to deliver such impression to the guests.
Just a little bit overview about the restaurant's group itself, I have been wondering why the design actually looked quite familiar, then my friend finally found out from the waiter that Leon was brought out by the group of De La House Indonesia, the founder of Parc 19, which resided in Kemang. Yes, they did look very similar just that Leon was much more spacious. Another interesting fact, the group actually launched 3 restaurants in 2016, including Leon, Twenty-fifth (the cafe I mentioned in the beginning), and Goldstein.
Not only 'the cover', the content was also satisfying, and I was referring to the service provided by the waiters and waitresses there. They were so speedy in giving a welcome greeting, assisting the guests for getting a seat, offering the menu, till helping with making decisions on dishes to try. I couldn't even find the sign of confusion or troublesome on their side when we were asking for recommendations based on our preferences. As they're so knowledgeable in explaining details of each dish, we put full trust on them in selecting our orders.
But before going to the dishes, we first went for the drinks. Yeah, simple reason was they were indeed the first to arrive on the table. Mine was the Lemon Sorbet Tea (IDR 50k), which I intentionally opted for as I found it distinctive. By reading the name only, I actually could already imagine the real one and turned out my imagination was flawless this time! Exactly what I had in mind, lemon sorbet gorgeously floated on top of my ice tea. Simply refreshing and not overly sweet :)
 |
| Iced Tea Tarik (IDR 40k) & Peach Iced Tea (IDR 45k) |
 |
| Lemon Sorbet Tea (IDR 50k) |
Since Leon served international cuisines coming from various countries featuring Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, as well as Western ones, we crafted a diverse portfolio today, mixing several types of foods.
Chicken Quesadilla (IDR 45k)
The starter was this flat bread stuffed with chicken breast and cheddar cheese. Just like typical Southern American foods, this one was so rich of flavors and they were so generous in giving the stuffings as well. Despite the fact that they used breast, the chicken was juicy. Fat quesadillas to spoil your palate at the introduction stage.
Duck Platter (IDR 140k)
Roasted boneless half duck, Nuoc Cham, cilantro, mint, green salad, served with steamed rice
Roasted boneless half duck, Nuoc Cham, cilantro, mint, green salad, served with steamed rice
Moving all the way from Mexico to Vietnam, the very first heavy meal was serving roasted duck with Vietnamese signature sauce mainly made of lime juice and fish sauce. I would call it the dish that matched Indonesian taste bud well as it had steamed rice as the side dish. For those who didn't fancy duck's fat part just like me, this dish was pretty decent and the sauce was luscious mixing various seasonings in it. Nonetheless, if you were into those chewy fat sections, you might not have them here ;)
Short Ribs (IDR 145k)
Vietnamese BBQ-marinated boneless ribs, green chili soy dipping sauce, Gochujang
Still in the same theme, this different protein was cooked in Vietnamese barbecue sauce. Eliminating the extra work, the ribs were served boneless so you could enjoy them right away with the spicy green chili soy sauce. Being marinated with the seasoning, the beef wasn't only tender, but also having all the spices perfectly permeated into it. Giving a hint of Korean taste into the dish, there was Gochujang sauce coming as the companion next to it. For me, I preferred to go for both sauces and thus I had them mixed. So yuummm!
Roasted Half Chicken (IDR 105k)
24-hour marinated Peri-peri chicken, roasted veggies, tomato salsa, Thai chilli dipping sauce. 
Two kinds of protein seemed like not enough, we went for the third with Roasted Chicken. Being marinated for 24 hours with the Peri-peri sauce, this chicken was doubtlessly the one which deserved the highest spot on the podium, being so delectable even till the inner layer. The Thai chili sauce became the extra joy for me since it made the flavor even getting more dynamic. I could even say that this was the best sauce among all sat on the table, so good that I had my chicken deeply dipped into it before landing into my mouth. As it was half-chicken, I did try both the leg and the breast. The first was surely the best with smoother texture, yet the latter was not bad at all. Coming as complementary parts, the roasted veggies including zucchini, pumpkin, eggplant, onion, and red chili; didn't only act as additional colors to beautify the dish, but also added extra healthy ingredients in succulent way.
Mac n Cheese (IDR 40k)
Might turn out slightly surprising, yet yes, this Mac n Cheese was just a side dish. Presentation wise, it might more into the ugly duckling instead of the beautiful swan, yet if you were right in front of the real one, you definitely lay if you said that you were not drooling smelling the super tempting truffle aroma. I wasn't sure about this, but I guessed the cheese used did contain blue cheese. I loved the cheesy taste and the al dente macaroni, not to mention the heavenly truffle oil. This time I might not enjoy it at its best since my friends and I took time to take photos of it before enjoying it, making it not warm anymore yet I promised next time I would go for the warm one because I found myself still fell for it deeply even in the current version.
Bluntly said, Leon was more than worthy to try, or revised, perhaps I should state it as 'YOU SHOULD GIVE LEON A TRY!'. Every single dish my friends and I tried today turned out delectable and we were already waiting for the following visits! Yes you read it right, with an 'S' at the end of that 'visit' word.
Taste: 8.5/10
Place: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Price: 8.5/10
Thanks for Reading! :)
LEON JAKARTA
Address: Jl. Wijaya 1 No. 25, Jakarta
Phone: (+62 21) 722 1188
Operating Hours: Mon - Sun 11am - 2am
No comments:
Post a Comment