We're
reaching the end of 2016 and I haven't finished the big 10 that would fill up my
"best restaurant 2016" list, and you know me, if by the end of December 2016 I
couldn't find the restaurants that fit my criteria and finish the list, then
there will be none, but this particular restaurant restaurant that I am
reviewing to you right now has the potential to be sitting gracefully on the hot
seat, and would you be surprised to know that as this post is written, a 15-year
old own this restaurant? Okay keep reading ;).
Expatriate
first introduced themselves and their existence on April 2016. I don't know why
a lot of people refer to them as a coffee shop because to me it clearly is not,
well I mean they serve specialty coffee but after my visit it's actually more
like a semi-fine dining
restaurant
which served coffee. The
interior of the restaurant rang humble and absolutely homey, especially the
outdoor area (dedicated for smoking guests) which kinda gave me this Bandung
cafe vibe with all the simple deco and decent amount of green surrounding the
area. If you're an Instagram foodie who care so much about your pictures then do
sit outside as the lighting on the indoor area was dimmed and warm.
Talk
about their indoor area, it did has this Italian-French bistro look to it that
even though it's dimmed and dark, but homey as fuck, it's almost like you're
eating at someone else's house (or kitchen) with cooking pans hanging, a live
kitchen and bar and nice air conditioning, the only thing that I expected to
experience was the good jazz lounge music to support the ambiance. Also around
their indoor dining area: a mini bakery/patisserie and a mini wine display
located around the main entrance.
As
for the food, they serve mainly Western (Italian-French) cuisine with special
breakfast menus that you can find from 8 AM-3 PM daily. From their breakfast and
all-day breakfast menu list you can find selections of American Breakfast like
Eggs Benedict, Sunny Side Up (or customized eggs like scramble, omelette, egg
white omelette, and over easy), Toto Eggs, Expat Gourmet, California Style Toast
and assorted soups.
To
kickstart your meal, it's suggested that you warm up your palate with selections
of appetizers and I highly recommend their Escargot (more below) or if you fancy
something else they also have selections of garlic breads, bruschetta, avo
toast, pan seared foie gras and cheese platter. I have such big appetite and
sometimes appetizers are not even enough for me and I need something heavier but
not exactly main courses AND they happen to accomodate that! Expect to find
various salad creations, calamari, onion rings, nachos, mini fish & chips,
mozarella cheese stick, chicken wings, fried mushroom, truffle fries and more ok
I'm hungry.
For
heavier bites, here you can find various options of burgers and sandwich, pizza,
pasta, main courses (protein courses) like fish, meat, poultry. Ok enough
yakking pictures!!!
Complimentary bread: warm, fragrant, fluffy you can't
complain.
Escargot
- IDR 55k
For
IDR 55k, this was surely an affordable Escargot (French snail dish), they
perfectly cooked the Escargot and they weren't overly firm and delicately chewy,
but I gotta give it to the seasoning and generous amount of butter as they were
altogether savory, salty and absolutely delicious, that's how you cook escargot
damnit!
Mushroom
Ravioli with Alfredo Sauce - IDR 92k
The
Ravioli skin had the spot on texture: firm with beautiful thickness, thick
enough to hold the quite generous filling (considered generous for that size).
The butter sauce was cheesy & savory in the same time.
Meat
Lover - IDR 98k
Their
Meat Lover pizza was indeed dedicated literally for meat lovers, it consist of
beef salami, sausage, crumble, tomato sauce, mozarella cheese and oregano,
altogether delicious guilty pleasure and everything that I like in a single
serving. I appreciate simplicity and I like to keep it lowkey when it comes to
my pizza, I mean sometimes you can be creative and shit but I always go back to
what I initially really like. and that is pizza with generous meat and cheese
toppings, it's all about flavor!
Aus
Black Angus Tenderloin - IDR 248k
Now
to my favorite dish of my lunch that day: the uber tempting looking 200 gr
Tenderloin wrapped with bacon and served on top of mashed potato, asparagus and
homemade sauce. You should always order medium or medium-rare for your steaks
and please don't go with medium well you're ruining the meat. As you can see on
the cut steak, the center was perfectly pink (that's how you cook steak damnit!)
and it was so tender that chewing the steak was barely a chore. The sauce defo
gave you a little enhancement to the meat but honestly I can still live without
it.
Crepe
Cake with Ice Cream - IDR 45k
Such
a simple and safe dessert but undeniably sweet and satisfying: crepe cakes
drizzled with chocolate sauce and paired with vanilla ice cream on a cone
bowl.
Thank
goodness I found Expatriate just in time before I release my "Best of 2016" list
and will this make it in the list? You gotta have to wait for the official
entry! What I can tell you is that I was highly satisfied with my visit,
especially after being skeptical beforehand (I wanted to get this habit off me
but I couldn't help it), it's surely one of the best places to have "serious"
food in Kelapa Gading and one that I would happily recommend you guys going. I
am so coming back to try more of their food, especially their pasta since I am a
pasta person tbh.
BEST
OF LUCK!
LIVE UPDATES ON
SNAPCHAT: STANISLAUSHANS
Expatriate
Restaurant
Boulevard
Raya QF 3 No. 11 RT. 11/12
Kelapa
Gading, Jakarta Utara 14240
021 -
4585 0388
Opening
hours: 8 AM-11 PM daily
Average
spending for two: IDR 300k
Dresscode:
none
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email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com
Map for Expatriate
Restaurant
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