Bandung's Valley cafe offers helpings of style and substance
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
Finally. After a series of highly overrated up-on-the-hill cafes and restaurants, Bandung has a new cafe called The Valley Bistro Cafe, which has been open for four months.
When I first heard about the cafe, I thought, "Not another one?" Similar cafes and restaurants in Bandung offer nothing but the city landscape and fresh air.
Yes, that is nice for Jakartans, who regularly breathe suffocating and polluted air, but don't we also deserve decent food at reasonable prices, with good service?
Thankfully the Valley has all these things. When I went, I was immediately struck by the view, and later I was pleased to find that the food and the service matched the atmosphere. Hopefully, this was not just because it's new.
The Valley Bistro Cafe: Jl. Lembah Pakar Timur No. 28, Dago, Bandung. Telephone: (022) 2511450.
Hours: Open every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The view is more beautiful at night, but if you want to go there on the weekend, don't forget to make a reservation first. Or go during the afternoon. I went on the weekend during dinner time, and it was packed with about 150 people. I had to wait half an hour before being seated. Major credit cards are accepted.
How to get there: The only way to get there is by car or taxi, no public transportation passes the area. Can't really blame them though, as the cafe is located in the highlands of Dago, North Bandung, and the road is winding. I don't know about motorcycles, but the road can be very steep so you're probably better off in a car.
Looks: The cafe has two main buildings, one in the front and another smaller one at the back. The cafe is surrounded by trees. The first building has a small terrace, but the best seats are on the spacious terrace on the back building. Here, you will find rows of wooden benches and tables, all under dim lights and with a view of the city.
It's beautiful and romantic. But don't forget to bring a jacket, sweater or something to keep you warm.
What's it got: For appetizers, there are salads, soups, calamari, sushi and otak-otak (fish cakes). The main courses are divided into western dishes, pasta and oriental favorites. The western main courses include items like steak, fish, chicken and lamb.
The standard pastas include risotto, fettucini and spaghetti. And the oriental menu focuses on Japanese dishes like salmon teriyaki and gindara. Indonesia is represented only by sop buntut (oxtail soup).
For dessert, there are some delicious-looking cakes and other treats displayed near the cashier. Also available are dessert items such as kahlua cream cake and mango sorbet.
Beverages include juices and punch (all served in tall glasses), coffee, tea, beer (local and imported) and a wide range of liquor.
Taste factor: On a friend's recommendation, I started with the Zuppa Zuppa soup, which is cream of chicken soup covered with bread. After forming an opening in the bread and taking a sip, the rich taste of the soup quickly filled my mouth. But do share it with your friends as the soup is quite filling.
The main course, the Gindara Shioyaki Set, was surprisingly generous, with two long slices of fried gindara fish, a bowl of rice, misoshiru soup, Japanese-style salad (sort of like asinan), a fried shrimp and two pieces of sushi. I felt full just looking at all that food.
The fish was perfectly fried, with soy sauce over it, not too sweet, not too salty, just right. The salad was sour but refreshing, the sushi was great and I had no room left for the misoshiru.
My dining companions had the cafe's specialties -- Valley Spaghetti with Seafood and the Salmon Steak. Both came with tomato sauces and tasted delicious.
We ordered Guava Squash, Fruit Punch and Lemon Surprise. The latter is a blue soda mixed with lemon. It wasn't really special and the guava squash was fresher.
We didn't try any dessert because we were already full.
Service: Fast and polite.
Price points: Compared with other cafes, and considering the taste, the size of the portions and the view, the price was relatively cheap. The huge gindara set was only Rp 29,500. The filling soup was Rp 12,500 and that gigantic pink guava thing was Rp 9,500.
The total bill for three people was Rp 157,080, including tax and service.
Alcohol was also quite cheap. A Corona is only Rp 18,000 (in a Jakarta cafe a Corona costs at least Rp 24,000), Irish Coffee Rp 14,500, Singapore Sling Rp 27,500 and a whisky cola costs an amazing Rp 12,500.
Minus points: The salmon steak still had some small bones in it, which was annoying. And the glasses the beverages came in were apparently too big, because we could only drink half.
Verdict: Next time you go to Bandung, try this cafe.