Another hotel that participates in celebrating this holy month is Keraton At The Plaza, a Luxury Collection Hotel Jakarta. In order to spoil patrons appetite, Bengawan has a warm delicious offer. While patrons can enjoy the usual sumptuous breakfasting buffet from the undeniable Indonesian cuisine to exotic Mexican goodness, Bengawan has also served special delicacies on its sleeve, featuring a irresistible array of the highly anticipated Middle Eastern cuisine.
With only IDR 350 k ++ per person, patrons can gather and savor the best delicacies with family, friends and colleagues. Do note that the price has included hot beverages and tail (sugary sweets and chilled drinks). This delectable promotion starts on June 16 to July 16, 2015.
Sharing my personal experience in Bengawan, I truly found that the food and drinks served were very enjoyable. The selections are extensive and it can make one’s head hurt just by thinking what food to begin the breakfasting with. I was ready to get my head hurt but instead, I simplified my thought. Why don’t I just take every little thing on the buffet? Clever? Not quite, apparently. At the end of the day, I was so so full, yet satisfied!
Well, starting from the Indonesian section, I found that almost everything there was good. Bengawan is truly good in creating the finest delicacies which we, Indonesian, are proud of. Starting from the beef curry, lamb curry, rica rica chicken, and even the mixed veggie were truly outstanding. I honestly think that amongst all the three presented cuisines, the Indonesian cuisine easily wins the vote.
I even made my own “Nasi Campur” there with the Nasi Keraton and all the Indonesian goodness. It was really really delicious.
Oh, they even have this “Gerobak Mie Bakso” which is very well-known in Indonesia. I did not hesitate to have a portion of this for myself. When it was served (within minutes) on my table, I savoured every bits and pieces fast. The broth was very good, very fragrant and the meatballs were pretty nice. One thing that seemed out of place was the sausage. I suggest that Bengawan can omit the sausage and just add more meatballs. Meatball FTW!
From the Mexican section, enchiladas, quesadillas, and burritos were available next to the “Gerobak Mie Bakso”. I couldn’t really resist the temptation of the grilled spiced meat, so I ordered myself one two portions of Quesadillas, beef and chicken. They turned out pretty good.
From the appetizer buffet, there were literally a ton of choices, mostly from the Middle East. From Fatoush salad with pomme, Moutabel (grilled eggplant on charcoal), Hummus which need 3 days of production process, Muhamara salad with bread crumbs and tomato paste and the good healthy Greek Yogurt to Halloumi Cheese with chili powder, parsley and lemon zest.
I have to take my hat off for Debby, one of the most helpful person in Bengawan. She explained a lot to me and her vast knowledge was way beyond me.
Oh, did I mention that Begawan’s Chicken Shawarma was super GOOD? Yes, it is one of the Middle Eastern delicacies, which has explosive flavours (well, not literally explosive). The Chicken Shawarma here was nicely wrapped and even though the appearance looks like a boredom in the making, it was real good. It had that rich, complex taste and the chicken was really fragrant due to its gorgeous spices.
Another one that impressed me that night is Kebab with Tomato sauce. Well, to translate it in english, we can just call it beef patty with tomato sauce, but the taste was just yum! The patty was deeply flavoured, and it had amazingly rough and tender texture that I could really chew all day.
Really, they had lots of others but since I couldn’t possibly taste all, I just admired them.
Well, when it comes to closure, I like to have mine sweet and nice. Bengawan provides lots of sweet treats for its patrons.
They made this ramadhan special decoration by white chocolate! It looks magnificent right? 🙂
From the sweet station, there were the timeless kolak, es tape ketan, es cendol, sago melon, devil cake (chocolate based cakes), fruit tart, banana tart, mango mousse cake, konafa, basbousa, katayef, mahalabiya, bahlousa, and I can go on all day. Don’t ask me about all the details when it comes to the middle eastern sweet delights, my belly is limited and fyi, I am not familiar with the authentic middle eastern delicacies, nor speak the language. But one thing I can tell you, the Umm Ali was magnificent! Umm Ali is another famous sweet from the Middle East. To simplify it, it is a creamy bread pudding meets nutty baklava. I even initially thought it was a baklava, but after enlightened by Debby (again), I nodded and started to understand the difference.
Taste-wise, the Umm Ali had this sweet creamy taste and texture, but enriched with the crunchy earthy pistachio. It was briefly explained that the Umm Ali was made of croissant-like pastry, milk, cream, sugar and pistachio. That if I remember correctly. 😉
The pictures below are half of the desserts they have there.
To put it simply, my breakfasting moment here was a memorable one. The food and drinks were great and satisfying. Moreover, I was accompanied by fellow foodies. With silly talk and passion sharing discussion, the good moment was created.
To summarize, some of the plus points in Bengawan are as below.
~ Bengawan offers a more private dining experience, suitable for a heart-warming gathering with friends and colleagues
~ Endless dessert and sweet drink selections
~ Very good Indonesian food
~ Located high above the ground, with city view
BENGAWAN | JAKARTA
Keraton At The Plaza, a Luxury Collection Hotel Jakarta, Level 7th
Jl. MH. Thamrin Kav. 15, Jakarta, 10350, Indonesia
Phone: +6221-50302993
Website: www.keratonattheplazajakarta.com