When
it comes to F&B scene, particularly in Jakarta, there are some (or a lot
of) things that make me happy, some of them are pretty common standards: good food, good looking restaurant, good service, good value for
money, but for me, another thing is knowing that UNION group is opening a new
restaurant, and I always look forward to great things they are doing! Call me
their number one supporter because I genuinely probably am!
Say
hello to The Dutch, their newest establishment which just opened TODAY (as this
post is written), this time UNION Group came with a unique and different concept with their previous establishments, and here comes The Dutch along with its gastrobar beauty. If you are
beer enthusiasts, then this is the place you should be going.
The
Dutch is located in the same spot which was a home to a restaurant named
Entrada, this might be their first day today but the crowd was jamming, it was
almost a full house - not something I am very used to for a weekday and 3 PM
situation, but considering this place is awesome and it’s new so yeah.
First,
the ambiance, I never really know how to explain "ambiance" properly as it's more like a feeling, but this place has something very homey about it. It might be from
the moody look of this restaurant with dim lighting (if you’re looking forward
to take good pictures this place might not be the best), the crowd of the day,
the music, or maybe the good air-conditioning hmm. The Dutch is not the most
spacious restaurant, but everything about the design element creates this
nice comfortable feel. It’s just simple,
minimalist, with a twist of industrial and vintage. My favorite seat would
be the one with the live-kitchen view (kitchen bar seating), I can see an Omakase coming! That would probably be a good idea.
A
little tour
Live
kitchen for your eyes only!
Being
a gastrobar, The Dutch had this presence of a restaurant and pub in a same
venue. It's nowhere near a "fine-dining" restaurant, but this is the kind of place where you gotta dress up a bit.
Okay
let’s proceed to the food and beverage I had earlier today!
A
quick scan of their menu and I found the pricing to be a tad higher than Union
or Loewy (or maybe around Loewy) with price ranging from IDR 65k-450k for food, and drinks ranging from IDR 50k-200k. The food menu here might be something more
elevated than the common gastrobars you’ve visited before, all thanks to the Dutch native chef, Chris Moes. They have a good
range of menu with some inspired by the local cuisine and adapted from it.
The Dutch Erwtensoep - IDR 75k
The
soup was technically a split pea puree cooked with a little cream, overall I
found the texture quite pleasant with tasty seasoning and roasted Rookworst cuts
(pork sausage) adding the flavor and fun, thick yet fulfilling. It came with house-baked pretzel roll and the most awesome smoked butter in bone marrow! The butter had this beautiful smoky fragrance to it, with the bone marrow flavor kind of infused a bit to the butter. Just so good I don't know how to describe it.
Crispy Chicken Wings & Roast Chicken Sausage - IDR 90k
Gotta
say that I fell hard for the chicken wings, the coating was very crunchy and
the meat was juicy, a good old classic I’d say. The chicken sausage was very
flavorful with soft texture. Aside from that, I thought the idea of using
sambal matah was genius, and I love how they manage to make the sambal matah to
be quite spicy, some might expect it to be spicier, but it’s good for me.
Seared Scallop - IDR 75k
This
was actually my favorite menu of the lunch. Nothing was disappointing about the
perfectly cooked scallop topped with spicy Taliwang sauce. BOMB! Must order.
Rookworst - IDR 125k (non halal)
The
sausage was the same one used in the soup, it had this strong smoky aroma, firm
texture and nice seasoning.
Braised Lamb in Puff Pastry - IDR 190k
I believe this dish is chef Chris Moes' unique take on the quintessential British meat pie. On my
first full bite of everything, I tried to differentiate the flavor of the braised lamb shank and the buttery puff pastry dome, the flavor of the puff pastry
seemed to kind of overdo the lamb shank, but when you don’t have it together,
you can tell that the braised lamb shank was perfectly cooked with light
seasoning, fall-apart texture, and most importantly, it did not stink! The mashed potato was
beautiful right there adding a little creamy texture, and the beef juice had
this strong intense flavor to it (in a good way of course).
Speculaas Toast - IDR 65k
FYI it’s
not tempe bacem if you don’t read the title, I must say that I love how this
dessert looks, something grungy, glazy about it that makes it very appetizing
to see (and the cinnamon ice cream of course). The french toast might not have
that bread-y and eggy texture that I was aiming for, but it did have this
sponge cake texture so I am all good. I was excited about having Speculaas
dessert, but the cinnamon flavor kinda washed the cookie flavor of the
Speculaas off. Anyway, I still find this one good.
Braised Pineapple - IDR 65k
I hate
to say this (always bad when I have negative thing to say about UNION group
restaurants), but I just have to. This dessert is confusing to me. Rooting from
the naming, the focus should be on the braised pineapple, but I feel like the
pandan marshmallow stole the spotlight with its unique presence. Expected the
braised pineapple to have this soft texture, but it was quite tough. Well I
guess I’ll opt for the Speculaas Toast!
Lemon Haze - IDR 120k
Keep the cock talk till cocktail time, and therefore you SHOULD order their
signature Yuzu cocktail (ok my caption is so irrevelant!!!). The yuzu flavor dominated this drink, but in a very
tasty and refreshing way! I didn’t find this strong, and honestly more like a
woman sweet drink, but hey you just gotta have this, plus it came in such an
interesting presentation!
House Beers Served on Tap
I am not
a beer drinker, but must admit I love Paulaner’s artisan beers, and wanted to
give The Dutch a shot. FYI they have this cool beer machine serving draught
beers by tap. I had their Guiness (IDR 85k/glass) and OMG that was so good (not something I often say about beers), totally different taste
than the canned ones that my dad buys, even though technically it’s the same
product. It was just lighter in flavor with creamy froth that stood still on
top of the beer. Technically speaking, the flavor changes because of the
Nitrogen flows.
I am trying to speak like a smart person here so don't ruin my moment.
I know
what you’re thinking, whether this is worth comparing to Paulaner Brauhaus. I
tried to find their pros and cons, but I eventually came with my own verdict
that both are different. The Dutch is somehow very modern and concept wise,
elevated, while Paulaner Brauhaus is being Paulaner Brauhaus, classic and
fabulous. Both has good food, lovely ambiance it’s almost not fair to compare
one to another, but overall I found that most of the food here went through a lot of smoking process, and boy I love that!
With
it being in SCBD and “neighboring” to Lucy in The Sky and Beer Garden, I
seriously can see good things happening to everyone in the future! Competition is
how you think about it, but they’re totally in a different league and market.
WELCOME
TO THE PUB, THE DUTCH!!! Rock it!
The Dutch Gastrobar by UNION Group
18 Parc SCBD, Ground fl. Tower E
Jalan Jendral Sudirman Kav. 52-53
Jakarta Selatan 12190
021 - 5153 121
Opening hours: 11 AM-10 PM
Average spending for two: IDR 400k
Dresscode: sporty casual
FIND ME HERE
SNAPCHAT: STANISLAUSHANS
Map for The Dutch
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