ORIENT 8 HOTEL MULIA SENAYAN JAKARTA

I had lunch at Orient8 last week and it was my first time visiting this glorious looking restaurant. It's THAT glorious that when I first stepped my feet in, it got me thinking "damn this is where I want to spend my Christmas dinner at!" (and probably eventually will). That first photo above would probably make you think the same way too... it's just that what's more beautiful than having a beautiful Christmas tree as your view while you're having a sweet dinner at a romantic venue. I super love the ambiance of this restaurant, it's just luxurious, classy but in a way super homey and comfortable just how I like it. I have always loved a touch of luxury on things and just like Orient8, it got me hooked! So far just so good!

For those who are not aware, Orient8 is actually Hotel Mulia's very own reputable French-Pan Asian restaurant and it's located on the same level as their (also reputable) Asian restaurant, Table8, there's actually a connecting path to Table8 via Orient8 and trust me when I say that Table8 is just as awesome looking as Orient8, but since I wasn't actually eating at Table8. I couldn't comment much on the food.

If you haven't read my post on where to have Christmas dinner this year, then you should and I just updated the list!

The extravagant entrance. It rings fancy big time. Even though I didn't see any dressing requirements, but assuming from how the restaurant looks and since it's in a such gorgeous hotel as Mulia, then I guess a "sporty casual" dresscode should be appropriate to match.

Tour de Orient8! I learned that during the making of this restaurant, some of the staffs actually travel the world and literally travelling in search of inspiration and authentic items to contribute on the restaurant's decoration, well, in a way, the good old classic Mulia (because they've been doing that on their properties and dare to spend much on such things!), and that's why you're going to see some original antiques on the restaurant such as the mirror, the articles and the illustration. Speaking of the illustration, since this restaurant is actually Western-Pan Asian restaurant, the illustrator who worked on the ceiling painting was actually very creative, and here you're going to see Napoleon Bonaparte wearing cool trendy glasses! (photo below).

 This spot was one of my favorites in the restaurant, it's just white, glam and romantic. Loving how they added a simple little detail like the red rose that emphasized the beauty of the overall.

 Besides the normal dining area, they also have the "Coco Suite", which normally become the perfect venue for groups or private events like private wedding reception, The "Coco Suite" could accomodate up to 100 people and this venue was so beautiful I fell in love on the first sight. You know me, when simple meets glamorous, it's just beautiful without being overdone! 

 The Coco Suite also had the access to the manmade garden with birds flying around it. I love seeing and realizing the fact how this is their home.

Besides the Coco Suite, they also have the Marie and Louise suite. I didn't take any pic of the Louise suite but what I can tell is that the Louise suite had this upside down lamp in the venue, and the one you're looking at right now is the Marie suite. The Marie suite was slightly smaller than the Coco suite and perfect more private events with less scale.

Before we proceed to the beautiful lunch dishes, I want to take you on a little tour of the Table8. To bring up the Asian ambiance, they placed the Pagoda replicas as you can see on the photo below. The tallest one (in the middle) taken around 6 months to make - now that's one hell of a commitment -. The table setting was simple but had this expensive touch to it, again because of its signature simplicity.

 Besides the ala-carte menu, they also have buffet selections and you can easily upgrade to include the buffet in your dining, once you do, say hi to the access that you're getting like these sweet treats!

 I am such a detailed person not only on the food, but the service detail as well, well I could say that I was quite impressed with the service here, the butler was very attentive and good in doing the service, even when asking if I want still or sparkling water, this is the typical fine dining hospitality detail that is essential for me.

 For the lunch, I experienced the Business Bistro set and that's IDR 350k++ (before tax) per person. They have three package for this, but certainly I would go for the Business one because it's my standard to have appetizer, main and dessert on a single dining (or the dessert can be substituted with cheese but no way in hell I am opting for that!), the other package only had one main, and the other one had no dessert.

I had lunch with Mika but truthfully speaking, I didn't try any of his food so I couldn't comment and I wouldn't lie with the flavor, but my friend told me he was satisfied with the food here so I guess, it was such a Mulia lunch for him.

Carpaccio de Beouf
This was my friend's order, the beef actually looked promising so I assume this should be good.

Salade de Crabe
I opted for this Dungeness Crab salad for the appetizer and it was the bomb! The presentation was very beautiful and top notch one, not only the presentation that captivated me, the flavor was also very delicious! I love how the texture was smooth but sort of creamy and how tasty the seasoning was! It was seasoned lightly allowing the natural crab meat flavor to still stood out! The little green drops was actually basil drops with rich basil flavor and the Granny Smith apple jelly used to add the texture in contrary with the smooth and gooey celery roots remoulade. This was a beautiful dish and I love having them altogether! It felt to me like a very conceptual but in a way, flavorful dish everyone shouldn't miss!

Aloyau de Beouf Grille
Just when I thought that this was just thin-sliced beef cuts, but as I went along, it was actually a very fulfilling protein: both the portion and for my palate. Even though this portion was accompanied with the Hollandaise sauce, but I must say that I was pretty impressed with the standing alone steak! The salad side was also fresh, as well as the tomato with crumbs.

Gambas Flambee
Pan fried jumbo shrimps with Americaine sauce and Pilaf rice

Tarte Aux Pommes de Soeurs Tatin
Caramelized apple tart with Vanilla ice cream. LOOKS YUM!

Fondant au Chocolat
I opted for the classic Hot Chocolate Fondant for the dessert and I was quite surprised that this was incredibly lovely! I was surprised because normally, I know what I am expecting from the common chocolate lava cake but as standard as how it turned out, I always manage to order it as the ultimate guilty pleasure/sweet closing to my meal, so when a classic chocolate lava cake could impress me, that means it's freaking YUM! The chocolate was rich, the sweetness was perfectly balanced and not overpowering my palate, most importantly, it didn't proceed to make me bloat, well I was really full then but it was a very happy & satisfied full.

