Thursday, October 30, 2014

AFTERNOON TEA IN JAKARTA: PORTICO SENAYAN CITY

Even though "high tea" never actually become a huge trend in Jakarta comparing to the presence of "Red Velvet" or "Nitrogen Ice Cream" but there's still a couple of good spots for you to have your delightful, dreamy afternoon tea (BY THE WAY I use the term "afternoon tea" and "high tea" in exhange but it actually means the same for me). I used to question my interest for afternoon tea but now I seem to know the answer. I don't think it's a part of my need or lifestyle, it's just the platform and my favorite excuse to hangout with my friends in the more stylish and luxurious way!

After touring the places that actually serve afternoon tea in Jakarta, I recently came to Portico to try out their high tea promotion, when it comes to desserts, I'll always be on board, even when I don't have time, I will make excuse for one! A little information about Portico for those who don't know (really?), you can say it's one of the poshest, famous, stylish restaurants in town located in Senayan City shopping mall (and been there for almost 6 years), it's where the fashionable social people (yes mostly) go for drinks or comfort food, nah but I am not stylish or nowhere near skinny but I love food so whatever. It's under the OPCO group which organized some of the top restaurants, cafes and clubs in town such as Warung Tinggi, H5, Yellowfin, Stark Bierhaus, Domain and some more. I love the ambiance of this restaurant during the day because I always enjoy restaurants with a lot of access to the sunlight and since their outlet's surrounded by glasses everywhere that should make sense.

The indoor venue wasn't as spacious as the outdoor but it's certainly way cooler (me talking about the temperature) and they set the outdoor to appear like terrace and there's also a mini bar.
The concept of their high tea is buffet and to be noted, it is only available on the WEEKENDS from 3 PM-6 PM for IDR 165k++ per pax and this already included tea/coffee. They're using the Gryphon tea and I FREAKING LOVE GRYPHON TEA. I tried their "Nymph of The Nile" at it was very fragrant in the sexiest floral scent, a little musky and mysterious, the flavor was rich and I love the beautiful and exquisite blend of the herb, fruity and rosy. Personally I found the tea more of an afternoon/night rather than the morning tea.
The range of their afternoon tea was quite decent and they have the sweet and savory menu. For the sweet meny they have Apple Cherry, Crepes with Vanilla Cream and Peach Filling, Jelly Spaghetti, Frozen Strawberry Cream Cheese, Banoffee Pie in a Jar, Strawberry Pannacotta, Chocolate Mousse Cake, Apple Crumble and assorted chocolates, and for their savory menu they have: Balinese Satays, Mini Sandwich, Beef Skewer, Salmon Roll, Frikandel Puff Pastry and Mini Spring Roll. I didn't try each and every one of it because I was quite full and since some of the menu was running out, but here is the overview of the Portico High Tea set!

General menu overview
Banana cupcake with butter frosting, generally not a big fan of banana frosting but this one was quite light and the banana flavor was quite rich
Banofee Pie in Jar (lovely), Chocolate Pannacotta in Jar, Jelly Spaghetti, Chocolate Mousse Cake (lovely density and rich chocolate flavor), Frozen Strawberry Cream Cheese, Apple Cherry
Left: Frikandel Puff Pastry, Right: Beef Skewer. The Frikandel Puff Pastry had this decent pastry consistency but since they're mini you can't really expect much from the filling, while the beef skewer was lovely since I am a sucker for ham and sausages.
The salmon roll was also lovely and one of my favorites of the night along with the well executed lumpia!
Cute assorted chocolates
Virgin Apple Mojito and Berry Spritzer. Their Virgin Apple Mojito was refreshing, fruity and proper balance of sweet and sour, and the Berry Spritzer had this strong fruity berry flavor (raspberry, blueberry and blackberry), not exactly sour (sweeter than the mojito), topped with passionfruit but it was another good day beverage.

I love the teapot and cup, somehow resemble "royalty"
For a IDR 165k++ I think it's a good deal, considering the high tea was buffet and all you can eat (the tea however was not), the selections was pretty good, I wouldn't say everything was nice because I barely tried everything but some of the ones that I tried were not bad leh, the chocolate mousse cake was my favorite from the sweet station while the lumpia and salmon roll were two of my savory station favorites!

Portico is another awesome place to have your afternoon tea, not to mention the convenient venue (esp. outdoor) would make you feel like you're actually in a garden, but then not so much when you realize you're in Jakarta, not London HAHAHA!

Portico
Senayan City, GF
Jalan Asia Afrika Kav. 19
Senayan, Jakarta Selatan 10270
021 - 7278 1787
Opening Hours: 11 AM - 1 PM
WiFi: Yes
Dresscode: Sporty Casual (NO SHORTS AND SLIPPERS)
Pricing: $$, IDR 350k for two
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Map for Portico

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