OSCAR — Restaurant in Jakarta

My wife and I went here a while ago whilst we were doing some business in Jakarta (we’re not based in Indonesia), and as foreigners, we trusted everything we see on the reviews (which now we’ve learnt, this kind of belief only works in certain countries and probs certain cultures).

We arrived a bit earlier than our reservation time, and first things first, we were given such a “questionable” table next to a couple who were busy trying to take their pictures! My wife then politely asked one of the good waiters (a young boy with a good attitude and service) if we could move tables where they’re not booked (my wife speaks Bahasa well)! Also, the irony is that we’ve read some of the reviews stating that there had been a problem w the attitude of the waitresses, whilst we had such an amazing experience with the service!

Finally, we moved to a nice table overlooking the city who was quiet. However, when we started ordering our starters and mains, some people from different tables started to move around and we figured they were trying to take pictures on one of the corners of the restaurant. In no time, the quiet and romantic atmosphere the restaurant had seemed to go away! There were at least 6 different ppl running around trying to take their pics! We understand that pictures are obv allowed and probs quite significant for the other customers to “prove” that they’d been to this Oscar restaurant. A lot of ppl were also saying sorry to some other tables bc they literally were taking many pics next to their table! Unfortunately, this experience was happening from the moment we started ordering our starters & mains to the point where we finished our foods (which obviously more than half an hour!!). We even cancelled our intentions to have their dessert bc we just couldn’t take it anymore w every single table standing up to take their pics!

We understand that it might just be a clash of cultures happening here bc we both were so shocked that ppl were literally making a huge fuss and taking forever to take pics (there was even a queue for the pic taking session! Which made the whole place seemed a little trashy!!!).

We both personally wouldn’t necessarily recommend this place to any of our expat friends living in Jakarta or visiting the city (I’m French-British and my wife is Japanese-Indonesian)!

We loved the food and the service but unfortunately, we would never come back here bc of the awful atmosphere! And we’re very sorry to claim this, but this restaurant was supposed to be offering a fine dining experience (whilst in the end, yes the food and the service were both amazing) but who would be in their right mind to have dinner in a supposedly fine dining restaurant and surrounded by every single other people in the restaurant trying to take pictures and even queuing and standing around (which we would’ve been ok with had only they taken 5mins or so to take their pics!)). This was absolutely one of the worst fine dining restaurants we’ve been to (or it probs was also bc of our high expectations!!!)

Best of luck!

*also, we ended up spending only around IDR 2.3mil (around GBP 110), ironically we would’ve spent much more if there hadn’t been the awful accident I...

3/10/19 - My first time back here after their rebranding. Unfortunately it was a bad experience. The Spinaci salad dish was so tiny - a hamster would be quite happy with it but certainly not me. The kitchen added a few more leaves on top after I complained. The Cioppino seafood soup was excellent. Bold, fresh tasting, and crammed with seafood, it remains the only thing I might return for. Then came the pastas. The Carbonara-style tagliatelle was overcooked - the pasta was way too soft. The sauce and limp bacon were bland, and the crispy topping tasted stale. It was stunningly bad. My partner had a fairly delicious Gnochetti Sardi. The pasta was quite al dente, and the rich orange sauce with spicy sausage and prawns were good. I asked the waiter to change the tagliatelle as it was inedible. He remarked that for dry durum wheat pasta, it was IMPOSSIBLE to make it al dente. This was confirmed by his manager, who said the chef told them this. I was dumbfounded. I could not imagine in my wildest dreams this coming from a fancy Italian restaurant. Peeved, I requested to change my dish to another pasta dish. They said "try the fresh pastas, those we can make al dente". Incredible. So we chose the Wagyu meatball tagliolini. The meatballs were dry, tough and tasteless. The pasta was somewhat al dente, but the sauce was flat and boring. The rocket was extremely stringy too. The tiramisu was disappointing, no alcohol kick at all, the 'biscuit' base was spongy and the coffee jellies were bland. Overall a supremely disappointing experience. Please note that there is a minimum 350k++ per pax spend. Below you may find my glowing review of Gaia, the restaurant before the rebranding. Chef, please revert to your old menu and manager. The new stuff / staff pale in comparison. Beef carpaccio was perfectly balanced, with high quality beef, delicious pesto and pine nuts. The pork conchiglie pasta was the star dish, it was smoky and rich. Good to share because it’s one of those dishes that are best for 5 bites, after that it gets too rich. But a must try. Also had the pork carbonara which I loved. The pasta noodle itself was perfectly toothsome and tasty. The pork was a gorgeously fatty smoke bomb, and quite a lot of it too. The chef is definitely the king of smoky flavors. 1 thing I didn’t like though, was the complimentary bread basket. The focaccia was soggy and bland, and the sliced baguette had no bite or flavor (much like the restaurant table bread in Italy, so… quite authentic??). Not sure they really tried with the bread – maybe give it a miss. Truffle...

OSO is probably the most elegant place I have ever been to and I am from New York City. OSO is actually known in NYC and many people have admired it and wish to attend. That is why I flew all the way to Jakarta. I like to say the service was amazing and the food was so fresh it was like being in the most luxurious restaurant in New York. The view from the restaurant is also amazing they gave me the best table in the place. But the manager of the restaurant needs to be given credit. His name is Admir and he is so well trained in hospitality that is just stunning. I have been in so many restaurants but I could not believe the hospitality this man has shown. The smooth flow of the staff moving to service the large amount of customers with passion and eagerness and efficiency to get the food out was breathtaking. It shows his amazing leadership skills. Some of the best restaurant mangers in NY can learn something from this man.

But ever restaurant manager has a general manger of the whole facilities and that is Agues Arimbawa. He is the general manager of Altitude Grill, OSO, Masanobu, and Enmaru. First he came over to introduce himself to me taking time out of a meeting he was having. He even sat with me for a quick talk. I was also taken to a tour of the other restaurants which are actually all connected. It was again shocking to see the luxury. Agus has created. People were so happy and honored to be there. A general manager like this is one in a million. His divine leadership will only lead to more success. He deserves every bit of respect and I sincerely thank him for the wonderful experience. I cannot wait...