If you follow me on Instagram, I just got back from a super fun holiday sponsored by the awesome W Retreat and Spa Bali, it was truly one of the most unforgettable trips I have done so far in my life. I met a lot of fascinating people, made new friends and frankly speaking, I was relaxing, literally... more of that on the upcoming posts, trust me, it's going to be heck long posts and photos heavy because every corner flirted with my eyes hence I couldn't stop 'snap snap snap'.
So this post I'm going to be talking about this cool restaurant called Colonial Cuisine and Molecular. This particular restaurant is located in Kemang Village and it's one of the surviving-first movers when it comes to a restaurant with 'molecular gastronomy' concept applied to it. If you guys don't have any idea what 'molecular gastronomy' is, it's when food meets science and logic, it doesn't only take an impressive cooking skill, but your senses as well.
Colonial's interior concept for my eye was like a sophisticated-classy urban dining... one word: pretty! The area was divided into three: the indoor dining areas, outdoor dining areas and the bar. I noticed that they had seriously impressive table setting, simple, clean, neat but not too much even for the table for two. When you step inside, you'll have this impression that this is a classy restaurant, more like expensive looking, but you knew that how it represents itself won't intimidate you (and your pocket).
I went here for lunch and I had around six courses on that day (including the high tea - more about that later). To start the lunch, there were these complimentary breads from Colonial which I found very nice of them, I just feel like giving complimentary starters were just a pleasant thing to do, honestly it would add up the service score to a few bars higher, talk about impression.
For the food here, they serve mostly western menu like French and American style, but you'll find some Asian inspired menus like Indian, and some specials for the vegans.
I came on the very first minutes of the operational hours, but not long after I finished taking pictures, people started coming as they already are regular costumers here. So far impressive!
Complimentary Bread
Breads were soft and fragrant, butter melts in your mouth.
Escargot Bourgognane
IDR 95k
The first thing that caught my attention from this following escargot dish from Colonial was definitely the scent, it was really fragrant...well thanks to the garlic, onion, and butter awesome coordination. This dish was clearly the foodporn for the eyes, it was beautifully presented and set, just so you know, I was very impressed by how they stuffed two escargots into one shell, the shell itself was imported straight from France and the escargots were imported from the land of Malaysia.
I admitted humbly that this escargot was pretty good in flavor and definitely generous (yeah, two escargots in one), the escargots were beautifully cooked, they were chewy, fluffy but in the same tender. I just found that the butter was a little more than I expected that it overpowered the pastry underneath, but as far as the escargots themselves were beautiful.
Black Mussels with Coconut Milk Soup
IDR 120k
The following dish was the Black Mussels which came to no surprise as one of my favorite dish of the day! When it comes to seafood, and in this case mussels, they carry themselves their own natural "fishy" quality and I found that to be working really well with the coconut milk, in this case their natural fishiness was clearly the advantage to this dish, making the soup to be a little more fragrant and salty in a good way.
72 Hours Slow Cooked "Sous Vide" Australian Lamb Shank
IDR 210k
Another favorite of the day must be this "72 Hours 'Sous Vide' Australian Lamb Shank" dish, the meat was really tender and juicy, especially with the gravy sauce spread all over, it's probably only a little stinky but still not overpowering the whole meal. It's genius that they're using deep fried crispy Enoki mushroom as the side to added up a little play of texture, the eggplant puree was also appropriately seasoned.
Banana Nougat
IDR 65k
As in for desserts category, this was THE BOMB. I love everything about it, overall it had the playfulness quality both for the eyes (thanks for the eye-catching cotton candy) and the mouth, it had the texture contrast from the smooth silky banana nougat and the caramelized nuts, the consistency, the flavor: majorly banana but since I am such a banana person this would do! and last but not least, the plating was also beautiful. If you're wondering about the flavor of the foam and the cotton candy, it didn't have any flavor, just plain sweet.
Elastic Chocolate
IDR 45k
This particular dessert was beautifully plated! Just look at the picture and you'll know why. Even though this dish was called "Elastic Chocolate", but overall this was not one hundred percent chocolate, the word "elastic" represented the presentation of the chocolate I guess, it was set to create a curve and curves are elastic. The fried stuffs were deep fried banana fritters which were pretty decent. Foam? plain, but the pandan caviars were genius, they popped in your mouth and enjoy the playful sweet pandan liquid in your taste bud.
Afternoon Tea Set
The meal did not stop there even though we have already reached the desserts, the kind peeps from Colonial Jakarta also gave me their signature afternoon tea set for two (even more I think). Didn't manage to finish this one because I was super duper full but for a fair judgement, I did try a little of each items. The chocolate cookies were rich in chocolate but also buttery and sort of milky, the carrot cake was my favorite one among the three, it was moist and tasty. On the other hand my favorite 'station' must be the savory ones, both the quiches and the sandwiches were nice. You should try their quiche, it was crispy but smooth and buttery in the middle but not overpowering my taste bud, the seasoning was also great. The quiche might be a little softer and less-solid than those I have tried else-wheres but I happened to love the eggyness consistency of it.
wait!
You know how I love giving surprises, there was another event occuring in Colonial beside the food tasting itself! Because...
I was contacted by the nice peeps from NET TV, yes that famous growing TV network is calling me for an interview! God knows how happy and cheerful I was. Thank you very much NET TV, and luckily I had a schedule with Colonial for a food tasting session and I was thinking why not putting Colonial on the screen since the restaurant itself is already nice-looking so there it goes.
Since this was the first time for me doing recorded TV interview, I wasn't completely confident, I am a crazy dude in life but when it comes to having camera looking directly at you, I freaking froze! I was in Bali when this aired a few days ago and I had a panic attack knowing people were probably looking at my dumb face and I received so many tweets and Instagram mentions at that moment, but aside from how *ahem* shameful I was, sincerely, THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY DAY!!!
Ok, enough yakking, here's the video, you can watch in bigger resolution HERE!
Overall, I had a great time having lunch in Colonial, it was clearly a slightly different kind of lunch because I was recorded the whole time around -.-. Anyway, I honestly think that Colonial is surely worth your try, the food was nice, the ambiance was awesome, it's even proper for a family gathering or romantic dinner for two, don't forget that Valentine's day is approaching soon! Have you decided where to go for dinner? If not, you can check HERE for the guide.
Thank you Colonial Jakarta and NET TV for such an unforgettable lunch! It was awesome, made my day!
Colonial Cuisine and Molecular
Lippo Mall Kemang (Kemang Village) UG OD-11
Jalan Pangeran Antasari No. 36
Jakarta Selatan 12150
021 - 2905 6891/92
Opening Hours:
Weekdays: 11.00 AM - 12.30 AM
Weekends: 11.00 AM - 02.00 AM
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com
