Sailing a culinary wave at Karavella
JAKARTA (JP): It was early evening when we found ourselves in Taman Ria amusement park on Jl. Gerbang Pemuda, Central Jakarta.
Taman Ria's main claim to fame and centerpiece is its large lake, but it is also home to a mini-amusement park which boasts lots of kiddies' rides, a Ferris wheel, bumper cars and, despite its small scale, a truly hair-raising roller coaster.
It was after trying the roller coaster that the munchies suddenly decided to launch an attack. Well, truth to tell, they could not have picked a better place because the complex is home to a host of restaurants.
As we strolled along the lakeside in the 6 p.m. gloaming, we spied through the mist up ahead the mast of what looked for all the world like a Pinisi schooner moored to the embankment.
Upon closer inspection, the magical vessel turned out to be the home of the Karavella restaurant. Despite being shaped like a ship, the restaurant, strangely enough, was decorated modestly in Italian-rustic-cum-taverna style and was protected from the elements by a great awning that stretched the length of the entire vessel. The bows were devoted to a well-stocked and inviting bar while the deck behind housed the dining area proper.
After being seated, our waiter, despite the many other demands on his attention in the crowded restaurant, promptly appeared with the menu (mostly Italian but with plenty of other Western and Asian choices). For drinks, we contented ourselves with fruit juices as our visit happened to coincide with the eve of the Idul Adha Islamic day of sacrifice and a government prohibition was in effect banning the sale of all alcoholic beverages (including wine).
As a starter, I opted for the soup of the day, cream of mushroom (Rp 10,000), which was served with a warm bread roll and dainty butter pats. The soup was rich and smooth and had an unusual smoky taste, whether contrived or accidental I have no idea. Whatever the case, it was more than acceptable.
My partner, in turn, had gone for the Karavella Chef's Salad (Rp 30,000) which turned out to be enormous. It was so big, in fact, that we had to ask the waiter to divide it up into two, which he gladly did. The salad was a somewhat eclectic, albeit delicious, combination of black olives, strawberries, boiled egg, tomato, lettuce, red cheddar cheese, chicken, pasta and many other ingredients too numerous to mention, all accompanied by a creamy thousand island dressing that seemed especially engineered to cause pulmonary detonations of one sort or another. But who cares! All in all, this salad was a definite feather in the chef's cap.
And so on to the entrees. For myself, emboldened by the salad, I elected for the Chef's Special Lasagna (Rp 25,000). Now, having spent some time in the Emelia-Romagna region of Italy where lasagna is a way of life, I tend to regard myself, if not quite a connoisseur, at least as knowing something about this particular department. While it is a fact that lasagna can be either "wet" or "dry" depending on the recipe used, I found this particular lasagna to be exceedingly dry and hard going, to say the least.
The predominant tastes were those of the ground beef and pasta, with such "luxuries" as cheese (whether provolone, mozzarella or whatever else takes your fancy), tomato and oregano seemingly almost completely absent. Perhaps I'm being a little harsh on Karavella given my predilection for lasagna, but I really do believe that God did not create lasagna to be hashed like this.
In the meantime, my companion had been tucking into a hearty plate of fettuccine Alfredo (Rp 25,000), which she pronounced to be nothing less than excellent, with fresh pasta and a thick, creamy sauce flavored with parsley, garlic and a hint of nutmeg. An Alfredo sauce is quite straightforward to create but is, unfortunately, a work that is frequently botched.
My partner decided to skip desert but I found myself unable to resist trying out the Pecan Pie with vanilla ice cream (Rp 20,000). This turned out to be buttery, nutty and very, very fudgy. So fudgy and sticky, in fact, that it was almost fit to pluck the teeth out of their sockets, just the way Pecan Pie should be. I could have done with a little bit more in the way of ice cream, though.
The total bill for two came to a little over Rp 246,000. This included a couple of additional fruit drinks, an espresso, government tax of 10 percent and an eminently reasonable service charge of 5.5 percent. Not overly extravagant by Jakarta standards. We found the service at Karavella to be tip-top, the ambience and decor great, and the food, on the whole, excellent. Just a pity about the lasagna, but let's hope that was merely an aberration. (Bill Blade)