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Minggu, 26 Juni 2011

Review: Marmalade Pantry, Plaza Indonesia

Last night, I was dying to go to Kitchenette. You know, that awesome comfort food resto in Plaza Indonesia. But as usual, the place was full and the waiting list was pretty long. I didn't want to wait, so I decided to just go to the next restaurant, Marmalade Pantry. Walk a bit from Kitchenette, and it's there. It's a really pretty place, the decor and ambience was superb. We sat down, and the first disappointment came, which was the menu. The menu was printed on white paper, clipped to a wooden board and that's it. Maybe they tried to go minimalist and all that, but it just came across as lazy. I hope this is because their real menus haven't finished printing yet. We ordered the Escargot Bourguignon for starters. I ordered Pan Fried Snapper with Chickpeas Salad, my sister ordered the Mushroom Risotto, my dad ordered Iga Cabe Ijo (which is part of their taste of Indonesia specials) and mom ordered the Pan Fried Chicken. For dessert, we decided to try the Chocolate Mille Feuille.



I ordered this drink, the Strawberry Yin-Yang. I like fancy non-alcoholic drinks and mocktails, and this is pretty good. It's mint tea with lots of fresh strawberry in it. But after a while, it started to taste like strawberry-flavored kiddie toothpaste. Really.


Their escargot looked beautiful. Presentation-wise, I think they aced it. There were three spoonfuls of escargot with cream sauce, and the other three were seasoned with pesto. They were awesome. The escargots itself are so tender, even better than Y&Y's. My sister admitted they were better than Potato Head's. The creamy ones are heavenly, their pesto ones are great too. The garlic-pesto bread that came with it was delightful, crunchy and soft. But the salad was ugh, soggy and over-dressed. There is nothing I hate more than over-dressed salads. Their greens were fresh and looked crunchy, but the dressing was so overwhelming. I think it was vinaigrette, its acidity wasn't pleasant at all. Definitely order the escargots, just ignore the salad.


That's my Pan Fried Snapper. I ordered it because I love fish and it didn't look fatty. 5 minutes after we placed our orders, the waiter came back and told me that I probably should change my orders because "in my opinion, the chickpeas are horrible." He looked at me like I don't know what chickpeas are and I am clueless about my food. I just stared him down and said, "Oh, but what if I love chickpeas?" And he was like "Oh, okay." WTF was that. That was the first time any waiter has ever said anything like that, and I think it's highly unprofessional, not to mention very annoying. I love chickpeas! Especially in salads, they're just awesome. When the dish came, the first thing I tasted was of course, the chickpeas. They were good, and had good texture. But again, overwhelming dressing. That dressing did not go well with the chickpeas and snap peas. It was the same dressing as the one used on the escargots' salad. They should've just dressed the peas with olive oil and some peppers. The fish was cooked nicely. It was encrusted with bread and almond crumbs. The crumbs were quite delicious. But the fish was bland at best. Really. No flavors at all. If it didn't have the crumbs, I probably wouldn't eat it. 


The mushroom risotto was deeelicious. Not as good as Sopra's risotto, but it was great. Nice texture and flavor! Not much to say about this though.


Dad's Iga Cabe Ijo was good, but not spicy AT ALL. The flavors are there, but where is the punch? Definitely weak. The mix of iga, sambel goreng ati, and tempe kering was good, though. The rengginangs were awesome! I loveee rengginangs and they were definitely the highlight of this dish. Other than that: meh.


The pan fried chicken was served with a potato and cauliflowers lasagna, and it was great. The lasagna was exquisite! Soft, cheesy, warm, just great. The chicken was very nice, lacking in flavors and juices but the sauce helped. The lasagna was the part that brought the whole dish together, making it a delicious entree. Best eaten with chili sauce and lots of salt and pepper. Oh and I love the grilled cherry tomatoes! Added a nice touch and it was plump and juicy.


