BENEDICT GRAND INDONESIA - JAKARTA

Congratulations, Benedict Jakarta for finally opening!!! The UNION group ventures are always exciting enough to keep everyone thrilled and most of the times, they’re worth the wait. Been eyeing on Benedict and it's finally letting its door for people to come in.

The Benedict’s kitchen is being handled by two heads behind the Good For Eats: Fernando Sindu and Ivan Wibowo who also own Umabo in Jalan Wijaya. If you’re not familiar with the Good For Eats brand, it’s actually a project of theirs as they create private dining service as well as pop-up brunches and they do it mostly in the XXI establishments. A lil' background of them that I know: they both first met in The Culinary Institute of America, Fernando used to be the sous chef at Bouqueria restaurant in New York and Ivan used to travel the world optimizing his skill and knowledge for food, in which he landed in the kitchen of Noma, the (currently) world's number one restaurant. Their background is scary in the most amazing way!

Benedict is located at the LG floor of the newly renovated East Mall of Grand Indonesia and bazillion of new restaurants are opening here such as UNION Deli, NOMZ and the most recent, Publik Markette! To be exact, it’s located near the Art and Science, Urban Lifestyle and UNIQLO. Talking about the access, the most convenient way for me is to make your way from Ranch Market to the back access, walk straight and Benedict is in front of you.

I quite liked their interior design, again as how most UNION group's restaurants look like: simple, classy, semi-rustic and something about the design that pops, but I am not sure which part, it's more like the overall ambiance impression from the design. It's almost like they know their restaurants are going to be packed (as always, and when I was there: FULL HOUSE!), and honestly the more people inside, the more I am loving the ambiance, just like UNION Plaza Senayan. Preference wise, I am just not into the fact that they don't have direct access to the outdoor area or in this case, sunlight, but I love their idea of hosting the live kitchen. Located near the live kitchen is the mini bar area with several stools for you to sit around.

Their concept's actually a gourmet cafe and restaurant serving all day breakfast, home-made desserts and artisanal coffees. As I browsed the menu, I found that they also have good range of western cuisine and a little fusion of Asian-Western and Mediterranean all curated with traditional and modern cooking method. I was beyond glad finding out that they're using Toby Estate's coffee! Always been a fan of theirs!

Hot Cappuccino (IDR 40k), Iced Cappuccino (IDR 40k)
Good coffee beans mixed with good brewing method resulting to me loving these! The hot cappuccino tasted a little stronger and bolder comparing to the iced one which heading to the milkier flavor. Aside from the cappuccino, they also serve Americano, Long Black, Flat White, Cafe Latte, Mochaccino, Classic Affogato and their very own Benedict Affogato!

Power Berry (IDR 55k), Cranergize (IDR 50k)
The Power Berry is one of their smoothies menu while the Cranergize is one of their mocktail selections. Strangely, the fruit based Power Berry used the Hazelnut milk but unexpectedly work! I like the freshness and the unique flavor, the presentation FYI made it looked like a healthy smoothie. The Cranergize had this pretty presentation with pomegranates in the lime skin, flavor wise it's dominated with sour character but refreshing!

Benedict Affogato (complimentary) - IDR 50k
It's nice of them giving this complimentary of Benedict Affogato! Unique presentation as it's not how I usually see Affogato. Instead of using Espresso, they're making the espresso ice crush and leaving the ice cream in the liquid form (but still cold). The flavor was beautiful. I love how the bitterness of the Espresso (and I mean really bitter) blends very well with the Vanilla ice cream resulting this good balance of flavor. I recommend!

Maple and Bacon
IDR 35k
Unique unique concept but again, geniusly it worked very well. The bacon was intentionally made to be a little saltier to create a balance with the sweetness from the beautiful Maple ice cream. Never had maple ice cream before and it was bloody good, almost milk and cream like but not overpowering.

