New restaurant an audacious taste of India<\/p>\n
Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The past couple of years have brought welcome additions to the
\nonce thin-on-the-ground Indian restaurants in these here parts,
\njoining mainstays Haveli, Queen's Tandoor and Jewel of India, as
\nwell as Hazara and Shah Jahan which came on board in the mid-
\n1990s.<\/p>\n
While the number of eateries still does not come close to
\nthose of, say, Japanese or even Korean food, the presence of
\nKinara in Kemang, South Jakarta, Ganesha Eks Sanskriti in BRI II,
\nCentral Jakarta, Mantra in Blok M and Sheetal's in the Bank IFI
\nbuilding off Jl. Gatot Subroto, have certainly increased the
\noptions for those in search of a choice curry or tasty tandoori
\non a Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Jakarta is still no Singapore when it comes to
\nthe availability of food from the subcontinent, especially the
\ndearth of hawker-style restaurants, with the notable exception of
\nthe Akbar Palace outlet at Plaza Senayan. For a minor splurge for
\ncurry lovers, however, Haveli's groaning buffet table is hard to
\nbeat for value on a Sunday afternoon, although Ganesha is giving
\nit a run for its money with its own Sunday buffet with free flow
\nbeer or soft drinks.<\/p>\n
Now jostling for space is Papadum Curry House, the newest kid
\non the block -- it's only a few hundred meters from both Haveli
\nand Sheetal's -- in the former Gondola Italian restaurant on Jl.
\nGatot Subroto, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Now, any restaurant with gushing promotional materials
\nextolling \"seamless service\" and food that \"attacks your nerves
\nand makes your hair jump in agreement\" wins points for sprightly
\ncopywriting, but is also asking -- begging -- to be cut down to
\nsize.<\/p>\n
Yet, with all due respect to the old vanguard, Papadum showed
\nduring our visit last Sunday lunch that it is about to shake up
\nthe local scene up with a bold, young and entirely winning
\nconcept of Indian food for all.<\/p>\n
It sets itself apart from the rest right from the menu,
\nclaiming to be the first restaurant offering Southern Indian food
\nin the country. Food from the south uses coconut milk instead of
\nthe rich yogurt and cream sauces of the north, and naan and other
\nbreads are replaced by rice and the crisp snack of the
\nrestaurant's name.<\/p>\n
Daring step number two is the decor, which is clean, unfussy,
\nand minimalist chic, a concept more in keeping with the Dian
\nPurba young-and-trendy concept of restaurant design, not the
\ntraditional esoteric ethnic chintz of the established eateries.
\nPapadum has certainly come into the light: Gone is the dimness of
\nGondola (much loved, but at times it felt like we were stumbling
\nour way through the darkened alleyways of Venice to return to
\nquaintly tacky Jakarta, circa 1982) for clean white walls with a
\ntasteful painting or two.<\/p>\n
And there is not a tunic in sight on the almost universally
\nyoung waitpeople, decked out in T-shirts and pants.<\/p>\n
\"We want this to be a place for everybody, but particularly
\nIndonesians to come and enjoy Indian food,\" said Reza Kadir,
\nmarketing manager of the restaurant and son of Ahmad Fahmy, the
\nowner of legendary disco Tanamur and one of four co-owners of the
\nestablishment.<\/p>\n
Reza said that while expatriates and Chinese-Indonesians who
\ntravel frequently were familiar with Indian food, Indonesians
\ntend to turn their nose up at the dishes, dismissing them as too
\nhighly spiced for their palates.<\/p>\n
Southern Indian cuisine may be more to their liking than the
\ncurries of the north, thanks to the use of coconut milk, the
\npredominance of mutton and fish, even the banana leaf \"plates\"
\nand encouragement for diners to forget any concerns for decorum
\nby using their fingers to eat (cutlery is also available for
\ntimid souls).<\/p>\n
We are not fish lovers, so we eschewed the restaurant's
\nspecialties of fish head curry and butter-fried crabs and went up
\nto the buffet display to take our pick of soulfully delicious
\nchicken korma (Rp 20,000 ++); the sambar vegetable curry (Rp
\n10,000 ++), a soup-like dish which both of us found a bit bland
\nbut a friend said would have been better eaten with idli, the
\nsteamed rice cakes of southern India (Reza said there are plans
\nto put them on the menu); a very good dish of stewed spinach (Rp
\n16,000); equally tasty aloo ghobi (potatoes in spices) and an
\norder of the restaurant's namesake.<\/p>\n
The PR come-ons got me in the door, but I was truly won over
\nwith its refreshing service (including our cheerfully perky
\nwaitress, who described the taste of the lassi mango yoghurt
\ndrink as \"strange\" and fretted over any lapses in consideration
\nas we left), the great tasting food and the reasonable price
\n(just over Rp 152,000 for two, although Rp 12,000++ for a 1.5
\nliter bottle of Aqua seemed a bit steep). We, definitely, will be
\nback for more.<\/p>\n
-----------------
\nPapadum Curry House
\nGedung Citra Graha
\nJl. Gatot Subroto Kav. 35-36
\nJakarta (Tel. 522--4465)
\nOpen 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. daily
\n____________________________<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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