Jakarta Vlog 01 - Monsieur Spoon PIK & ABC Cooking Studio PIK Avenue Mall

It’s been a while since my last time vlogging in Jakarta. But on this day, I was going to hang out with my friend, Winda, and we had a couple of things we’re going to do so I thought it’d be fun to vlog the day. So this was my first attempt after a long while to vlog/blog again.

The day started kind of early for me. I was suppose to meet her at 10.30 but ended up running about fifteen minutes late because I couldn’t fall asleep and ended up falling asleep at 4.30 am the night before (or I should say early that morning). I’m one of those people who usually get anxious the night before if I have to wake up early the next day (and since I’m a night owl and definitely not a morning person, my definition of early is any time before 10 am). On my bed in the dark, I’d be thinking, if I fall asleep now, I’ll get 8 hours of sleep. And then an hour pass and I’d go if I fall asleep now, I’ll get 7 hours of sleep. And then another hour passed and the cycle would continue for another four to five hours until I finally fall asleep. I wish I could not be like this.

But anyways, I finally made it to her place thirteen minutes late and immediately headed to our brunch. Winda and I have been hanging out quite a bit these past couple of months and we usually carpool together and take turns driving on our outings since we live pretty close from each other. On this day, she’s driving and I was in charge of the playlist. As soon as I connected my phone to her car stereo, she said, “You know I’ve been listening to Joji’s new song a lot these past few days.”

“Yeah? Which one?” I asked since I don’t really follow Joji’s songs.

“Glimpse of Us. It’s such a great song. I’ve been listening to it on repeat these day.” She said enthusiastically.

“Never heard of that song. Want me to play it now?” I offered while typing out the song title on the search bar of my Spotify app.

“Yes please!”

So there I was, starting my day listening to a sad love song on a sunny late morning. Granted the song is great and everything, but it’s the type of song that made me want to crawl back under my covers and go back to sleep instead of jump out off the bed and start my day.

After the song was finished, I commented, “Joji’s songs are a bit sad. I don’t think it’s the type of song that can hype you up to start the day.”

“But his songs are not trashy sad songs though.” Winda argued.

I laughed at her comment. “You mean it’s more like poetic sadness than trashy sadness?”

“Yes! But still elegant at the same time and not one of those stupid sad songs.” She added.

We then get into a little bit of discussion about her favorite Joji’s songs, which are now ‘Glimpse of Us’ and ‘Slow Dancing in the Dark’, which I haven’t heard before either. So we listened to that one and of course it also follows the same poetic sadness theme that we were talking about. Between the two, I personally like ‘Glimpse of Us’ more.

The drive to our brunch place was about 40 minutes so after we finished talking about Joji, we ended up discussing about a couple of different topics surrounding graphic design and Jakarta’s creative industry. Portfolio class, importance of presentation, people’s appreciation and willingness to pay for art and design, growth in Jakarta’s creative industry, curating clients, these are some of the things we talked about during our car ride (watch in on the vlog) to pass the time.

And before we know it, we finally arrived at Urban Farm PIK where the restaurant we want to have brunch at, Monsieur Spoon PIK, is located. A little backstory, Winda actually had vouchers to dine at this place that were going to expire soon so she invited me to lunch to use the said vouchers. And it just happened that I never been to Monsieur Spoon before so she said all the more reason to go.

We arrived at the place, got seated and ate our lunch (see more photos and read about my reviews about this place on this post).

When we got the bill, the total came up to IDR 301.537 ($20.11) and Winda’s vouchers were for IDR 300.000 ($20) so we only had to pay IDR 1.537 ($0.11) for our lunch. That was probably the cheapest lunch ever.

After we’re done with lunch, we drove over to PIK Avenue Mall where Winda’s next schedule is. She invited me to tag along to her trial cooking class but since we’re a little bit early, I stopped by Heycha to get some drinks because we didn’t order any back at the restaurant.

I was going to get milk tea but then I saw new Coconut Shake menu and decided to give it a try. On a side note, I think coconut drink is definitely the next trend in Jakarta’s F&B scene. Been seeing lots of new coconut drink menu being introduced by different restaurants and brands lately.

