Where to eat noodles in Jakarta
JAKARTA (JP): Our new column on places to eat around the city starts with noodles as well as a whole lot more at an eatery in Central Jakarta.
Bakmi Metropolitan, Jl. Dr. Satrio 275 (Casablanca), Central Jakarta.
Open 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.
What's It Got: Noodles, as to be expected from the name, but the two-page menu also includes Chinese and some European delicacies. Frog's legs, stir-fried vegetables, spaghetti, soups and European style salads (for a whopping Rp 50,000 a portion) are available in addition to fried rice and other staples. Beef, chicken, fish and seafood are all served though pork is not.
Vegetarians can dine on their various broccoli and kangkung stir-fried vegetable dishes, as well as the ubiquitous tofu.
For drinks, the usual range of soft drinks and beverages are available as well as local beer.
Price Points: Ranges from a simple noodle soup for Rp 10,000 to more substantial entrees priced around Rp 20,000, plus pricey salads, including one with jellyfish!
Looks: No-frills but clean, well-lit environment, with the de rigeur formica tables and straight-backed chairs of unpretentious Chinese restaurants everywhere (but you are here to eat, right, not to muse over the interior decoration?).
Service is friendly and efficient, and the staff at least give you time to think before coming over to get your order.
Popular with...: Office workers from the Golden Triangle, plus residents of various boardinghouses in the surrounding Karet Kuningan area.
Taste Factor: Large heaped portions which rank high on the taste scale. Recommended dishes include chicken sauteed with green chili (not as hot as you would expect), different types of fried rice, salted fish (you can also have it made to order), fu yung hai (their version is an omelet with a chicken and shrimp filling) and their broccoli sauteed with mushrooms. European items, such as spaghetti and chicken with cheese (!) were not available on the night we visited. One slight disappointment was the chicken wrapped in mushrooms, which tasted like a bland version of Hainan chicken with a few vegetables added in a bid to perk it up.
Minus Points: Its location, smack in the congested heart of the city. Unless you have the patience of a saint, or take masochistic pleasure in sitting in a car as traffic crawls along at a meter an hour, do not try making it to the restaurant at about 6 p.m. on a weeknight.
Its wall-to-ceiling glass front can also be a bit disconcerting, leading to the uneasy feeling that you are munching away in a fishbowl as most of the city's population saunters by (but there are corner tables, or you can always sit with your back to the entrance).
Verdict: Fine for those interested in a good meal, at a spick- and-span location (everything is relative though) but do not wish to pay high dining prices. (brc)