CASSIS KITCHEN JAKARTA

A couple weeks ago I dined at the "new" Cassis Kitchen, by new I mean the changed concept (a more casual dining) and a bit of extrerior tweak here and there. I had a good history with Cassis on my first visit here when it's still known as a French fine dining restaurant, the food was delicious and it was personally one of my favorite fine dining restaurants in town. So after all these changes does Cassis Kitchen still owns my purple heart? Keep reading.

The most significant changes happens to the logo design, followed by the al-fresco area of the restaurant. The logo has this youthful and less formal feel to it compared to the previous one, and the outdoor color scheme turned to a chic monochrome, and as far as I remember, nothing really changes with the interior design besides how they stop using white table clothing in conjuction to the rebranding, oh talking about rebranding.

Visual tour coming. Embrace yourself with the elegance.

One of the questions I oddly receive on Snapchat about Cassis is whether you need to dress up (and trust me I have long conversation with my Snapchat friends). In a way yes, and I think it happens that Jakartans mostly care about dressing up wherever they go, but no you don't need to use the fanciest dress, a sporty casual look will do.

Cassis accommodates three private VIP rooms for special occasions if you fancy celebrating events that needed more private vibe to it such as birthdays, arisan, baby shower or more. Minimum charge should apply.

My favorite VIP room is the one located at the back near the kitchen area, once I stepped inside I automatically feel like "this is the one I'm going to throw a private event in the future at", I imagined good lighting in the day.

The menus they're trying to pull off are indeed in a way more relaxed, it's not as "fancy" or atas as how it was previously, and the price list was clearly more pocket friendly even though it's still the Jakarta posh cafes standard pricing where it's medium above. Price range for food starts from IDR 45k-550k and drinks around IDR 30k-100k (alcohol).

To be completely honest, the changes that they've done didn't bother me at all, and they are not that significant except for the pricing (which I think might be pretty significant for most of us), but after all the casualness, I was still super fond of their top notch service, the server and waiters were very attentive in taking, presenting and clearing up our orders. The dining session kicks off with fresh complimentary bread and butter, followed by an amuse bouche: raspberry granita to warm up our palate before getting down to the mains, it was refreshing with the right acidity and sweetness.

They have wide collection of wines too. I love having Moscato here and they sell each bottle at a very reasonable pricing.

Amuse Bouche - Raspberry Granita (took this picture on my second visit to Cassis Kitchen - also sharing the lunch experience below).

Fresh & warm complimentary sourdough

Pan Roasted Alaskan Scallop - IDR 150k
THIS WAS ONE OF A HELL SATISFYING APPETIZER. As far as I can remember, it's probably one of the best Scallop dishes you can find in town, particularly casual diners. The scallops were fresh, thick and juicy, and they were cooked so beautifully with golden brown color on the surface and light salt & pepper seasoning, you just can't go wrong with fresh ingredients let me tell you. I recommend having one whole bite to experience the natural sweetness of the scallop mixed with the seasoning on the surface, it's like a burst of flavor in your mouth.

The second trial, you have everything with the beach mushrooms, boiled edamame and citrus brown butter, that's even better. Talk about the play of texture, flavor and all that juicy bites.

Spicy Tuna Tacos - IDR 75k
Another highly recommended one is this spicy tuna tacos. The bite size corn tortilla tacos holds the spicy tuna tartare filling and the picked red onion. The tuna tartare was fresh, delicious, creamy and juicy with simple seasoning. They recommend having it with a full squeeze of lemon but since I am not a big fan of that idea, what I had was delicious enough.

Cobb Salad - IDR 95k
I am never a big fan of Cobb Salad since I never find it very special hence I tend to skip, but I weirdly wanted to try theirs and it was a right thing to do, yes it's simple but it was indeed fresh too (I could tell in a single glance of ingredients toppings). The mayo dressing was light and didn't over power and over cover the other ingredients, but you know me, I put the cheese away.

Foie Gras Duo - IDR 225k

The Foie Gras Duo consist of two kinds of Foie Gras textures served on a single plate: the pan seared foie gras and the mousse. I've always loved the classic pan seared (and theirs was beautiful), but the mousse one was pretty delicious as well, and together they're served with caramelized apples, blackcurrant, white grape chutney and fluffy brioche.

Angel Hair Mentaiko - IDR 185k
Feeling pasta that night and having this was just a nice little fulfilment to my craving. The pasta came in a pretty huge portion meant for two. The angel hair was cooked perfectly without ending up like a meesua texture. The overall seasoning from the mentaiko and garlic was generous and even to the portion, and not to mention, fresh fresh fresh blue prawns. Overall addicting yet satisfying, both to the eye and my palate.

After all, nothing can go wrong with a beautifully cooked pasta and a great amount of fresh Mentaiko. Nothing.

