Legacy should be maintained, preserved by any means, history should be kept, but unfortunately not with this noodle establishment. Bakmi Aboen could be considered one of many old, legendary eats in Jakarta but I personally think that this place is fall behind their competitors; new and old one.

As a hidden gem of the past this noodle place offers varieties of noodles, toppings and side dished which I vividly remember as one of the good places to visit and introduced to my overseas friends and families. But now, I won't even bother to do that. To start off, I ordered three menu all with pork toppings, bakmi babi, kwetiau babi special, loucupan babi and I finished that off with a portion of their famous swekiau. All of them are tasteless, not sweet, not salty and I need to add soy sauce and their chili sauce but that doesnt even help either. It tasted like you just barely cook the noodles then tossed them with the meat and toppings and then served them to the table without bothering to add any seasonings beforehand. The swekiau? Pretty much tasted like boiled dumpling skin with a bit of soy sauce and that's all there to it. I really love their swekiau in the past, that snappy texture of the meat combined with the sweet, salty, umami taste of the meat really work beyond wonders. But for now, I'm wondering wth I'm bothered to order this. The soup tasted like watery, plain chicken soup. Not a good taste at all.

Then come the price, for a kwetiau babi special it is almost 60k. With that price you can enjoy a proper nasi campur with a lot and good tasting toppings. Bakmi and loucupan babi priced at 35k each, seems like a good price until you taste them. For a hidden gem, a culinary must-visit list for travellers, they are so disappointing and to be honest there are many, many other hidden gems that I wish I wanted to show to you guys later on, which are much cheaper, tastier and leaving you with a good smile to your belly and pocket. They give good and fast service, quite a clean place but their food is, if not already, becoming a myth.

Taste are taste, I encourage you to try them if they are suitable for your palate or not. if you are a culinary gourmet which already tasted many noodle places in Jakarta, you'll see my point. Quite a disappointing lunch tbh.