SOTEE Modern Indonesian Cuisine — Restaurant in Jakarta

Been watching this resto for some years and finally tried it. Yeyyy! 😅 Sotee established since 2009, WOW! I think I realised about Sotee like 5 years ago.😱 Mostly when I passed by, I saw an empty and quiet parking garage, and dimmed lights from the 2nd floor. So, to satisfied my curiosity, I came to visit, my 2nd visit actually. On the 1st visit to my surprised the resto was closed for public due to fully booked for private occasion, while the parking garage was not crowded. When we, me and my son, walked in the resto on the 2nd floor, we were greeted hospitable by the waiter. And the 1st ambience that I got was, such quiet place to enjoy dinner, feels like home, more like a private resto. It was 7pm and no other customers but us. I asked the manager, and found out that mostly the customer reserved for occasions, office meeting or private party and more customers during lunch time. So if you like quiet ambience, come around 3pm onward. During the COVID-19 pandemic the resto open until 8:30pm. Too bad, during the pandemic many of menus are unavailable. Checked the pix to see the updates. Well, my son ordered beef soto tangkar (without tomatoes) and rice, while I ordered nasi panggang karak, bakwan talas udang (yam fritter with prawns) and es campur (iced dessert). And for the drinks we had coffee milk (kopi susu) for G and lemongrass tea with lemon juice (teh lemon sereh) for me. Two of it came with rice but different types. The rice for soto is ordinary rice, but for nasi panggang karak, looked like japanese rice. The soto tasted like other ordinary soto, good, G loves it and cleaned his bowl. I like the fritters. The karak rice was so so. It cost me 150K for the f&b, not so expensive for the areas. After the hectic day, it's a nice place to enjoy the night to calm down and relax. Keep it up...

I really appreciate the modern Indonesian cuisine concept offered by Sotêé. Why? Because they do understand what they're doing. I ordered Nasi Bakar Karak (Baked Karak Rice) and Es Kacang Merah (Red Bean Shaved Ice). The baked rice was cooked with gravy--consisted of butter, tomato, chicken, chili, mushroom, and any other heavenly ingredients God only knows. Can you imagine how does it feel when the veggies broth and chicken broth blend together with melted butter, and create explosion in your mouth? Whoa intense! Anyway, Ipersonally think the generous rice portion was enough for 2 persons. On the other hand, Sotêé's Es Kacang Merah is far from ordinary. They crafted shaved ice, chocolate milk, jackfruit, and lychee with a dash of nutmeg!!.. and white wood ear mushroom!!! surprisingly delish. Sotêé also earned another point for its good hospitality and nice jazzy traditional Indonesian song they played at the restaurant. If you happen to be in Gajah Mada, or Chinatown, or Kota Tua area, make sure to visit...

Hidden gem! Love the food, really! Citarasa Indonesia kental dengan rempah khas Indonesia, jujur restoran ini tidak pelit bumbu. Pesan 4 macam menu, paket iga bakar, asinan, sop asam iga, mie godog jawa ( request tidak pedas karena buat anak kecil), lalu teh pandan minumnya. Semuanya enak! Iga bakar nya empuk, bumbunya meresap sampai ke tulang, dan wangi rempahnya berasa. Porsinya juga cukup besar. Mie godog jawa nya sih kaget, ternyata enak, banget! Wah rekomen banget lah ini, ga disangka loh padahal menu murahnya dia (kisaran 20++) belum lagi porsinya banyak. dia wangi karena pakai lada hitamnya berani, dan rasanya otentik. Asam iganya juga enak banget, dagingnya empuk, ga pelit isi dan bumbu, bahkan condiments nya dari tomat hijau (asem tapi wangi) sampai belimbing ulu dong (wah ini jarang banget, asem juga dan enak) rasanya berani, tapi ga tabrakan. Asinannya juga enak, sayang kerupuknya agak bantet jadi alot. Tapi bumbunya gurih dan wangi kacangnya berasa banget. Teh pandannya klasikkkk.... Wangi nya dapet banget.

Yang bingung, kenapa restoran dengan kualitas makanan sebagus ini sepi? Bahkan malam minggu yang makan cuma saya dan keluarga? 😢 Padahal ambience klasik jawa, ada teras nuansa cafe juga, rasa oke, dan ada parkir sendiri di lantai 1... Memang signnya kurang mencolok, tapi sangat diharapkan restoran dengan makanan seenak ini bertahan.... Tadi sebenarnya banyak pilihan yang kosong, kemungkinan karena bahan makanan yang lebih beresiko cepat busuk (ikan, nasi langgi dll) Melihar kondisinya yang sepi, saya cuma bisa maklum. Berharap bakal ramai dan saya bisa coba menu-menu yang menarik lainnya nanti... Semoga. Will be back for sure! Tambahan setelah balik lg : itu singkong keju nya : must try! Manis asin wangi nya jadi satu. Rasanya lumer banget dimulut, wah bahkan...