CAFé GRAN VIA
AT GRAN MELIá JAKARTA
Café Gran Via, the all-day dining buffet restaurant at the city's famed Gran Meliá Jakarta in Kuningan's prime golden triangle central business district, has brought a new level to Indonesian dining. Offering an extensive range of local culinary creations, the restaurant takes guests on a sumptuous spice journey with its Fri-Yay Rasa Indonesia theme every Friday evening.
The dishes were carefully created and curated by the skilled kitchen team, who each recreated a food from their childhood and then refined the selection to present diners with an array of tantalising choices. The buffet is designed to showcase the ambience of Indonesia's towns and villages with traditional décor and food carts alongside some live-cooking stations that bring the bustle and fragrances of the kitchen into the dining area.
Among the mountains of temptations are all-time-favourite rice dishes such as Yogyakarta's sweetly savoury nasi gudeg with its stewed jackfruit, egg and other condiments, as well as Bali's nasi Bali with its selection of accompanying dishes. All made from the best quality ingredients and with some regional specialities carefully sourced and brought in by hand, including Bandung's warming ginger-based drink bandrek, there are plenty of classics on the buffet. Don't miss the vibrant BBQ station with its grilled ribs penyet-style and selection of satays, as well as the deeply marinated and grilled kambing guling – a treat that is especially popular during fasting month.
Simple dishes found throughout Java and often sold in hawker centres and on the streets include soto mie Jakarta, bakwan Malang, tahu gejrot, kerak telor and mie bakso sapi.