Kitchenesia.com - NUSA Indonesian Gastronomy is the opposite of any Indonesian cuisine restaurants out there. Indonesian restaurants usually offer openness – even the dishes are often displayed in the front windows for everybody to see.
NUSA, on the other hand, looks more like a concealed house of rich Dutch nobles during 18th century. With asian-style double doors overlooking big pillars, its facade reinforces an impression of a luxurious lodging rather than a place for eating.
From design alone, NUSA juxtaposes eastern and western, old and new aesthetics. It is quirky and pretty, and each decoration is an amalgamation of two contrasting styles melded into one. For example, there is a long bench cushion that is very European, but using traditional fabric motives for the cushion. The unexpected combinations are certain to start conversations at any dinner party - if you're one who's into that kind of social thing.
Contrary to what sniffy foreign gourmets might believe, Indonesia does have a lot of traditional cuisines – besides what foreigners know from CNN: rendang and fried rice.
Chef Ragil, the man behind the pan, attempted to wipe this assumption through menu he curated. Thus, it is not an exaggeration to say that NUSA is the only place for underrated traditional dishes to have stage presences.
Relying on sources that range from her mother cookbooks to friendly conversations with farmers, he tracked the interaction among these forces from pre-colonial to the present. That’s why he named the restaurant NUSA. The menu encompasses all of cusines throughout the original Nusantara region: from Indonesia to far north Southeast Asia country like Thailand. But still, Indonesian cuisine is more highlighted here.
