Caffè Batavia — Restaurant in Brussels

IMPRESSIVE!

As Indonesian living in Germany, it‘s really hard to get good Indonesian foods to fulfill ur cravings, i usually go to The Netherlands just to get those happiness. Then i went to Brussels to visit one of my friend, and ended up finding this amazing place.

It‘s the first Indonesian Resto-Cafe in Brussels (or prolly in Belgium?) located in the center, and apparently just 5mins from the apartment i lived so its just the best😂 i stayed there for 3 days and visited this place for 3 times, so u know my friends and i are really in love with this place😉

They don‘t have a hundred different menus on the card like normal asian restaurant has, but because of it, they really put a huge effort on every menu they have, u can definitely taste it!

For the whole visits, me and my friends have tried quite many things they have. -The Brown Sugar Ice Coffee☕️ (9,5/10), Indonesia has really good quality of coffee and u can also taste it in this coffee, so don‘t forget to get one! Less sweet bc they use brown sugar instead of normal one👌🏻 -Ice Matcha Latte🍵 (9,3/10) was also super nice and made quite well👌🏻 -Homemade Ice Tea (8,5/10) nice and fresh, less sugary and bit sour makes it perfect to drink it in hot summer time😉 -Croissant Pandan🥐 (9,8/10) AMAZING! The croissant dough is so perfect, is crispy outside and soft inside, the pandan filling was just make it so perfect, i‘ve never tried sth like this. I‘m a huge fan of croissant, and this croissant just hit another level😋 -Tempe Mendoan (8/10) is kind of Indonesian snack made by tempeh, fried, u can choose either u want to make it so crispy or less crispy, i‘ve chose the crispy ones bc i prefer that. The Sambal Kecap (spicy sweet soy sauce) they made was really nice as well👍🏻 -Gado-Gado (9/10) i totally in love with their peanut sauce, i always prefer this kind of rough peanut sauce, not too smooth and they made it like that. Fresh veggies and kerupuk are also given, its perfect for u who doesn‘t want to eat heavy meal during lunch😌 -Mie Ayam 🍜 (9,7/10) its translated Chicken Noodle, i was craving for this for so long, so i chose this noodle for the first menu i wanted to try in this restaurant, and dang! It was the happy feeling i was looking for after eating Indonesian food, i was missing this food and it turned out good so i was quite satisfied. Its noodle texture, the chicken, the sauce, pangsit rebus omg it was such a bowl full of joy😍🤤 -Soto Ayam 🍲 (9,5/19) its a chicken soup but less water than normal soup, served with glass noodle, chicken and veggies. Tbh i didn’t expect this good, bc they do need a lot of local ingredients which are prolly bit difficult to get in Europe, but bruh they made it really well😭 -Batavia Fried Noodle (8/10) it was good but somehow too dry, the shrimp tempura were good though, it was crispy and well seasoned. Maybe bc i‘m also not a big fan of fried noodle😅 -Klepon Cake (9,7/10) its a super traditional Indonesian street snacks, i love this thing. I usually buys it when the sellers passing by my house, and they made it more modern as a cake. It was amazing, never thought someone will come with this idea, so well done chef!🤩🤩

Guys, i‘m talking as a native who found a good food in foreign country, i‘m not talking bc i used to these foods, but this place makes all the foods impressive. If u guys come to Brussels, please make sure to visit this amazing place, the owner and employees r super friendly and welcoming. I will make sure myself to also visit this place everytime i come to Brussels😆

Sampai...

One year ago the quality and prices of this place were very good, it was so promising. But that went down...Now the food they offer is not acceptable for the price. Most dishes are really amateur with very small portions of protein and ingredients that don't look appealing. Their coffee is at best average. The decoration looks really fake. The toilet is totally unacceptable (overfilled trashbin, soap dispenser not working). The staff is very polite and helpful.

UPDATE after the defensive answer of the owner of the restaurant: Indeed what we ordered this time was what you mention below. So your coffee is BAD (to be more honest, as in my initial review I was being polite) and the dish my friend had was at best average (very few pieces of chicken that was poorly prepared, pale tomato, flavorless rice etc). I did not say that your prices increased too much, I wrote that the food you offer is too expensive for its quality (I hope you understand the difference). That's what I think, take it or leave it. My critique to your dishes is based on my previous experience too, as I have been to your restaurant 3 times to eat. Guess why I did not order food and only got coffee this time? Because the last time I was disappointed by your dishes :) The first time I was at your restaurant I really liked the food and the second time I brought friends there to try it (so I advertised you and we were disappointed). Sorry if I was too strict with the soap dispenser, my bad if I didn't use it correctly. But the toilet was a mess, I couldn't touch the dirty tap and the trashbin was full with paper that spilled all over. I should have taken a picture and post it here but I didn't want to stay in that toilet any longer. I have nothing against your restaurant but this is my opinion and I'm sharing it. It would be wiser for you to receive the comments constructively and think if something goes wrong, rather than attacking your customers (calling them competitors!), when the simple truth is that they were not satisfied by what you offer. Don't worry I won't be...

Summary: OK food. Good drinks. A bit expensive than most places. Not sure I'll be a regular here for the food. But I do like their coffee.

Came in at opening time on a Saturday morning with my friends. We didn't make a reservation but luckily we got seated. The place was nicely decorated. It was disappointing that most of the items in the drink and dessert/pancake menu were not available. But to our surprise an hour and a half later, we saw these items come out being served to others. They could've informed us that it will be available later on and we could've waited a bit but sadly we weren't told anything. We wanted to try this place for the experience of Indonesian food but yeah...serving time was quite long so you gotta be patient to get stuff. The waitress/waiter and bartender were nice: explained a few dishes and advised on allergens.

So anyway, with what was available, I ordered a Mocha Choco Latte (6,1€) to drink. I enjoyed it, served hot and with real chocolate so the flavours were intense. My friend got an Ube Latte and that one was good too. The bartender did great!

I shared the corn fritters (8,5€) with my friend and this one was good! Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I wish there was more corn tho, I couldn't taste the corn 😅 it came with a spicy soy sauce that paired well with it.

I also took the Bakso Malang (17€) which was a soup with noodles, tofu, 3meatballs and a dumpling. It was served lukewarm and so it became cold quickly. I didn't enjoy the fact that it was cold after 2mins. I asked the soup to be middle spice level but it wasn't spicy at all. So I asked for a spicy sauce to increase the heat level. Nothing particular about the soup, the broth or the ingredients, so it was just okay. It just tasted like a bouillon cube with noodles + toppings.

I tried my friend's Nasi Goreng and that one had more flavour so I think if I'll come back, I'll order...