SOCIEATY PLAZA INDONESIA - JAKARTA

I just had my dinner with blogger friends at this newly opened establishment in Plaza Indonesia called Socieaty, YUP FINALLY another new restaurant opening in the middle of this bullshit economy, which is a pretty brave move of them. Socieaty is a new venture by the Les Amis group from the Singapore. The group itself has been involved in the F&B business for more than 2 decades (21 years to be exact), and not until 2015 that they opened Socieaty, an establishment which is strongly related to the group itself, Les Amis itself actually means “by friends” in English, and they’re creating this “Socieaty” where it’s all about friends to friends, by friends and for friends.

Socieaty is located the ground floor of Plaza Indonesia, in between Chandara and Bistro Baron. I had to wonder here, I heard from insiders that Plaza Indonesia is deciding to remove all F&B tenants from the ground floor and want to change everything to fashion retails, but I guess since Socieaty is very new, that must be half & half rumor, but anyway I don’t really care that’s none of my business, let’s just cherish this restaurant!

The design somehow reminded me of Hurricane’s Grill in Gunawarman and a lil’ bit of Publik Markette & Garcon, well that until I found out that one of my friends who works in Metaphor design actually did the design for Socieaty and Hurricane’s Grill, and I guess there’s just this signature style of the design team: a gorgeous combination of minimalist with a little industrial and avant-garde, supported with how they design the light to create this warm ambiance and a cake display by “Tarte by Cheryl Koh” from Singapore, also under the Les Amis group. They have several seating areas for four or for groups, and I honestly love the design and nothing to complain about.

As this post is written, this restaurant is just 5 days old, but it was quite packed on my dinner, and it’s just amazing that I noticed this one big family (and when I say big I mean including the grandma & grandpa) having dinner just across my table, I don’t know but it’s just awesome how I feel this restaurant can appeal to older markets as well, I feel like everyone is more than welcome here as friends. I know it sounds melodramatical but I just felt that way ok.

The menu here is dominated by the European-Asian cuisine, and most of the dishes here are the combination of the menus from the French eatery “Bistro du Vin” & Italian trattoria “La Strada”, Spanish themed “La Taperia” and the dainty bakery “Tarte” (mentioned above). They also have breakfast menu here available daily from 10 AM – 2 PM with menus ranging from Brioche French Toast, Gourmet Breakfast, Egg Confit & Portobello Mushroom, Three-Egg Omelette & Scrambled Eggs on Baguette including the add ons (toasted baguette, crispy pork bacon and gourmet sausage).

 The pastries curated by pastry chef, Cheryl Koh from Singapore. She also has a flagship store in Scotts Road, Singapore.

Generally here they have sandwiches menu, light bites, soup & salad, appetizers, main courses (and to shares), pastas, desserts and beverages like alcohols (vodka, gin, ru,, tequilla, whiskeys, Japanese whiskeys, single malts, absinthes, brandy/cognac, apperitif & digestive), beers, cocktails (not available on my visit), wines, cold pressed juices, teas and soft drinks!

Fried Baby Squid - IDR 95k
This I like! The deep fried squid-ink battered squid was beautiful flavor and texture wise! The seasoning was spot on, and I simply love how they managed to cook the battered skin to be perfectly crispy but still leaving the squid to be very soft and moist. A simple dish executed to perfection, a must try!

Spicy Chicken Quesadilla – IDR 148k
Another light bites that I fond of was this spicy chicken quesadilla, again, the seasoning was just spot on, as I was warned that it could be overwhelmingly spicy, but I found everything was just good for me and I didn’t find the spicy chicken to be spicy, in fact, I would love it spicier! The tender chicken cuts was given generously and the quesadilla bread had this proper thickness to wrap everything up, and the beautiful blend of flavor literally will make you feel like you’re eating this savory meat pizza, only this with additional bread wrap.

Garlic Chili Prawn – IDR 148k
First of all, I think this dish was priced too high, especially when you see the exact serving size which consist of (only) five chunky prawns placed in a small bowl, but if you want to get over the pricing matter, flavor wise, I love this dish! The garlic really changed and lived up the whole flavor, and the chili gave a little hint of spicy but not overpowering, more like the flavor boost and the prawns were just uber fresh! this you need to serve while it’s hot and please don’t take too long on the pictures (FYI if you care so much about your pictures, the lighting here is not the best, unless you sit near the entrance with the help of the mall’s lights).

Parma Ham Piadina – IDR 118k (NON HALAL)

Sauteed mushroom topped with parma, arugula, balsamic glaze and all placed on top of baked Piadina or Italian flatbread. In a glaze (and in a good way) this might look like a dish you can prepare at home, there’s just something so simple about the presentation and the ingredients, BUT the flavor was just amazing. I like the idea of using the baked piadina, it’s just very Italian and the crisp of the bread really gave that texture play in contrast to the other ingredients. Beautifully executed simple dish, flavor, texture all ticked.

