Hi FoodVenturers! The photos above are beautiful, aren’t they? Well, this view is what you will get when you dine in at GAIA, one of the three successful high-end establishments located on the 46th Floor of Altitude The Plaza, the prestigious landmark in Jakarta.
I was invited by GAIA by OSO Ristorante with fellow food bloggers to celebrate the joy of National Italian Day. GAIA is a high-end restaurant which offers a true and authentic traditional North Italian cuisine. The name itself came from the derivation of ancient Greek “Gaea” which means the mother of nature.
Ambiance-wise, I honestly think that it is as perfect as it can be. It couldn’t get any better. With the minimalistic and fine concept, everything was designed in a seemingly correct manner. The table and the arrangements, the wooden panelling, the huge glass-windows, and the flowery details which just seems to reflect the name perfectly. It is humble, it is classy and it is beautiful. I also believe the view here is one of the most beautiful views you will ever see in Jakarta, highlighting the true heart of the city. It showcases the best of Jakarta in the best way, day and night.
We all surely know that the traffic in the city can be really really nasty during the busy hours. But inside here, you can all forget that, and just enjoy the picturesque-city scene in a quiet and elegant atmosphere, and maybe admire a little bit of earth, with the beauty of the passing cars, the buses, the trees and the skyscrapers. It’s just a perfect spot for you to escape from the hectic activities or endless problems even just for a while
The main show is of course, the food. After all, that’s what patrons will come here for, to enjoy the fine delicious delicacies. It’s the whole point of the existence. For the celebration, we got to enjoy the All-You-Can-Eat Brunch, which is only available at the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) or Public Holiday. The brunch itself comes with an extensive range of Italian selections, varying from starters, soups, mains, desserts and everything in between, not to mention the fine cheese! With all the crazy-good choices for you to pick and enjoy, you just have to pay for an incredibly fair price, with the amount of only IDR 350k ++ OR IDR 450 k ++ if you wish to enjoy the free flow 7 Cascine Prosecco.
Let’s see the “joy ride” I experienced here.
# Cold Cuts
The beginning of the “ride” undoubtedly came with the Italian Cold Cuts. Cold cuts are processed or precooked meat. It can be enjoyed with or without companions such as bread. The Italian cold cuts here came with the freshest ones. There were three selections and they were cut thinly and served cold. The salami was pretty good among the other two. Be warned my Moslem friends, as these are non-halal.
# Smoked Salmon Platter with Capers and Sliced Onions & Beef Carpaccio
The smoked salmon slices were amazingly good. It was really fresh and it just melted right away once it entered my mouth. The Beef Carpaccio was great as well. With extra parmesan slices, the Beef Carpaccio was perfetto!
# Shrimp Salad with Light Mayo Dressing
The ultimate starter for the day is here. Shrimp salad is always very simple. But shrimps can be quite tricky to cook. A second too long may resulted in tough texture. What made it a winner here is that the shrimps were perfectly-cooked, which means perfect texture. The freshness of the shrimps was another reason.
# Traditional Bruschetta with Ripe Tomatoes
Traditional Bruschetta in Italy comes with simple ingredients. It doesn’t have to come with meats. GAIA showed us the classic goodness of this famous antipasto. Just topped with chopped ripe tomatoes, the bruschetta turned out to be real good, in a different perspective.
Okay ladies and gentlemen, there were more to show! Ch, ch, check it out yo!
See my friends below, they were super excited! This is what we always do when food is served. We do not eat right after. We ask the food to say cheese, take a pic and eat. Oh, do not forget to pray first! 🙂
# Eggs
If you’re a fan of eggs, you can choose three kinds of egg-dishes here. We had Sunny Side Up and Open Omelette with mixed Mushrooms and a scent of truffle. Both of these were simply delicious. But what I love best was the Open Omelette since it had a more complex taste, with a touch of mushrooms and scallions, plus a hint of hypnotising truffle.
# Pasta
It’s the National Italian Day, and it wouldn’t have been complete without the participation of pasta on our feast. We were served three portions of pasta.
Fettuccine is the most common pasta next to Spaghetti in Indonesia. Thus, we tried the Fettuccine with Black Truffle Sauce which was a real joy to eat. IMHO, this one was the best for the day among the other two pasta dishes. The black truffle sauce played a very significant part in satisfying my taste-buds. It was pungent in a good way, aromatic, and tasted just right! The fettuccine itself was lovely, with chewy-ish texture.
Photo below is the Potato Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Sauce. The potato gnocchi we had was delicious. It had a bouncy chewy texture, and the gorgonzola sauce was very rich, slightly pungent and had thickish creamy texture. Most of my friends declared that it was the most favourite for them.
