Casual Italian Dinner at Porta Venezia, Hotel Aryaduta Semanggi
8:00 PM
Italian cuisine is, more often than not, everyone’s favourite. Considering that, it’s not a big surprise that there are a lot of Italian restaurants across Jakarta, and Porta Venezia at Hotel Aryaduta Semanggi is one of them. One of my friends told me this restaurant served good quality pastas and pizzas, so I decided to pay a visit.
LOCATION AND DECOR
Porta Venezia is located on the second floor of Hotel Aryaduta Semanggi, right behind Atma Jaya University. It is placed exactly in front of the elevator and the name sign is pretty big, therefore it’s unlikely that you’ll miss it. It can accommodate a maximum of 120 people.
The decor actually reminds me to old buildings in Europe with their beautiful fresco ceilings. While in Europe the ceilings usually depict skies and angels, here at Porta Venezia, the ceiling shows a beautiful vineyard. The restaurant faces the swimming pool, although at night you can’t see much. In my opinion, I feel that Porta Venezia is trying to capture that romantic, fine-dining feeling (with the use of low light and everything), but it makes the restaurant a little bit gloomy instead of fine-dining.
THE FOOD
Similar to other decent Italian restaurants out there, the first thing served is complimentary bread. Since I came in a group of three, I got to taste three different types of bread: sesame, black sesame, and streusel (bread with some sort of crumbly topping), which the waiter claims to be the favourite. The streusel bread is honestly a tad to sweet for me, and I prefer the other two.
Similar to other decent Italian restaurants out there, the first thing served is complimentary bread. Since I came in a group of three, I got to taste three different types of bread: sesame, black sesame, and streusel (bread with some sort of crumbly topping), which the waiter claims to be the favourite. The streusel bread is honestly a tad to sweet for me, and I prefer the other two.
Tuscan Penne (IDR 85k). It is a penne pasta mixed with tomato sauce, sun-dried tomato, and a little bit of grounded red pepper. I’m not sure how tuscan sauce is supposed to taste like, then again I assume Italian food is generally not that spicy and so tuscan sauce should not be that spicy… But to quote Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk, this tuscan penne is “hot damn”! Maybe the recipe is modified to cater Indonesian diners? Maybe.
Carbonara Spaghetti (IDR 85k). The carbonara sauce is pretty good! I also like the ratio between the bacon and the spaghetti: each spoonful of spaghetti is always accompanied with a small strip of bacon. The cook is also perfect, not overcooked nor undercooked.
Aglio Olio Fettuccine (IDR 85k). Out of all the pastas, this one is my least favourite. The taste is somewhat plain, and the way the garlic is cut is not my preference. The garlic is usually crushed and chopped into pieces, but here the cut is pretty big.
Pizza Funghi (IDR 90k): crispy wood oven pizza topped with tomato sauce, sliced mushroom, and mozzarella cheese. This pizza is good! The thickness of the pizza and the amount of the tomato sauce are just right. And it’s kinda pointless to ask me about the taste of the mushroom because I love all kinds of mushroom! The size is perfect for sharing between two people, but it’s all right if you wanted to devour the whole thing by yourself. :D
Pizza Margherita (IDR 70k): crispy wood oven pizza topped with tomato sauce, sliced fresh tomato, basil, and mozzarella cheese. This pizza is a bit meh to be perfectly honest. It’s okay, but it’s not memorable to say the least. It lacks… something. A little more sourness and a little less salt would have done wonders, I believe.
Flavoured Ice tea (IDR 46k): a blend of tea, ice, and fruit compote. There are some choices: lemon, lychee, apricot, peach, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and cranberry. The taste is just ordinary compared to the price. The fruit compote itself somehow feels more like food flavouring. Or syrup.
Regular Hot Tea (IDR 35k): a sachet of your choice of Dilmah tea, served with a pot of hot water. There are plenty of choices: Herbal (Chamomile and Peppermint), Gourmet (English Breakfast, Earl Grey, and Darjeeling), Green Tea (Jasmine, Moroccan Mint, Green Tea), and Fruity (Lemon, Peach, Mango). If you liked Dilmah tea, you’d love this. Obviously.
Porta Venezia
Address:
2nd floor Hotel Aryaduta Semanggi
Jl. Garnisun Dalam No. 8, Karet Semanggi
Jakarta 12930, Indonesia
Phone: (021) 2515151
Web: Click Here
0 comments