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

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)