Another classic, Spaghetti with Amatriciana Sauce, was on our table, ready to be tasted. Not to be confused with Marinara Sauce, Amatriciana Sauce is slightly more complex than the marinara. It is tomato-based sauce, but mixed with more ingredients. Unfortunate to say, this spaghetti did not impress me much since it didn’t showcase much complexity. The tomato-flavor was bold, but that was it. This was the weakest link, for the day, compared to any other delicacies.
# Baked Salmon with Herb Crust
Almost forget this, as they also served a whole salmon on a table at a specific corner. Patrons could just enjoy the salmon all day long. And guess what, I loved the salmon, especially with a touch of mayo! It was not overcooked. Mind some of the fishbones tho’. 🙂
Here comes the mains.
# Slow Cooked Wagyu Intercostal with daily vegetables
One of the best mains of the day came from this beautiful dish. The wagyu was seriously good in a way I did not expect coming from these small-sized dull-looking meat. Looks can be deceiving, but Wagyu Intercostal can not. As the name suggested, the wagyu was cooked for hours, slowly, resulted in a very tender almost-melty texture. One cut, and I knew it was just going to be a lovely piece for my taste-buds. The seasoning was very very good, and the wagyu was perfectly-infused with the sweetish savoury sauce.
# Sautee Prawns with Spicy Sauce
Served in a small portion (of course you can always have more as it’s an all-you-can-eat brunch afterall!), I found the appearance for the dish was kinda lacking character. However, taste-wise, it was another goodness. The prawns were again, perfectly cooked. It was nicely infused and coated with the intimidating spicy sauce, making it a more complex dish compared to all. One fact is that the sauce was not as hot as it looks. Thus, for you who hate/avoid hot food, do not avoid this one just yet. It was spicy with rich seasoning, but it was not hot at all. It was just delicious.
# Pork Ribs
For pork-lovers, you might want to have this when you are here. The pork ribs were quite tender, and it was grilled nicely. But one thing I noticed is the lack of kicking factor. The pork ribs was a bit dull in taste, and I think that bolder flavour coming from the sauce might fix it.
# Oven Baked Seabass with Livornese Sauce
If you wish to have something different, this might do it for you. The oven-baked seabass was blanketed with the fresh tomato sauce cooked with capers and olive oil. The sauce was really fresh as it contained a bit of acidic-end that tickled my taste-buds.
# Beef Sirloin
I tasted a bit of this and it didn’t quite leave any important remarks in my mind. The sirloin was tough to cut, a bit overcooked. Should it have been cooked and served under a medium rare doneness, it would have resulted in a better texture.
# Braised Lamb Shank with Caramelized Onions Sauce
This one was one of the most tender lamb shank ever. It was amazingly soft and tender, and the meat even fell off effortlessly when I tried to separate it from the bone. The caramelised onions sauce however, came a bit too weak. I personally think that they should make a richer sauce to accompany this beautifully done lamb shank so that it could really stand out as a whole dish.
# Sides
The sides can be chosen between Mash Potato, Mixed Grilled Vegetables, Gratin Potato, French Fries and Onion Rings. Well, I loved the Gratin Potato the most.
One extra note, they were planning to make a new dish as a permanent dish. As we were there, we were asked for our opinions too regarding the new dish. It was Beef Ribs with Espresso Sauce. It turned out to be mostly positive. I myself, think that the beef ribs was really something. Espresso sauce is not something new, but the chef did well here making this a strong contender. The beef ribs was tender, and the espresso sauce was sweet and coffee-ish (of course). People might think that it is weird to use coffee as a sauce, but I say, let’s not be judgmental first and try first before we judge. This Beef Ribs with Espresso Sauce was awesome. One note from me is that espresso sauce only coated the outer layer of the beef ribs. It might be better if the coffee flavour can also be infused with the meat.
Say cheese… oh, eat cheese!
# Desserts
There are quite a bunch of desserts to choose from. But since I needed to leave early due to a movie date with my love, I got to have the infamous Tiramisu. This was not the first time I tasted their tiramisu, but it was as lovely as I remember. It was soft, moist and fluffy. The balance sweetness and flavours gave me a goose bump. The tiramisu was said to come from the 1956 recipe. No wonder!
Well, all in all, GAIA by OSO Ristorante is a real deal here in the culinary industry. The strategic location, the gorgeous view, and the food simply say it all. It’s a must-visit restaurant if you are looking forward to experience a quality lunch, brunch or dinner. The all-you-can-eat brunch is a really good deal with very reasonable price.
So, put this on your must-visit list? Big yes! 🙂
GAIA Italian Restaurant by Oso Ristorante – Altitude The Plaza
The Plaza 46th floor
Jl. MH. Thamrin Kav 28-30
Jakarta 10350
Phone: +62-21-29922448
Website: http://gaia-indonesia.com