W16: Stylish sandwich bar that finds its niche

W16: Stylish sandwich bar that finds its niche

JAKARTA (JP): I'm sure I'm not alone in regretting the fact
that, despite all the developments in the restaurant trade in
Jakarta in recent years, it is still relatively difficult to get
a decent sandwich.

By this, I don't mean the full-blown sit-down meal variety
(usually served with French fries), but a handy take-away version
made on the spot, with a choice of tasty fillings, which can be
consumed easily later at home, at work, or wherever.

There are some Subway outlets that almost fit this bill, but
their prices are still on the high side (maybe a reflection of
the lack of competition), and their range of fillings is still a
little limited. There clearly remains a gap in this market that,
like the sandwiches themselves, is waiting to be filled!

Given the large number of expatriates living in Kemang, South
Jakarta, the area already boasts a bewildering array of cafes and
restaurants offering a wide variety of cuisines at various price
ranges.

However, even here, it was, until recently, difficult to find
somewhere that specialized in sandwiches. W16 Sandwich and Grill,
directly above the attractive, well-stocked, new Ak.'sa.ra (sic)
bookstore in the Kemang one-way system, now goes a long way
toward plugging that gap, and does so quite stylishly.

W16 Sandwich and Grill: Jl. Kemang Raya No. 8B, Jakarta
Selatan 12730, tel. 7199289, fax. 7202702, website:
wwwkafe@cbn.net.id.

Location: Take the road past Kemchicks supermarket (so that it
is on your left-hand side). At the T-junction, turn right, and
the restaurant is about 100 meters along on the right-hand side
of the road. There used to be a duty-free shop in this vicinity,
if I am not mistaken.

Hours: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, 10 a.m. -
midnight on the weekend. Major credit cards are accepted.

Looks: Like the bookstore below, W16 has been designed very
much in the turn-of-the-(21st)-century minimalist style. There is
plenty of plate glass, wooden floorboards, and an almost complete
absence of "unnecessary" ornamentation, somewhat like Prego
Italian restaurant at Blok M. There is always a danger, in a
tropical climate, that such huge expanses of glass will create a
minigreenhouse, but the design largely overcomes this by means of
the wooden louvers on the outside walls.

There is an off-road parking area that can hold around 10 cars
immediately in front. This is just as well, for traffic on the
Kemang one-way system is relentless, and generally moves quite
quickly.

My dining companion and I visited the 35-seat restaurant at a
Saturday lunchtime when, to my surprise, it was completely full.
Nevertheless, the bare, internal glass walls would have looked
better with some kind of covering, however small, on them.

About half of the other customers were expatriates and half
local, but all appeared very trendy and stylish, as if to match
the decor, and came from a wide variety of age groups. There were
small groups of two or three, as well as families.

The wait staff also looked very smart in their all-black
uniforms, save for the "w" emblem in yellow on their polo shirts.
They were all very friendly and helpful.

What's it got: The mainstays of W16 are sandwiches and grills
(around eight of each type, including a range of meat or fish
fillings). There are also soups, pizzas, salads, quiches, pasta
and some desserts. The usual range of alcoholic and nonalcoholic
drinks were also available, plus some red and white wines from
California, France and Italy.

Water (unfortunately not iced) is served automatically to all
customers.

Taste factor: We shared a duck confit caesar salad as a
starter. The duck, which seemed to have been dried and deep
fried, came in small pieces, and was a perfect match for the
salad that was suitably refreshing. A homemade mayonnaise was
also on the plate.

A sandwich, described on the menu as "U.S. beef Robertspierre"
was in fact foccacia (bread) with grilled, thinly sliced, herb-
marinated beef, fried eggplant and shaved Parmesan cheese. It was
served attractively with some potato crisps on the side. The beef
was full of flavor, but the crisps seemed rather salty.

Wiener Schnitzel (described rather engagingly on the menu as
"Winner snitzel") was breaded escallops of veal served with
gratinated potato, vegetables, mayonnaise, capers and anchovy.
Again, the schnitzel, particularly the coating, had good flavor,
but tasted on the salty side. Fortunately the potato
accompaniment counteracted this somewhat.

Desserts consisted of japonaise (a cake consisting of coffee
mocca ice cream and almond meringue) and malaga (a rum 'n raisin
ice cream cake). The coffee cake had a good coffee taste, but the
rum 'n raisin taste could have been stronger. In both cases, the
dessert was not "cakey" enough, and seemed more like ice cream
than cake.

Two coffees rounded off the meal, a cappuccino and a machiato.
The frothy milk "caps" were perfect, and the coffee flavor in
both cases was good too.

Price points: The meal described above, plus a fresh carrot
juice and lime juice, came to just under Rp 300,000 including tax
and service. Considering the total amount of food consumed, this
was on the pricey side. If you just wanted a quick snack (say a
sandwich and a drink), you might be charged from around Rp 60,000
upwards; still not exactly cheap, but then you are eating in
Kemang, after all!

Minus points: The saltiness of some of the food is something
that the chef needs to pay attention to. It's always easier to
add more later than to try and make oversalted food taste less
so! The restaurant felt a little warm, but this might have been
because it was completely full. When asked, one of the waitresses
was able to turn the louvers on the air conditioner so that the
cooled air circulated much more effectively.

Verdict: Although it didn't quite fulfill expectations, the
restaurant is still well worth a try, particularly in view of the
gap in the sandwich market, and its stylish dicor. Judging by how
full it was at Saturday lunchtime, many others obviously agree
already. If you're visiting the Ak.'sa.ra bookstore, it's also
extremely handy, should you start to feel a bit peckish. However,
remember you're in Kemang, where prices reflect the buying power
of the locals, many of whom in this case, are expatriates! (Les
Coffier)