On course for fine dining at Gran Melia's Columbus<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Perched on one side on the 14th floor of the
\nGran Melia hotel is the Columbus restaurant. As you step in the
\ndoorway, there is a very high wall, perhaps one or two floors up,
\nand the ceiling slopes down to waist level as it meets the wall
\non the opposite side.<\/p>\n
The sloping ceiling is almost entirely made of wood, save the
\nlast few meters which are glass that transform into one large
\nwindow. At the window are cozy tables for two. Although these
\ntables are close to each other, they are separated by pillars
\nwhich provide privacy.<\/p>\n
Huge paintings of ships at sea adorn the large wall, and I
\nimmediately thought of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, The
\nAncient Mariner. Above the paintings were doors that opened onto
\ntiny balconies. Often during the meal, I would look up almost
\nexpecting Juliet to appear and say her famous line, \"Romeo, Romeo
\nwhere for art thou?\"<\/p>\n
There were a few artificial trees as though to create a sense
\nof being out on a terrace. We sat next to a knight in shining
\narmor, literally. The decor was definitely ancient South
\nEuropean. It was the waiters, and the excellent service that they
\nprovided, that reminded me that we were in Indonesia. The
\nwaiters, dressed smartly in white jackets with ties that matched
\nthe lapels of red satin with gold paisley batik, were helpful and
\nprepared to make variations to the dishes ordered.<\/p>\n
There is a vocalist on Saturday, a pianist on Sunday, Monday
\nand Friday and a guitarist on other days.<\/p>\n
Columbus serves South European cuisine. We were recommended to
\ntake the Gourmet Menu, which at Rp 155,000++ was a steal when
\ncompared to the a la carte prices. The Gourmet Menu is changed
\nevery six months. There was also a Specialty of the Day that
\nserves whatever is in season, such as oysters, and is priced
\nbetween Rp 58,000++ and Rp 94,000++.<\/p>\n
Bread rolls topped with herbs were served almost immediately,
\nand we got a continuous refill of iced water. There were four
\naccompaniments for the bread: tapenad, a Spanish paste which is
\nmade from black olives and anchovies, olive oil with herbs, olive
\noil with chili, and whole garlic. The whole garlic was the best
\nof all -- it was mild and warm and had apparently been in the
\noven for six hours. The cloves of garlic go very well with the
\npotato bread rolls; one has a tendency to get carried away as the
\nwaiters keep replenishing the bread and its accompaniments.<\/p>\n
The first course, duck terrine with raspberry sauce with oak
\nleaves on the side, was offered with compliments of the chef.
\nThis was a piece of duck breast enveloped in a terrine made from
\nminced chicken blended with egg yolk, cream, salt and pepper.<\/p>\n
All the courses came elegantly served on a white plate or bowl
\nwith a royal blue band on the edge, with gold trimmings.<\/p>\n
I asked the maitre d'hotel to recommend the four courses. The
\nfirst course from the menu was salad of bay scallops and king
\nprawns with mango dressing. It was an enormous portion for an
\nappetizer, with four scallops and four grilled king prawns
\ngarnished with frisee and cherry tomatoes. The mango sauce, made
\nfrom mango puree, vinegar and olive oil, was tangy and
\ntantalizing.<\/p>\n
In between courses we enjoyed looking at the menu because it
\ncontained lithographs and little snippets of the adventures of
\nColumbus. It tells of how he persuaded the benefactor to fund his
\nvoyage to Asia through a westward passage of the Atlantic. There
\nwas a beautiful sepia map of the New World on the inside back
\ncover. The ships on the wall must be the Santa Maria, the Nina
\nand the Pinta that Columbus sailed in.<\/p>\n
The next course was bouillabaisse which was made from a rich
\nstock of sea bass bones. It was once a poor man's dish but has
\nnow been glorified into fine dining cuisine. There were diamond-
\nshaped tomatoes, and pieces of scallops, salmon and sea bass.
\nServed with aioli (made with mayonnaise, lots of garlic and olive
\noil) on croutons, the meal transported me back in time to the
\nsummer we spent in Provence, which is home to this delicious
\nsoup.<\/p>\n
The main course was sea bass topped with a white wine cream
\nsauce and served on a bed of fennel tossed in raspberry
\nvinaigrette. This was accompanied by carrots which were shaved
\ninto flowers, potatoes and broccoli florets.<\/p>\n
To round off a memorable Southern European experience of fine
\ndining, we had the traditional crepes suzette with vanilla ice
\ncream. The orange juice added zest to the dish. This was followed
\nby coffee and sweets.<\/p>\n
The Business Lunch Menu is popular with the lunchtime crowd,
\nmade up mostly of people from the embassies along Rasuna Said.
\nOne has a choice of two courses at Rp 85,000++ or three courses
\nat Rp 95,000++. There is a choice of four items in each course.
\nFor the main course, you can choose between Spanish seafood
\npaella, pan-fried fillet of salmon with sauteed leek in green
\npeppercorn sauce, grilled lamb chops with zucchini-eggplant tart
\nor carving of the day. The menu comes with freshly brewed coffee
\nor tea and assorted sweets.<\/p>\n
-- Epicurus<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-course-for-fine-dining-at-gran-melias-columbus-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }