KAUM JAKARTA

A place worth to talk about always makes me excited to write a review. As you may all know, I'm not really that into food hunting anymore, but Kaum has been on my list since they opened its door. I think it's because their strong name in Hong Kong and Bali, and how they are under Potato Head management. 

Last Saturday, we happened to have something to do in the area, so it's a perfect time for first visit to Kaum. We finished our thing around 4 something, too early for dinner actually but because we didn't have any reservation so coming at 7ish on Saturday night might result in having our name in a long wait list, hence early dinner at almost 5pm works well for us.

Kaum nestled in this huge classic house turned to restaurant. I love how they didn't tear down the building and kept it original on the exterior. It felt so classic and homey with all the natural plants on the yard, where all the guests didn't waste time on having pictures, yet so charming with its high ceiling modern take on the interior.
Oh yes, 1/15 Coffee shop shares one place with them, so you can have their coffee while waiting.

I didn't get a chance to view the private room because of a private event was held during our visit, but peeking inside, the private room obviously has stronger traditional vibe while the main dining is more sophisticated. 

Ok, now onto the food. Kaum is an Indonesian restaurant offering food from all regions in the country. They have selections to choose from Central Java to North Sulawesi dishes. All the food are cooked with no MSG, palm oil and Iodised salt.

Sate Sapi Wagyu Maranggi IDR 175.000,-

The dish was inspired from Purwakarta, West Java. Chargrilled Wagyu beef satay marinated with ginger, garlic, lesser galangal and crushed pepper. Comes in 5pcs, the meat was tender alright, they came with side of diced tomato and sweet soy sauce and lime which you need to pour them above the satay to enhance the flavor. I know that many people are raving on the satay, but honestly for us, it was just okay. I feel for a 175k plate of satay, it needs to have the extra flavor and juiciness. I personally think if you don't want to spend too much on your bill, this one can be skipped. But again, everyone's palate is different. :)

Bebek Goreng Sambal Mangga Muda IDR 215.000,-

Inspired from West Java, served with urap vegetables and green mango chilli, this crispy duck is beyond good! Coming in half size, the duck was absolute tender on the inside, crisp on the outside. I'm not really sure on the cooking method, but it's like they smoked the duck first before fried them, making the meat inside so tender. It was my favorite dish among what we ordered that evening. 

Ikan Bakar Sambal Dabu Dabu IDR 200.000,-

Inspired from North Sulawesi, they used Barramundi fillet grilled and marinated with tamarind water and turmeric paste, served with vegetable salsa. They provide salt to sprinkle on the top if you wish to. I love this one too. The fish was very fresh, soft and smooth, well marinated that we didn't feel any need to sprinkle the extra salt.

Kue Lumpur Bubur Ketan Hitam IDR 48.000,-

We were very full from all the delicious main course, but I need to have at least this one dessert, just because I have been hearing so much about this one. So the dessert was a combo of mud cake served with black sticky rice. You can either spread the sticky rice on top of the mud cake, or having them by each. I was impressed with how smooth the mud cake was, it was moist, soft and warm and those black sticky rice with coconut milk did well on satisfying my cravings. 

They provide complimentary white rice for each table. Small gesture, but well appreciated. I also love how prompt the food serving was, and how nice and friendly the waiters were, but there was this one thing with their service that make Hubs and I felt a bit annoyed. I feel that I need to point out that I don't really like how the waiter keep on coming to our table to take the empty plates during our meal. It's different if it was a dining with concept where food was served by individual plate and they need to take your empty finished plate before moving on to next course.
This one, was a sharing plate where all the food were served in the center, and we don't like how when we finished with only one dish, they will like in a second, come and take the plate, so on for the second and third plates we had. It was so annoying that while we eat and having conversation, the waiter kept coming to take the empty plate. And then, just like it wasn't enough, one of them come with a table mop. I think it will be wiser if they let us finish our meal in peace, and then before we move to dessert, you can help us clean the table at once, instead of coming like 3-4 times during main courses, taking the empty plates like you ran out of clean plates in the kitchen.

Despite the small uncomfortable thing I mentioned above, we did have a good time, I think Kaum certainly falls on top of good Indonesian restaurant. The price might be slightly higher than affordable but I believe quality food comes with price tag. As long as it was worth the price, why not?

Thank you so much for reading! 

KAUM 

Jl. Dr. Kusuma Atmaja No. 77-79

Menteng - Thamrin, Jakarta 

Ph. +6221 22393256, +62813 81715256

IG: @kaumjakarta 

Opening hours: 

Mon - Thu 11am - 12mid

Fri- Sat: 11am - 1am 

Sun: 11am - 10pm