Casa Alba Ristorante — Restaurant in Jakarta

Tried out this Italian restaurant for an early dinner on a weekday. Surprisingly that the place is quite packed, so better to book a table ahead. The place since it’s in an old house, doesn’t have its own parking lot but they offer free valet parking as part of their service. Upon having dinner, was offered complimentary bread basket and 2 amuse-bouche. The amuse-bouche included “a rock” looking boiled potato and a mini flat bread with ricotta & truffle. As for the food, got the Fritto Misto of calamari & prawns. It was slightly too heavy in the batter for my preference and not evenly seasoned. Since it came without any dipping, maybe to enhance the taste it can be serve with an aioli of some sort. For the pasta, got the Fettuccine con Ragu ala Bolognese e Fonduta al Parmigiano. The taste was just ok, more on the tomato and meaty taste but not really getting the cheesy flavor. The pasta was also a bit sticking to each other after a short time. Also got the Quattro Formaggi e Olio al Tartufo, im overall the pizza was done nicely. The dough is thin and perfectly cooked with a bit of charred on the sides. And the cheese was abundant. For the dessert, got the Tuttl Cioccolato Diverse Consistenze e Sapori. It’s like an all chocolate dessert with a base of chocolate sponge, filled with chocolate mousse with l crunchy caramelized almond, covered in a wafer like chocolate, topped with chocolate gelato, decorated with a chocoalte tuille & passion fruit gelee thingy. Overall the taste is ok, very intense chocolate which was balanced out by the sour passion fruit. Unfortunately the caramelized almond is rock solid, cannot even bite it. Also got the Iced Chocolate for the drink, which is super light and for me it tasted a bit like plain milk mix with chocolate sauce & sugar. Overall an ok experience and it’s a nice place to hangout...

“Fine dining with a homey experience”

Those are the words that capture this restaurant’s theme and philosophy, and it is exactly why I chose to try dine in here for a special occasion with my fiancee.

First of all, the service is excellent, all the staffs are attentive and efficient, from the beginning to the end. They provided free bread for light appetizer and those are very good.

I order Cappelletti Panna Limone e Caffe, Ravioli di Spinaci e Ricotta al Burro e Salvia, Funghi Pizza, and for dessert, Pane Della Memoria and Tiramisu e Cioccolatto.

The cappelletti is certainly unique, the scent of lemon and coffee really balances the heaviness from the cream sauce, and the meat inside the pasta are seasoned properly and the pasta cooked perfectly al dente.

For the dessert, in my opinion, the star of the show is the Pane Della Memoria. It’s amazing how such simple looking dish packs so much flavor! The brioche soaked in milk and toasted with butter and sugar, creating crunchy, caramelized outside and soft, creamy and spongy inside, combined with the orange ricotta gelato, truly divine. As expected from the signature dessert from the head chef!

To top it all off, the GM Michele Carbotti offers us some sparkling wine to end the meal. A perfect meal for a special occasion I must say :)

Thanks to Casa Alba Ristorante for the wonderful dining experience, and special thanks to GM Michele Carbotti for the hospitality. Grazie mille, Michele, will surely be back...

Probably the best Italian restaurant in Jakarta, great ambience, tables are well spaced and not cramped one next to the other, the background music is also very good which adds to the experience. Most importantly the food: very nice warm octopus and potato salad, a classic, no faults. My carpaccio di Ricciola perfect and highly recommended. Spaghetti alle vongole, fine; best of all in my meal was the Guancia di manzo (beef cheek): you won’t find this in most restaurants but foodies out there know the cheek is among the best cuts you’ll get and it was beautiful: very very highly recommended, a real treat. The Pancetta di maiale croccante, the Italian equivalent of crispy pork belly perfectly executed, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Finally a Tiramisu: I would have liked it more thick and rich but maybe better it wasn’t for it may have been a bit much after all. As for the wine I’m a good rosé fan, works just right for the climate here: the Cassiopea Bolgheri was very good and fairly priced for Jakarta standards. Very good service too. If you’re looking for authentic Italian food in Jakarta Casa Alba is the...