GASTROMAQUIA JAKARTA

Gastromaquia came to Jakarta all thanks to its owner, who is an avid fan of Spanish food, and whenever he travelled to Spain, Gastromaquia Madrid has always been the owner’s must “embark” restaurant! There must be a special personal interest and potential of this restaurant growing well in Jakarta, and that’s why after constantly meeting the chefs (Hugo Ecolios Roldan & Ramon Figuls Palos) and the owners there, just a few months ago, finally the restaurant – which is currently in the top 50 best restaurants in Madrid - opened its door for their excited Jakarta customers.

Gastromaquia Jakarta is located in the posh area of Senopati, in Ciniru street to be exact, if you know Bistronomy, you’re going to notice a beautiful two-stories Victorian looking white building with a little bakery and if yes then you’re on the right spot. Sometimes it’s okay to judge something from its cover, as the interior of the restaurant also rings classy, minimalist and homey, short to say it’s almost like a two-stories house transformed to this gorgeous restaurant, the first and second floor had a pretty different look to it: the first floor had a bar area hence it’s a little more urban, hip and intimate with dim lighting, while the second floor was very clean, very minimalist, very bright with open air balcony, and in a sense, fashionable, and oh speaking about being fashionable, the second floor of this restaurant has been constantly booked for editorial photoshoots, I can see the second floor to be a very good spot for baby or bridal shower, or private events.

 I love the touch of quirkiness to the design, for example this lamp, which is formed from dining utensils, you’re going to find some other decoration details made from kitchen and dining utensils!

 Just in time for the pre-sunset!

The menu in Gastromaquia Jakarta is pretty much on the same range as the one in Madrid, they only added some menus to cater local’s palate more, they claim to use fresh & premium ingredients which some of them are imported straight from Madrid, anyway I had a pretty big lunch that day and tried most of their best selling Spanish menus, so let’s just dig in!

Crab Rangun

IDR 39k
Their Crab Rangun is currently one of the best selling appetizers, the generous crab meat coated with the skin, deep fried perfectly to create this crunchy coating and moist tasty inside. I just simply how fragrant this dish was when it got served to my table and you really need to serve this while it’s still warm. The crab meat was seasoned beautifully, savory-tasty, and fresh!

Garlic Butter Prawn
IDR 95k

Their garlic butter prawn was another dish worth trying here, fresh prawns cooked pan-seared along with the pre-seasoned garlic butter. Sometimes cooking garlic can be pretty tricky, that’s why you need to know the balance, when is too much can be displeasing instead of satisfying, but theirs was just a proper balance, the garlic was indeed generously given for a portion but I found myself enjoying the butter sauce, to get more texture, pair the prawns with their crunchy toasted bread.

Galician Octopus with Potato Foam
IDR 75k

Cheese was really something that would come into my mind if I had no idea was I ordered, I mean boy it does look like melted cheese, but as soon as you scoop a bit, it was actually a very smooth potato puree topped with beautifully cooked octopus and Spanish smoked paprika. I thought this was going to be very spicy (judging from the powder), but it was the opposite. I honestly like this one, it’s just so simple, classic yet appetizing.

Seared Pork Shank with Spanish Cheese
IDR 135k

Finally, a pork menu in their list, I expected the pork shank to be a little more juicy, but I love the very light seasoning as it gives the chance of the fresh pork meat natural flavor to really speak for this dish, the spanish cheese gave at slightly salty flavor.

Gastromaquia Spare Ribs with Fragrant Rice
IDR 129k

This might be my most favorite meal of my lunch, first, beef has always been my most favorite protein (pork too), and when you know how to perfectly cook short ribs you basically rule the freaking world. The spare ribs was chunky, very tender and very well seasoned, and I don’t know why, but I love how they randomly splatter a tiny bit of sauce to the rice, well it’s not that fragrant fragrant but... yeah I don’t really know why but I just found the rice to be very pleasant, and their spare ribs was the kind of one that goes well with rice! Gotta try!

Garlic Noodle

IDR 45k

Heard their garlic noodle is currently the number one best selling menu here, I tried and I found this simply interesting, first, I just love the texture of the noodle, it was firm on a good scale, and tossed in rich seasoning, I honestly didn’t feel that this was very garlicky as the sauce (assuming soy) kind of washing the garlic flavor a bit, but yes, it was still very enjoyable.

Stuffed Chicken with Bacon and Date
IDR 95k
The ingredients might sound weird but it’s the good type of weird that I will always be OK with, the tender boneless chicken wrapped the bacon and date, and the date indeed gave that extra hint of sweetness on a good amount, despite the pale look, this was actually a good dish.

Madam Rosella, Happy Days, Strawberry Lemonade

IDR 35k/39k/32k
These three are Gastromaquia's best selling mocktails: Madam Rosella had this sour and floral notes to it, Happy Days is one of Gastromaquia’s signature mocktails consisting of orange, lychee, kiwi and passionfruit. The fruity ingredients and notes created this sweet and refreshing beverage that you can enjoy, Strawberry Lemonade was the mixture of sparkling soda and strawberry syrup, all three are pretty much "the summer drink", but it’s “Summer” always in Jakarta, well that’s why you need this!

Homemade NY Cheesecake
IDR 55k

The good old New York Cheesecake with dense texture and Graham crackers crust, short to say, everyone’s favorite cheesecake that melts in your mouth as soon as you scoop it in, smooth, milky, creamy but not overpowering your palate.

Overall, I think Gastromaquia serves good food that’s enjoyable and mostly meant to be shared, it’s just something about their food (guessing it’s the presentation) that doesn’t really ring “personal”, but in a way that’s good as they say sharing is caring. They say, but I don’t, I only share my food pictures NOT the food XD

Ending the post with some of the behind the scene shots of my Harper’s Bazaar photoshoot that’s being done here! 

Gastromaquia
Jalan Ciniru 1 No. 1 - Senopati
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12180
021 - 2930 5091
Opening Hours: 11:30 AM - 11 PM
Average Spending for two: IDR 400k
Dresscode: casual

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Map for Gastromaquia Jakarta