TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Do not get confused by a metal placard says “The Maja” in front of the restaurant. The Maja is the name of the three-story building that houses Blue Jasmine restaurant on Jalan Kyai Maja 39, South Jakarta.
Despite the name that would remind us to the title of a comedy movie directed by Woody Allen, the manager Toni said that the restaurant is not inspired by the movie. Instead, blue jasmine is the icon of the restaurant. Many wares used by the restaurant having details of this beautiful jasmine.
From the outside, the building looks like an old house during the colonialism era with art deco style. It is simple and classic at once. But when we inside the building, numbers of oriental ornaments such as ceramic vases and urns in white and blue are displayed in the lobby.
There are two rooms in the restaurant which each has different concept. After the main door, there is a luxurious semi-fine dining room. As far as the eye can see there is only white interior design.
Among the appetizers, there are two prominent names: Gado-gado Rujak Pengantin and Beef/Chicken Satay Pizza. The ‘pengantin’ (bride) is intended to reflect the dish which is a fusion of two local cuisines: gado-gado and rujak. It consists of variety of fruits and vegetables with spicy peanut sauce.
We ordered the other menu, Beef Satay Pizza (Rp95,000). At first, I pictured the dish as a panfull of thick bread with several sticks of satay as the topping. Turned out, the pizza bread was replaced with crunchy crepe.
On top of the wide crepes there are small slices of cucumbers, red tomatoes and grilled beef that are a bit scorched.
“I took out the satay sticks to make the appearance better,” said Budi.
Budi had smeared mixed sauce of peanut and curry on top of the crepes before baking the pizza in the oven. After the pizza is done, the same sauce is smeared again.
The unique flavor immediately became my favorite. Crunchy crepes with a touch of spicy-sour flavor is proven good to be matched up with grilled beef. Sadly, the salad on the pizza is easily fall apart that it rarely landed in my mouth.
ISMA SAVITRI