CAFFE MILANO GRAND INDONESIA - JAKARTA

First of all, the first few paragraphs is my thought, not exactly about this particular restaurant.

I’ve always loved eating, I think you guys know about it.

I love exploring new places, I think you guys clearly know about it, and how kiasu I can be whenever there are new places opening, but lately I’ve been thinking and wondering if I am really enjoying the scene. I know I am happy wandering around Jakarta and eat, but lately I don’t know if me, personally really entertained with all those glamorous new restaurants opening and what they have to offer, because frankly speaking, I am quite hard to be impressed but when I do, I will rave so much about it.

It’s not often that some of the new restaurants opening turned out to be just the typical good looking restaurants with disappointing food and service. There are so many things that could be wrong but throughout this blog, I am telling you WHAT I FELT AND EXPERIENCED on the day of my visit, things could go better and worse in the future and I am sorry-not-sorry if in the future I didn’t manage to go back and updated, and no I am not judging, I am sharing, so either you go with it or leave whatever I wrote here out of your brain and trust some other sources.

Anyway, don’t take it emotionally, I am actually writing it feeling very neautral while wearing the lumpiest cloth I have in my drawer while sipping on my Nestea Iced Thai Tea I bought in Thailand. LOL.

Okay, back to the main focus, I’ll be talking about this new establishment by the UNION group. I don’t know if they’re expanding a little too fast because after UNION DELI and BENEDICT, even before the hype got the chance to slow down (well hopefully never), here comes CAFFE MILANO.

Caffe Milano is located (again) in Central Department Store, I don’t know if the department store itself actually sells well or the crowd came just for the restaurants, but I got a good feeling there must be profit sharing tsk tsk! Okay, I must be completely honest here and this is my thought. The first time that I noticed even before the ambiance was this yellow light surrounding the area! As someone who loves taking picture and enjoying restaurants’ ambiance, the yellow canopy wasn’t my favorite thing! It’s horrible for photo taking and when the sun’s on its lightest it could illuminate this neon-yellow color that’s sort of displeasing to the eye, and on my visit, the weather wasn’t the nicest, it started off raining very hard and in 15 minutes suddenly went moist and hot and that’s when the sunlight was shining brutally bright. Trust me, most of the photos here have gone thru major editing to leave out the yellow.

The interior design somehow reminded me of UNION Plaza Senayan, only this one happened to be a little more vintage and moody, but still very chic, stylish and classy! And since UNION PS happened to be one of my most favorite restaurant’s interior, I am loving it. They also have a bar area where you can sit more casually while having your choice of drinks!

Iced Cappuccino

IDR 30k

Loving how they put the balsamic vinegar and olive oil on every table. Perfect dip for the complimentary bread (see below).

Complimentary Bread
Super love the complimentary bread!!! It’s not often that I am impressed by simple complimentary bread, but this one, with the crispy surface, swirly-fluffy inside and how they’re seasoned, left good impression for me. In a way, the bread tasted a little like pizza with chili flakes.

I guess the name of the restaurant gave you the idea of what they’re (mostly) serving here, yup, it’s Italian cuisine with pasta and pizza as their highlights. The choices for both seemed quite inviting but I managed to try out some of their best sellers, due to the limited “storage”, I didn’t order any special mains, so I guess I’ll keep that for upcoming visits. Oh, the executive chef of Caffe Milano is Chef Luca Pezzera who used to be the head chef in Scusa at InterContinental Jakarta MidPlaza Hotel and over the last 20 years, his experience included some he earned in Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, Istanbul, Dubai and of course, our beloved city, Jakarta ;).

Veal Ragout Linguine with Sun Dried Tomato

IDR 125k

I have never been really a fan of tomato based pasta, especially when it’s plain and watery. The sauce’s created from tomato and minced veal and I was glad that they made it thick and sort of creamy (ragout type)!!! The linguine was perfectly al-dente and this dish was seasoned beautifully, just savory, meaty and interesting flavor and very fresh! MUST TRY.

Assorted Mushroom Pizza with Truffle Oil

IDR 135k
Crispy dough with generous Mozarella cheese, mushroom topping! So damn happy that the truffle oil dressing was generous as well it’s almost drenched! Tip for better eats: apply two rounds of olive oil dressing on top!

Homemade Angel Hair Pasta with Black Truffle and Light Butter Sauce

IDR 175k
Was quite surprised when Chef Luca came to my table and gave this as a complimentary (thanks Chef!). The angel hair was so so good! The texture of the pasta was amazing and my amazing means not exactly thin, fluffy and chewy, konyaku like but not exactly konyaku, okay the explanation gets confusing. The light butter sauce was also beautiful, indeed very light but creamy without overpowering my palate which usually very contrast to the flavor of milk, butter and cream. Pricing wise, since they're using an expensive ingredient like Black Truffle, it's a little hefty.

I don't know if you can communicate people to understand how rare and exclusive black truffle is, but I honestly think, besides the target market, not a lot of people seemed to care.

Tiramisu Tradizionale

IDR 80k
Hands down, the Tiramisu was such a perfect sweet ending to my lunch! Short to say, one of the best Tiramisu in town (true Italian did know how to make the perfect ones, didn’t they?). The Mascarpone cream was creamy and the flavor was perfect to me because it’s not that milky and buttery! The cake was very moist and kind of wet, but it’s good because you kinda get that beautiful balance from the creamy part and the wetter part. DAYUM!

As expected, the hype of Caffe Milano was immense! When I came for lunch, the tables were almost fully booked, couldn’t imagine how it’s on the weekends. Based on my visit, the food here was quite tasty & service was nice. Pricing wise, not the cheapest, but what I ordered seemed worth it tho. Just like what I mentioned, there’s that classy feeling to this restaurant, so you might want to dress up a bit as I think shorts and sandals are not allowed here.

Best of luck and will be back for the mains!

Caffe Milano
Central Dept. Store Ground Floor, Grand Indonesia Shopping Town
Jalan M.H. Thamrin No. 1
Jakarta Pusat 10350
021 - 2358 0638
Opening Hours: 10 AM - 2 PM
Pricing: IDR 500k for two
Food starts from IDR 85k - IDR 300k
Drinks (cocktails) from IDR 100k - IDR 200k
Dresscode: sporty casual
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Map for Grand Indonesia Shopping Town