Salmon Piadina – IDR 118k
The only difference with the parma ham piadina was that salmon was used here, and the dressing was sour cream and honey dill mustard. The mustard really gave that something special to this dish, at some notes it could be strong, slightly bitter and intense, but the more neutral flavor character of the salmon really balanced everything out, but I guess since the parma ham piadina managed to wow-ed me with its simplicity, I am a little bias here.

This actually reminded me of this dish I had in Olivier, both are different but both are enjoyable.

Half Roasted Chicken – IDR 128k
Chicken has never been my favorite protein since I am more like a beef and pork person, but most of all because it’s a tricky protein and when you don’t cook it on the right temperature, it could easily be a thirsty dish, and thristy means dry in my vocabulary! BUT when you had such a beautiful roasted chicken dish like this with all the beautiful marinating and texture, you might be a convert! The chicken was oh-so-tender, the roasted potatoes were perfectly firm, and the ingredients used in the marinating process absorb well to the meat, and the skin part, where mostly covered with the spices & ingredients was so tasty, love that blend of smoky flavor from the roasting with the spicy-ingredients. YUM!

Lamb Shank – IDR 265k
Their lamb shank was my least favorite, I honestly love the texture of the meat and how they managed to produce a lamb dish that’s stink-free, but unfortunately the seasoning didn’t do much talking, I think it needs to have that extra kick of seasoning to boost the flavor.

Truffle Carbonara – IDR 228k (NON HALAL)
The homemade chittara pasta actually looked like thin noodle or ramen, but somehow it’s the kind of pasta that went really well with creamy pasta dishes as they can really hold the cream very well together. I praise the idea of adding crispy parma to this dish as it is that one flavor that stood out from the crowd in a good way, well that when you have it alone, but when you have everything together, the salty crispy ham contributes to both balanced flavor and texture! The egg sousvide gave that creamy character, but honestly I could leave it off my dish as I thought the dish was pretty creamy already.

Suckling Pig – IDR 460k
I was stunned with the pricing of the suckling pig and after you see a price that high you might be expecting at least a quarter of  suckling pig to come to your table, and not... this.

 Kua kuaaaa.

Aside from the high pricing, again when you put that away, this was the winning dish of the dinner! The pork was AMAZING, and both skin and meat. It’s just so tender and fragrant, and the crispy skin just made everything better. The serving came with fries, caramelized onion (which had more sour character) and the apricot (the sweeter one). The idea was to have everything altogether to create this unique but well-balanced flavor and they were right, although I could just leave everything and just proceed with the gorgeous pig and fries (love the seasoning of the fries too!).

TARTS PLATTER!

On the tray: lemon meringue, pistachio, mango, chocolate, caramel hazelnut and strawberry. GENERALLY, I like the base of the tart: firm but easily bitten and did not leave crumbs as you had them. The pistachio tart was made with toasted Iranian green pistachios, smooth and creamy pistachio filling, the chocolate flavor was pretty good and not overly sweet, the caramel and hazelnut flavor was everyone’s favorite (and I mean who doesn’t love that Ferrero-like Hazelnut flavor mixed with the not-overly sweet Caramel), but my personal favorite would be the mango with the lighter custard consistency but more unique and balanced flavor.

Floating Island – IDR 65k
Now this is something I would rave about. Appearance wise, it looked like a classic cheese cake, but it’s actually a meringue cake, again, MERINGUE, and yes the texture would be foam-like, so it would be very very soft, spongy, eggy and literally melt in your mouth as you scoop it in! The vanilla sauce complimented the meringue very well and the candied almond and caramel really gave that extra kick of flavor and texture that I was expecting. This dessert is something unique and luckily, they made them GOOD! Must try!

Souffle with Ice Cream – IDR 95k
Tried both the chocolate and hazelnut souffle, the chocolate souffle was a little been there done that, I mean it’s good but it’s boring, and the hazelnut OMG you should try! Not because I am an avid fan of hazelnut and I am a bias, well just a little, but mostly because the hazelnut flavor really kicked the boring chocolate flavor and left with better impression to my palate and mind. Must try! The ice-creams were not homemade here, guessing they’re using the Haagen Dazs ice cream as I remember their country vanilla flavor vividly.

I had a blissful dinner with close friends and good food. It was a joyous one.

My only downside was probably the pricing for certain food, as I was scanning the menu, the pricing here was like tidal wave, certain food are low and affordable, but unexpectedly high at certain dishes (like the suckling pig), but again, this place is worth trying. Especially since it's new!

Due to the lack of new good places to eat in town lately, but mostly based on my experience, Socieaty is certainly IN my list of the best restaurants of 2015. 3 months to go before I declare the best of the best and I do hope more good places are coming soon! Can’t wait.

In the meantime, lots of good luck for Socieaty, I believe you’ll do great, and thank you for reading peeps!

Socieaty
Plaza Indonesia GF (between Chandara and Bistro Baron)
Jl. M.H. Thamrin No. 28-30
Jakarta Pusat 10350
Opening Hours: 10 AM - 10 PM (mall opening hours)
Average spending for two: IDR 400k
Dresscode: smart casual
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Map for Plaza Indonesia