Hi FoodVenturers! It’s been a while and I’m back here with a review for one of the newest-comers by Ismaya Group, Publik Markette.
I know that some food enthusiasts might find the name unfamiliar by now, and might perhaps have visited it quite a lot of times. But me, I hadn’t had a chance to step inside the fancy eatery until a few days ago, thanks to the kind invitation from Publik Markette itself. I agreed to come and found a time that fitted my schedule. Here I was then, with my partner in crime, enjoying ourselves with the good food, signature cocktail, and terrific fun ambiance.
When stepping inside, I found myself captivated for a short while, seeing the packed room full of chatting and laughing patrons. There were laughters, partrons’ voices, sounds of glasses and plates, and music at the background.With all of those elements, the atmosphere seemed to be alive, busy, full of life.
I personally found the interior a bit too fuzzy, a tad too complicated, but then again, this is exactly what makes the place seems very sociable, like a certain spot that attracts people to gather or have a social meet up with friends, family and colleagues. It has that high end busy vibe.
After accompanied to be seated, the usher explained to us on how to order our food. To sum up, she informed us that we should go to the kitchen station ourselves to pick what we’d love to have. Starting from the right to the left, from the bread selections, to main courses, soups, pastries, and juices, then to the last stop, which is the cashier to make payment. Oh, don’t forget that you need to take a little blue blue stick (that has the table number) on the table and show it to the one who will assist you in the station. Food will then be processed as ordered and in 5 minutes or so, they will serve it warm and nice on the table. Very canteen like, but with a touch of improvement to enhance the dining experience. 🙂 For drinks, it can be ordered with the passing-by waiters.
After making up our minds and ordered some drinks, we started to venture for a little walk to the station, right to left, and stopped there for quite some time due to our indecisive mind. The fault was not ours, afterall, who can easily make up their mind in choosing dinner when there are plenty of equally mouth-watering choices? The food selections were openly available at the station, but presented appetizingly in a way it looked like it was seducing me in committing the sinful pleasure. I am definitely not resistant to this sort of temptations, so I am absolutely sure that I am not suitable for this kind of venue when I feel like having a good diet, or saving! ;D
I don’t really have to bring this up, but the service was impeccable. Every waiter and waitress was highly attentive and I happily encountered no problems throughout my early dinner.
Let’s see what we tried there that day.
# Tropical Sunrise (IDR 38 k)
This is one of the healthy good juices in a bottle. Made of fresh fruits (pineapple, cucumber, lemon and honey), the green liquid surely was a good take and it was absolutely refreshing. There are plenty of other mixed juices too that you can pick. I noticed that almost every table had at least a bottle of these juices, so it’s safe to say that it seemed like most patrons loved the juices. It’s healthy and guilt-free right?
# Strawberry Lemonade (IDR 45 k)
My partner chose this to quench the thirst. It was definitely a good call for the sunny day. The refreshing lemonade and acidic strawberry were in sync when they were mixed together. One thing though, in my opinion, they could have toned down a bit of the sugar as the drink was a tad too sweet for my taste.
# Mad Hatters Tea Party (IDR 95 k)
I am definitely not a good alcohol drinker, but when we asked for recommendation, the waiter told us that this was amongst the most favourites. Weighing whether to have Cocktail or not (as they didn’t have mocktail for a safe alternative), I finally decided that it would be nice to have a try for this Cocktail since we were already here. The decision paid off as it was an awesome Cocktail with playful taste and very light alcohol content.
This cocktail tasted like summer, and best enjoyed for two. It contains sweet tea, shaken with rye whiskey, creme de pet, lemon juice & camomile liqueur. Absolutely recommended.
# Corn Chowder (IDR 35 k)
I am not really a soup kind of person, however, looking at the smoky rich chowder at the station made me change my mind. I was a bit curious and ended up ordering a bowl of Corn Chowder. It turned out to be pretty good. The rich and thick chowder was easy in the mouth and in no time, I had it all inside my stomach.
# Crispy Pork Belly with Sauce Diane (IDR 155 k) // sided with Hainanese Crushed Potatoes
Pork Belly, oh Pork Belly. Nowadays, pork belly has become quite a phenomenon better known with the name Fifty Shades of Pork Belly!, Publik Markette didn’t let this good opportunity slide and headed straight in serving hungry patrons the irresistible crispy type pork belly.
Look at this picture! This sinful piece of meat (and fat!) was delightfully succulent and undoubtedly crispy on the outer layers. It could literally made crackling sound as I cut the fat chunks. The whole chunks were accompanied by sauce diane which was gently seasoned, complementing the lovely belly so well with the rich savoury touch. If I had to be critical, there’s a little thing tho’. I found that (while non-stopping munching every bit of the crackling juicy bellies) at some points, the crispy part tended to be a bit too salty. Toning it down will definitely give more “space” for the good porky taste to shine.