So while I was waiting, there’s a GoFood order right before mine and since there’s only 1 server manning the store, he had to go down to deliver the order before coming back up to make my order. Before this, I didn’t realize that the servers are the ones who have to deliver the foodto the driver (I thought the driver’s usually the one who goes into the mall and pick-up the order from the counter). But I guess different malls have different protocols for GoFood orders. The only downside about this protocol is he could’ve easily missed prospective customers while he was gone (there were people who came by to order but left because nobody was there).

Anyways, that’s one random new thing I found out about GoFood orders.

Also, update: I just checked Heycha’s Instagram and apparently I visited during their last day of operation at the PIK Avenue Mall location. This location has now closed.

Coconut Shake (33K) | 7.5/10

Not too sweet and has some great texture to it. It’s a little firmer than a slushy texture and not too watery, but still goes up the straw quite smoothly. The texture also held up well in room temperature even after an hour or so. A pretty nice refreshing coconut drink.

After I got my drink, I reunited with Winda at ABC Cooking Studio for her trial class. ABC Cooking Studio is a modern cooking studio originated from Japan that aims to bring joy and happiness through food by teaching people how to make healthy delicious dishes. They essentially offer membership for cooking classes in a high-end cooking studio. The cooking classes also vary from cooking course, bread course, cake course, wagashi course, and even kids course. What made them different compared to other cooking studios is that they apparently use original recipes that were developed in Japan but using ingredients that are available locally to create the same result. The PIK Avenue Mall location is actually their third and newest location in Jakarta (the other two studios are located at Central Park & Senayan City).

Winda was kind enough to arrange a spot for me but since I personally am not really into cooking and more into eating (and washing the dishes usually) because when I cook this is what I do:

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A post shared by FOODY DREAMS (@foodydreamss)

Plus, somebody needed to take photos and videos of the experience (with clean non-greasy hands) so I volunteered to do that instead and be a spectator on the side while watching everybody else doing the cooking.

So how it works for the trial class was every table was assigned a different recipe and our table got the Japanese Beef Hamburg Steak recipe. There was one instructor per table and we got Chef Michelle who guided us through the cooking process. All the cooking tools and ingredients were already prepared and cut per one serving portion. We only needed to follow the cooking instruction on the sheet (although the Chef mostly was guiding us through her explanation during the class so the sheet worked as a secondary guide) and do some cutting, pouring, and stirring throughout the process.

Since I opted out of cooking, the Chef offered to take over my ingredients and cook them for me so I can still try the dish while she can demonstrate the cooking for others as well. Of course I said yes to that. That was really nice of her. In the end, I got a portion to take home and had it for lunch the next day. The Japanese Beef Hamburg Steak was actually really tasty (even after I reheated it on the microwave). The meat was juicy, the Japanese rice was cooked perfectly and the sauce was seasoned really well.

Also, check out Winda’s Instagram reel below that she made about the experience. You can see the end result on her video since I didn’t take any picture of it.

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A post shared by 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑎 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑎 | 𝗝𝗞𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗜𝗘 🇮🇩 (@munchandsnap.jkt)

After we’re done with the cooking class, we stopped by Pantjoran PIK because Winda wanted to get Gong Cha before we go home. The sunset was pretty nice that day and there was surprisingly a lot of people around the area for a Monday. Maybe because it’s now school summer holiday that more people are out and about during weekdays? I certainly wasn’t expecting the place (and the mall from earlier for that matter) to be this crowded to be honest.

And that’s pretty much wrapped up the day for us. It was such a fun outing and I feel like we did a lot of things throughout the day. And just like how we started the day, we also ended the day by listening to Joji’s Glimpse of Us.

‘Til the next hangout!

(And if you’ve made it here, thanks for reading!)

Also, Joji’s Glimpse of Us was stuck in my head after this day and I literally listened to it on repeat for the next couple of days.

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Monsieur Spoon PIK

In 2012, Monsieur Spoon chose Bali as its home base where they established their first flagship store on the famous island. Nine years and five more outlets later, they’ve successfully established themselves as one of the go-to French bakery cafe in Bali and continue their expansion outside the island by opening its first outlet in Jakarta at Urban Farm PIK on April 30, 2021. Just like their Bali outlets, Monsieur Spoon PIK also carries a wide variety of artisan breads, desserts and pastries, including their signature French all-butter croissant, a well-known best-seller in Bali.

