Seeing red in a green garden at Kampung Daun

Seeing red in a green garden at Kampung Daun

BANDUNG (JP): The "in" places to eat in Bandung are two
restaurants way up in the hills of Lembang. They have the style,
but what about their substance? The Jakarta Post checked out one
of them, Kampung Daun.

Kampung Daun: Jl. Sersan Bajuri Km 4.7 in the ultraswank
Trinity Villas estate (take the road to Setia Budi, a left at
Ledeng Terminal and ask around). If you take a taxi from Bandung,
the roundtrip fare will be high, about Rp 80,000.

Open: Mid-morning to 11 p.m.

What's it got: A variety of Indonesian, Asian and European
dishes, such as nasi uduk (rice in coconut milk, served with a
piece of fried chicken, omelet and tempeh), which was on the
special "monthly" menu when we visited, teriyaki chicken,
Mongolian beef, lasagna, spaghetti. An unusually extensive
selection of sweets -- waffles, profiteroles and cakes.

Soft drinks, juices, coffee, tea, shakes and traditional "hot"
drinks such as ginger-based bandrek available.

Price points: Relatively pricey for Bandung. A coffee is Rp
5,000, entrees average about Rp 19,000, a piece of undeniably
good cheesecake Rp 17,500. It all adds up.

Looks: Much of the attraction of Kampung Daun, its initial
fascination, is its gorgeous locale. The little stream cutting
through the footpath fringed by wooden tables and traditional
platforms, the "village workers" busying themselves making candy
floss (a rustic pursuit?), the little children going from table
to table selling red roses, the waiters in their batik pants and
white shirts hurrying back and forth (to where, we later
wondered). Why, any moment you expect a woman with a switch and a
frilly frock to emerge from the trees asking about some sheep.

Popular with: Lots of people by the sound of things.

Taste factor: Except for a few dishes from its main menu and a
couple of desserts, the food is obviously not the great draw of
Kampung Daun. The mixed plate appetizer of gorengan (fried
delicacies) was middling, nowhere near as good as the average
fare served up in plastic bags by sidewalk vendor. The Mongolian
barbecue -- strips of beef with paprika in a savory sauce -- was
tasty, served with what the restaurant terms nasi enak (delicious
rice) and the nasi goreng pete (fried rice with pete beans) was
not too oily and filled with chunks of that green bean given the
ungainly -- but apt -- English name of stinking bean.

But the chicken rice was bland and unappetizing, and the
chicken teriyaki, in an overly sweet sauce and served with
Indonesian emping crackers (!), was a half-baked grasping at
"general" Asian cuisine. Even the Sundanese/Indonesian entries
are spotty efforts; who can imagine serving nasi uduk without
chili?

The desserts are something else. The chocolate cake is a
chocoholic's dream, smothered in delectable frosting. And top
honors go to the cheese cake, a smooth, creamy lemon-flavored
wedge planted atop a crumbly Oreo cookie base. Simply
scrumptious.

Minus Points: It's attitude dancing when it comes to the
erratic service at Kampung Daun.

When we first dined on a Sunday afternoon, one of the main
orders came straight out but we waited and waited for the second
to arrive. When we asked, a full 30 minutes later, on its status,
we were told it was accidentally given to another diner. Such
mistakes can be excused (the kitchens are spread out over the
site), but not the surly, unhelpful attitude we encountered on
the following Sunday night.

Yes, it was busy, but we were left to our own devices for 15
minutes. When one did come over after being called, he looked as
though he had better things to do. Our food did come quickly,
plopped down unceremoniously with cutlery but no napkins by
another waiter, but our drinks were nowhere to be seen. It was
the wrong order again, nasi uduk instead of the nasi kuning we
asked for, but the waiter was gone by the time we realized.

Five minutes later, yet another waiter came along, to tell us
one of the drinks we ordered was not available, but there was
some water. I got my coffee, minus sugar, a few minutes later. In
our disappointment and haste to leave (our complaint to the
waiter was met with a look which said, "So?") we did not see that
the missing beverage finally made its appearance -- on our bill.

Verdict: A study in beauty, but then so is much of the
surrounding area. Unless you have so much time on your hands that
you can throw away 45 minutes of your life waiting for mediocre
food at a price, and still end up with the wrong order, then
forget it. And double that if you have small children who need to
be fed right here, right now, and won't take no for an answer.
(Melvin Hunt)