EMILIA BAR ITALIANO MENTENG — Restaurant in Jakarta

We were a group of five with a dinner reservation on Friday, 12 July at 7.30pm. In the afternoon, my friend texted to ask if we could move the reservation to 6pm and received a confirmation. We arrived at 6.45pm, only to be told by the host that our table wasn’t ready and that they had no record of the time change. That was the first red flag.

We were seated at a small bar-side table and told to wait. While we ordered drinks, we noticed that no one in the dining area seemed close to finishing. By 7.25pm, we were still waiting and hungry, so my friend asked again about our table. The host informed us that the guests occupying it had been reminded, but were still eating. Frankly, that’s unacceptable. We had a confirmed reservation. Were we expected to walk over and ask the guests to leave?

We kept following up, but the server passed us back to the host, who then scolded the server in front of us. That kind of behavior is not just unprofessional, it’s deeply disrespectful to both the staff and the guests. We finally got our table at 7.50pm—nearly an hour after we were told we could come early.

This is supposed to be a high-profile restaurant. First, it’s completely irresponsible for the booking team to miss a confirmed change. Second, it’s not our job as customers to manage other guests’ seating time. That’s your system to run. Many restaurants handle this smoothly, learn from them. Third, treating your own staff poorly, especially in front of diners, is a glaring management failure.

As for the food? It was okay. But when all’s said and done, it’s overrated pasta with four tiny steak slices, and pizza, served with a side of bad service. We left disappointed. Definitely not worth the hype.

Edit after the restaurant commenting to this review:

I’d like to respond to one particularly troubling point raised in the restaurant’s reply to my review.

We absolutely did pay a deposit, IDR 200,000, to be exact. I have no idea how the conclusion was reached that we hadn’t paid and therefore couldn’t secure our booking. This suggests a serious issue either with your booking system or with the way the information is handled by your staff.

Additionally, I want to clarify another point. The problem was not simply that we witnessed your host scolding a very helpful waiter in front of us, it was her behavior itself. It would be just as unacceptable if it had happened out of sight. All staff should be treated with professionalism and respect, period. I would hope this is a standard your management supports, not something that only matters when guests...

Emilia’s in Menteng is a venue that looks the part: stylish, well lit, and clearly designed with Instagram in mind. But while it makes a great first impression, it quickly becomes apparent that the food does not live up to the aesthetic.

The service was attentive and the setting impressive. On a Friday night, however, I was surprised to find the restaurant only half full, which made more sense by the end of the meal. The space is divided into two main areas: a sleek front bar with an atmosphere reminiscent of an Italian aperitivo spot, and a rear glasshouse-style dining area. I was seated in the bar area, near a small stage set up for live music later in the evening.

While the venue itself is attractive, my main concern, and the purpose of this review, is the food.

As you are seated, a basket of large toasted bread and butter is brought to the table. It looks great on camera, but unfortunately the bread is dry, lacking any real flavour or freshness. It is another example of form over substance, a recurring theme throughout the meal.

I began with the Zuppa di Zucca, a pumpkin soup. The soup itself was smooth, warm and subtly sweet, with small cubes of pumpkin adding a pleasant contrast in texture. Unfortunately, it was topped with microgreens that were so bitter they were inedible, something I have never experienced before. I have had microgreens many times, but whatever variety was used here completely clashed with the dish and had to be removed to avoid spoiling the flavour.

I came to Emilia’s with one craving in mind: lasagne. Their Lasagna Guanciale di Manzo looked promising on the menu, but sadly, is more of a glossy Instagram post than a satisfying Italian meal.

The presentation was a neat square of lasagne on a hot plate, cheese on top and tomato sauce spooned around the sides. But one bite revealed the problem. The dish lacked seasoning, the meat (beef cheek) was lukewarm, and the cheese on top sat there like a rubbery glob. The entire lasagne was stodgy and lifeless, lacking depth, warmth and the layered richness you would expect.

It gave the impression of something prepared in bulk then reheated to order. It felt more like a meal from an airport lounge than from a proper Italian kitchen.

In the end, Emilia’s feels like a restaurant designed for social media, not for people who love good food. The venue is lovely, the staff are pleasant, but the food is amateur and uninspired. I left wondering whether Emilia’s is meant to be an Italian restaurant, or simply an Italian-themed backdrop...

This was the worst Italian restaurant I've ever experienced. I made a reservation about a week in advance for Christmas and when I requested to change tables from indoors to the glass house, I was told I needed to settle my bill first. This was incredibly strange, as my reservation was still a week away.

On Christmas Day, they couldn't even find my name in their system despite me having already made a deposit. My grandma and I were seated at a table directly under the air conditioning unit, making it extremely cold, especially for her. I asked to be moved to the table behind us, but was told it was already booked. However, that table remained empty throughout our entire meal, and they never even bothered to ask if we still wanted to move. One waiter mentioned turning off the AC, but after about 15 minutes, they turned it back on, leaving us shivering due to the strong air current.

Our mushroom soup arrived, and the waiter dropped the bread. She offered to replace it, but the soup itself was just average.

Later, a waiter brought a pasta dish, claiming it was "Linguine Panna e Pancetta." We didn't order that, so we inquired if it was the pasta with clams? The waiter simply repeated "Pancetta" several times. We couldn't see any clams and knew we hadn't ordered that dish. She seemed unsure of what she was serving and eventually walked away with that Pancetta. About 15 minutes later, my mom's ravioli arrived, slightly under seasoned. After she finished, neither my grandma's nor my dish had arrived. Finally, my grandma's dish (Linguine alle Vongole - the one with clams) arrived, but it was completely tasteless and bland – no seasoning at all. I could have easily cooked better at home. Even after my grandma finished, my food still hadn't arrived. It finally came about 10 minutes later, and the lemon juice on top somewhat saved the dish (I ordered Spaghetti Nero di Seppia con Gamberi).

For dessert, we had something that tasted exactly like a typical dessert from a mall bakery.

This restaurant was absolutely not...