Man, look at that. The chocolate mille feuille was absolutely delightful. The pastry was crunchy and crisp, the chocolate cream inside was ah-mazing. Love the fact they added strawberries, really freshen it up. It wasn't too sweet or creamy, just enough to tantalize your happy nerves. I was indeed happy after eating it. But as usual, dessert is best when shared, so you don't leave with too much guilt.

Highlight of the night was definitely the escargots and the mille feuille. Other than that, overpriced. The average price for their entrees are 80rb. Not worth it, and not recommended. Service was mediocre. I should've waited in line for Kitchenette.


5 komentar:

  1. hah? are you serious about the service was being mediocre???
    we've had fun dining at the Marmalade and the waiters have been so "frankly" about their menu and they're very knowledgeable.....we've never ordered wrong menu because they're always there to help in deciding and not necessarily offer the most expensive dishes..... (and what is expensive comparing to the food quality and the whole experience ?? unless you are a cheapy ) and I believe you would never set your foot into Bistro Baron since it might be awfully expensive for you !

    I only came to Kitchenette for their Grilled Octopus salad and crepes (2 thumbs up), other dishes and drinks....nah ? they have so many servers flying around but nobody cares about the tables......even we're only 3 peoples dining, the waiter asked who orders what when the meals came, now that is mediocre service ........
    I even came regular for their crepes but the waiter always ask if we're aware that Kitchenette is part of Ismaya group and blah, blah, blah....hellooooo I know exactly every restaurants under Ismaya's group

    BalasHapus
  2. well, hi again anon. i'm pretty sure you're the same anon as the one in the magnum cafe post.
    so, again, it's all a matter of taste. to my palate, their food is bland, as i said. and i really do feel their service is mediocre, because the way the waiter talked to me is very patronizing, thus i feel offended. this is all my opinion, based on one visit to the marmalade pantry, so i know it's not a good representation of what they might have to offer. i know not to make generalizations.

    i'm sorry about your bad experience in kitchenette, but thankfully they have never treated me wrong and they have great food (again, my opinion). about their not remembering your face even when you're a regular, does it ever occur to you that they might have hundreds other customers that also frequent their tables? :--)

    about your judgment of my never setting foot in bistro baron because it's expensive, i'll just say, in all modesty, honey, you don't know me. :--)

    anyway, thanks a lot for reading my posts and come again!

    BalasHapus
  3. my advise : when you order drinks with ice cube in it or soda, you should not let it stand for the whole evening

    next time you go back (if ever) to marmalade, try their after the rain and shanghai moon (mocktail) or their liquid dessert : Black Forest Martini ( good kicks with lots of alcohol)...we've learned a lot from the waiter's suggestion and we just love our visit there......we even trust our waiter to choose the wine for our dinner, since their selection is very limited, but we're quite happy so far

    BalasHapus
  4. wah jadi pada ribut, menurut saya sebaiknya gak nge-judge atao nulis sesuatu yg negative kalo cuma sekali berkunjung kecuali the whole aspect of dining experience was already ruined.....biasanya kan selalu ada satu hal yg kita praise dari satu establishment (semua reviewer biasanya selalu begitu) dan kita biasanya mengacu dulu dengan review lain, jadi ada bahan pertimbangan apakah review kita cukup objective atao bersifat subjective ato personal taste, ato pas kebetulan kita lagi "sial" hehehehhe..... tapi kalo setelah balik lagi masih berulang, ya berarti memang begitu adanya :D

    mungkin yg biasa makan ato suka masakan asia bakal bilang masakan eropa rasanya bland, dan begitu sebaliknya...setuju ??
    kecuali memang sudah pernah merasakan culiner eropa, jepang ato lainnya yg asli dinegaranya sono, jadi dasar perbandingannya kuat

    jadi sebaiknya kalo memang mau menulis review lebih pada bidang expertise masing masing biar gak muncul koment subjective....

    peace all,
    happy eating !!

    BalasHapus
  5. @anon: thank you!

    @tukang ngemil: true true, gue akui di blog gue ini masih sangat subjektif, so I'll definitely try to write better in the future, thank you so much!

    BalasHapus