Holycow! Steakhouse By Chef Afit — Restaurant in Jakarta

The best overall steakhouse. Holycow serves a good steak, paired with great side dishes (mash or fries and spinach or green beans) and also with an excellent service crew as well.

The Steaks:

-Buddy Special: Their house specialty, a good steak, i don't know what part of the cow this is, but is very tender even when cooked until well done. It is the go to steak if you don't know what to order or if it's your first time. It is quite cheap as well, and it is better then most of the prime steaks.

-Hokubee Ribeye: Most of the time this is a hit or a miss, it depends on the cuts you were given, but when you do get a good cut, it is very good even though it is not very thick, the marbling between the beef and fat is perfect making it very tender. But sometimes you can get only the beef. I recommend it to be cooked until medium.

-Hokubee Tenderloin: I'd say one of the best choices of steaks here other than the wagyu. It is a thick cut of steak and is very tender. There is little fat, but daamn, it melts in your mouth. I recommend it to be cooked until medium, maximum at medium well.

-Bigbites (Sirloin and Ribeye): Both of them are basically the same. It's a double portion of the prime steaks. The cut is very thick, but it is rather hard, not really tender. If you are hungry and will eat anything, this is the steak for you. 400gr of steaks is very fulfilling but be aware, anything higher than a medium will make eating this steak like chewing through a rug or carpet.

The side dishes:

-The french fries is one of the best french fries i've tried, well it doesn't beat Carl's Jr french fries, but it is thick and meaty, and is salted just right, a perfect companion for your steak.

-The mash potatoes is really good as well, it is creamy and very soft.

-The spinach is my favorite choice of vegie, it is crispy (crispy in the vegie term) and savory, and the spinach is sauteed with garlic.

-The green beans are not really for me though, sometimes it is hard to chew, and the garlic does not seeped well into the beans. For the sauce i would recommend Buddy's special sauce, it is the perfect combination with any steak, but sadly it is no longer available (maybe in the future it will be again), other than Buddy's, the mushroom sauce is nice as well, it is creamy and mushroomy, and also there are also chunks of mushrooms, which is nice. The service: One of the best and friendliest waiters I have ever seen and experienced, eventhough it could take more than 30 minutes for your steak to be ready (especially for the bigbites). The waiter always smile and will help you with anything you need, including drink refills.

The place: The restaurant itself is not that big, it is almost always packed but the parking space is huge, especially in the backyard, so there is no worry...

We came here late at night but kinda upset. Already ordered pasta from the girl server with the hijab and glasses, but turns out she didn’t input it, so we ended up waiting quite a while thinking it was already on the way.

When the food finally came, some plates were missing veggies, and there was also a mix-up with the sauce. Even though they handled it, shouldn’t it be double-checked before serving?

We ordered 6 steaks (4 medium + 2 medium rare), and here’s the thing both medium rares were different. One of them was more like rare. At first, we thought the meat looked darker because of the sauce, but after wiping it off, it was clearly undercooked. When we tried it, all of us agreed that one of the medium rare steaks was just not right. Strangely, the medium steaks came out earlier than the medium rares

One or two mistakes might be understandable, but this was a bit too much. As someone who also works in hospitality, I felt like the service lacked professionalism even though most of the staff were friendly and polite. Except for the girl server with the hijab and glasses after we asked for an additional order, she just replied, “you already ordered earlier,” and walked away without confirming or repeating the order. That was disappointing.

Please, I sincerely ask that this be improved from the kitchen department to the floor team, everything needs to be fixed. It’s for your own good too. Honestly, it makes us wonder, were we treated this way because we...

The Fall of a Former Favorite

There was a time when Holycow meant something. It was more than just a steakhouse—it was a promise. A promise of flavor, satisfaction, and a little joy on a plate. But now? Now it feels like a ghost of its former self.

We came in with high hopes, clinging to the memory of great steaks and comforting pasta. What we got was a harsh reminder that even the mighty can fall. The steak? A shadow of what it once was—barely seasoned, forgettable, cooked with no love. The pasta followed suit. Lifeless. Bland. Like it had given up halfway through.

Service? That used to be one of their strong suits. Now? Not a single smile. Just tired faces going through the motions. No warmth, no welcome—just transactional coldness. The kind that makes you wonder if they want you there at all.

The vibe still tries to hold on to the old days, but even that’s slipping. The place felt dirtier, like the little things were no longer cared for. Like no one’s watching anymore.

And the price? Still premium. But for this experience? Overpriced isn’t even the word. It felt like paying for a concert and getting a soundcheck.

Holycow, I wanted to root for you. I wanted the comeback story. But for now, it’s a 6 out of 10—and that’s me...