LAYAR SEAFOOD JAKARTA

If you’re familiar and actually fond of Layar Seafood in Surabaya, you’re going to be very happy (as much as I am) to know that Layar is now opening in Jakarta! Visited this well known seafood restaurant for lunch a few weeks ago with my brother and along with the actual review, I am sharing the joy here!

A little about Layar Seafood , they already have two outlets in Surabaya: Layar Seafood Manyar and Layar Seafood Bukit Mas, and the one in Jakarta is their official third outlet. This particular outlet is located in Puri Pesanggrahan at West Jakarta, and is easily noticeable for their huge outlet and “Layar” logo placed on the house-like building.

Being a seafood specialist, Layar Seafood allows their customers to select the seafood (and measurement) they want from the seafood display at the right side of the restaurant's main dining area. The range of seafood was also quite various like crabs, lobsters, fish, prawns, and etc. Don’t be shocked at the amount of guests packing the restaurant, it’s a regular scene to see in Surabaya and good that it’s happening here. Here they apply two dining hours: lunch time and dinner time, the lunch time starts from 11 AM- 2:30 PM, and dinner starts at 6 PM-10 PM.

Please note that these pictures were taken after the lunch time, I stayed longer, so no guests was around anymore.

Their particular outlet here is SPACIOUS. I think it can accomodate up to 300 people and that excludes the 6 VIP rooms they’re having here. I like the “Indonesian” (almost Balinese) touch to this restaurant, it gave that extra "zen" feeling with a touch of green, minimalist design and the little manmade pool surrounding the outdoor dining area, you will notice that each table here is layered with plastic for hygiene sake, so that the customers can eat the delicious seafood right on the table.

VIP rooms!

VIP rooms!

General overview of their seafood menu:
CRABS: live crabs, king crabs, kepiting soka, for the FISH: live fish, grouper (kerapu), snapper (kakap), flounder fish (ikan mata sebelah), kuro fish, pampano fish (ikan kuwe), black pomfret (bawal hitam), kudu-kudu (box fish), sukang (leather jacket fish), kaci-kaci, jenaha, parrot fish, gourami (ikan gurame), stingray fish (ikan pari), tilapia fish (ikan nila), SHRIMP: white shrimp, mantis shrimp (udang ronggeng), LOBSTER, OYSTER, CLAMS: batik, white, capiz and snow clams, MUSSELS: green clams, SQUID, SCALLOP, EEL. Besides seafood, they also have selections of beancurd, vegetables, Chinese food, and many more.

The seafood here can be cookedn with various sauces and method like: black pepper, salted egg, butter sauce, garlic steam, good old grilled, vermicelli served, padang sauce, king sauce + mantau, Singapore chili + mantau, patay sauce with green chili, curry sauce and gulai sauce.

Had a pretty big lunch that afternoon and we had some of their best-sellers too, so I will explain and give my review along the way! Keep reading!

Tumis Pakis (Stirfry Pakis)
I don’t know if it’s relevant, but being a Borneo’s descendant, I am very familiar with this vegetable. Back to the days when I went to Borneo a few years ago, I had this literally every single day, would recommend having this with a little hint of spicy...and rice! This one was slightly different that I had in Borneo as normally my mom cooked the most simple version with only terasi, garlic, shallot with very little water so it's a little soupy, Layar Seafood's also used terasi, but their seasoning was way stronger and bold. 

Bakmi Ulang Tahun (Classic Birthday Noodle)
There wasn’t anything to celebrate but I guess a classic birthday noodle or bakmi ulang tahun will never hurt ya. Their version was simple and delicious. Both me and my brother agreed that THE BOMB has got to be the fresh shrimp. It was so juicy and had this soft and smooth that bursts out after every bite.

Generally their crabs are meaty, you know how sometimes a chunky crab can be deceiving. Their crabs might not look big and chunky, but for its size, it’s pretty meaty.

Kepiting Jantan Telur Asin (Salted Egg Yolk Crab)

For those who haven’t tried their “salted egg yolk” sauce, theirs a little creamier with a hint of milk and sweet flavor to it, but still on a decent balance, so it’s not very Oriental where the salted egg yolk flavor is very rich, salty, and more likely appear dry. The best part is when you know the sauce absorb right into the crab meat and all you want to do is just suck all the juice out! This dish has been their best seller from the very first day they opened their outlet for public, but for me, please read the following...

Kepiting Jantan Saus Bawang (Onion and Shallot Sauce Crab)
I BLOODY LOVE THEIR SAUS BAWANG!!! No offense to their best selling salted egg yolk sauce, it’s always goes back to one’s preference and I CHOOSE THIS! The shallot sauce was so good it had this beautiful basil infused flavor to it., and that particular basil flavor really elevated the flavor of the whole dish! It’s oily without being greasy, and trust me when I say you won’t waste any chance having it with rice. It’s more like mandatory! HASHTAG FINGERLICKINGOOD!

Gurame Saus Mangga (Gourami with Homemade Mango Sauce)
Another favorite of mine, some people might have different preference towards the kind of Gourami they’re fond of, but I like mine crispy and meaty (of course). I was happy that they managed to cook the Gourami to be perfectly crispy as what I expected, but without leaving the meat part dry and crunchy. I know cooking Gourami can be quite tricky. The homemade mango sauce was such a fit to the Gourami, it’s not exactly like the common sweet and sour sauce, there’s indeed this blend of sweet and sour (majorly sweet) with shredded mango!

OMG I REALLY CAN’T eat here WITHOUT having rice, that would be too insane for me.

A lovely lunch that was! I was so full and satisfied with everything served on the table, sincerely had zero complaint towards the food. It’s amazing if you notice this kind of restaurant, who has survived for years, even before all this social media trend and in a way it’s awesome how they do not depend themselves on the social media, so I guess it all goes back to the reason why they survive all the years: quality! Something that’s rare to new restaurants lately :).

Good luck spreading the love for seafood in Jakarta! We’re happy to have you here in town!

Layar Seafood
Jalan Puri Pesanggrahan Raya No. 80
Kembangan, Meruya Utara
Jakarta Barat 11620
021 - 5890 7223/4
Opening hours:
Lunch: 11 AM-2 PM
Dinner: 5:30 PM-10 PM
Dresscode: casual
Average spending for two: IDR 250k
WiFi: No
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

FIND ME HERE

FACEBOOK || TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || GOOGLE+

email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

Map for Layar Seafood