Hmmm. Pretty cool enough! That's prolly my first impression when entering the door of this restaurant for my very first time. Well yeah, I guessed I'd never been to any thematic restaurant before so experiencing it for the very first time was absolutely enticing! Though I had to admit that initially my imagination went wilder than what I ended up seeing, it wasn't disappointing at all.
Using inclining circled track as the way up instead of stairs, I made my way to the top floor of the restaurant where I could spot the whole view and enjoy the green scenery. Along the way, for sure it gave the feel as if you're in the middle of a forest with hanging plants, trees, and 'sounds of the nature'.
Trying to bring out the concept of palace in the middle of a forest, you could also spot gigantic pillars around the corner, and the highest level being decorated as if you're dining in a castle. I guessed they did want to deliver the fire and water combination in the theme there, by having blue and amber ceiling coloring the majorly white spaces. Beautiful classy chandeliers lined up neatly on the ceiling. As you might have estimated, almost every single point had someone taking tons of pictures, especially because this restaurant was indeed a new comer, pretty much the same time with another alike thematic restaurant opening in Jakarta - Madagascar.
Since the guest was at the entrance door, the waiters and waitresses would warmly welcome him to offer a seat. Yes, I guessed that's what supposedly done or else people might get lost as the seating arrangement was kind of uncommon. Before you could start placing your order, they would first begin with telling you the story behind the restaurant, which was definitely a fiction, yet they tried to make it looked real just that you sensed the ambiance and felt like you're more into the concept. Nonetheless, perhaps they needed more practice as it still sounded slightly too awkward for me since the way the waiter shared that to us was more like reading a memorized script instead of sharing a story.
Never mind, moving on to the menu, which was a giant and thick one, the restaurant offered rich selections of dishes which ranged from local to international cuisines. They did focus on dishes which mainly featured meat, for which they offered fish, chicken, and doubtlessly beef. That's totally related to the palace concept, where the kingdom family members had proteins as the majority of the dishes on the table.
Nachos con Salsa Fresca (IDR 25k)
Some light bites to calm down the invisible dragon in the tummy for awhile, Nachos! I knew it sounded quite mainstream, but this time we played safe. If you noticed, the price was highly affordable and that might be the reason that this nachos didn't feature anything like shredded meat, but mainly tomato salsa and tartar.
Well yeah, the name itself didn't mention con carne though LOL. Taste wise, it's okay but I didn't have anything particular to highlight; fresh and flavorful tomato salsa, yet I kind of wished I had the smashed avo as its companion.
Snapper Belle Meunière (IDR 100k)
Trying to pick other protein to accompany our first-picked one which was the beef, this snapper finally became the chosen one. The presentation was so appealing with those edible flowers on top and the gorgeous combination of colors including the ones presented by the veggies were such smart ideas!
Slicing the meat, I had to find out that it's not as requested when we made the order since it's served well-done instead of medium. Luckily it's juicy and tender enough so the satisfaction wasn't being completely stolen. The seasoning was not bad, but I still couldn't call it distinctive. I would even say that my most favorite from the plate was the veggies instead of the beef. Sorry but in fact I fancied the deep fried eggplants and I found the onions being more flavorful!
Some light bites to calm down the invisible dragon in the tummy for awhile, Nachos! I knew it sounded quite mainstream, but this time we played safe. If you noticed, the price was highly affordable and that might be the reason that this nachos didn't feature anything like shredded meat, but mainly tomato salsa and tartar.
Well yeah, the name itself didn't mention con carne though LOL. Taste wise, it's okay but I didn't have anything particular to highlight; fresh and flavorful tomato salsa, yet I kind of wished I had the smashed avo as its companion.
Trying to pick other protein to accompany our first-picked one which was the beef, this snapper finally became the chosen one. The presentation was so appealing with those edible flowers on top and the gorgeous combination of colors including the ones presented by the veggies were such smart ideas!
Requesting it to be served at medium-well level, it did turn out being very smooth and texture wise I did admire the dish. However, the great impression was kind of faded away by the fishy scent. Expecting the sauce to somehow neutralized that distracting smell, unfortunately I wasn't into it as well since the taste wasn't that fit to be the companion to the fish in my preference. It's somehow complicated to explain, yet on my palate the sauce kind of reminded me of tauco, yes that fermented soy bean sauce which was typically used in Chinese cuisines. At first I was thinking if it's just me, yet when I mentioned about it apparently all my friends did stand on the same side :(. While everyone might have their own preferences, let's call this not ours.
Sirloin Sky Beef (IDR 125k)
I would call this the main order as it's indeed the first pick when we're placing the order. It's easily chosen as it's also one of the recommended dishes and yeah, when you're going to a place that mainly sold meat, missing beef steak would surely be weird. Another stunning presentation was clearly shown here; stacks of sliced potatoes, bread-crumbed eggplants and cassava, sautéed onions, and finally the sirloin on top.
Slicing the meat, I had to find out that it's not as requested when we made the order since it's served well-done instead of medium. Luckily it's juicy and tender enough so the satisfaction wasn't being completely stolen. The seasoning was not bad, but I still couldn't call it distinctive. I would even say that my most favorite from the plate was the veggies instead of the beef. Sorry but in fact I fancied the deep fried eggplants and I found the onions being more flavorful!
Tangerine Blast (IDR 30k)
As the foods were already heavy, we went for fruit-based drinks just to avoid ourselves from getting overly nauseated. The first glass was mine, mainly featuring oranges. It might be slightly too sweet, yet still at acceptable level especially for those whose taste buds were having high sweet tolerance like mine. Perhaps if you didn't, you might want to remind them to make it sugarless.
Gollamus Shake (IDR 45k)
Having been blunt enough about my thoughts on the foods, now it's the turn of the beverages, which actually pleased me more. I believed it's not without reason that this mocktail was put on the first page of drinks list. Moreover, while the menu book didn't show all images of the mocktails, this one was shown in full page, highlighting that arrays of kiwi and berry slices in the transparent glass. Understanding that it's a special one from the house, we didn't fail to have it on our order and amusingly, the actual appearance did look exactly the same with the photo (jaw breaking), so it's not hoax at all! Marrying fresh fruits, this cold drink was flawless thirst quencher and impeccable body revitalizer as well <3
Being a new comer, I did expect them to continuously improve in most aspects, but prioritizing the foods at this early stage. The reason being is that taste was the one that mostly triggered people coming back for repetitive visits and majorly and through it, the resto could then get those first timers become loyalists. Best of luck! ;)
Taste: 6.5/10
Place: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Price: 7/10
Thanks for reading! :)
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Phone: (+62 22) 2052 6677
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