Tapas bar is not something that I am hideously
familiar with nor have I ever heard about it before. I have heard about BAM
before, and some of my close friends have actually recommended this to me and
raved about how good the food here. A couple of weeks ago, I went here with my
sister to have a quick lunch.
BAM is actually a fine dining restaurant
originated from Singapore, the branch in Jakarta is their second home,
precisely located on the third floor of the posh Plaza Indonesia (for some
reasons I am glad that they chose to land at PI). I suggest taking the
escalator from the Dior entrance and continuously took it until the 3rd
floor, and you’ll depart exactly beside the restaurant and soon greeted with
the large BAM neon signage. BAM shares the same venue with Senju Omakase and
Sake (which is owned by the same management).
They don’t call it Tapas bar without any reason.
As soon as you step inside the restaurant, a long bar is located at the left for
customers to experience a bar dining featuring food selections from BAM or even
the Tapas omakase. Now that’s new for me. I didn’t try that on my last visit,
but I’mma come back to try the omakase. Should be legit.
The interior is super posh and chic with
industrial values on the design. I like how it’s quirky, neat but still very
youthful. Serious without being stiff. Visual tour of the restaurant coming.
Shared a few courses with my sister. I remember
posting so many on my Snapchat and it was a bliss. The menus here are mostly adapted from the
original Singapore branch, only little tweaks here and there to adjust each
country’s customers preference. They usually rotate 20% of the menus on the
left page once every two months.
Kokonatsu Mule
Their signature coconut drink with a blend of
ginger, lemon grass and lavender flavor that was unique and refreshing. Might
not be for everyone but I like this one.
Cold Cappelini with Uni
The cold cappelini was perfectly firm and al-dente, the uni (sea urchin) was very fresh, tasty and creamy with
its neutral-sweetness. I like the additional savory-salty flavor and texture
from the crunchy Sakura ebi and the best thing about this dish: GENEROUS
TRUFFLE OIL! I am an avid truffle fan and you can actually put truffle in
almost everything, but here they actually also mix it with a bit of hazelnut
oil, but since the truffle aroma seems dominating it’s almost not noticeable. I
am simple, you give me a lot truffle I must love your food (jk), but seriously
this is one satisfying dish and a good kickstart to my palate before facing the
other courses.
Spanish Prawn Carabinero
Here we go with the second course! Fresh chunky
grilled Spanish prawns with sauce that reminds me of Harissa sauce, I smell a
bit of lemon grass, lime leaf and kalamansi in it too. The idea was to separate
the meat part of the prawn with the other part (beside the meat) mixed with
everything, so you’re basically seeing the head and shell of the prawns mixed
with the sauce and everything.
The appearance might be messy but this is where
the good things begin. It’s SUPPOSED to eat that way and it just HAS to be that
way. The mix was awesome and left my palate satisfied with whatever flavor act
they’re trying to pull here! It was loaded and infused with strong spices, a
mild spicy but altogether rich and yum. The bread was nothing but a perfect
pair. The only thing I dislike was how they only gave us two. We absolutely
need more! HAHA.
Charcoal Grill Spanish Pork – non halal
Can I just cut all the bullcrap and say that
this is, secure to my in town food experience, absolutely ONE OF THE BEST pork
dishes there is in Jakarta at the moment, that even though some of you are
muslims, I really want you to have a bite. The pork was beautifully cooked to
perfection that it had that amazing tenderness, chewing the meat wasn’t even a
freaking chore, so effortless. I like the idea of using the fennel pickles to
this dish to add this hint of sour and crunchy on each bite, and honestly, this
dish tasted way and way better after the pork jus sauce and mustard aioli. The
mustard aioli was seriously kidding me. It was superb.
Seafood Paella (IDR 300k) – non halal
When it first came to my table, I was happy with
the gorgeous and tempting presentation. It looks so loaded with delicate deep
fried crunchy toppings and just so goddamn tempting. The ingredients inside the
seafood paella might be dominated with seafood (shrimps, soft shell crabs, and
clams), but I notice a bit of chorizo, paprika, kale, onion, shallot, lime, chili
(very mild spicy), and prawn heads. The paella was really fragrant and tasteful
that I literally couldn’t stop munching it.
I couldn’t decide my favorite savory dish and I
don’t need to. Everything was super nice in their own way. Now dessert!
Banana Rhum
I was skeptical about their dessert and actually
has the least expectation about it. I have set my expectation high for the
mainsso actually expecting the dessert to turn out great was not necessary for
me. This banana rhum dessert was plated so beautifully resembling the fine
dining concept they’re holding on to, well some things are indeed just as sweet
as it looks. This dessert was BEAUTIFUL! The banana sousvide had this
caramelized coating that’s creamy and flavorful, the cacao nib crumble &
banana chips gave the texture its own tiny portion and banana ice cream for
extra sensation! Lemme tell you that the thing that really captivated me the
most was THE CREAM ANGLAISE. I did not know what’s wrong about the sauce but it
was that good that it almost made me love it more than the banana. It was THE
perfect companion I was so in love. It’s overall sweet without overpowering my
palate. Good good job on the dessert. A MUST TRY.
So how about the price? Well here’s my take on
that: you CAN NOT say it’s expensive, but it’s WORTH IT. There’s a big
difference that we gotta respect.
Overall, aside from the beautiful sauce
accompanying the meals here, I notice the fresh ingredient selections to be
also the main key to the good food I had that afternoon. They’re very fresh along
with great quality, and not to mention, I really love how they present the food
here, beautiful tapas presentation! You get what you paid for, that’s the rule
here.
So to cut things short: BAM is for me one of my
favorite restaurants (and one of THE BEST) in Jakarta at the moment. Gorgeous
food, friendly and attentive service (oh the server was so friendly and helpful
with us), I am sooo coming back for more of BAM! Probably every two months then
I get to taste their new menus.
BAM!
Plaza Indonesia 3rd fl. #119
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28-30
Jakarta Pusat 10350
021 - 2992 4222
Opening hours: 11 AM-10 PM
Average spending for two: IDR 600k
Dresscode: sporty casual
FIND ME HERE
SNAPCHAT: STANISLAUSHANS
Map for Plaza Indonesia
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