Jl. Suryo no. 38
Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta Selatan
Tel. 720 1244
It’s hard to tell who started the trend (Laksana in Blok M comes to mind) but non-pokey, non sauna-in-the-middle-of-the-city buffet style Sundanese and Javanese out-of-towners are taking over Jakarta. Amidst all this, Bumbu Desa distinguishes itself from the fray by actually knowing how to cook.
It’s not the first to be slick — dark wenge wood panels, honey rattan chairs and overblown sepia tinted photographs of “glamorised” folks people used to be all the rage and Sambarra takes the cake in their ode to vernacular “minimalism” — but the food here is really that good. And people do storm the place at all hours.
The deep fried fish with sambal sauce (ikan mas goreng cobek) is tops, and they play with parboiled peanuts for textual fun; and the tutut, not the first daughter of a certain embattled (and now deceased) ex-president but pint-sized snails doused with a robust Soto Betawi-style spicy coconut cream gravy, is a polished take on lowlife.
For more interesting flavours, try the udang rarong, a mountain of shrimp deep-fried to a crumble and a sweetish oncom concoction — fried cakes of fermented peanut residue, or the material that is left after the oil has been extracted — mixed with all the other sambals. Most of the sautéed vegetables are crisp and confident — try all of them if you will: tumis genjer, tumis leunca, tumis keciwis, tumis bunga papaya, tumis daun singkong. The sayur asam is a slight deviation for being overly sweet despite the right consistency, but most of the deep-fried staples such as tempe mendoan — a Banyumas specialty of thin, fermented soybean cake lightly deep-fried in rice flour batter — are on the mark.
Floor coordination can be a bit messy, and double orders often result. But four of you can dine like kings just under Rp 150,000, and this is, after all, middle class territory, so expect no social uprising to come out of here. Man has to eat — and all the better to do so to the fevered shouts of wilujeng sumping and give the Japanese a run for their money for a change. Also on Jl. Cikini Raya no. 72, Jakarta Pusat, Tel. 390 4747.
Price range: Around Rp 148,000 for 4
Operating hours: 10:00 – 22:00
Dress code: casual
Atmosphere: generic Sundanese modern
Alcohol: N/A
All major credit cards accepted
Reviewed: September 2007
Selain menerbitkan seri Jakarta Good Food Guide yang telah memenangi sejumlah penghargaan, Laksmi Pamuntjak telah menghasilkan dua himpunan puisi, Ellipsis (salah satu buku terpilih harian The Herald UK tahun 2005) dan The Anagram; sebuah karya filosofis tentang manusia, kekerasan dan mitologi, Perang, Langit dan Dua Perempuan; dan sebuah kumpulan cerpen tentang lukisan, The Diary of R.S.: Musings on Art.