Okay here's the thing, when you know you're eating at a place that serves the not-so-normal hot chocolate fondant cake - and I mean it in the most amazing delicious way -, you don't have to worry about the rest of the dishes!

 The presentation was very beautiful and it's accompanied with one creamy Pistachio ice cream and it was another mazor yumstar! The Pistachio ice cream was flavorful, natural and not just some essence bullshit.

 MONEY SHOT! The shot behind so many likes on Instagram HAHAHA!

Had a pleasant time having lunch here and I am surely going back for more! I hope this will help you in deciding where to go for Christmas dinner (which is 5 days left if you had this on the 24th!). Short to say, this is simply the perfect venue for me and my lunch was just perfect <3.

Orient8
Hotel Mulia Senayan Jakarta
Jalan Asia Afrika Senayan
Jakarta Selatan 10270
021 - 574 7777
email: info@hotelmulia.com
Pricing: $$$
Dresscode: Sporty Casual
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Map for Hotel Mulia Senayan

BRANCHE Senopati Jakarta

Another new establishment in the Senopati area, say hi to Branche Bistro! Senopati is really going crayzeeh, less than a week ago I blogged about this new restaurant called Sake+ and yet another new joint is opening.

This French themed restaurant is located not far and align from Emilie - which for me personally one of the best French restaurants in town to date - The exterior looked interesting with dark colored irons creating this form and pattern of simplicity, sophisticated and posh, but when you step inside, the atmosphere was actually way homier and in a sense, unexpected.

The seating next to the windows are always the best <3. They're not a fine-dining restaurant so you don't need to feel intimidated, their concept is Bistro so you could just grab a meal, had a little chat and leave :).

Bar area.

They are still on the pre-opening days so only the first floor (out of three) that's operating, let's say they could accomodate around 30-40 people right now, but soon will be able to accomodate up to 200. I was taking photos of the first floor when suddenly whom I assume the manager approached me and asked me if I wanted to check out the rest of the building, and didn't I introduce myself as a blogger (just so you know).

I love how they're using the irons creatively as stairs, rest assure this is completely safe and not shaky.

Yes, the second floor was still on the construction and instalation process, almost done actually just needed a little finishing touch.

I love the outdoor seating... only when Jakarta's weather's not a bitch. Could be stinging hot during the day.

The third floor will be the area for private events, judging from the stage and the area, this could be perfect for birthday parties or any private events for let's say 20-30 people. They also have few VIP rooms on their second floor.

Since I'm guessing you're hungry already, let's proceed to the F&B! Their menu is currently very limited: 5 appetizers, 5 main courses, few drinks and 2 desserts (if I'm not mistaken). I had a lunch just before visiting this and since some of the menu that I wanted to order wasn't available, I stick with several options.

Ale Tropical
IDR 52k
I love this drink and this was very refreshing, fruity, fragrant and sweet! They told me they're using Ginger Ale here but I didn't really hint that on this particular beverage, however it kinda reminded me of this long childhood ice that we used to eat straight from the plastic (don't know what to call it but it's not es mambo but you have to cut the top part of the plastic)...err whatever. I think this one's pretty good.

Carlito Punch
IDR 52k
This one was the Branche Bistro's version of good old fruit punch: fruit juice and fruit puree topped with vanilla ice cream. This had sweet and sour in it but overall tasted pretty natural. The Vanilla ice cream really gave that cherry on top touch as it added the creaminess to the overall consistency which I found good. Another decent drink for you to try.

Crispy Dory Finger
IDR 62k
I have always loved fish and chips and I had this as an appetizer but minus the chips! One bite of this and I knew I just restored my love for Jakarta's deep fried dory! It's hard to find a decent fish and chips here, either they're bad or they're worse and eventually keep on coming back to Fish&Co, this is probably why they're very successful, but this particular one from Branche, wooo so damn good. It was perfectly crispy on the outside and smooth, juicy, silky meat. This came with Tartar dipping sauce. Total must try!

Now this is effin deep fried Dory!

Stuffed Chicken Breast
IDR 85k
When this got served to the table, this looked promising, and boy it was! The chicken was juicy and tender (but it'd better if they could make it more tender), the skin was semi-crispy but still on a good state that I personally like. The stuffing was (mostly) spinach and paprika, pretty good but I would love it even more if the stuffing was more generous, however, the mashed potato was smooth, a little lighter than most I've had but pretty tasty.

I must say I had a good visit to Branche along with good lunch: good food and good drinks, but I couldn't say that they're crazy good because I hardly try a lot of dishes, but from what I experienced, this restaurant's quite promising. If you've been here, you can share your experience on the comment box and tell me what you think about this restaurant.

Their operational hours currently starts from 4 PM - 12 AM (daily), cheers to another new joint in Senopati! GOOD LUCK!

UPDATE:
Paid the second visit to this restaurant and I must say I must quite disappointed with the performance. I re-ordered the Crispy Fried Dory and it felt like two completely different meal! The skin wasn't as crispy (wasn't even close to crispy) as before. I also ordered their burger but I felt that it was lack of the kick factor , the meat was a bit dry and overall was just okay. However, I honestly thought their Crispy Barramundi was quite nice with crispy skin and silky fish meat, and I loved how they manage to execute mashed sweet potato and pineapple puree as the dressing. Going to post the pics later because my laptop just recovered from a terrible error I had to retrieve the old photos FML.

Branche Bistro
Jl. Senopati No. 33 (align with Emilie)
Opening Hours: (currently) 4 PM - 12 AM
For reservation: Gina - 0812 1064 4017
Price Range: IDR 80 - IDR 300k
Dresscode: Casual
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Map for Emilie