Feasting on Cantonese at Lei Garden Seafood Restaurant
Broto Dharma, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Lei Garden Seafood Restaurant; Ground Floor, World Trade Center; Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 29; Tel. 021-5211818; Open: 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
In Jakarta's culinary sphere, you have to be on your toes. Menus change, service improves or slip-slides and judgments undergo hasty revisions, sometimes in as little time as a month or two.
And, sadly, venerable stalwarts of the dining scene close their doors, like Il Punto, the stylish Italian eatery which occupied a corner on the ground floor of the World Trade Center for most of the 1990s, serving up a devilish tiramisu, succulent osso bucco and other Italian treats.
Those of us who knew Il Punto in its heyday shed a tear when it served up its final plate of penne (rumor has it that it will take up residence in another part of the city but we are still waiting) and dark descended on its premises.
Well, thankfully, the light has returned at Il Punto's old place of residence, in the form of Lei Garden Seafood Restaurant. It's a promising new eatery, opened in the last couple of months, which serves up sumptuous Cantonese.
Entering Lei Garden, the setting now totally revamped from its days as an Italian bistro, is like being transported to one of the formal dinner restaurants which hold court in Chinatowns the world over. It begins from the time one arrives at the restaurant, with the two pretty young things in long dresses ushering you to tables in a large but not overwhelming setting of deep-red carpets and lilting music playing in the background, with the maitre d's in their black suits and bow ties quietly taking command as soon as you sit down.
It's formal, yes, but never staid, for this is, after all, a place where people come to eat to their heart's content, enjoying a feast of the seafood (lobster, shrimp, abalone, garoupa), assorted other meats (pigeon, duck, chicken, beef) and vegetables, in the company of their family or business associates. And you know that, at any moment, the rhythmic sound of clicking chopsticks and murmured conversation can be broken by the yells of some apple-cheeked tyke tearing through the restaurant.
However, there are not likely to be diners doing their best Zhang Ziyi impression because of a "too salty soup", as the food is generally a delicious, genuine taste of Cantonese cuisine.
On the two occasions we dined at Lei Garden, on a late Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, we tried a variety of dishes from the menu (it has different portion sizes, from small to large), eschewing the dim sum and set menus that are available.
The highlights for us in two almost perfect meals were the deep-fried soft shell crab, encased in a batter of shredded coconut, salt and spices, so tender it melted in the mouth (Rp 66, 000/small portion, but still large enough for two) and sauteed prawns with broccoli and scallions, the juicy meat combining excellently with the crispy broccoli and slices of onion (Rp 68,000/small).
We loved the stir-fried chicken with kunpao (chili), not on any account to be confused with the dish of the same name consisting of pallid pieces of chicken and shriveled chilis, swimming in grease, served up at every Chinese restaurant at strip malls in America. Instead, this was a medley of color and taste, the diced chicken with crunchy green and red pepper and sesame seed-encrusted cashews (Rp 40,000/small).
There also were no complaints about our order of deep-fried crispy tofu, its tangy chili-salt crust giving way to a piping hot beancurd, so incredibly soft and silky (Rp 40,000/small), sauteed spinach in garlic (Rp 40,000/small) and vegetarian fried rice (Rp 40,000/small, but, again, enough for two, or one for a main meal).
We also had a deep-fried half chicken, identified as one of the restaurant's specialities by the waiter but, oddly enough, neither of us enjoyed it as much as the shrimp or crab.
The Sunday lunch came to just over Rp 188,000 for two, including Rp 10,000 for the Chinese tea and "special sauces" (fried peanuts and dried fish, or shrimp paste chili), and the dinner was Rp 302,000, the bill higher due to the addition of coffee (we had one but were billed for two, and didn't realize it until we went home, but then the manager was deeply apologetic when we called) and several Chinese desserts, which we really could and should have done without as we found them rather bland.
Food-wise, Lei Garden cannot be faulted; one of my dining companions, who has grown up feasting daily on home-cooked Chinese, pronounced it the genuine article, using the right combination of spices. One tiny complaint that all three diners had, however, was the hovering presence of the waitpeople, who, despite being unfailingly cheery and ready to please, are always there, within earshot.
I know it's a case of "damned if they do, damned if they don't", and that some customers really do like the waiter to be at their beck and call to rush over at every minute to fill up the teacup when they take a sip, but for others it becomes a bit of an unwanted intrusion. And, because the waiters are so pleasant, it's hard to give them a verbal nudge that sometimes less is more.
That was our only complaint, worth mentioning but not so great as to spoil the meals, and it certainly will not stop us going back for more of this excellent new restaurant's fresh delights.