Well, I had brunch at KOI Kemang. This review obviously will only reflect today's experiences, and the menu items we ordered. My scale is basically 1-3 (worse than mom's, as good as mom's, and better than mom's).
SUMMARY:
- Eggs Benedict, not better than mom's
- Steak and eggs, as good as mom's
- Service, as good as mom's
- Overall experience, worse than mom's
DETAILS:
We came in and was promptly greeted and seated. The menu was quickly given by a thoughtful server and order was promptly taken. All quite a good experience so far.
What was good, at least with our server, was that she told us as soon as the eggs benedict was ready and that the steak and eggs would be a few more minutes. We were given a choice to wait for both to come out together or the eggs benedict to come first.
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The eggs benedict was unimpressive, but not bad. The canadian bacon was beef, not pork. And it was obvious. It was bland as in it needed salt. It was flavorless as in it didn't taste of anything. And it has the processed meat texture.
However, the poached egg was excellent. It was cooked to perfection, just like eating a cloud. The egg whites were very tender and just about melted in your mouth.
Unfortunately the sauce was lackluster as well. It lacked flavor, and if they used butter, I couldn't taste it. But they used some kind of acid, though I couldn't tell whether it was lemon juice or not.
The English muffin was a little heavier than I would have liked. It didn't have that yeasty flavor, and it was lacking the big craggy holes that's usually crisp from toasting and holds on to the butter/sauce.
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Now the steak and eggs was a different story. The steak was tenderloin (200g) and I ordered my egg sunny side up (and the waiter knew what it was). It also came with a spoonful of well cooked veggies, in this case was onions and eggplant.
The egg was just a little tough, and the edges were brown and crisp. Some people like that in a fried egg, even sunny side up. And it wasn't detracting too much from the experience. I just don't prefer it. The whites were cooked just about perfect (ie no raw egg whites surrounding the yolk), and the yolks were perfectly runny as well. But I'm not sure if the eggs were exactly farm fresh. When I cook fresh eggs sunny side up, the yolks stand up proud and round. This was circular but the top was flat. But again, it wasn't bad.
Now we come to the steak. It's probably the best deal for good steak anywhere in Jakarta. At least in my experience. I asked for it medium rare, and it was medium rare. The beef flavor is not masked by anything, and while it's not strong like a well aged steak, it's there. It was also well salted. And very tender, deserving of its name. The texture is just perfect, I'd be surprised if this was ever frozen.
Basically, I would come here for the steak. Pending my trying other menu items of course.
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Conclusions:
- on the food, I think there is a good chance they do good work on most of the food. Perhaps not 5 star or Michelin star class, but definitely a good deal for your money. I would avoid menus that are supposed to have pork in it. There is just no substitute, and they haven't worked any miracles here.
- on the atmosphere and service, quite good. It's definitely leaps and bounds of any restaurants I've been to in Indonesia. Perhaps it was just the one server and one waitress, but I'll reserve that judgement until I've experienced more
- on the prices, I think it's worth the price even if it's on the expensive side when you consider Indonesian food prices. Expect Rp 100,000 - 150,000 per person for brunch with a drink
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Exceptions:
- I wouldn't come back on account of the criminal(s) operating at the parking area. The food is not worth getting in an altercation with them. I was waiting for the parking person to come so I can give him the Rp 2000 they usually ask for. But he shoved a home printed piece of paper saying the parking price is Rp 5000. Sorry, it's not about the money, but how he's operating. I give the Rp 2000 usually for their services, which is "helping" me park and get out into traffic. But he was acting like he owns the parking lot and he deserves Rp 5000 (please note I didn't get any help parking when I arrived).
Update: KOI Kemang management replied to my query and he said that the building management is the one who decided on the Rp 5000 parking. So the next time I am going to KOI Kemang I'll probably park somewhere else or take a taxi.
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