Mangia Grand Indonesia
8:00 PM
Located on the 5th floor of one of hippest malls in the heart of Jakarta, Grand Indonesia, and armed with intriguing decoration, Mangia certainly looks promising. After all, a restaurant surely could not open a second branch when the food is not good, correct? We have read some positive reviews regarding both branches (the first branch is located at Panglima Polim) and got curious on whether Mangia would measure up to the buzz. So, shall we?
We arrived at around 2pm and there were 5-6 tables occupied, which is pretty good for weekdays. The exterior was adorned with stacks white brick-shaped tiles that made one think of the famous Pastis bistro in NYC. Meanwhile, the interior was decorated with various ornaments: hanging rattan hampers, colourful deer head hangers, flowers, and lots of cactus. The use of deers and cactus confused us for a second, we wondered where exactly they were trying to go with the decor. Eclectic was perhaps the closest word for it, but the combination was just... so out there. Don't get us wrong, it was cute. But different. In a weird way. Or we were putting too much thought into it. Hahaha!
And can we talk about the chairs for a second? The chairs were way too high. Although we are probably distant cousins of the Hobbits when it comes to height, the chairs at Mangia Grand Indonesia were extraordinarily high.
There are two areas for dining, you can either choose to sit on the outside -where you can see people walking around- or inside -which obviously is more private.
As for food, we decided to try their Lunch Promo Set Menu (12-3pm, Monday till Friday). There are two choices: Nasi Jeruk Sambal Dori + Ice Tea or Spaghetti Cream Basil + Ice Tea, both of them cost IDR 50k. We decided to order latter option. Spaghetti Cream Basil was basically a spaghetti carbonara cooked with basil leaf, beef ham slices, and mushrooms. The pasta itself was al dente with the right consistency, but we thought the dish could use a little bit more ham and seasoning.
And then we tried their Pesto Rice with Grilled Chicken (IDR 56k), pesto fried rice with grilled chicken and salsa on top. The chicken was sadly dry and overcooked. The pesto fried rice was okay, it was also too dry for our taste and lacking 'oomph'. We were quite shocked to find spicy 'traps' in the form of small pieces of cayenne pepper. Mangia put a little chilli icon on the menu beside the name of each dish that they considered as spicy, and this pesto rice didn't have that icon.
To clench our thirst, we ordered Tropical Twist (IDR 28k)- besides ice tea from the lunch set menu, of course. The drink was made from lychee, lime juice, and mint leaf blended together. We had mixed feelings about this drink. At first we felt that it was overly sweet, but it really helped when we got 'bombed' by the spiciness of pesto rice. So, thank you Tropical Twist! ;)
Finally... Dessert!!! We love dessert so much, so we were hoping that ours would taste great! They name the dessert we ordered Sweet Lava (IDR 46k), which we initially thought to be Lava Cake (chocolate cake that oozes gooey chocolate when you cut it). Sweet Lava was apparently very different from Lava Cake. It was a baked cinnamon bread with caramelized banana and coffee ice cream on the side. Hallelujah... This one tasted great! The coffee ice cream was smooth and creamy, while the banana was sweet and not soggy. Plus, we don't think we've seen much of this kind of dessert at other restaurants. Yay!
Final words! We honestly don't know whether we'll come back to Mangia Grand Indonesia again or not, but we're glad that we did try.
Cheers!
A & M
Mangia
Grand Indonesia West Mall, 5th Floor, Jakarta, Indonesia
Opens daily at 10am
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