240 gr Steak Frites - IDR 350k

Being formerly known as a top notch French fine dining restaurants in town, that somehow makes ordering the steak an essential thing to do here. Had this appetizing looking Steak Frites completed with a pile of french fries and salad on the side. The steak was cooked perfectly medium as how I wanted it to be (I mean say hello to that pink center) and melted garlic butter on top of it. My idea of good steak is a light seasoned one where I can still sample the natural beautiful flavor of the meat itself, and this surpassed my standard. Definitely a must try.

Roasted Black Cod - IDR 275k

Pescetarian or not pescetarian, this is a dish you should NOT miss here! The cod fish was very soft & silky with the perfect crispy skin. I like how they combine this beautiful protein with beautiful root vegetables such as carrot, brussel sprouts, beetroot, potato and glazed with tasty red wine sauce.

It's true that we first eat with our eyes, then our palate, and moving to the array of desserts, we kicked off with something "chill". This is their signature dessert here: ZERO CELCIUS. A bowl like shaped from carved ice topped with various kinds of fruit cuts, some scoops of lime sorbets and poured with fresh sparkling white wine. Every element of this dish complements each other nicely. You got that sparkling sensation from the champagne, the sweetness and crunch from the fruits, and the sweet & sour from the lime sorbet. If you don't fancy sour at all, order this to appreciate the beauty.

Banana Chocolate Sphere - IDR 108k

This kind of dessert is trending at the moment, more and more cafes are trying to make their very own version of melting chocolate ball. Cassis Kitchen's version is basically a chocolate ball with banana ice cream inside and served with chocolate soil, mint, raspberry and served with salted caramel sauce. Some might find this a tad too sweet, but since I am a certified sweet tooth I found this  well composed and beautiful.

NY Cheese Cake - IDR 118k

As someone who's not into cheese, this cheesecake is tasty, but light and perfectly creamy at the same time, and most importantly I can still take this. The only downside is that I think for a cheesecake dessert, the price tag is a little high for this one.

After the good food, the good wine and good wine all you need is a good love making.

SECOND VISIT
The ambiance here in Cassis Kitchen is just very versatile, on dinner time you can get this romantic private ambiance while on lunch time you can enjoy dining outside surrounded by the homey ambiance and the green-ess of the plants. I look at Cassis Kitchen such a nice little retreat located at the busy Sudirman street. Went back a couple of days ago to have lunch here and enjoyed the ongoing promotion: IDR 150k LUNCH SET WTFFFFF so freaking affordable after one appetizer + one main and one iced tea.

They were kind enough by spoiling the customers with delicate lunch options, you'll probably find yourself stuck for 5-10 minutes deciding what you want because everything was potentially nice. You can opt for soup and salad for the appetizer session, to burgers, pasta, chicken schnitzel and fish & chips for mains, and oh, they still going to serve you their complimentary bread too say what!

But worry less as you can always opt from the ala carte menu if you're too hungry.

Tomato and Mozarella
Marinated tomatoes, fresh mozarella, basil and balsamico

Mushroom Soup
Potato gnocchi with fine herbs

THE FULL SET. IDR 150k for all this is so damn cheap man.

Parmigiana Chicken Schnitzel
Breaded chicken breast with homemade tomato sauce topped with mozarella cheese and mixed greens // Perfectly thick batter covering the tender chicken and coated with the tomato sauce and beautifully topped with mozarella cheese.

Cassis Kitchen Burger
First of all can we all appreciate the effort to make this burger look so good? The beef patty was thick and juicy and served with crunchy onion rings. If you notice the sauce underneath the patty, a treasure must be revealed because that shit is the bomb!

I have gained 12 kilos ever since I started blogging, if that's not the love of food I don't know what love is. Holy moly so many food in this single post I look back and couldn't believe I ate that much.

They're building the Lounge Area and it will be opened very soon.

The new Cassis Kitchen is certainly not disappointing in any way, from the beautiful space to the nice food and supported with the service and ambiance for days. Some of you might miss the old Cassis, but I don't, I like it before and currently. I seriously have high hopes for Cassis Kitchen, and so far I guess this is one of the best meals I've had in 2016. Do come at the lunch time to enjoy the great deal they're having at the moment (the affordable lunch set), a dinner for two will cost you IDR 700k, but you'll have better varied food to choose.

BEST OF LUCK!

Cassis Kitchen
Pavilion Apartement Retail Arcade Kav. 24
Jl. K.H. Mas Mansyur
Karet Tengsin, Jakarta Selatan
021 - 5794 1500
Opening hours:
Lunch: 11 AM-14:30 PM
Dinner: 6 PM-11 PM
Dresscode: sporty casual
Average spending for two: IDR 600k-700k
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Map for Cassis Kitchen