Tony Roma's new C. Jakarta outlet a real place

Tony Roma's new C. Jakarta outlet a real place

JAKARTA (JP): Let's say you're dreaming of doing a Fred
Flintstone and treating yourself to an extra wholesome juicy ribs
bonanza and using your fingers to do justice to the meal, you
should head towards Tony Roma's in Jalan Wahid Hashyim. This is
where you can realize your dream and taste the meatiest,
juiciest, tenderest, largest portion of ribs in Jakarta city.
What's nice too is that you can enjoy their finger-licking
goodness right down to the tiniest chunk, as the meat is so
tender it falls off the bone.

Just make sure to stock up on paper napkins ( provided
generously) and never make the mistake of requesting the staff to
clear the cutlery. You'll be needing it for the plump baked
potato that comes piping hot with an accompanying fanfare of
chopped chives, bacon, sour cream and melting cheese. Coleslaw
comes in a separate bowl and languishes in its delicious
dressing.

Each award-winning ribs order with tantalizing names like
Carolina Honey's or The Original Baby Backs comes with a choice
of baked potato, french fries or ranch style beans. Stay tuned in
if you have a "very healthy appetite" as "the hottest ribs in
town" are available in FULL SLAB, HALF SLAB, or a regular order,
which conveniently falls in between and is as massive as the
other two.

Prices may appear steep, but tucking into a meal of these
gargantuan proportions must actually mean taking a break and
skipping a couple of lunches and dinners. Or so I suppose, being
a modest eater myself.

The place for ribs, as Tony Roma's is affectionately and
professionally known in the eight countries it operates in Asia,
recently opened in downtown Wahid Hashyim, next to Nyonya Suharti
local fried chicken restaurant. The free-standing restaurant is a
first for the group that already operates an outlet in Sudirman's
Panin Center.

The new restaurant has an air of fresh country with bang-on
smartness as modern lines fight it out with stained glass panels.
Its resounding visual success is due to the almost real,
towering, roof-high strangler fig trees whose leaves throw
intriguing shadows. Their super saturated emerald green gives the
restaurant a welcome atmosphere and you'll chance upon grandma,
grandpa, mother and father with boisterous children in tow as
well as young couples, in search of privacy and exchanging
whispered "little nothing's" and schmoozing on their first dates.

The Wahid Hashyim outlet is a great escape to good food and an
impressive ambience with a bar that sits at the far hind of the
restaurant. Service is attentive and the smiles are far from
plastic. No grouse that an enthusiastic waiter forgot our second
order of wine (RP 11,500 per glass) and we were parched, but what
the heck, even the hottest-and-the-best establishments suffer
hiccups and growing pains.

For those who favor a more relaxed approach to eating, such as
salad, or fish or chicken, there is an especially interesting
range available. What's most inviting is the mini French-loaf
shaped sour dough that's served gratis as soon as you are seated
and the drinks order taken. It arrives on a wooden platter with a
choice of ordinary and herb butter. Tear off chunks like
Flintstone or make dainty slices with the bread knife provided.

We caught up on the hottest news in town, marveled over the
cracking of the "mirror-mirror-on-the-wall" that Lady Camilla
Parker Bowles looked at (Blackwell says so), and ended on a
pleasant note with a tartly christened Chocolate Seduction
(priced RP 8,500).

Restaurants usually have a focus, a purpose that is linked to
the activity of dining, and its patrons share a common interest.
In the case of Tony Roma's it is to enjoy an enormous meal and
leave satisfied. It is certainly addressed to those with gigantic
appetites and with memberships to tough health clubs where
trainers beat them into shape.

-- Marianne Pereira