Have you tried Pastis? No, not the French liqueur, Mediterranean-come-Italian Kitchen and Bar at Aston at Kuningan Suites. Although this oasis is regarded as semi-fine dining, service, cuisine and decor oozes fine cuisine.
In Pastis, your derriere is spoiled for where to park. Choose to sit in the elegant bar where a bottle of Chivas 4.5 liter lives, (tempting, I know) in the nonchalant restaurant that we welcome very long table bench that encourages mixing on smaller tables that scan on a striking tree lined garden where you can relax comfortably on chairs under patio chic. The sight of white walls, white colonial-style windows and shutters, white kitchen cabinets filled with colorful fruits, hanging French ceiling fans along with pots, pans and utensils wrapped in grape leaves and dark beamed ceilings above the restaurant hit you all at once. This place is really charming and you feel like you're in the kitchen / dining room of someone (a very spacious one I might add) in the Mediterranean.
Courtesy of Pastis
There is also a self-lounge to the left of the restaurant where smoking is allowed, and weekend evenings a DJ house music turns his turntables to a crowd of young hip. During the day, the show feels very light and comfortable that the flow of natural light thanks to large windows white plaid with white colonial shutters romantic. In addition to all this, Pastis has its own wine cellar where you can buy very fair price of Italian wines, Chilean, Argentinean and Australian.
So what we eat at Pastis? I think the question is what do we eat? Smiley chef James tickled our pallets with a Brie salad and Apple with carpaccio of salmon and organic greens, and he delivered us with Homemade Gnocchi Gorgonzola Ravioli al Pesto Spinach USDA beef fillet which was cooked to perfection, chops' Australian lamb with mushrooms and thyme sauce, and instructions to "make room in your stomach for dessert," we spoiled with Vanilla Panna Cotta, Apple Strudel with Vanilla Gelato Italian and Hot Melt chocolate. This celebration was followed by a strong mix of Vietnamese and Italian espresso, which left us buzzing for the rest of the afternoon.
"We serve the best food at the best possible price," said GM Raymond Marcel Zuest, and just looking at the menu, you can see that this is true. A bottle of their house wine is priced of Rp.325,00 , their Rp.140,000 cheese board and for their new Acoustic Ladies Night on Wednesday, a sumptuous barbecue buffet only cost Rp.138,000 per head. That and complimentary cocktails from 6 -8pm for ladies accompanied by live acoustic music makes this an irresistible place to relax in a Wednesday night.
courtesy Pastis
Delicious and food unpretentious service with a smile, comfortable white and elegant setting that feels like nowhere else in Jakarta, a place to have a romantic candlelight dinner in a private garden (no offer, gentlemen?), and the head of smile James are just some of the many reasons to make a trip to Pastis. I also do not mention their happy hour every day, which is a staggering four hours (from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.) and tempts you with two beers projects for the price of one. Well, I really know where I go after a hard day at the office, right?