A celebration of steak at Stix at The Park Lane

A celebration of steak at Stix at The Park Lane

JAKARTA (JP): Longtime readers of this column will be aware
that Epicurus is not a great one for the red stuff.

Not talking about a fine beaujolais or the best bouquets of
France, Australia or Chile, but hearty chunks of beef, the
ultimate red meat.

Even when the spirit is willing, Epicurus' usual choice of
flesh is chicken, baked, broiled, roasted or whatever. This is
despite hailing from a family of confirmed red-meat lovers,
including a South African father whose favorite weekend pastime
was to sling a couple of steaks onto the brai even in the dead of
an English winter.

A culinary critic with an aversion to the red stuff? Well, not
so much a dislike as a preference for it in decided moderation
and dressed so elaborately it bears scant resemblance to its
former self. Devour things with a face? Sure, but the creature
has to have undergone a major face-lift to remove the offending
blood and guts.

Time was when Jakarta eateries were cooking up their very own
love affair with meaty matters, with their efforts not limited to
the tried-and-true fare of ribs and the usual cuts of barbecued
meats. Assorted game, ostrich and even exotic emu made their
appearance at restaurants around the city.

The economic crisis pretty much put paid to the meat
industry's efforts to win over the taste buds of Jakartans, and
some of the steak specialty restaurants have either shut their
doors or streamlined for survival. One has even resorted to being
the site for a TV fashion and music show with an incongruously
anemic, fretful, oh-so skinny host who sure looks like she should
chow down on some red blood cells.

Despite the unfavorable economic situation, a new steak
restaurant and bar appeared on our modified horizons within the
past year. Stix, located in the basement of The Park Lane Jakarta
in the Casablanca area of Kuningan, has not been backward in
coming forward in touting its wares.

Avid readers of this publication will no doubt have seen
Stix's frequent advertisements, the quirky illustration of two
doe-eyed cows sitting down to dine on, horror of horrors, one of
their own. It's an anthropomorphic bastardization which would no
doubt have confirmed vegetarians and the people at PETA
brandishing their celery sticks in indignation.

But aside from the snappy advertising copy and its
considerable presence in this newspaper, does Stix deliver with
something a notch above the rest of its breed? Or is it merely a
regulation run-of-the-mill steak joint, trundling out heaping
portions of cow parts which are sure to satisfy avowed carnivores
but leave more discerning diners with a bone to pick.

Our gang of three ventured into Stix on a cool Saturday night.
The bar and restaurant are laid out in a spacious open plan; to
the right is the bar, with the dance floor at center providing a
natural demarcation from the dining area to the left.

Amid the gleaming silver decor and with the notorious cow
illustration watching over us, we chose a banquette on the side.
The menus are big and scribed in bold black and white so the
writing jumps out at you like the letters on one of those eye
test charts; my near-sighted friend avowed that he could
comfortably read the menu sans glasses.

Appropriately at the center of the menu is Stix's pride and
joy of its selection of cuts of beef from Australia and the U.S.
Diners get to choose the size and country of origin of their
piece of meat, with the portions starting at 150 grams and
working their way up. One went for sirloin, the other for
tenderloin, and the third took the alternative route of roast
tarragon chicken.

The meat arrived, sporting little Australian flags which
quickly became the subject of inevitable jokes over whether they
should be sent up in smoke. Beautifully presented and served with
a choice of accompanying sauces, a soup or salad, vegetables and
potatoes, the real test of Stix's vaunted promises and advance
billing came with our first bite.

Stix, we are happy to say, came through with flying colors.
The steak was deliciously succulent, tender morsels which melted
in the mouth. Both diners asked for well-done and it was indeed
done to a turn, not like at some restaurants where it resembles a
burned offering to the gods of a careless kitchen or is brought
out still dribbling rivulets of red. The chicken was also judged
a success, with the taste of the meat complemented, not
overwhelmed, by the use of tarragon.

Stix's other attraction is its music, which on this night
included a group whose hybrid of accents seemed to stretch from
the land Down Under all the way to Jordieland. If music to dine
by is your thing, the group provides easy listening.

The damage? Stix falls somewhere in the middle for prices of
imported steak, with the tenderloin Rp 79,000 ++ and the sirloin
Rp 51,000 ++. Yet it comes back to the old saying of you get what
you pay for; this is prime, delicious steak, served by attentive
but not overbearing wait people in a pleasant atmosphere. If you
are watching the pennies, keep an eagle eye on drink orders. The
prices of some of them (Long Island ice tea at Rp 50,000 ++) are
equivalent to a meal in themselves.

-- Epicurus