Well, the food served in De'Kafe are really tasty to the point its experience is more fullfilling than staying.
Kitchenesia.com - Mercure Hotel Cikini, a four-star hotel on Cikini district, Central Jakarta, has much to recommend it: strategic location, family-friendly activities, and traditional ambiences.
We love how this hotel gives an urban feel that is suave, yet with a local thouch, though it lacks in peacefulness, one crucial thing that urban people look for.
And now Mercure Hotel Cikini has another draw: stylish design and local-touch dining at De'Kafe.
Read More: Mercure Hotel Cikini Central Jakarta, A Chic and Lively Hotel Beautifully Done
De'Kafe is overseen by Chef Herwan Setiawan, a passionate chef nurturing his culinary skill for over 10 years. According to small talk we had, he was a child growing up with street food around his school, and love to see how those foods were prepared by abang-abang (metonym for male street food cook) in front of him.
Joining Mercure Cikini Hotel in early 2019, he began to bring street food to four-star hotel tables. Of course, his street food redintion is given with a presentable visual without reducing local touch.
If you wish to have a lively dining, De'Kafe delivers but certainly not the kind of intimate dining where you can whisper and share a heartfelt conversation.
The restaurant is located next to liveliest part of hotel: lobby and lounge. Pushing open the doors, the lobby and longue boost a strong traditional feel with lemongrass fragrant and ethnic carpet.
But still, with minimalist furniture and two PC units, the front part still makes me feel like in a modern era.
The detail doesn't extend to corner of the rooom where De'kafe is nestled. It is a vintage, wood-clad dining area with more casual atmosphere that manages to be both elegant and comfortable. De'kafe is actually small, but manages to look spacious thanks to partition and food tables that placed conviniently. A half of chek-in table is used to place coffee machine and juice dispensers. Everything at De'kafe is utilized effectively, and it succeeds to strike me.
Kicking off was Ayam Taliwang, a Lombok-origin dish with chicken, generous explosion of sambal matah (shallot and lemongrass sambal), and lalapan (raw vegetables) that act as side dish and garnishes. Its sambal matah is poured freely on chicken, tempting me to run my finger round it. It tastes fresh with little hotness, quite surprising since the original sambal matah has burning taste.
De'Kafe's ayam taliwang is fried, unline the original one which is processed by roasting. For me, it doesn't matter, but for some people might find it disheartening, definitely. Every portion of ayam taliwang is served with half of chicken. I think it is the only aspect everyone will love.
A big serving of Nasi Goreng Cikini consisted of a bowl of fried rice with sunny side up on top of it; two prawn skewer whose texture is almost meaty to the point I was mistaken it as fish; and prawn crackers full crunch and obviously, saltiness. It tastes simple, but the color combination and seemingly unmatched dishes blend together to make it special.
Read More: NUSA Indonesian Gastronomy Shows Wonderful Sides of Indonesian Cuisines You Just Cannot Resist
Fried rice is my comfort food, but I've eaten awful lot of fried rice over the past few years. I've eaten so much of it to the point I've had many nights where I had hard stools. This was the best plate of the stuff I have eaten in years.
Our meal in De'Kafe at Mercure Hotel Cikini was faultless and as pretty as those foods were tasty. Despite being a regular visitor to Cikini district, I have never heard of De'Kafe, yet it proves to be another gem – probably to cover for the need of peacefulness we found missing.
