The Goods Diner

The Goods Diner was the first start-up before they branched out as Goods Café.  Had been hearing how good it is but was too lazy to visit the Diner due to its location. Unless you are working or staying around the Fairgrounds/Kuningan area.

Lucky for me, my host was able to drive me around there, even though, our initial plan was not the Diners but Lucy in the Sky which was on 2nd floor. However, I felt it was such  a disappoint at Lucy within less than 5 minutes; we decided to abort the visit and went to Diner. It was a heavenly contrast indeed! Was so happy to have my meal here.

 

 

The staff were excellent; they were courteous, professional, attentive and friendly. I could not find fault with their service at all.

Food selection as we know are a mixed of local and western; I would say most of it were good, at least from what I'd tried. Always order their Arnold Palmer Ice Tea to go along with the meal at The Goods.

What I liked about the Diner was the spaciousness of their restaurant with its high arc ceiling in simple and rustic décor yet feels modern.

It is obvious why the Good Diner is still popular amidst the stiffer competition in Jakarta F&B scene nowdays. I would love to visit the Diner for the Nasi Goreng Kampung which was no longer available on their Café version.

Nice Signage

 

 

Full height window from street view



The Big Menu but it was well organized



Spaciousness of the restaurant and loving those big arches



Simple furniture yet feels modern

Simple black shelving unit for the planters, works as divider to dining area here

Arnold Palmer Ice Tea...afterward, I was a bit confused with their normal Ice Tea, seemed not much difference ??

The Calamari, it was good! 

Shrimp Scampi Angel Hair

Grilled Shrimp, Garlic, Chili Flakes

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pasta; somehow, The Goods has done it so good. The grilled shrimp with aglio olio style angel hair pasta was not like other pasta. It was not oily, springy, tasted the spiciness but not that spicy and that garlic aroma was so inviting



General Tsao's Chicken

Marinated ginger chicken, sweet and sour sauce, chinese fried rice

It was another good dish to try!



Penne Duck Curry Linguine

Duck crackling, lychee, cherry tomato, thai red curry

An interesting combo to make a tasty pasta indeed!

 

 

The Goods Diner

Fairgrounds, SCBD Lot 14

Tel: +62-21-5152969

 



http://www.thegoodsdiner.com/

 

Opens for :

Weekdays from 8 am to 11 pm

Weekend from 8 am to 2 am

Salt Grill by Luke Mangan @ Jakarta

When I read Salt Grill by Luke Mangan was going to open in Jakarta, it really caught my eyes. It seemed Jakarta F&B scene really caught investor eyes to open this upscale fine dining restaurants.

Following the same concept as his latest opened restaurant in Singapore, Salt Grill Jakarta is located on top floor of the Plaza, latest skyscraper of office building and prestigious apartments link to a upscale shopping mall, Plaza Indonesia.

Turned out, Salt Grill was not the only restaurant on the Altitude, name of this top floor area. There are 3 restaurants here, including Salt Grill; all related to Singapore restaurants. Gaia by Oso Ristorante presenting North Italian cuisine, Enmaru presenting Japanese cuisine and Salt Grill with its modern Australian cuisine.

I was surprised to see how all restaurants were quite packed that night. Interesting concept indeed, three different designs yet blended in quite well as one area.

Our table proved to be a good table indeed, I loved how Salt Grill Jakarta had a different concept than the norm. Instead of putting the table right to the window, it was pulled back and gave us a different perspective of the Table by the Window phrase.

The price was exactly on Singapore standard, I was indeed surprised, my host mentioned, it considered too steep then as in norm, it should have lower price than Singapore. It made sense as cost of living there is still lower than Singapore.

Service was good, same excellent standard as in Singapore restaurant. It seemed they were trained well, still got a sense that they were still a 'newbie' but they did know what to do and offered.

All of us ordered the same dish that night so not many photos to share here. Next round, I would be happy to visit Salt Grill again and other restaurants at the Altitude.

These restaurants at the Altitude are really the game changer in Jakarta F&B scene. It is getting more excited to visit Jakarta for its dining venues. But, it also made me amazed on the confidence in opening such a fine dining restaurants with steep pricing in a city where social gap is still huge yet they do see the market for those who can afford to dine here day by day.

