Dua Musim gives a good impression

Dua Musim gives a good impression

JAKARTA (JP): If tonight was anything to go by, the five days
Dua Musim has been in business appears likely to set seafood
standards in the capital for a long time to come. There were
teething problems, sure, but with one exception, they were not
nearly painful or numerous enough to spoil a fine night's dining.

Located on the middle of Jl. Wahid Hasyim opposite Hasars, the
restaurant is spread over three floors. A fishmongers, reception
area and dining area take up the first floor. The second floor is
the main dining area, split down the middle with fish tanks, and
the third a rooftop terrace looking over the busy street.

The building has been freshly renovated. Wooden rafters and
beams have been left exposed and the ceilings are consequently
high. The earth-tone walls are roughly plastered with cracks left
showing and hung with infant wall plants, while unglazed
terra-cotta pots, lamp shades and tiles complete what is a coolly
understated yet impressive interior.

Two menus are presented, one with seafood and the other with
sauces and cooking styles to accompany it. The manager, dressed
casual in an untucked and half-buttoned shirt, ambled over after
the meal and unobsequiously asked if everything was OK. He
explained all the fish comes from the "south side" of the
country, as opposed to Tanjung Priok in the north and assured it
was freshly caught, some of it from farms admittedly, on the
morning of the night it's served.

Huge grilled shrimps (have their genes been played with?) in a
pepper sauce arrived first, followed by the mussels with a baked
garlic and chili sauce. They looked great, it was a shame
therefore that the rice and the finger bowls, strangely only two
of them for the three diners, couldn't have been brought
simultaneously or thereabouts with them.

Happily this was quickly forgotten once the eating started.
The roughly ground pepper sauce brought back distant memories of
1970s steak houses, though any nostalgia quickly disappeared when
it was combined with rice: a fresh and successful experiment.
Pieces of garlic enlivened the mussels and their sauce, in what
was agreed to be the standout dish of the evening.

Coming in a close second, the too-hot-to-touch red snapper was
grilled perfectly. Once it had cooled, a gentle tug was all it
took to separate its soft white flesh from the bones. The fried
squid dipped in flour with a trusty sweet and sour sauce, didn't
exactly disappoint, though neither did it especially excite,
though possibly we could have been more adventurous when
ordering.

A few complaints and suggestions, in order of seriousness. The
bread arrived with a bowl of pickled vegetables -- quite
delicious -- and also more than a few ants, which are quite
plainly not. The management should take note: Many people would
have decided there and then to eat elsewhere.

The service was unfailingly friendly and polite, though it
needs tightening up and no doubt it will be. This was, after all,
the first Saturday night and a busy one at that. Butter is better
from a bowl than airplane-style plastic tubs, and ice cream and
fruit are more enjoyable eaten with small spoons and forks rather
than large ones.

Getting really picky here, the extra rice was served on a
plate that didn't match. This is something that would have gone
unnoticed if not for the rest of the plates, which were in
keeping with what the manager called the restaurant's "rustic"
theme and very pleasant to eat off.

Those things aside, the Musim Dua's soft opening wasn't at all
hard to swallow. The grand opening is scheduled for midnight on
New Year's Eve, and if a millennium skeptical Epicurus leaves the
house at all, it might just be for another bowl of mussels on the
rooftop.

Without tax, the bill for drinks -- three large beers served
in icy glasses and a couple of bottles of mineral water -- was Rp
73,000 and more than enough food for three was Rp 279,000. A bowl
of rice is Rp 4,000.

-- Epicurus