Bawakaraeng: Short on service but great food<\/p>\n
\"A fish to die for,\" gushes one connoisseur. \"A taste of
\nheaven\" is another lavish accolade. Such is the homage paid to
\nfried red snapper in sweet soy sauce, the crowning glory of
\nBawakaraeng, a restaurant specializing in the Makassar cuisine of
\nSouth Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
And well-deserved it is. The restaurant, located at Jl. Ampera
\nRaya 16 in Kemang, is not exactly at a barren point on the
\ngastronomic map (\"What? Not another Kemang restaurant!\"), but it
\nalso cooks up simple but wonderful meals that way upstage its
\ndignified but cozy home-style decor.<\/p>\n
The terse menu doesn't brim with quantity -- it's quality all
\nthe way. Even vegetables, side dishes and the ubiquitous ground
\nchilies are enticingly classy, like superior versions of home
\nspecials. No wonder people usually come in throngs, often with
\nfamily and friends.<\/p>\n
In short, it's one of Epicurus' favorite joints, a kind of
\nculinary reminder of why Europe came to this part of the world
\nmany centuries ago.<\/p>\n
At Bawakaraeng, the search for spices never ends. Everything
\nis worked from the ground up, based from good and fresh produce,
\nand full of zesty flavors.<\/p>\n
So kiss restraint goodbye and \"explore\", an entirely
\nacceptable euphemism for \"order as much as possible\". We
\ncertainly did.<\/p>\n
A worthy starter would be the fabled coto Makassar, a rich,
\nhonest-to-goodness fare which tastes like a cross between soto
\nBetawi (beef and tripe in coconut cream broth) and semur, beef
\ncooked in sweet soy sauce.<\/p>\n
But since we're talking Indonesian style, it would be best to
\neat the soup on the side, together with the main dishes.<\/p>\n
The aforesaid snapper still remains one of the greatest joys
\nin Jakarta dining. This is fish at its most succulent, fried to
\ncrispy perfection, doused in sweet and sour soy sauce spiked with
\nbutter and vinegar and garnished with peppers, corn and bright
\nred tomatoes.<\/p>\n
Long after the fish had been demolished, we were still pouring
\nwhat was left of the sauce onto our rice, wanting to savor every
\ndrop of this ambrosial epicurean feat.<\/p>\n
The side dishes were no less impressive. Charcoal-grilled
\nsquid sauteed in sweet soy sauce and ground shallots washed over
\nthe palate like waves lapping at the shore. The portion might be
\nsmall, but it took care of the three of us as well as it did the
\nsix of us many, many months ago.<\/p>\n
Another smallish but smashing side dish was sweet corn sauteed
\nwith ground chilies and salted fish. It's like the afterthought
\nyou never talk about until you realize it's there -- and wow,
\nwhat was it again?<\/p>\n
The restaurant used to be a dab hand at beef too, judging from
\nthe long-time success of its Makassar beef satay. However, our
\nfirst grimace of the evening surfaced at finding out that the
\nbeef was now slightly tough, and the sweet peanut sauce a mite
\nlistless.<\/p>\n
But did it stop us from having fun? Not by a long shot; at
\nBawakaraeng, eating rice with lalap, raw vegetables, and sambal
\n(ground chillies with shrimp paste) is already a heady
\nexperience.<\/p>\n
However, don't expect much by way of dessert. The pisang epe,
\nor grilled banana in palm sugar syrup, used to be quite a
\nluscious tongue-teaser, a Malay classic, in fact. Note that I say
\n\"used to be\" because this time the banana tasted like rubber.<\/p>\n
But the only thing that may really work towards Bawakaraeng's
\ndisadvantage is the disjointed and arrogant service. We've had
\nour orders confused a couple of times, but no matter,
\nincompetence is still tolerable given all the strong points.<\/p>\n
Lamentably, Jakarta is a place where the sight of an
\ninordinate number of restaurant staff huddled together, doing and
\nseeing absolutely nothing, is pretty commonplace.<\/p>\n
But arrogance? One waiter whiffed past us, clearly saw us
\nbeckoning him, but kept sailing on with an upturned nose. Worse
\nstill, he's done it before (a fact we tried to overlook). The
\nvery same waiter came to us with our second order and slammed it
\non the table, shocking the living daylights out of us. Before we
\ncould say \"Whaa\" he had disappeared.<\/p>\n
Another waiter unceremoniously intruded upon our intimate
\nconversation, literally forcing us to place our last orders.
\nEven after we consented, he made impatient gestures and left
\nbefore everybody at the table had finished ordering.<\/p>\n
He made a point to come back, that is, after we glared at him
\nenough to melt a glacier. But he was poker-faced, resolutely
\noblivious to his impudence.<\/p>\n
It's a pity that such a veritable palais du cuisine should be
\nmarred by the lack of something so basic. In retrospect, previous
\nqualms about the lighting (spotlights from extremely high
\nceilings?) seem so petty in comparison.<\/p>\n
That said, over the long-term Bawakaraeng may well trump all
\nthe current stars in Kemang, which opened noisily but will likely
\ndisappear in a few years or two. Its inspired dishes, cooked
\nwith care and passion, are enough reason to turn a blind eye to
\npouty and recalcitrant waiters. For now, at least.<\/p>\n
Our bill came to Rp 108,000 for three, and it definitely paid
\nto focus only on the food and the homey ambience.<\/p>\n
-- Epicurus<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bawakaraeng-short-on-service-but-great-food-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }