Kikugawa Restaurant — Restaurant in Jakarta

Super admiring the atmosphere since I had entered firstly at this authentic resto. A facade of this building is simple yet touched with classic Japanese style surrounded by several bamboo trees. To get in you must pass through small bridge on the koi pond. When you come to the inside, you would really feel the strong Japanese culture owing to the furniture, walls and floors, decorations and absolutely the ancient folk music played.

FYI, Kikugawa is the oldest Japanese restaurant in the town. It has opened since 1969 by native Japanese spouse. About a decade ago, all the waitress were using kimono when serving the customers, but not for today. All the menus are halal because there are no pork, lard, or mirin added (I have confirmed to the waitress).

For the food, I began trying Salmon Sushi, and Chako Salmon Sushi. Salmon Sushi was served with super fresh salmon, meanwhile salmon in Chako Salmon Sushi were flammed to be a lit bit brown. I really enjoyed those sushi because not only the salmon was really fresh, but also the rice texture and taste were extraordinary, and the wasabi was strongly spicy.

Afterwards, I tasted Tempura Udon which served with additional fries including a piece of sweet potato, eggplant, and spinach, besides two pieces of tempura. I love the crispy fried spinach, and the tempura was the most delicious I have ever eaten due to the moist shrimp inside and crunchy outside. For the soup is just standard with soyu taste. Whereas the noodle texture was so good with chewy and thick texture that made me full enough just like others.

Additionally, I also tried Orange Juice which had special taste, the fresh orange with a little taste like soda (I think there is no soda added). For the dessert, you could order matcha ice cream but unfortunately I did not tasted as it was just sold out. You also could ask for the free fruit dessert to the waitress if it was still available tough.

Even though this hidden gem resto is situated in not so crowded street, at lunch time and weekend many people would come. And you would not wait too long for your ordered menu. The price for food menu and beverage starts from around Rp 60.000 and Rp 20.000 respectively. In my opinion it is pricey enough; however, the ingredient quality and ambience are...

One of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Jakarta. It missed the 5 star rating by very small margin. I will explain the details for this later.

Now let’s get into it.

Parking - 9/10

Have their own parking but little bit difficult to park in case if there are more than 3 cars. But don’t worry you will be helped by friendly staff to make sure you park it nearby.

Very cool entrance with natural touch and have lots of plants and trees. At some point you will feel like you are in Bandung 😄

Ambience - 9/10

Fusion of Japanese and Indonesian decor and will definitely make yourself feel comfy without any doubts. Maybe Music can be more related rather than English pops and it’s just my suggestion.

I have ordered Kikugawa set A and Ume set

Kikugawa Set A - 10/10

This is really perfect for people like me who want to eat not too much or too less. You will get miso soup as well which is my favorite also 😋

Ume Set - 9/10

Well this one quite big and it’s really worth the price. This maybe the price menu in here but you can get enough experience for your money. Must try menu

For me service is really important and I loved the service in here but here and there it’s not totally perfect and that’s why it lose my 5 star rating. For instance - When customer orders Ocha don’t expect to customer to ask for refill. You can just monitor and fill it if customer wants more. I know this is a small thing but trust me small care like this can go very long.

Must try Japanese restaurant in...

It is said that this is the first Japanese restaurant in Jakarta back in the 60s. The parking space is limited, need to park a bit further by the street. The street is pretty small for two lanes. Went there for lunch on a Saturday.

Ordered salmon gyoza as appetizer, beef katsu rice, gindara set and ume set.

I like the salmon qyoza. It’s crispy on the outside and pretty fulfilling on the inside. I can’t taste the salmon though. It’s not salty at all which is a good thing.

The beef katsu rice, the taste is pretty nice, I like the rice, the curry is very humble in terms of taste; it’s very light. The beef is not so tender but it’s bearable.

The gindara set comes with rice and miso soup. The miso soup is a bit too salty for me, the same goes to the sauce. The fish is very fresh, nicely grilled, great texture.

Last, is the ume set which is disappointing. It comes with tempura and fried veggies, sukiyaki, sashimi, salmon sushi and yakitori. I don’t enjoy the set to be honest; the yakitori is so salty; the chicken is tender though. The tempura and fried veggies are just okay; nothing special. The sukiyaki are just nah; it tastes salty as well.

The service was pretty slow because it was a full house when I came in. But the food came out pretty fast. The waiting seat is also limited; you need to stand to wait for the table to be ready. Overall it’s just an okay experience, nothing really stood out about the place...