The side I picked for this Pork Belly was the hainanese crushed potatoes, which sadly, was not a good match at all. The potatoes were bland, nothing charismatic at all and simply forgettable. Something can surely be done with potatoes to make them better. Add more sea salts or extra mayo please. 😉
# Miso Salmon with Sambal Bawang (IDR 165 k) // sided with Garden Apple Coleslaw
Honestly speaking hm.. writing, my first impression towards this pinky salmon was actually bit pessimistic. It looked a bit tired-looking, plain and nothing special, much on the contrary to the usually good-looking salmon with flaky skin. But the look did mislead. Apparently, the salmon was really good, really tender, very well-seasoned. It was full of flavours and the miso glaze really did its work in charming my tastebuds! Strangely, the seemingly misplaced sambal bawang (spicy caramelised shallots) worked very well when enjoyed with the Miso Salmon. It brought a bit of sweet and spicy sensation to the salmon and escalated it to a new level. Extra note of the day is that I tried to enjoy the sambal bawang with the crispy pork belly, and it turned out to be so GOOD, like it was destined to be together!
The garden apple coleslaw as the side, was marvelous, very much the opposite of the baby potatoes. The coleslaw came across as fresh, strong-tasting side dish with sweet and acidic elements for a refreshing touch. A great sidekick for the salmon.
# Cinnamon Swirl Bread Pudding (IDR 30 k)
4 words – warm, fluffy, flavourful, scrumptious! Presentation-wise, it was served on a very simple plate. However, that was not the highlight at all. The gorgeous taste was! The hint of cinnamon was super calming. Mixed with chocolate and caramel sauce, it turned to a flavourful bomb.
To shorten up, it was really a classic good dessert with a twist. And pardon my picture which doesn’t do it justice (it looks like a mess in my picture </3 ).
# Coconut Cake (IDR 50 k)
Another pessimistic choice! Why? Because I am never a fan of something made from coconut. I don’t dislike it, just not prefer it. They had this strawberry shortcake which looked much more appetizing in every way. But the nice kitchen assistant recommended this cake and mentioned that it was her favourite amongst all. I always love when the one who serves us gets to be personal by telling us what she/he thinks. So eventually I went with her recommendation and bang! She was right and she has a good taste! 😉
Before serving, the cake was chilled. When eaten, it had this fluffy smooth and chilled spongy texture. The coconut was fragrant, but subtle, nicely done without being overpowering. Oh, I loved the chilled cream cheese frosting! It was so soothingly good, heavenly at times. Too bad again, my plain picture doesn’t do it justice. You should really try it when you see it!
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There were plenty of mouth-watering selections to choose actually. Everything seemed terribly good and tempting it made us promised ourselves to come back for more others. In Public Markette, there are plenty of other stuff to be purchased too. It’s very much compliance with the name itself, some sort of market, where everything essential is sold.
So far, in my humble opinion, Publik Markette is certainly amongst the best Ismaya’s establishments. Ambiance and location are important points for a restaurant in order to gain success, but in the end, it always comes down to the most vital part, the food and drinks. For Publik Markette, the food and drinks that I got to try were almost impeccable, but it doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement. Price-wise, some prices are a bit steep I should say. But then again, considering the overall experience we had, we considered it pretty much worth it.
In my point of view, Publik Markette has successfully introduced some sort of a fun way in experiencing gourmet food and fancy drinks, mixed with youthful atmosphere and good concept.
Will Publik Markette stay long in the ever-changing food and beverage industry? I could almost undoubtedly say yes! I bet that they will successfully hold a place in the hearts of many youthful souls and high end patrons. I do also think that this similar concept will even be ventured by more future restaurants and cafes.
(Please note that this concept isn’t new at all because the low end eateries, or better known as canteen or warung tegal ;P are everywhere in Indonesia, even from a long time ago. This concept is just like an upgraded recondition to emphasize on an unusual fun concept that targeting middle end to high end customers)
Final verdict, will I be back to this place? Yes, with friends and colleagues. If you haven’t visited this place, I suggest you should at least give it a chance!
PUBLIK MARKETTE | JAKARTA
Central Department Store Grand Indonesia (East Mall) – GF
Jl. M.H. Thamrin No. 1
Jakarta Pusat 10310
Phone: +6221-23581281
Instagram: @PublikMarkette
Operational Hours :
Lunch Time (Food Gallery) : 11:30 am – 02:30 pm
A la Carte : 03:00 pm – 05:00 pm
Dinner : 06:00 pm – 09:30 pm