Truffle Croquettes
IDR 40k
I love these balls, umm I mean macaroni balls! They're deep fried to a certain crispiness while leaving the inner part to be creamy. Since I don't like milky and cheesy stuff, this one wasn't my favorite, to give you the most simple picture, it's like a deep fried mac and cheese, but gotta tell you that the tomato jam was the shit...THE BOMB! Really love the tomato jam with sweet and a very little tangy flavor.

Scotch Eggs
IDR 35k
My latest trip to Broadway Market London introduced me to Scotch Eggs, it's a traditional European (particularly made famous in the UK) consisting of (usually) hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage but the Benedict's version was such a beautiful dish! Soft boiled egg wrapped in Chicken Hamburg with Katsobushi and Japanese Mayo dressing! One bite and it feels like a freaking burst in your mouth with all that flavors coming from the Chicken Hamburg, Japanese Mayo and the Katsobushi contributing to the aroma as well. I find it hard to emphasize this so I am using the most cliche expression: DELICIOUS!

Scotch Eggs I found in London

Eggs Benedict Florentine
IDR 85k
What's a visit to Benedict without having an actual Eggs Benedict? So far my favorite Eggs Benedict is still the one in Kempi Deli, since I haven't had it in a long time and sadly Kempi Deli is now being closed for clearing *sob*, this falls in second...or first. Whatever that is, this particular Eggs Benedict creation is a one yummy, addicting comfort food! The bread they're using is just crazy fluffy, good, puff like soft and aromatic. The texture of the bread works well with the Hollandaise sauce it's almost like a sponge! The eggs were fresh and perfectly runny, the baby spinach was also simple but good, and I was highly impressed with the smoked salmon: it had this chewy silky texture and very lightly seasoned, the idea of topping it with Tobiko was just *eemh* (expression of good and foodgasmic). MUST ORDER!

Pan Roasted Barramundi
IDR 110k
First of all, I found myself in between a dilemma about liking and disliking the presentation but nevermind about that. The pan roasted Barramundi was another exciting dish. Honestly the fish was good, but it's "that" good instead of "THAT" good. I was expecting more smoky flavor and bolder seasoning (wasn't sure if I had Publik Markette's earlier so I had high expectations, because that one was THAT good). The portion came with braised lettuce, potato foam, Tabouleh, kale chips, and a separated light broth. The potato foam was the bomb because it had the truffle oil infused, but I honestly didn't get the light broth as I didn't think it gave that much difference to the overall flavor.

Ban-A-Tella Crumble
IDR 55k

Whenever I see the world "Nutella" or whatever that is approaching "Nutella" like "Tella", "Ela" etc is such a master in making me curious because for me, Nutella never fails. I like the contrast of the dessert because the crumbs were crunchy in contrary to the moist inner. I suggest having one full bite because that's where the good part is: decent flavor and good texture. I expected the Nutella flavor to be a little bolder because somehow the Banana flavor dominated the overall, but I would still recommend this to you.

I am frankly very happy because these past two months I have been having, sampling, and tasting beautiful food. Those new restaurants opening certain have their own impression to me but Benedict certainly succeed in giving such a good impression, so far it's one of the best eats in 2015 and so far, meal wise, my favorite from UNION group restaurants. Food here is great but I am so surfing more as the names on the menu intrigued me - kinda have my eyes on the Foie Gras Rice and I'll come back to have that one -. Pricing wise, typical UNION restaurants prices, not the most affordable but okay.

Short to say, I am recommending this, finally a place serving real good all day breakfast menu and generally GOOD FOOD! CONGRATS (AND THANK YOU) FOR THE LAUNCHING! Chef Fernando and Ivan, you guys are doing good! Keep up the good work, the service and the good image and I believe you guys will last long. Keep up benedict-ed! Don't know what that means but I just liked how it sounded.

Thanks for reading! Mad sleepy now. Adios bitches!

Benedict
Grand Indonesia East Mall LG #37-#39
Jl. M.H. Thamrin No. 1
Jakarta Pusat 10310
021 - 2358 1238Opening Hours:
10 AM - 10 PM
Pricing: $$ / IDR 300k for two
Dresscode: smart casual
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