Fish takes pride of plate at Cak' Tu' Ci'

JAKARTA (JP): Many people associate Manadonese cuisine with hot, heavily spiced meals made mainly of meat, be it beef, pork, dog, bat, jungle rat or snake. But many Manadonese also love fish, which is not surprising because of their coastal home territory.

Quite a few restaurants in town are doing brisk business promoting Manado-style fish dishes for all those young executives worried about their cholesterol counts. One of the prominent eateries is Cak' Tu' Ci', which stands for cakalang, tude and oci, three types of fish that are found in abundance in North Sulawesi waters.

Cak' Tu' Ci': It has two outlets, on Jl. Blora 37, Central Jakarta (on the corner of Jl. Blora and Jl. Kendal), where we dined, and on Jl. Panglima Polim V/15, near Jl. Melawai in Blok M, South Jakarta.

Open: 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, and until 5 p.m. on Sundays.

What's it got: Lots of fish, just as you would expect. They have cakalang, tude, oci, gindara, kakap (red snapper), goropa (grouper), bobara, mujair and ikan mas (golden carp). But pride of plate goes to the cakalang, tude and oci, all of which are shipped directly from Manado.

The fish are mostly charcoal grilled or fried. The grilled and fried fish are served with sambal rica-rica, a typical Manadonese homemade chili paste made of tomatoes, red chilies, bird's eye chilies, garlic, shallots and ginger. Customers could also have the fish cooked in a delicious clear, tart-tasting soup called kuah asam, which has ingredients of garlic, shallots, ginger, lemon grass, sweet basil leaves, turmeric leaves, tomatoes and belimbing wuluh (sour finger carambola).

Cak' Tu' Ci' also provides several dishes made of chicken, squid and shrimp. Just like the fish, the chicken, squid and shrimp are also served grilled or fried with lots of sambal rica- rica. A chicken specialty is ayam woku belanga, in which the chicken is finely boiled in a thick sauce made of red chilies, bird's eye chilies, ginger, lemon grass, candlenut, sweet basil leaves, turmeric, garlic, shallot, kafir lime leaves and freshly squeezed lime juice.

All dishes are accompanie by a generous portion of another famous Manadonese homemade chili, sambal dabo-dabo, which in the Cak' Tu' Ci' version is made of finely sliced green tomatoes, mixed perfectly with diced chili, garlic and shallot, freshly squeezed lime juice and vegetable oil -- served cold.

There is a limited choice of vegetables: kangkung (morning glory) and caisim (mustard greens), either sauteed alone or with corn and papaya leaves.

To quench your thirst, there are fresh fruit juices, soft drinks, beer, coconut juice, tea and coffee.

Still have some space for dessert? Cak' Tu' Ci' has famous Manado fritters like panada, the local version of the Spanish fried bun filled with spicy shreds of cakalang, and klappertaart (a cold pudding made of milk, young coconut flesh, cinnamon powder and generously garnished with sliced almonds and raisins).

The special menu on Saturdays and Sundays is the renowned bubur Manado Tinutuan. It's a healthy rice porridge mixed with lots of vegetables, and usually eaten with fried salty fish and sambal terasi, the reddish-brown chili made of fermented, pungent shrimp paste.

Price points: The delicious tude and oci are quite reasonable. It's Rp 7,000 for a grilled or fried tude/oci with sambal rica, and Rp 6,000 for the plain grilled or fried tude/oci. Beware that tude and oci are quite small in size. The cakalang and grouper are more expensive, with prices starting from Rp 15,000 to Rp 22,500 per serving. The mujair and golden carp varied between Rp 15,000 and Rp 17,500 per serving.

Drinks are reasonably priced, and the desserts are quite cheap, about Rp 2,000 each for most of the cakes. An exception is the klappertaart, which comes in a small cup, for Rp 9,000 each.

Looks: The 150-seat restaurant is fully air-conditioned and well maintained. The staff are friendly and prompt.

Popular with: Office workers from buildings along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin and, of course, the Manadonese far from home in Jakarta.

Taste Factor: All and all, the fish is fresh and delicious. Since most of the pieces of fish are already half cooked before grilled or fried, the orders are served very fast. It needed less than five minutes for the staff to serve grilled tude and less than 10 minutes for the oci in kuah asam. However, we found the speedy reheating or final cooking process was not done long enough, and the fish was only lukewarm.

Compared to other typical Manadonese chili pastes, Cak' Tu' Ci's sambal rica-rica is mild going on tame, although it is still delicious. It perfectly compliments the grilled or fried fish. The restaurant's sambal dabo-dabo gets an A-plus for its extremely refreshing and appetizing taste. Again, it is far from hot because the main ingredient is the tomatoes.

As for the rest of the menu, the vegetables are fine, drinks are standard and the traditional desserts OK.

Minus Points: Since the restaurant is, unfortunately, located on the same street with some sleazy discos, karaoke clubs and dangdut pubs, there are many streetwalkers even in broad daylight. Thus, it might be a bit embarrassing to be seen in these parts ("I'm here for the Manadonese fish, really I am"). The restaurant itself is pretty clean, but a few flies, the big ones, still flit from table to table. The presence of mosquitoes, especially near the table by the window, is also annoying.

While there is no parking space directly outside, customers can park their cars on the other side of the street.

Verdict: Those who are not too fussy about the temperature of their meals or who can accept the fact that Manadonese meals do not have to be spiced to the hilt will find Cak' Tu' Ci' a good place for dining on reasonably priced and generally tasty food. (Chris Tumelap)