The architecture of the bakery cafe itself is inspired by the French conservatory with cushion seats by tall windows, French rattan chairs and round marble tables decorating the interior. The space is pretty and classy, yet still casual enough for people to come without having to dress up to the nines. They also have outdoor areas with plenty of seatings if you prefer the fresh air but if you come here during lunch or day time, sitting outside can get pretty hot, especially on a sunny day.

After we sat down at our table, the server came over and took our orders. I came for lunch with a friend so we ordered the main dishes and skipped the pastries.

The Food

King Prawn Angle Hair (135K) | 8/10

Pan seared king prawn, tomato fondue, cashew nut, and basil pesto. A light and tasty dish. The pan seared King Prawns were cooked nicely. The meat texture was nice, firm and juicy. The fresh tomato fondue and the basil pesto were also a nice combination. And the chili flakes gave a nice little kick to the dish. Overall, a beautifully presented and tasty dish and I really enjoyed it.

Chicken Cordon Bleu (120k) | 7/10

Organic chicken, beef bacon, emmental cheese, fresh tarragon, and French fries. The breading was crispy and not too thick. The chicken was cooked well, tender and moist with melted cheese around it. The french fries were also good. I’m usually pretty picky with chicken dish in general, but this was pretty alright for me.

Overall, it was a nice satisfying meal. The service was great. The servers were friendly and they were quick to tend to our requests during our meal. One additional note, as nice as the lighting is, the seats by the windows could get pretty hot during the day (we moved table because the sun was a little too hot and the air-con wasn’t too cold inside) so if you plan to come, maybe don’t wear an all black shirt like me or choose a table away from the windows to avoid that.

 

Monsieur Spoon PIK

Address: Urban Farm, Jl. The Golf Island Boulevard, DKI Jakarta 14460, Indonesia
Hours: 07:00 am - 10:30 pm Daily
Telephone: +628170114344

Instagram: @monsieurspoon
Website | Dine-In Menu

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Genbu Premium Katsu & Bar

With the many, many Japanese restaurants in PIK area selling delicious menu focusing on different Japanese cuisine ranging from sushi, ramen to donburi, there is one category that is still missing from the numerous already established restaurants, the katsu category. Enters Genbu Premium Katsu & Bar, a newly opened Japanese restaurant in PIK that focuses on premium katsu as their signature menu.

I visited Genbu with my friend, Winda (@munchandsnap.jkt), early last week a couple of days before their grand opening on June 10th. We went for an early lunch on a Monday so the place was pretty quiet when we got there. I think we were the first patron of the day since no other patrons were there when we arrived.

The Ambience

First off, I love the interior of the place. The high ceiling Japanese inspired space is decorated with modern wooden furnitures and designer lantern lamps hanging on the walls. There’s also this huge beautiful Japanese artwork that is displayed on one side of the wall of the main dining area. The whole warm wood and neutral colors combination really give a nice modern cool vibes to the place.

Also, a couple of other things that I appreciate, first, they have these light panels installed on the roof of the main dining area which create a soft lighting for the space. From photography perspective, this is like the best lighting set up to take pictures of your food. I got some awesome shots with the lighting of this place with my camera and my iPhone.

Secondly, I noticed despite of the high ceiling, the place has the right temperature. It wasn’t too hot or too cold (although the weather was kind of cloudy when we were there, but still, it was nice inside), which is always appreciated because sometimes places in PIK can get pretty hot inside.

After we got seated at our table, they gave each of us a welcome drink. A small cup of cold refreshing hojicha that tasted pretty good. Very earthy and smokey. A properly brewed hojicha I would say.

The Food

Now let’s talk about the food. We tried a couple of different things from the menu (which has a really nice photography by the way).

