'Happy Day' restaurant sticks to basics

JAKARTA (JP): It seems that Jl. Ir. H. Juanda in Central Jakarta is exerting a compulsive attraction on me because I often find myself on that road with the small hope of finding, perhaps, an exciting new restaurant, to replace the memory of those long gone gutsy eating places which Noordwijk - the old name for the area - was famous for.

However, one restaurant owner recently confessed that the boom days for eateries on this street ended with the advent of plazas and malls in the south of Jakarta.

Well, my browsing expeditions there resulted in the discovery of the Happy Day Family Restaurant.

The place is a newly renovated almost neighbor to a much frequented Padang eatery on the same road. In the evening you could hardly miss the restaurant for its many lights which overshadow poorly lit spots to the left and right of the place.

Happy Day reflects the trend in Jakarta's culinary world of combining lunching or dining with household shopping.

Not exactly the environment to foster gourmet and elegant dining. No, it appears to be a place catering to middle-class families popularly known as "family restaurants."

Happy Day restaurant's interior cannot be called posh. It is modern but functional. Thick windowpanes make up the front of the restaurant and offer the best seats in the house.

With its steady day-long flow of customers the seats don't remain empty for very long.

Addicts

The new eatery is designed and built to appeal to the senses of modern, yet hard working Jakartans.

The men and women at the start of their budding careers, secretaries, clerks, shop managers, office managers, just name it, you'll find them there.

The observation only strengthened my conviction that the average Jakartan is well on his or her way to becoming addicted to dining out.

With establishments maintaining reasonable pricing policies, housecooks could become a thing of the past.

It sounds too good to be true - but the reasonable prices are no doubt one of the main attractions of Happy Day next to the casual and pleasant service by the waiters.

Where nowadays could you find a good, tasty serving of chicken cutlet plus French fries for only Rp 5,500 (US$2.56). Most of us are still inclined to give the old thumbs down to the flavor and quality of a dish if it did cost very little.

No doubt the food at Happy Day is prepared in the same simple manner of today's cooking schools - leaning more towards natural flavoring with minute quantities of spice or herbs. The taste of meat should not be smothered under heavy spicing.

It tasted very much like American country food which is now in vogue among young luminaries living in the capital.

The menu at Happy Day combines popular Western food and Oriental fare. Among the western dishes offered are spaghetti, pizza, steak, baked potatoes and vegetables.

As for dishes from this part of the world, Chicken Hainan sprang to my eye although it did not appear to be the speciality of the house.

The average patron ordered western food with the majority opting for steak and baked potatoes which was priced a shade under Rp 10,000 ($4.66).

Another favorite of the Happy Day regulars seemed to be salad served at a long and impressive looking salad bar.

Trendy female office workers, trying to keep unwanted pounds at bay, opted for green salads with a light dressing, priced at Rp 4,500 ($2.09) as if it were the culinary find of the century.

The list of drinks is kept to essentials like fruit punches, fruit juices, soft drinks, beer, and mediocre but drinkable wine sold by the glass.

Even so, I could find no reason to complain about the present price of Rp 6,000 ($2.79) per medium-sized glass.

A tip is in order for guests who like to enjoy a glass of wine to complete their lunch or dinner. Order red instead of white wine at Happy Day.

The white wine of the house should rightly stay on the kitchen shelf. It would be better used to blend with sauces for grilled fowl, or, as the main ingredient in a marinade.

-La Chica