Tummy Prosperity: Kata Kata "Eat to Meet"

Being far far away from my current residence, I tended to keep procrastinating my visit to places in North Jakarta area. Kata Kata unfortunately became one of them, which I ended up not coming to for long time since I simply felt it took too long going there. Having my list kept going longer and longer, I could hold it no more and finally decided to 'pay back my long outstanding debt'.

If you asked me what engaged me the most from this newborn baby, I would definitely say its name and tagline! Yeah, when most cafes or restaurants started with selling its signature menu or hotspot in the venue first, Kata Kata apparently chose not to follow the majority. Standing in distinction, it captured people through the what so called motto, 'Eat to Meet'. Well, such a catchy one but somehow undeniably true. So many meetings in life unconsciously began with the intention to eat. Specifically in countries like ours where meeting while dining was such a habit and could even be a trick or attention seeker.

Plainly spoken, I initially expected the venue to be magnificent kind of space, which would get me hooked right away with its design. The reason being was pretty simple, the hype it created on the social media. Usually people were highly interested with such kind of places. However, reaching the place, I would frankly say it's just an okay one, like any other family bistro. I didn't say that it's not cozy or not spacious, but I would state that it didn't 'wow' me as much as my premiere imagination did.

The spot served quite high people-accommodation level, with big-sized tables lining up all around the area surrounding the order point, which was also the center of displays for some pastries and cakes. In front, there were few tables which I guessed were dedicated for smokers as it's actually pretty hot to sit at the open-air space around this area. Located right next to the long-standing Eng's Resto, you needed to expect some challenges in finding parking space as well as in reaching the place as you needed to go through a little bit jam.

At my time of visit, it was so packed of children and their other family members as there's a guest handling his birthday there, occupying more than half of the venue. Despite that the cafe was still open for public, the 'excessive-crowd' was doubtlessly there. Impressively, the crews handled it extremely well by being so speedy in greeting and serving me. I was caught by the great initial service as well as how knowledgeable and persuasive she was in explaining their signature meals. Nonetheless, I was only kind of disappointed as I requested the dessert to come together with the meal because it contained ice cream, yet they in contrary serving it first, causing my entire ice cream to melt down before I could take a proper picture of all my dishes *long deep sigh*.

Hot Piccolo (IDR 20k)

OK let's shoo away the disappointment and sip from the caffeine cup :). WOW! It's like a loud morning alarm that got you directly jumped out of the bed. A very strong one with high acidity. Well I might love the body, but not the acidity, so I guessed next time cappuccino or latte might work better for my palate.

Salted Egg Rice Bowl (IDR 45k)

I hoped you guys weren't board of looking at salted egg rice bowl *LOL*, yeah it's simply like everywhere and so many restaurant or cafe were trying to come up with their own version of this dish. Nonetheless, I believed some of you were now looking excited finding another one to try. Hands up the salted egg bowl hunter!!

Looking pretty different from the common ones, Kata Kata version used scrambled eggs instead of sunny side up. Taste wise it did suit the other elements in the bowl, just that it might need to be less dry and more buttery. Then moving on to the main component which was the salted egg sauce, it turned out quite different from the common one as the texture was thicker. It was okay-ish but my taste bud preferred creamier version. Fortunately, the whole dish was saved by the roast pork, my choice of protein leaving the chicken as the other available option. The roasted pork slices were tenderly cooked and well-seasoned ones and they were given in generous amount making the price paid worthy. If they could add the crispy skin element, which most people ran after the most for any roasted pork, that might add another point the overall score I would assign to the dish.

Caffeine Addict (IDR 30k)

When I asked for the most favorite dessert menu of the house, the waitress came up with the recommendation of the newly launched one, which she was very sure would turn out special. Being a dessert addict and a coffee enthusiast at the same time, this new invention from the kitchen indeed stood at the front line in the order of temptation level on my sight.

The name might give you the first implication already on what would be featured in it, yeah for sure not something far from coffee. It was indeed a coffee-based cake, served with ice cream, cookie crumbles, and petite macaroon as well as strawberry slices as the condiments. This dessert would suit best those who fancied lighter type of dessert as it didn't over complicate any of the elements. Serving something quite basic, yet pampering enough for crafting a sweet ending on the full-course, with the milky flavor from the ice cream impeccably balanced the bold coffee flavor from the cake. I was making a right decision by trusting the waitress and opting for this cake! <3

When you're trying to find a place somewhere around North Jakarta to either eat or meet or eat to meet now you had one more options on your list :)