Bumbu's seasoning spices up eclectic decor
"Where does one get a good, reasonably priced Indonesian meal?" friends visiting the city recently asked me.
An expansive wave in the direction of my local roadside food stall would not have sufficed, even though the food-loving mother-of-three who runs it makes a mean rice-meat-and-veg take- out.
They were looking for somewhere a little more refined, where the fried chicken would not come with an extra topping of bus fumes and where there would be a more substantial chair than a rickety wooden bench.
So I took them to Bumbu, which opened about six weeks ago under the shadow of the soaring Landmark Center towers on Jl. Jend Sudirman. I'd been once before, on the recommendation of a Greek-American financial consultant, and thought it deserved a second visit.
If its name, Indonesian for seasoning, conjures up images of delectable local offerings served in traditional surroundings, be prepared for a shock.
There is no other way to describe the surroundings than tastefully eclectic but at odds with the cuisine. One thing the restaurant-cum-cafe is not is a potpourri of Indonesian designs, a bit of Java here, Sumatra there and Sulawesi yonder.
No, it is more modern Western minimalism combined with a twist of Louis Quatorze. One could be in any European or American city, except that the chairs would look more at home in Versailles than downtown Manhattan. And it still feels new, as if the furniture has just been unwrapped, and the place is still trying to develop its own personality.
Don't let this put you off. The almost characterless atmosphere -- more reminiscent of the Wendy's next door and not improved by tinny 1970s and 1980s muzak blaring out at too high a volume -- should change over time and the food is, on the whole, well worth it.
There are few frills, which makes a refreshing change from the many places in town that try that little bit too hard to be clever. Just as JP Bistro at the Hotel Aryaduta prides itself in its basic Western cooking, Bumbu can justifiably take pride in its Indonesian equivalent.
Top billing would have to go to the ayam panggang kecap, or barbecued chicken in a soy sauce. It is by far the best I have had in Indonesia and worth going back for even if nothing else is.
But good dishes rarely come by themselves, and whatever you choose from the menu of 30-odd items should satisfy both your quality and quantity controls.
None of the dishes was small and so unless you want, for example, liters of Soto Betawi -- a deliciously subltle meat and vegetable broth -- order several dishes and share them among your group.
Few native Jakartans would say many of the dishes are spicy enough, a tasty exception being the ikan Bumbu balado -- spicy fish wrapped in banana leaves -- but there is plenty of homemade sambal on hand for addicts for whom any meal is incomplete without a bath of spicy sauce to drown their fare in.
Other dishes that, while not being mind-blowing, were delicious, included the udang saus mentega -- prawns in a butter sauce -- ayam bumbu -- chicken in a mildly spicy soup-like sauce -- and the sate ayam. But really anything, however basic it sounds on the menu, and most of the items do, should hit the appropriate spot.
Even though it is near the back of the menu, the martabak -- a concoction of vegetables encased in a delicate crispy batter and then fried -- serves as a great appetizer.
The only culinary complaint we had was the vegetables. The sayur asam, a mixture of vegetables in a tamarind-flavored sauce, and gado-gado were both on the dull side, and the kangkung balacan spicy greens were overcooked.
As the rupiah disappears further and further down the world currency waste pipe, more and more people are paying closer attention to restaurant bills. But at about Rp 30,000 (US$5.30) a head Bumbu will not bankrupt you, or not this week anyway.
-- Epicurus