Croquette à la Crème (IDR 99) | 8/10

Starting with the appetizer, Croquette à la Crème (Prawn Cream Croquette). A day before my visit, one of my cousins actually posted on his Instagram that he had dinner at this place and loved it. So I messaged him and asked what are the things I must try from the menu. He liked the pork katsu he ordered, but then he LOVED their croquette. Apparently it’s one of the best thing from his meal, so we ordered the croquette.

The croquette comes in three fairly big pieces that each is sliced diagonally into two pieces. I’m usually not a big fan of croquette, but after I took my first bite, I understand why my cousin gushed so much about this croquette. The breading is light, crispy and flaky. And when you bite into the piece, it’s definitely different than the usual croquette that I’ve had in the past which usually consist of thick mashed potatoes and feels heavy. This one is light and creamy (but not too creamy) and you can definitely taste the prawn mixed in the sauce. It was really good and tasty. On a side note, the portion of the croquette is surprisingly bigger that what I expected. If you’re eating alone and want to order this as an appetizer, the portion might be a little big. But I think it is perfect for sharing with 2-3 people if you come in a group.

Galician Sirloin Tonkatsu Set (IDR 179) | 8/10

For the mains, first up, we had the Galician Sirloin Tonkatsu Set. The set comes with cabbage salad, rice, potato salad, japanese pickles, and akamiso soup. The pork meat is Spanish Galician pork, imported from Spain (most of the meat used for their menus are imported from Japan, Spain, or US apparently).

Again, the breading is light, flaky and crispy. It’s the type of crispiness that won’t hurt the roof of your mouth after your meal. Later on I found out from the owner that they actually make their own panko and how it absorb less oil which is why the breading came up light, flaky and crispy without being too oily. The meat is well seasoned and perfectly cooked. It has the right amount of tenderness and juiciness to it, cut just in the right size and the portion is pretty generous. It was a good, solid tonkatsu.

For the sides, the rice is perfectly cooked (I love a good rice). The akamiso soup (that’s red miso soup if you’re not fluent in Japanese like I do) was flavorful. It has a slightly richer and thicker taste than regular miso soup. The potato salad was good. They use potatoes with carrots for the ingredients. Although it was more like a potato puree/mash for me. Texture wise, it was too smooth and too much of a puree. But the owner said he might change it up and add bits and chunks of the carrot into it so the potato salad will have more texture to it. The Japanese pickle was also good. When I eat it, I can feel that they put a lot of thought and effort into the flavors and it doesn’t feel like they just have pickles for the sake of having pickles, you know.

They also have their own sauces that they developed in-house. The first one is their tonkatsu sauce that’s recommended to be mixed with ground sesame for the dipping sauce of the tonkatsu cutlet. Texture wise, it’s a little bit on the thick side for me. I wished it was a little less thick. Taste wise, it tasted okay. It’s not bad by all means, but it’s not something unique that I haven’t tasted before either. I think they use tomatoes as a base if I’m not mistaken (thus the more reddish color) and the flavor kind of reminded me of barbecue sauce to be honest. It’s just alright. The owner did say that they’re still refining the sauce because he himself is still not too happy about it. So maybe now there’s a different version of the sauce.

For the salad, they have two dressings, the Wafu-Yuzu salad dressing which has a more sweet and citrusy flavor, and the Goma-Dare salad dressing which has a more creamy and nutty flavor. These two were pretty good. Depending on your preference, you have good dressing options for your salad.

Divine Dragons Ebi Furai Set (229k) | 8.5/10

Next up, we have the Divine Dragons Ebi Furai Set which consists of 3 huge pieces of Black Tiger Prawn furai and comes with tartar sauce, cabbage salad, rice, potato salad, Japanese pickles, and akamiso soup. This was probably one of the most satisfying ebi furai that I’ve had in a long time. The size of of Black Tiger Prawns were big and they were meaty (they are really generous with their portion, truly). The prawns were nicely cook with, again, perfect breading. The tartar sauce was also nice, light yet rich and creamy and complimented the prawns wonderfully. I might be a little biased since I was also craving prawn that day but I think this was the menu I enjoyed the most during my visit. (And now writing this post at almost midnight and thinking about this made my stomach growl.)

Sirloin Gyukatsu SET (IDR 249) | 7/10

Last of the mains is Sirloin Gyukatsu Set which consist of US Sirloin cutlet with the sides of cabbage salad, rice, potato salad, Japanese pickles, and akamiso soup.

