Cavakita Rooftop Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Borneo

We visited on the 2nd weekend of its opening. So, the 3-star service I'm giving might be due to teething problems. I'm hoping. The drinks took 30mins to arrive, and similarly for the food. As for the food arrival, it was good that they had realised it and let us know that they would chase it up. They did and it then didn't take long for them to serve it up. They were very apologetic about it, too. Hence I chalked up the seeming inefficiency to the fact that they were still trying to find a system, or their working rhythm. That aside, though. The atmosphere was very much suited to 'western' way of chilling and de-stressing - venting by alcohol and conversation. Most of the tables were enough for an intimate setting - dates. But they had 4 or 5 booths for bigger groups. However, there were more larger groups than there were couples, hence some tables were made up of 2 small round tables. We booked ahead - which is a MUST - so they were able to move us from a make-shift table for 4, to the booth. I visited with a mother of two, so she didn't appreciate the music. For me, it wasn't too loud, and it was appropriate for a hotel-restaurant establishment. We were able to carry out a conversation without having to shout. Mind you, we were indoor. They have outdoor tables as well, with more direct access to the bar. Ok... the food. I'm saving the best for last. The weakest tasting would be the dessert. It was unfortunate that they only had 1 choice of dessert. It was just choux pastry with syrup poured over accompanied by cream with bits of strawberry. I'd rate that 7/10. However, all that we had tasted before dessert were highly rated. The rice ball (arroz croquette) was popular with the kids. We had to order a second serving. I gave it an 8.5-9/10. The soft-shelled crab with steamed bun was equally good. For me, anyway. I liked the medley of tastes savoury (crab) to the tangy (kimchi) to the milky/creamy (mayo). But I think the clear winner was the clam dish. All kids and adult loved that. I'd rate it 10/10. However, be warned that the tuak that it was cooked with did not completely evaporate during the cooking process (as we thought it would) because one of the kids got drunk - according to the mother. And I also believed that was why he went from being a quiet kid (playing on his phone and quietly speaking to his mother/brother) to being very inhibited and rambunctious. However, my favourite was the slow-cooked chicken. One commented that it was just chicken, but I believed the reason I appreciated it was because I could taste the marinating process (100 minutes). The full-bodied taste seeped into the deepest part of the meat. And it was very well complemented by the Canarian sauce (I hope no canaries were harmed in the process!😜😄). Oh my, the sauce! I had to ask for extra. It contrasted the taste of the chicken excellently. It was "belissimo"! However, this culinary experience was not without an exorbitant price. But, it was worth it to celebrate something - to mark the significance of an event. Cos you won't easily forget the experience (even if it was tied to the cost of arm/leg you...

Located on the rooftop of Mercure Hotel. You can choose to sit indoors or outdoors (a little bit too hot/humid). The restaurant/bar is just gorgeous. It has an amazing view to watch the sunset or the city at night. Menu is limited but there is quite a large selection of cocktails. It is on the pricier end. Staffs were super friendly and service was quick.

Heres what we ordered: CHILAQUILES VERDES. Aka nachos, avocado, pickled chilis and red onions served with green mole sauce. The corn chips were actually quite hard so not very enjoyable but tasty (similar taste to doritos). The green mole sauce was interesting but didn’t really do much for the dryness of the chips. A little bit disappointed with the avocados as it was still young and hard.

MUSHROOM ARROZ CROQUETTAS. The best thing we ate that day! I would order it over and over again. A crispy deep fried creamy mushroom risotto ball with annatto aïoli. It is crunchy on the outside and soft and gooey (cheesy) with chunks of mushrooms inside. The creamy mushroom risotto was so delicious it should be served as a dish itself! Please make this happen!

ACHIOTE MARINATED HALF CHICKEN. It is slow cooked and grilled half chicken with mojo verde. Super incredibly soft and moist. Though the marinade didn’t really seep through the whole chicken. It was also a little bit bland (excluding the natural sweetness from the chicken). I do taste a bit of pepperiness and nuttiness but nothing dramatic.

BRAZILIAN FRIED RICE. Stir fried toasted rice with raisins, shitake, corn and crispy pak choy with sazon de gayo seasoning. Rice had a very pleasant smokiness to it, sweetness from the raisins on each bite, and crunchy fun texture from the crispy pak choy. A well made fried rice to eat with the meat dishes ordered.

JUNGLE BIRD. Bacardi Carta Negra, Pineapple Juice, Campari, Lime Juice & Apong Sugar. It was pleasantly sour and sweet on the first few sips and became quite bitter really fast probably from the dried pineapple (which I should have removed).

Overall, would come back for the creamy mushroom risotto balls and other cocktails. Price is slightly high for...

Very bad service for a Valentine’s night, first of all, we were told that our booking was not secured although I have made a reservation through their website 3 days beforehand. Booked an outdoor table but was instead given an indoor table.

The service was terrible, we waited for a long time and had to remind them that our order was not served yet. We ordered one beef and one salmon for the main course but was later told that there was no beef anymore. But after a minute later, the beef was served to us??? The salmon however was not served together despite it being part of the main course too.

We found it funny that they served the main course first and skipped the appetizer and soup, so we reminded them again and was only then served with the soup. After that the salmon was served - but we had already finished the beef. Funny how the main course is served separately!

Still, the appetizer was not served to us and we had to remind them AGAIN. To our surprise, the staff doubted that they missed out the appetizer and said it was already served to us in a slightly questioning tone! We have no reason to lie when we have paid the full price for the Valentine’s package and was just reminding them on the order that they missed out.

Even though we reminded them on the appetizer, they still proceeded to serve us with the dessert. We were giving up at this point and just wanted to finish the dessert and leave. Just then, they served us the appetizer! I have never seen any restaurant serving dessert before an appetizer. What a joke!

Overall, we were very disappointed as we were looking forward to having a nice dinner on Valentine’s day. For the price that we paid, we expected that the dinner would at least be decent, however we were beyond disappointed by how the staffs handled the situation. One of them even gave us the excuse that they were busy! I hope that this restaurant improves on their service and how they handle busy nights. What was supposed to be a happy day to celebrate was instead ruined by the...