Warung Turki — Restaurant in Jakarta

It's not the first time we went to Warung turki in Kemang. And as usual, it delivered us with good service and good food.

There were in total 3 + 1 mezzanine levels in the restaurant, and all were beautifully decorated.

The ground level was where the pita bread making happens, and small yet beautiful dining area. The 1st floor was the non smoking dining area, and where we could access the mezzanine private dining area for 6 people. On the top floor was the smoking dining area, with bar & performance area. There was also a cozy & airy balcony to sit and enjoy the drinks.

We fortunately got to sit in the private dining area for 6 in the mezzanine floor. Thank you to Gerry who assisted us with warm hospitality, 'Can Do' attitude and gave us the wonderful dining experience.

For that night we ordered:

Zeytinyagli humus - creamy hummus, flavorful and goes well with the pita bread. It already included 1 pita bread, but we knew that 1 bread was just not enough. So we ordered another 2 breads.

Lavas - freshly made pita bread. I saw the bread was freshly made downstairs, when i first came into the restaurant.

Peynirli pide - bread topped with 2 kinds of cheese. I would say that it's a turkish style pizza. Kids love them!

Donner chicken - charred chicken meat wrapped in thin crepe, with their special sauce. I ordered my kid's without veggies.

Donner lamb - charred, tender lamb meat wrapped in thin crepe, with veggies and their special sauce. Yummy!

Iskender lamb kebab - charred lamb meat with butter rice, veggies & spiced yogurt.

Iskender mixed kebab - charred lamb & chicken meat with butter rice, veggies & spiced yogurt.

Mint tea - strong black turkish tea with aromatic mint in a teapot with candle underneath it to keep it warm.

Kunefe - it was a combination between slightly crispy kunefe string, sweet sugar syrup and salty from the stretchy mozarella in the center 👍

Sutlac - creamy almond pudding with strawberry pieces on top. Creamy & custardy.

Keskul - the base was the same as the almond pudding, but with rice and cinnamon as the topping.

At the end of our meal, we've got a free spin and won the virgin mojito. Unfortunately because we were in a hurry, we took the mojito for take away....

The menu on this page is outdated. The price has increased substantially now. In the restaurant the menu was not accessible easily and some of the things we ordered were available but not on the menu. The waiter will bring the menu in an ipad and wait for you to order, which I think is really inconvenient as I perceive that the staffs are being somewhat impatient. For some of the order, I was only shocked to know the price once I've seen the receipt, guess I should have asked them to leave the menu on the table. The food was so so nothing special. I think chicken pide was so overpriced (IDR120K++) given the very thin filling and the bland taste :'). I've had Turkish Pide in Canberra with only AU$ 5.00 with so much thicker filling of chicken and mozzarella. Teh tarik's tea was not strong at all and tasted watered down for IDR72K++. So the 2 stars are for the fact that you charge so much more for food that quality should be much better. I came for smoking Shisha and should have just ordered that and nothing else, hence the regret.

The service charge amount to 10% of total order. So in addition to PPN, you will be charge 1/5 of your total order, which is quite huge. But the staff on the third floor is very friendly and attentive which makes up for the expensive service charge, but they can improve on the speed of serving. It took around 40 mins for the pide to arrive even if we were among the only three tables occupying the building. Good thing we all were not hungry...

The restaurant is well located. And it is a good restaurant overall - and a sister restaurant to arguably the most famous Turkish restaurant of Jakarta. The interiors are tasteful. And now they have a full bar menu, which is great.

The quality of the ingredients is good - that clearly shows. The lamb shank which was ordered was very good. So were the chicken wings.

The Babaganuc (babaghanoush?) was not what you would expect from a normal version - the one here is not the one with the tahini - that is a different dish on their menu. The hummous is good, and so are the muhamarah and cacik.

Some things prevent it from getting the five stars: the baklava was a disappointment - it felt like some western puff pastry like a danish of sorts. the mezzanine floor has a cozy corner with a table which can seat 8 people, but it is pretty hot there as the AC above it simply doesn't work. the service is definitely lacking - through the course of our dinner, we requested for extra cups for the Turkish tea, olive oil for the bread, extra spoons - they never came. The staff come only when they have to serve something - for all other times (including for placing orders), one has to talk down looking for the staff.

On the whole, a restaurant with promise and with reliable food. But it needs to improve on the other aspects - else it doesn't remain a...