Bistecca PIK Avenue

Bistecca is an Italian-American steakhouse and Martini bar that is inspired by the upscale New York steakhouses of the 1950’s. After establishing themselves as one of the best steakhouses in Jakarta with their SCBD location, Bistecca opened their second location at PIK Avenue Mall in November last year.

Staying true to their SCBD’s location theme, the interior of the PIK Avenue location is also mid-century inspired. Dining tables and plush dining chairs are complimented with black leather sofas, a cocktail bar and shelves of books that are reminiscence of a living room and a private home library of an affluent homeowner from the era where they usually entertain their guests. The space feels elegant, intimate and definitely upscale but without the pressure of having to dress up too much to dine in at the establishment.

The Ambience

The dimly lit space creates a romantic atmosphere that is perfect for a date night or an intimate meal with friends and family. Personally, I do think it is a bit too dimly lit to the point where it almost feels like a blackout (especially with the type of candles provided on each table) and flashlight from your phones might be required to read the menu. But even so, it makes a perfect venue for a candlelight dinner (quite literally). Plus, the noise level at this place is low, which is always preferable for me. The music that’s playing in low volume in the background makes it easier to talk to your dinner companions without having to engage in a shouting match across the table.

The Food

Spaghetti Aglio E Olio (225k) | (9/10)

Spaghetti Aglio E Olio with Hokkaido Scallops.

Al dente spaghetti, nicely cooked scallops and the dish was well-seasoned.

USDA Prime Beef Rib-Eye (300 gr) (655k) | 9/10

The meat was perfectly cooked, juicy and tender with crispy crusts.

Shoestring Truffle Fries (85k) | 8/10

Creamy Parmesan Spinach (95k) | 9/10

Charcoal Grilled Broccolini (110k) | 9/10

Overall Experience

I had a lovely dinner at this place. The service was good. The servers were polite and friendly. The food came out pretty fast after I placed the order. One thing to note is that the air conditioning at the restaurant was pretty cold when I was there so if you get cold easily, you might want to dress accordingly. And the air con did make the food get cold faster. So if you want to have everything while it’s pipping hot, maybe ask the server to bring the dishes in waves instead of serving it all at once.

But overall, definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for a great steak house in Jakarta or a nice restaurant for a date night.

 

Bistecca PIK Avenue

Address: PIK Avenue Mall, Ground Floor, Jl. Pantai Indah Kapuk Boulevard, DKI Jakarta 14470, Indonesia
Hours: Everyday 11:00am - 12:00am

Instagram: @bisteccajkt
Menu

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Phoenix Gastrobar PIK

Phoenix Gastrobar is a newly-opened luxurious bar in Golf Island PIK and is the newest addition to HW Group’s extensive F&B portfolio. Located between the Golden Tiger and Gold Dragon PIK—which are also owned by the HW group—Phoenix Gastrobar has ample sofa seatings, two bars, live music stage and private dining and karaoke rooms.

I got to visit the place during their soft opening earlier this week and I have to say the place has one of the most impressive interior design out of all the places I’ve been to in Jakarta. The high ceiling, the angular shapes of the balconies as well as the diagonal narrow stairs that connect one floor to the other, combined those with dark brown wooden panels, big marble fountain, leather seats, gold brass fixtures and warm yellow lights, they certainly give this place a distinct unique character. Einstein Architects really did a great job in designing this place and I’m predicting that this will be one of the biggest reason for people to come visit the bar.

Since I visited during their soft opening, most of their menu were still unavailable so I don’t think I can give a proper review on the food and beverages for now. But if you’re into cool interior design, I’d totally recommend you to check this place out. Phoenix Gastrobar just had their grand opening today (10 Feb 2023) and is now open for public.

 

Phoenix Gastrobar PIK

Address: Ruko Golf Island. Jl. Pantai Indah Kapuk No.183, 14460, Indonesia
Telephone: +6281119225168
Hours: 12:00pm - 02:00am

Instagram: @phoenixbar.id

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Humbolt • 훔볼트

Humbolt (훔볼트) is a dessert cafe in Seongsu-dong (성수동) that has been around for quite a while now. My first visit was in 2017 and they’re still operating until today, so it really says something about the place.

Decorated with sleek gold and marble interior, the cafe occupies a three-stories space that has plenty of seatings ranging from working station style seating, casual meetup seating and outdoor seating if you prefer to enjoy the weather outside. They sell a variety of coffee & non-coffee drinks, desserts as well as bread and pastries.

