eatandtreats - Indonesian Food and Travel Blogger based in Jakarta: ASIATALE SENOPATI

Senopati is welcoming the newest addition to their fascinating F&B complex: ASIATALE!

Lately I have been noticing a rapid growth of modern Chinese restaurants in town, and if you ask me a year ago, I wouldn't expected it to boom like this, but some guys are just so smart and creative in packing the classic Chinese cuisine and match it with the modern adn youthful ambiance, and together (if they know how to blend it right), a cozy place for everyone to hangout, particularly Jakartans. In Senopati alone, there are already a few and Asiatale is the newest one to join the crowd.

Asiatale is located at Jalan Suryo and near Kanawa coffee shop, as this post is written, it has been operating and opening its door publicly for two weeks. Dimsum and Chinese cuisine are their main focus here, and I love how the concept is supported with such gorgeous deco, man I feel the restaurant is very-very well designed, you sure get the Oriental ambiance mainly from the red colour applied as one of the design elements, the hanging Chinese lampions, the dim-yellow lighting, the Chinese calligraphy mixed with the other elements supporting that youthful ambiance such as the minimalist-industrial design, the murals, the refreshing greens. Altogether just fascinating for the eye.

Asiatale consists of two stories with the U design on the second floor and a semi-private area. I heard they're renovating an area of the second level so I don't think I have to show you how it looks at the moment and patiently wait until the renovation is finished. The second floor also accommodates a live stage performance, a DJ station and a much more laid back seating comparing to the more "serious" first floor. On the weekends, I can assure you this place will be jamming.

Asian comfort food is their main concern here, then followed by the good range of dim sum you can freely opt depending on what you fancy. Generally after a quick scan of their menu, they serve pretty various range of Asian comfort food starting from the appetizer to the dessert, expect to find menus such as Fried Cakwe, Popiah, Spring Roll, Binjai Chicken, Beef, Chinese Vegetables and Dim Sum meals such as Siewmay, Hakao, Cheong Fun, Dumplings, Xiao Long Bao, Cha Siu Bao, Portuguese Egg Tart, Rolls and many more.

Dim Sum overview. Dim Sum price starts from IDR 24k to IDR 28k (most expensive), but they're currently running an opening promotion where you can have their dim sum for IDR 18k.

Salted Egg Yolk Sesame Ball - IDR 26k

I was highly impressed with how flaky this was when it served to my table, but turned out it was the black paper making the second when it's in contact to the other paper zzz, but to be completely honest, this was uber good, and frankly speaking one of the tastiest salted egg yolk sesame ball creations I've ever experienced in Jakarta. I am not a big fan of salted egg yolk in sweets, but they seasoned the filling nicely, with the right amount of creaminess without appearing over milky, and the glutinous sesame ball dough was just spot on, it's not too thick, neither too thin, and one thing for sure, deep fried perfectly as you can see from the golden brown color. Too bad I didn't snap a pic of the melting salted egg yolk as I enjoyed it very much that towards the end I realized I haven't snapped a pic LOL (but it's on Snapchat tho if you follow me).

Portuguese Egg Tart - IDR 24k
People have their own preference of their favorite egg tarts, some might like it super creamy and eggy, and I like it less milky and eggy. Honestly this fulfils my liking and standard. The filling was surely different that common egg tarts I've had, it's more to this custard like rather than the silky eggy one, anyway, I found this delicious and perfectly sweet. Tiny devils geez.

Chicken and Prawn Shumai - IDR 24k

I expected each shumai to be bigger, other than that I feel like the amount of minced chicken and prawn inside the shumai was quite generous, it's loaded but juicy on each bite and seasoned lightly but in a very proper way.

Chicken Xiao Long Bao - IDR 24k
This might be, flavor wise, the most intense Xiao Long Bao I've ever had. The broth was seriously this rich chicken broth. Just nice.

Full meal overview. Generally I like how the presentation is really simple without much unimportant details and most importantly for my fellow muslim friends, they SERVE NO PORK AND LARD HERE SO IT'S HALAL!!!

Uncle Tiong's Seafood Cakwe - IDR 42k

Perfectly deep fried cakwe (Chinese doughnuts) stuffed with assorted seafood and glazed with sweet and sour sauce. The sauce was quite rich and kinda dominated the seafood flavor that I expected to pop, but amount wise, they gave the filling quite generously to each cakwe cuts.

Five Spice Binjai Chicken - IDR 118k

Deep fried chicken marinated with traditional five spice and served with chilli dipping sauce. I think we took too long on the pictures, or at least long enough to cool off the chicken. I honestly think this would taste way better when it's fresh from the kitchen, but judging from having it cool, it still tasted pretty nice and crispy, especially on the wings.

Prawn Mayonaise Roll - IDR 55k

Another simple yet delicious dish, beautifully fried prawn roll (with generous minced prawn inside) topped with a dressing as simple as mayonnaise sauce. Something about the seasoning that's really light, and the sweetness of the mayonnaise sauce match it well.

Deep Fried Fish with Thai Sauce - IDR 68k (small)/IDR 170k (big)
The fish can be a snapper of a pomfret depending on the availability, again, good job on the cooking because the fish was soft and smooth with semi-crunchy coating (I might dislike it if it's too crunchy), but honestly for a dish like this, the highlight has got to be the sauce, and the Thai sauce they're using here is fascinating for my palate! It's rich, had the right balance of spicy & sour, and overall without overpowering my palate and being overly spicy & tangy.

Shifu Hok Tiong Crispy Beef - IDR 82k

Highlight of the lunch aka MY NUMBER ONE favorite meal of my lunch earlier today! This is their wok crispy beef dish with mix vegetable (onion and bell peppers) and cooked in Shifu's special sauce, shifu won't spill any secret to their delicious sauce and he doesn't have to (lol), the sauce blends well with the wok cooking method and that signature spicy bell pepper flavor with a hint of sweet, and it's just perfect for the uber crunchy crispy beef. This is my personal favorite and I recommend everyone to order this when they're dining here!

Stay High

This is their signature cocktail drink here, beautifully presented in this red jug inspired by the traditional Chinese jug, anyway the color represents different flavor and alcohol level, they have three types of this drink: the red one I had was short to say, medium alcohol opacity with fresh fruity aftertaste. If you fancy the stronger and more intense alcohol flavor, go for the black one, or if no alcohol for you, then opt for the other one.

I am happy for the arrival of Asiatale, finally another restaurant that fulfils all of my standard of "a good restaurant": nice ambiance, nice deco, simple and delicious food and most importantly how the food does most of the talking, rather than the unimportant elements that is very unnecessary. First experience and I am quite satisfied, I really hope they keep up the amazing work in order to stay long in the biz. Best of luck!