Okay, right off the bat, I need to say that I don’t think I’ve had any good gyukatsu in Jakarta that is comparable to my favorite gyukatsu in Seoul (Izawa is still my favorite so far. And I haven’t tried Motomura, but some friends who have said Izawa is better. So do with that information what you will). And that record seems to be extending even after I tried Genbu’s sirloin gyukatsu.

The biggest problem I have with gyukatsu in Jakarta is that their breading always came off of the meat when grilled. For some reason, it sticks to the grill instead of the meat and thus making the whole appearance of the gyukatsu cut unappealing after being flipped on the grill (maybe it' has something to do with the panko and how they cut the pieces? idk).

Unfortunately, the same case happened with Genbu’s gyukatsu as well. The breading fell off the meat and stuck to the grill, which make the whole grilling and eating experience a little inconvenient and visually unappealing. The meat is also cut too thin/narrow and weirdly at an angle that made it hard to keep the meat side staying flat on the grill. I just realized now too that the way our meat was cut is different than the picture on the menu, so maybe this was a mistake? I’m not sure and honestly, I didn’t ask since the falling out breading was the topic of discussion with the owner after we gave them our feedback about our meal.

Having said that, I got to say, their meat was really good though. I recently had gyukatsu at one of Jakarta’s popular sushi place (the place where they play the same playlist on all their locations. iykyk) and Genbu’s meat cut is definitely superior than the other restaurant. The meat was nice, tender and juicy, which kind of made up for the breading issue. Honestly, I would really order this menu again if I could just do the gyu without the katsu.

Also, one of the thing that made me gave the gyukatsu 7/10 and the chance to reorder this menu again is their dipping sauce and salt. Oh. My. Gosh. Let me talk about the sauce first (it’s the middle one on the sauce dish next to the gyukatsu and the ebi furai in the picture below). The gyukatsu sauce is probably one of the most unique sauce I’ve ever tasted so far for a gyukatsu. It has sesame oil, a little citrusy flavor and other secret ingredients (the owner’s words, not mine) that are mixed into it.

When you eat the meat with just the sauce, it’s really good. I remembered being pleasantly surprised after my first bite when tasting it. And then I went in again, now dipping the meat with just the salt. And what do you know, the salt is also super nice! I don’t know how to properly describe this salt, but it’s definitely better and more delicious that regular salt you find at barbecue restaurants. And then I went in again, this time dipping the meat in the sauce AND the salt. And it was just, wow. A new flavor combination was born from the combination of the two. It was really, really good. And just because my little experiment of mixing the sauce and salt went so well, I added the wasabi to the mix as well. And what do you know! Another layer of flavor was added to the mix! It was such a good delicious bite honestly.

So as much as I don’t really care for the breading of the gyukatsu, the meat and the dipping sauce really made up for that and that’s why I think it deserves another chance for reorder in the future.

Signature Cocktail

Emperor's Heirloom (140k) | 8/10

One of Genbu’s signature cocktail is Emperor's Heirloom which is made from Roku Gin, pear nectar, and chrysanthemum flower. I took a sip to try and it was sweet, smooth and definitely strong. I’m not much of a drinker in general, so my rating for this cocktail is based on how much I enjoyed the flavor, which is very I should say.

Desserts | 5/10

For desserts, I tried their Hokkaido Pudding (IDR 30) and Houjicha Mochi Ice Cream (IDR 30) since that were the only two options available then. The pudding and mochi ice cream are outsourced and they tasted alright. The Hokkaido pudding tasted like any other Hokkaido Pudding at other Japanese restaurants. The mochi was nice and chewy and the houjicha flavor was really strong. They have now added parfait as new dessert options to the menu so that might be something to try on my next visit.

All and all, it was a really good meal. Everything was tasty and delicious. The price of the menu is on the higher side but considering the premium ingredients and the generous portion, I think it makes sense. The servers were friendly and attentive and the service was great.