To somebody who doesn’t drink coffee like me, finding a cafe that has a pretty extensive non-coffee options (and by extensive, I mean they have other menus than the generic chocolate or matcha latte) is somewhat hard. So I was pretty happy when I see that Humbolt (훔볼트) offers quite a bit of non-coffee options. I tried their Rose Latte (장미라떼) and it was actually pretty good. The temperature was just right, not too sweet, the forth is light and foamy, and it came with rose petals on top of it. It was perfect for a cold day.

If you’re looking for a dessert cafe with non-coffee options that has plenty of seatings for casual meetups or working session, I’d definitely recommend you to check out this place. And oh, I think they also have live music session as well, but you might want to check out their Instagram or call them up for more info on that.

 

Humbolt • 훔볼트

Address: 서울 성동구 성수이로 58 1층
Telephone: 02-462-5122
Hours: Everyday 10:00-22:00

Instagram: @humbolt.cafe

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Cafe Onhwa Seongsu • 카페온화 성수점

With the souffle pancake craze that was happening in Seoul in 2019, Cafe Onhwa (카페온화) is one of the places that’s well-known for their amazing souffle pancake. I first came to know Cafe Onhwa when I passed by their Ikseon-dong (이선점) location. Didn’t get to try it then, but instead, ended up visiting their Seoung-su location (성수점) months later with my friend.

Cafe Onhwa Seongsu (카페온화 성수점) occupies a spacious first floor of a building located right in the middle of Ttukseom Station (뚝섬역) and Seongsu Station (성수점역) of subway Line 2. The open-concept cafe is decorated with marble surfaces, wooden chairs and tables, off-white single sofas, and its signature gold countertops and accents spread all over the cafe. The place feels modern and sleek but nostalgic at the same time.

The entrance will lead you straight to the coffee bar/open kitchen where you can place your order and watch the barista making hand-drip coffee or making your souffle pancakes.

There are plenty of seatings available in the three sections they have in the cafe. One is the coffee bar area where you can sit right in front of the hand-drip coffee station. You can watch the barista in action or see the roasting room behind you.

The second area is the one right to the entrance, next to the roasting room. This area accommodates more people than the counter seating.

Lastly is the area left to the entrance, which is the biggest seating area in the cafe. On a side note, the single sofas and tables are pretty low, so they don’t really make a very comfortable setup for eating (or working/studying). It’s okay for drinking coffee but it was a little awkward for me and my friend when we were eating our pancakes. But overall, the interior is really nice and I also like the high-ceiling that they have, making the cafe feels more open and spacious.

Since my friend and I came to try the pancake, we ordered their popular menu, the Plain Souffle Pancake (플레인수플레) to share. We also ordered On Hand Drip (핸드드립 온) for my friend and Matcha Latte (말차라떼) for me.

The souffle pancake came with caramelized bananas, whip cream and syrup on the side. And oh my gosh, it was gooood. The texture of the souffle was super fluffy and soft. It’s almost like you’re eating clouds (well, maybe a slightly firmer clouds). It wasn’t too sweet (we didn’t pour all the syrup though) or too white-eggy (if you know what I mean) and the whipped cream was also so soft. The caramelized banana has more of a crunchy texture, giving it a nice contrast to the pancake. Overall, I liked it and I get why it’s so popular. Definitely recommend trying their souffle pancake if you’re visiting their cafe.

 

Cafe Onhwa Seongsu • 카페온화 성수점

Address: 서울 성동구 아차산로 78 1층
Telephone: 02-461-0031
Hours: Everyday 11:00-22:00

Instagram: @onhwa_cafe

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Bamvoo Bakery & Brewing • 밤부 베이커리 & 브루잉

Passed by Bamvoo Bakery & Brewing (밤부 베이커리 & 브루잉) one day at the end of one of my exploration session around Hapjeong (합정동) and decided to check the place out. The cafe is housed in a retro looking two-story house with a pretty spacious front yard that has a long communal table and smaller outdoor tables spread around the area.

The first floor of the cafe is decorated with marble countertops, rock stone coffee bar and bamboos lining up the wall, a nod to its name I assume. The seating area isn’t too big. It fits about 16 people or so and they have a section where you can sit in front of the window facing the front yard which is pretty nice.

On the second floor, there’s this interesting room that’s decorated with vintage teal wallpaper, furnitures, lamps and chandelier where they display their bakery items.

I just left a cafe before I stopped by this place so I didn’t dine in, but I did buy some of their croissants to go and ate them later that evening. And they were really good. Wouldn’t mind going back to this place to get some more of their croissant and maybe try their other pastries as well next time.

Note: Photos were taken before the pandemic.

 

Bamvoo Bakery & Brewing • 밤부 베이커리 & 브루잉

Address: 서울 마포구 월드컵로5길 33-23
Telephone: 02-3144-0446
Hours: Everyday 11:00-22:30

Instagram: @bam_voo

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