Riva

Mr. Foo and I went there for a special occasion :) I've been wanting to try Riva for a while, but hadn't got the chance to. Riva was rated as the best restaurant or the best French restaurant for years, thus I had a really high expectation for it.

It was located in the corner of the Ground Floor of The Park Lane. It didn't look grand from the outside, and the interior was not that exceptional. The restaurant was small and intimate. It was just like a high class French bistro, yet the vibe given was not too formal. When we were there, the restaurant wasn't busy. It was a weekday night after all. There were only us two and another couple.

From our table, we could enjoy the open kitchen and even somewhat heard the Chef giving instructions. And yes, it was the Executive Chef Renauld Le Rasle pictured. 

Anyway, Riva had 3 choices of tasting menu, ranging from 700ish to 900ish if I'm not mistaken for 7 courses menu (again I'm not quite sure). However, all of the people in the table were required to ordered the same tasting menu course. I wanted to try the basic one, which consisted of Escargots, etc, basic French food I assumed. On the other hand, Mr. Foo wanted to try the other one that had wagyu. In the end, we didn't ordered the tasting menu :'( It was because both of us just got wagyu steaks on our visit to Cassis two days ago.

Free Bread

Amuse Bouche

As usual, the amuse bouche was given for free. I forgot what it was. But I remember, I was reluctant trying it since it looked plain and I did not really know what to expect. Mr. Foo tried it first and encouraged me to try. It was indeed delicious!

Escargots - Rp 115k

Roasted Scallops - Rp 210k

We ordered Escargots and Scallops for our appetizer. These had to be one of the best escargots I had tasted. It was perfect to me and I loved the buttery sauce. Mr. Foo, a scallop freak, insisted ordered the scallops. Sadly, it just had 2 pieces, so we had one each. It was good, and I was not a fan of scallops to begin with. However, the ham(?) spring roll that was served together with the scallops didn't taste that good compare to the other food.

Veal Loin - Rp 455k

I ordered the Veal Loin medium. It was served with a small pot of seasoned vegetables. The texture was perfectly tender. Later on towards the meal however, the meat started to lack in flavor and became dry.

Trout - Rp 345k

I'm sorry for not remembering the exact names for the dishes :( Mr. Foo ordered the trout. I had a small piece, but I forgot how it tasted tho'. I thought it was quite good.

We didn't get the chance to order any dessert since I craved for a specific dessert somewhere else. 

In conclusion, the amuse bouche and the appetizers were super great. However, the entrees did not wow me. I still gave the benefit of doubt though. Overall, we really liked Riva. It met my expectation and definitely will come back for the tasting menu and the dessert of course. Oh well, the tasting menu had dessert in it :p

Riva

The Park Lane

Jl. Casablanca Kav. 18

Jakarta Selatan

Ph: (021) 828 2000

Cassis

Mr. Foo and I decided to go to Cassis for our late-Valentine's Day dinner on a Wednesday night. He suggested that we did not need to make a reservation, since everytime we went to fancy restaurants in Jakarta, the places were almost always empty. 

So on the day, we went to the restaurant. We walked through the hallway and saw Moya Tapas and Wine Bar and Harum Manis. But wait a minute, where's Cassis? We couldn't find it. Being desperately hungry and confused, Mr. Foo asked the waiter at Moya where Cassis was. Aaaannnddd it turned out that Cassis was under renovation!!!!

Anyway, he also mentioned that we could still order food from Cassis but seated in Moya. However, they did not have any available table at that time, and offered us to sit at the bar instead. I was sooo pissed off. It's not that I don't like sport bar, but I don't want to celebrate my Valentine's Day watching soccer match. I thought he knew that I wasn't happy, so he offered us to be seated at Harum Manis, instead. The three of them was under the same management.

It was about 8.30 p.m. and I was so hungry, so going to another restaurant was not an option. So we decided to get seated at Harum Manis instead. The ambience in Harum Manis was nice, actually. I could smell sheer Jasmine aroma, and it put me at ease in no time.

Mr. Foo was like debating with himself whether we should get the Tasting menu or just ordered the a la carte. In the end, we decided to just order from the a la carte menu since he really wanted to try the Grade 9+ Wagyu.

Escargot - around Rp 150k

We had the escargot as an appertizer and it was soooooo good!!!! The shells were already peeled off the snails, and they add those crumbs on top which made it had a different feeling than the usual bread topping.

Wagyu grade 5 cooked medium - around Rp500k

I'm sorry for not remembering the menu details (name, what's on it, etc) and the price precisely. It was my best try :( 

Anyway, my steak was HUGE! I couldnt finish it, but it tasted good. It came with mashed potato with black truffle sauce.

Wagyu Grade 9+ - around Rp 800k

Mr. Foo's wagyu was cooked either medium or medium rare. It was juicy and tender. I forgot what it came with. But to be honest, both of the steaks we're not really memorable, even though they were nice.

We didn't get to order any dessert since it seemed like we were the only customers left, at the time we finished our steaks. Note to self: ALWAYS make a reservation, anywhere, anytime. I learned it the hard way.

All in all, other than the incident, which was our fault to begin with, the food experience was satisfying. We planned to visit it next time once they're done with the renovation (around June 2011, if I'm not mistaken) to try the Tasting menu.

Note to management: I hope they utilize the website more.

Cassis 
Pavilion Apartment Retail Arcade
Jl. KH. Mas Mansyur, Kav. 24
Jakarta Pusat 
Tel: (62-21) 5794 1500