Howdy! It was a sunny afternoon as I decided to have lunch at this exquisite restaurant located inside the Senayan National Golf Club. Throughout the windows: beautiful green pasture; while inside you have this exceptionally grandiose design. I love how they combine luxury by keeping its cultural authenticity! Robata(yaki) is a term used for grilling by having fresh ingredients on bamboo skewers put beside a fiery ember with sands around it, which can be seen just at the picture below!
You can see the sand hearth at the very center of the robata bar. It's important to know that it is not put there just for decoration purposes; they actually cook it the traditional way there! I really appreciate the combination of technology on interior design, which produces an elegant feature to the overall concept.
Look how fresh these ingredients are! They said that every fish they have is directly imported from Japan. No wonder they can preserve such authentic taste, since Japanese cuisine relies totally on the quality of ingredients they have. Superb!
Their lines of alcohol: they have sake, sochu, wine, etc. Didn't try any since it was still noon though!
APPETIZERS (Part of Takumi Gozen Package)
We only ordered a couple of menus but one of them is Takumi Gozen, their specialty menu package that covers pretty much one whole meal! Before everything came, they gave us these appetizers as part of it: chawan mushi, sweet chicken and mushroom bits, and some Japanese pickles (I dunno what these are, mushrooms?)
Beautiful presentation! What I love about a proper, upscale restaurant is how they pay attention to the smallest of details, not to mention their service excellence! Great speed and manner from the waitresses!
Their chawan mushi was good: A bit too much seasoning though, which made me wonder IF the taste in this restaurant has been localized, such nightmare business strategy! Don't get me wrong here, the way they seasoned the food was GREAT. However, I was totally expecting an elegant, authentic taste of real Japan!
About these.. *uhm* pickles. Sweet and a bit crunchy, I'm not really sure what this was (can anybody enlighten me? do put a comment below if you could!)
Also these! some pieces of chicken and mushroom in teriyaki sauce! Tastes good and letting us wonder for more! I love how these mini-dishes prepare us for a proper culinary course. It just feels proper.
TAKUMI MEDAMA TSUKUNE IDR 60k
This is undoubtedly the most eye-catching dish to my eyes when I was flipping through the menu book. I mean, come on! Grilled beef patty with teriyaki sauce AND perfectly poached egg yolk on top?? Such a fantastic combination I couldn't pass by! The beef was as you think it'd be: cooked to perfection that it was tender PLUS if you break open the half-poached yolk.. The richness flows over throughout the meat and gives you a majestic harmony. Ittadakimasu!
BEEF CURRY IDR 80k
Craving for something simple with rice, I managed to order this one! Since it's a classic dish I'd have to say that despite it being cooked in such a flawless way, the curry flavor was so delightfully balanced. Though I must say that the beef was a bit too fatty, I'm not sure if this was intended for the curry or I was just unlucky since I'm not a big fan of fatty meat!
SPICY TUNA ROLL IDR 80k
Since this was the most recommended sushi roll in the menu, we decided to go with it! I'm not sure if this was a perfect choice though: sushi rolls are not authentic Japanese restaurants' forte, since they usually have a simpler, more elegant taste rather than overflowing mentai and over-crispy-battered sushi rolls you could find in Japanese fusion food chain! Despite this roll's taste is so great, clearly it can't match how dirty Japanese fusion could get!
TAKUMI GOZEN IDR 178K
aaaannndddd *drumrolls* let the most awaited dish begins! When the first part came, there were a set of grilled salmon, kakiage tempura, and sauteed beef: of course the beef wasn't simply sauteed, it has this some kind of fragrant oil that kinda resembles sambal matah of Bali, but without the spicy part!
Here's what I'm talking about! You could see the glistening part of the beef to only prove that its fragrant is just extraordinary. it has a refreshing sour hint on it while the aroma is simply alluring! The tenderness of the meat was so perfect that it melts in your mouth. No exaggeration here, this is a little piece of heaven!
The grilled salmon! Yes I know, it looks reaaally simple, isn't it? However, this one's a real deal! Squeeze out the lime there, and there you go! I can't say any other word than flawless for this one.
What about the tempura, you say? I know well that visually, these dishes have been looking too simple and down-to-earth, BUT! That's what's so good in the word "authentic". Same ingredients, same technique: done with refined perfection. Something you won't ever get in contemporary restaurants!
Finally, it all comes down to this: saving the best for the last! Why am I saying so? These seemingly simple sushi pieces hold wonder more than what you could ever think. Serious! Rolled with a good amount of wasabi inside, all you need was to dunk it to the shoyu and enjoy, however! There's a special way of eating it! Just scroll down a bit and I'll show you how!
So, how you eat it is, to start with the left-most fish first: the white fish, then moving on to the ika, snapper, then finally salmon! It is to develop a taste progression as the taste gets stronger in each piece, so that your palate isn't affected and that you'll be able to enjoy each piece of them!
Gosh all of them were sooooo DELICIOUS!!! The ingredients used here are just top class!
Needless to say, this visit was totally worthwhile! I have no more words, if the pictures fail to convince you, let your taste bud do the job!
TAKUMI ROBATA & SUSHI
Senayan National Golf Club
Jl. Asia Afrika Pintu IX
Jakarta Pusat, 10270
(021) 93807642 // (021) 5710181
OPENING HOURS: 11:30 - 15:00 (lunch) and 17:30 - 23:00 (dinner)
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