We also had a chance to chat a little bit with the friendly owner after our meal and gave our inputs and feedbacks. Since it was still during the soft opening period, he told us that they’re still making adjustments to the menu according to the feedback received. So now that they have officially opened for the public, I’d imagine there are probably some changes and improvements to the food/menu.

If you’re looking for a great katsu restaurant in PIK area, I’d definitely recommend trying this place out.

 

Genbu Premium Katsu & Bar

Address: Rukan Beach Boulevard Blok B No.28, Golf Island, Jl. Pantai Indah Kapuk, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta 14470, Indonesia
Telephone: +62877 9848 1110
Hours: Everyday 11am-10pm

Instagram: @genbu.jkt
Menu

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Café Kitsuné PIK Avenue

Café Kitsuné Indonesia has just opened its second location in North Jakarta after opening its first location at Ashta District 8 back in 2020. Located next to the main lobby of PIK Avenue Mall, Café Kitsuné PIK Avenue opened its door to the public on April 27, 2022.

Departing from their turf green nature inspired interior at Ashta District 8's location, Café Kitsuné PIK Avenue chose hot coral as the lead color to decorate the modern space, combining it with the signature wooden textures that are often seen in Café Kitsuné other locations. One new addition to the cafe that sets it apart from the other location is the outdoor bar area that has been set up for those who are looking to wine and dine at the cafe instead of getting a caffeine fix.

I visited the cafe with my friend, Winda, and had the chance to experience dining at the newly opened cafe/restaurant earlier this week. First off, the service was good. The servers who waited our table were friendly and pretty attentive. One thing that I also appreciate was the fact that they seem to understand the menu. Not in the kind of I-memorize-the-description-of-the-menu kind of way, but it sounded more like they have actually tasted the drink/dish so they can describe the taste and give their opinions about it. This is quite a rare occasion in my personal dining experience in Jakarta (or maybe I just have bad luck with servers when dining out) so it's always a nice surprise when I do actually encounter knowledgeable servers which makes the dining experience even better.

Now let's talk about their menu. We had a chance to try a couple of their drinks, food and desserts. But since there were so much food, I didn't try them all because, you know, there's only so much space I have in my belly. I'll give my personal opinions on the ones that I tried as well as the explanations that we got from the servers and the chef.

DRINKS

When we were ordering our drinks, I asked our server on their non-coffee signature drink and he recommended the ube latte and charcoal latte, which honestly sounded pretty good to me. He personally likes the ube latte so I ordered the iced ube latte and gave it a try. And it was good. The drink is not too sweet, perfect amount of milk, and you can still taste the ube (which didn't taste artificial imho). It was refreshing and light.

During the middle of our meal, the manager came over and asked if we wanted to order another drink and I asked her the same question I asked our server earlier. Her answer was the same. It seems like ube latte and charcoal latte are the favorites around here. Although she personally like charcoal latte better than the ube latte. So this time, I ordered their hot charcoal latte and I have to agree with her on this one. I think I enjoy the charcoal latte more than the ube latte. Maybe it's because I ordered it hot this time that it makes the flavor richer and not diluted by ice. Taste wise, it tasted earthy with the right amount of sweetness and it kind of reminded me of the melting gray drink I had at Uni'con (which I'm sure probably use similar ingredients since charcoal latte has been trending these past few years). Their matcha latte was also pretty solid too.

Breakfast Menu

The first breakfast menu that I tried was the Truffle Eggs Two Ways which consists of egg “parfait”, scrambled eggs, white truffle oil, mixed mushrooms duxelles and it comes with buttered toasts. When the dish was placed on our table, the delicious truffle oil aroma immediately hit me. The eggs were perfectly cooked, it was seasoned well and I can really taste the truffle oil when I took my first spoonful of egg. This is a great dish for breakfast.

Smoked Salmon and Ikura Bagel is the new addition to the breakfast menu that's currently only available at Café Kitsuné PIK Avenue. This is also one of the chef's recommended dish.

For the sweet breakfast menu, we got a sampler of the Azuki Toast courtesy of the chef and the host which is a toasted brioche bun with smooth azuki paste, butter balls, icing sugar and fox shortbread. If you like red bean and looking for a lighter breakfast option, this dish is probably for you. The regular portion usually comes with three pieces of toast instead of one and I believe the chef told us that they made their own azuki paste as well. Also, I really like their buttery fox shortbread.

