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