OLIVIER GRAND INDONESIA JAKARTA

Hello! 

I know I haven't been writing much but it still shocks me to learn that my last post was more than two weeks ago. Things are just crazy at the moment. My hands and brain are both tight up that writing just seems to be least on my mind now. 

If you're an avid fan of Grey's Anatomy, you would be familiar with this line "It's a beautiful day to save live". To copy what McDreamy loves to say, then mine would be "It's a beautiful day to write". :)

So, just yesterday I have a lunch date with Hans at the newly opened Olivier at Grand Indonesia. Initially I wasn't even want to try as the exterior isn't that enticing. It was small and a bit dark that people who don't take notice would have easily passed by them. But I'm glad I did though as the place turned out to be gorge! The interior is surprisingly quite large with a stunning semi alfresco dining on the back. It's like a gorgeous back yard with many decorated plants and bright natural light. Super love the glass ceiling!

I was thrilled to find the area that comes with natural light is meant to be for non smokers. Finally a place where non smokers are rewarded with prettier spot in the room. I think the glass ceilings are using some kind of tinted windows, as we  had our lunch during noon time around one pm and we didn't feel any heat. I just adore the pretty chic ambiance.

Smoking area next to the bar

Olivier is an European theme based dining with fusion menus of French Italian and Asian twist. The menu selections are quite impressive, I love how they twist the usual typical menu to be a bit unusual like the spaghetti with sambal terasi and Hainan style risotto. The owners behind Olivier aren't newbie in F&B department as they are also the people behind Garcon, Rustique, De Luca, Monolog and Immigrant.

Always love a complimentary bread at Italian dining, especially if it was as good as this one. My kind of sourdough bread. 

We started our lunch with Smoke salmon, creme fraiche, truffle oil on salt & pepper short bread (80k). Love the clean presentation and the taste! Me likey the shortbread with biscuits texture. It felt like a lighter version of biscotti. The salmon was a good compliment, it amazes me how salmon always works on almost anything. The creme fraiche was not really overpowering to me on first few bites, but then it felt too cheesy that I have to get rid of the cream. It was a great starter, the salt & pepper shortbread with a hint of truffle oil was definitely the winner. 

We chose the Hainan style risotto (125k) for one of our main courses. I have never try risotto with an Asian twist, so it was a good find. Normally I never ordered risotto as they often cooked in creamy sauce which doesn't work for my palate. Olivier's Hainan style risotto comes with roasted chicken and steamed asparagus. The chicken was cooked right and I personally like the flavor of the risotto. It has these nice textures with aromatic Hainan flavor. I think it's a smart way to elevate a standard Hainan chicken rice to a more classy one. 

Our other main course, Pork chop with apple sauce, mashed potato and french bean (310k) wasn't disappointing as well. The thick cut was terrifying, I tend to like thinner cut when it comes to pork chop, but they nailed it on the temperature. It was tender and not at all dry. The mashed potato was a bit lack of flavor, but in terms of the texture? Perfectly done, you won't find any lumps. 

I love it when I don't put much expectation and then it exceeded one. I wouldn't say the food are super great but  I have a lovely lunch and could easily see my self coming back for another visit. 

Thanks for reading, thanks for staying. :)

OLIVIER 

Grand Indonesia Shopping Town 

UG Floor, West Mall 

(Next to Mad For Garlic)

Jl. MH Thamrin No.1 

Jakarta 

Ph. 

IG: @olivierjkt 

Price range: 70k - 300k