Sandos Menu

The Spicy Fried Chicken Sando consists of brioche bread with spicy fried chicken thigh, asian slaw, kale, and gochujang chili mayonnaise. Generous sauce, super flavorful and the spiciness is not over the top (I can't really eat spicy food but this was still bearable for me).

Quick Bites Menu

Truffle Mac and Cheese Balls were just okay for me (maybe just because I personally am not a big fan of mac and cheese in general). They were crispy, the breading was not too thick, plenty of macaroni with parmesan and cream cheese stuffed inside with a hint of truffle oil. The homemade tomato sauce was pretty good and it helps to cut the cheesiness of the mac and cheese and give the dish a better balance.

Soup & Salad Menu

The Wakame Salad was probably the most pleasantly surprising dish for me. I generally more of a meat person than a salad person and quite picky about the salads that I like. But this one was really, really good. The mixed mesclun salad, dry wakame, cabbage, carrots, cherry tomatoes with generous kewpie sesame dressing and topped with fried shallot was delicious. It was a great mix of sweet and savory, very flavorful yet super light and fresh at the same time.

Also in this picture is the Sea Salt Latte, one of their signature drink, which I tried just a little bit since it has coffee in it and it was pretty good too. I also overheard a couple people on other tables ordered this drink.

Main Menu

Kitsuné Burger
Beef patty, mayonnaise, emmental cheese, fried egg and bacon. Served with hand-cut fries.

The Grilled Salmon with Roasted Paprika was probably my favorite dish from this meal. The perfectly cooked salmon was paired with roasted paprika, creamy sautéed kale, cherry tomatoes, grenaille potatoes, light creamy sauce and bonito flakes. Everything was well-seasoned and when I took a spoonful of all the components in the dish in one bite, it tasted really, really good. It was creamy but fresh and juicy all at the same time.

Dessert Menu

Daifuku Mochi is mochi filled with crème d’ange and strawberries, served with chocolate crumbs. The texture of the mochi is pretty nice, not too thick and soft. Everything in this dish is made in-house from scratch according to the chef. I'm not really a fan of strawberries in general so this one was just okay for me.

Millefeuille is my favorite one out of the two dessert menu we tried. The puff pastry was buttery and crumbly with the right amount of sweetness. The vanilla cream was fluffy and light and it was served with a scoop of delicious cereal ice cream. Everything in this dish works well together and it didn't leave me feeling overly stuffed. I would definitely order this again on my next visit.

The head chef, Chef Andri, who’s also the head chef of Ashta’s location came to our table at the end of our meal to ask us about our dining experience and we ended up chatting for a bit about the menu since we have a couple of additional follow-up questions after our meal. He was really friendly and answered all our questions as well as gave us more explanations about other dishes that we haven’t tried. Additional recommendations from the chef include Pork Belly Katsu Don and Pork Ribs which he told us to try on our next visit.

All and all, everything was good. Some menu items are better than others (obviously) but I really enjoyed my visit there and had a pleasant experience overall. Would I consider coming back here again? Yes, definitely.

Lastly, there’s this photo booth that they have inside the cafe. It's a complimentary service that they offered to the patrons and me and Winda took a couple of pictures together inside the spacious booth. A couple of things that were funny were, first, the camera placement was a tad too high for our height (or maybe we're just on the short side) so we had to tiptoe if we want to be vertically centered on the frame. Second, the display screen was a little blurry for some reason. Only the screen though because the pictures on the photo strip were sharp when they came out and it gives you two copies per session. Third, there is no cancel option anywhere so if you don't like the shots, it'll still print them out for you anyway. I thought having the photo booth is a pretty good idea and it makes the experience of visiting the cafe/store more fun.

 

Café Kitsuné PIK Avenue

Address: PIK Avenue Ground Floor, Jl. Pantai Indah Utara I No.6, Jakarta 14470, Indonesia.
Telephone: +62 812-1116-2204
Hours: Everyday 08:00 - 22:00

Instagram: @cafekitsuneindonesia
Menu: Drinks | Food

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