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Jakarta Dining |
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trend has its good days and its bad days. Bell bottoms, VCDs, Beanie
Babies all had their fifteen minutes of fame. Culinary trends also
have expiration dates. Hailed by Jamie Oliver, then slammed by Anthony
Bourdain, a trend can be smooth as silk one day, to a curdled, stinky
lump the next. It’s rough being the new kid at haute Cuisine
High. If and when you are accepted by the cool crowd, you are always
at risk of being cast back to the loser table in the cafeteria. |
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But then there are a few trends
that, though they’ve gone sour, aren’t thrown
out with Saturday’s fish. Though deemed so ‘not
cool’, for one reason or another, they are still worthy
enough to hold court in culinary vernacular. Like the token
nerd in 80s movies that gets to hang with the jocks, even
if only to be the butt of jokes and designated driver at keggers.
‘Fusion’ is one such trend term
that has become every chef and food writer’s whipping
boy. Uttering it in a positive light only invites looks of
disgust. So much so, in fact, that it begs the question: Is
‘fusion’ the new ‘F’ word?
But before we slap on an ‘R’
rating, we should remember that, as with most expletives,
its crassness depends on the context. Fusion used by lazy
chefs to while away boredom – or to use up food that’s
about to go off – is unacceptable. But what if the ‘fusion’
is used to make a spectacular atmosphere that is magical,
inventive, sexy and oozing with exotic flavour. Then, is fusion
okay? |
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Design-wise, Samarra is a stunner of restaurant whose decidedly
Arabic décor is accented with Indonesian touches:
unexpected splashesof colour, opulent statues, traditional
artwork. On the other hand, the fare is mainly Indonesian,
sprinkled with a few traditional Middle Eastern foods. But
you will be spoilt for choice as the menu – which
is so big it feels like you’re cracking open an ancient
Book of Spells – is packed with lists of options.
And in the spirit of food sharing fun, the menu is conducive
to ordering a whole lot (be it Indonesian or Middle Eastern)
and then digging in with your hands and trying a nibble
of this and a nosh of that.
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But
if you find yourself overwhelmed, I would recommend focusing on
the ends of the menu when ordering: opt for the appetizers and then
desserts or drinks. The mains are too heavy if yu’re dining
alone and if you’re out with friends, chances are you’ll
fill up on all the mezze-style starters (like hummus and tahine),
so there’s no need to fuss with bulky mains. And you’ll
be astounded by the size of the serving dishes: huge heavy ceramic
containers that could have previously housed a Jurassic potted palm.
In other words, they take up a lot of room on the table and serve
as a barricade between you and the dishes on the other side of the
table. So keep this in mind when ordering. |
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If you opt for the local fare, you’ll
no doubt want sate and, boy, do they have sate. As | scrolled
through the menu, I was reminded of the scene in forrest
Gump where he’s rattling to his friend, Bubba, all
the different dishes you can have with shrimp:’Shrimp
Scampee, Fried shrimp, Shrimp Gumbo, Battered Shrimp’.
Well , at Samarra, it’s ‘Chicken Sate, Sweet
Beef Sate, Goat sate, Wagyu Tenderloin Sate, Black Angus
Tenderloin Sate, Lobster Sate, Squid Sate, and of course…Shrimp
Sate’. The sates comes with caveman cuts of meat on
hefty ornate skewers (that would serve nicely in an impromptu
medieval sword fight) and are served a choice of sauces
ranging from your no-frills sambal and peanut sauce to three
types of curry – as well as zesty relishes of young
mango or tangy starfruit. Western tastebuds that require
familiar flavours can opt for the black peppercorn, hurb
butter, honey garlic BBQ, Dijon mustard or Bordeaux sauce.
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if you prefer your Bordeaux in a glass, and not on a piece
of skewered meat, you can sip away on the restaurant’s
al fresco rooftop wine lounge. Adorned with Arabic lanterns
and positioned just so that it catches a great evening breeze,
it’s a very cool place to kick-back and enjoy a pre-
or post-dinner cocktail. But while the setting is really sexy
and romantic, the traffic from the street below the noisy,
so I wouldn’t suggest it as a place to propse marriage.
But for an evening with friends, it is a great way to spend
and evening.
So while it might not entirely make sense
– this Indonesian/Middle Eastern theme – the core
elements are still there: the eating style is fun, the foods
is decent and the décor is knock-your-socks-off beautiful.
So, I say, fuse away! |
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