ONE of the places we visited during our trip to Indonesia was Kota Tua or Old Town Jakarta. The area is the original downtown area of Jakarta, Indonesia and it contains Dutch-style structures that date back up to the 17th century.
The center of the old town is Taman Fatahillah, the historical center of the old town. When we visited the place, it was already evening and the town square was filled with Jakartans who were spending quality time with their friends or family.
Fronting the square is the second oldest building in the area. This is the home Cafe Batavia, the restaurant where we will have a meal on our last night in this bustling city.
I just love the old school feel of the restaurant. From its furnishing to the ornaments that are decorated throughout the restaurant. One of the interesting pieces here is the framed portraits. When you flip them, you will find the old menu of the restaurant.
Once seated, we started ordering our dinner. The restaurant serves a variety of Indonesian and Javanese cuisine that I am excited to try. For my dinner, I ordered the Mie Goreng Komplit, Sate Ayam Madura, and Green Blend Lassi.
Mie Goreng Komplit is stir fry egg noodle with sweet soy sauce, deep-fried chicken, and crispy prawn. I enjoyed this noodle dish. For the most part of the trip, I have been ordering different versions of the nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) but for my last meal for this trip, I opted to go for the noodle dishes. It was flavorful and sweet. The deep-fried chicken and the crispy prawn added texture to the dish.
Since we are in Indonesian, I have to order the classic satay. The Sate Ayam Madura is char-grilled chicken satay with peanut sauce and soy sauce. Instead of having rice, I ordered a rice cake instead to go with the meal. The chicken satay was delicious. It was savory, sweet, and nutty. I also liked that smokiness coming from the charring of the satay. It was also nice to the rice cake into the sauce of the satay.
The Green Blend Lassi, which is plain yogurt, peach, and basil leaf, was a refreshing drink to beat the heat of Jakarta.
Prior to leaving, I also ordered their Java coffee. The coffee was quite good. It kept me awake the whole flight back to the Philippines.
It was a nice dinner at Cafe Batavia. Being located at the old town Jakarta, it seems like we were having dinner at a different time. The food was great and I enjoyed every bite of it.