The woodcraft as the wall panel was really reflection of Indonesian woodcraft work. Impressed

The wine storage cart near the entrance

Great detail to this staircase bar, the staircase that next to entrance and wine luggage compartment

The steel partition really caught my eyes, elegant yet striking partition design

Having an aisle by the window and pulling back the tables were something new that I encountered for the phrase of Table by the Window

View from our table to the city night view

Gorgeous view 

Another view 

Another reflection of Indonesian craft on the ceiling

Another beautiful steel handicraft as window panel adornment

Modern yet simple circular glass lighting

The U-shape sofa seating for 4 pax

Candle on our table as darkness slipped in

Serving counter behind our table and other tables

 

The big graphic on far end of the wall

Staircase to the bar area ?

Our wines

Mocktail of green apple and parsley, refreshing drink

Bread serving plate

Same standard of the soft bread and its vinegar and nuts dips; Salt Grill has the best breads to offer

Our medium well steak with red wine sauce and another with BBQ sauce served with green beans

It was cooked as requested, the sauce was good; it certainly made us full to order any dessert

Cute restroom signs

Glimpsed to the different area for another restaurant, next to the entrance 

The Lift Lobby, thought, it was so striking to see the wall artwork. Quite puzzled to see why they selected these tree wallpapers

Salt Grill Jakarta by Luke Mangan

Altitude

The Plaza, Level 46 

Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28-30

Jakarta 10350

Indonesia

Tel: +62-21-2992-2448

http://saltgrillindonesia.com

Opening hours

Sunday to Thursday from 11 am to 11 pm

Friday from 11 am to 12 pm

Saturday from 11 am to 2 am

Odysseia

Odysseia, first time I saw it, I immediately thought what a difficult name they chose and what relevance would they have from that name to the restaurant itself.

It was newly opened, around courtyard area next to Galleries Lafayette at Pacific Place mall. I was a bit apprehensive to try the restaurant as few tell tale signs of this may came out as 50-50 chance of being a good restaurant could be felt since the beginning.

First sign was from the uncertainty look and body language of the waiting staff. We were told, at 6 pm, the venue was full and we reserved for 7.30 pm. Came back on time and was shown the table.

The menu was the normal western menu with a slight Indonesian name or touch into the dish. 

We called in the staff for ordering, she looked a bit perplexed but still coming to us, he didn't have a note with him but we thought this was the norm nowdays in Jakarta, which I personally dislike, preferring my order to be noted down.

Around 5 minutes later, another staff with different uniform (?) came to us and asked all our orders one more time. Well, well... I guess, it certainly showed, the owner didn't train their staff properly and it again showed, the owner may lack in experience as restauranteur.

Another 5 minutes later, the 2nd staff who took our order 'clarified' our drink order again. 

It certainly puzzled me, unless you are confident that your staff are highly trained in taking orders without notes (memorizing) as what they are doing in fine dining restaurant then I would highly suggest to train your staff in taking small notes for orders or for a more advanced and systematic would be the handheld devices. Even, fine dining restaurant sometimes failed the diners with this memorizing order taking, like Pollen at Garden by the Bay (in my blog)

Surprisingly, the food came promptly and it was actually quite good and the drink too.

We didn't linger long as it actually felt humid, not breezy as it was intended, I guessed...

This was one example of a restaurant opened not with a good preparation and value on proper training on its human resources to bring good service. A good restaurant is not always based on its good food, to compete, you have to strive with an excellent service in order to survive.

The pair of owls were so cute; seemed the theme here were of Owls and Rabbits

Intimate setting

Starlight, starlight on the ceiling

It did seem a cozy place to have a chat in a breezy evening

Centre area to accommodate bigger group in sofa arrangement

View of the gate as the entrance to restaurant

It seemed the opposite area had the starlights lighted on; so, the one on my side with only a quarter that was on made me thinking whether the ones on my area was faulty or they thought of saving electricity as it was near the Gallieries entrance which shone so bright ?

But, it did defeat the purpose of having those installed in the first place

The Menu

Rabbit, Rabbit on the Odysseia

Ice Tea with Lychees

Orange Juice

Mushroom Soup

It came in quite a big portion, creamy and thick enough

Quite a good mushroom soup

Aglio Olio Angel hair pasta with crab meat

It was pretty good too

Grilled Salmon

It was cooked evenly and the puree was cooked just right

Odysseia
Galleries Lafayette - Pacific Place
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53
Jakarta 12190
Tel: +62-8119590668

https://www.facebook.com/Odysseia.id http://www.galerieslafayette.co.id/marque/odysseia/

Opening Hours from 11 am to 11 pm