A taste of Italian chic at Prego's restaurant in Blok M
A taste of Italian chic at Prego's restaurant in Blok M
JAKARTA (JP): The area near Blok M bus terminal always seems
to be a maelstrom of noise, dust and people in a hurry, whatever
the time of day. Fortunately there is a refuge near at hand,
Prego's, for a pleasant drink or meal in comfortable, chic
surroundings.
Prego: Units 4 & 5, Wisma Iskandarsyah Raya, Blok A Jl
Iskandarsyah, South Jakarta, 12160, (tel.723 5123). Website:
www.prego-club.com
Location: The restaurant is on the ground floor, with a bar
above, of Wisma Iskandarsyah, a row of shop-houses opened a
couple of years ago on Jl. Iskandarsyah, about one block down
from Pasaraya, but on the opposite side of the road. The tiny
sign on the front door may fit in with the restaurant's
minimalist design concept, but it does not function well, as it
is far too small to be read from the road.
Fortunately the front is distinguished by bare brickwork, so
there is a kind of landmark. You can park right outside off the
road, which is just as well, as the traffic on Jl Iskandarsyah
doesn't exactly dawdle.
The trendy bar upstairs attracts a young, hip crowd, including
on Thursdays, which has become known as a popular "gay" night.
Hours: The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to midnight, every
day. The bar opens at 5 p.m., but doesn't really get busy until
later on, around 10:30 p.m. It closes around 2 a.m., but most
customers are on the move around 1 a.m to 1:30 a.m. There's a Rp
30,000 cover charge for the bar on Thursday and Friday nights,
but this does include the first drink.
Looks: The whole place is not that large, but the available
space has been cleverly used. The decor is modern and trendy for
Jakarta, with an overall minimalist theme. Apart from the
restaurant tables and chairs (which can seat about 30 to 40
people), there is very little else apart from the designer light
fittings. The light blue walls complement the parquet floor to
give a cool, sophisticated ambience, that would not look out of
place in any major European or North American city.
The bar upstairs repeats the chic, minimalist theme, and this
is maintained even in the design of the stunning toilets!
The restaurant is a popular lunchtime venue for workers based
in and around Blok M, while at the weekend it is really an
evening attraction. Service is quick and attentive, and the
serving staff are pleasant and helpful.
What's it Got? The restaurant offers Italian food, served in
an attractive, nouvelle cuisine style. Choosing from the menu is
easy, as it is all on one page and set out in six sections:
appetizers, soups, salads, pasta, mains and desserts.
The drinks list is perfectly adequate for a restaurant of this
kind, and wine is available by the bottle or glass (house red or
white).
Taste Factor: Slices of french bread and extra virgin olive
oil are brought to the table as soon as your order has been
taken, and this makes a welcome start to the meal.
The starter was proscuitto e melone (parma ham with melon)
which was both tasty and a good way of whetting the appetite. My
companion had funghi trifolati (sauteed shittake mushrooms with
garlic sauce), which was a perfect combination of the strong
mushroomy and garlic flavors.
We shared a salad which was described rather grandly as coppa
di gamberoni della Cina, but was really a glorified prawn
cocktail. Unfortunately, the lettuce and tomato were a bit limp,
and it was hard to detect the cognac, which was supposed to be in
the cocktail sauce.
The main course was risotto ink nero (black risotto with
slices of chicken served with cream and cheese), which was
attractively presented, the black, red and yellow colors of the
food forming a visually interesting composition on the plate. The
rice looked a bit like Bali-style black rice, except that it was
savory, and had a delicious taste all of its own, probably from
the squid ink. The chicken was succulent too.
My companion chose linguine al salmone (linguine pasta served
with a tomato cream sauce). The pasta was al dente, there were
large pieces of tasty fish and the sauce, which might otherwise
have been a little cloying, was kept fresh by the small pieces of
tomato within it.
For dessert we tried the ricotta cheese cake and fried vanilla
ice cream, the latter more out of curiosity than anything else.
The ice cream was fried very quickly in batter to form a
dumpling-like parcel, but the combination of the slightly greasy
outer layer with the rapidly melting ice cream didn't quite work
for me.
Price Points: Overall, prices are very reasonable at Prego.
The meal above (including two cokes plus a sparkling water and
two coffees) came to just over Rp325,000, including tax and
service at 21% The appetizers vary between Rp 23,000 - Rp
29,000, the soups Rp 17,500 - Rp 20,000, salads are Rp 23,500 -
Rp 27,000, pastas Rp 29,000 - Rp 37,000, mains Rp 55,000 -
70,000, and desserts Rp 17,000 - Rp 25,000. Coffees are around Rp
15,000 and wine by the glass around Rp 35,000.
For those who may not be sure what to choose, a chef's
suggestion of starters and mains is placed at each table, and
also a lunchtime set meal (consisting of starter or soup, pasta
and main) is available at Rp 100,000 ++ per person.
As a rough indication of prices at the bar, a gin and tonic
costs Rp 30,000++, while a draft Bintang beer is Rp 20,500++.
Minus Points:The restaurant can have a rather empty ambience
to it, unless a number of other tables are occupied, due to the
minimalist design theme.
Verdict: If you're looking for a smart, chic and reasonably
priced haven of good food in the midst of all the hurly-burly
that is Blok M, then this is the place for you. (Les Coffier)