One thing I've noticed about Jakartans is that they are crazy for fads, definitely more so than Dubliners. I mean, here, when a new restaurant, cafe, bistro, bar, club, whatever opens...there is this buzz that goes around about it. Others pick up on the buzz and start going and it becomes the latest 'in' place to go. I suspect that there might be a group of professional 'buzz creators' paid to bring attention to these new places and create good publicity through social media, word of mouth, etc. If the right kind of buzz is created then you might find yourself actually queueing to get into the place. I remember this happening at Colette and Lola. I actually had to queue to get into a cake shop. It was a first for me. The laid back Dubliners would never do such a thing. You'd just walk around the corner and get a piece of cake at the next shop.
Anyway, lately I have been hearing a lot of buzz about Eric Kayser, an artisan boulanger. In particular, it was mentioned to me during a conversation about brownies as a place to go for a great brownie. As I am always on the look out for great brownies here (so far the best ones are still my own, snobby but true!) I figured I couldn't miss the opportunity to give the brownies at Eric Kayser a taste test.
The restaurant is located in Plaza Senayan on the third floor. The place itself is fairly modest looking. This doesn't apply to the prices though! When given a menu for food, I was surprised to see pasta dishes costing over 100k! Anyway, I was on a purposeful mission and ordered a cappuccino and a brownie. The cappuccino was very strong to the point that after I finished drinking it my head was buzzing from the caffeine hit. Then came the brownie...at first glance it looked like it had the required crunchy outer exterior and that the interior was soft that epitomises the perfect brownie. I could see walnuts chopped up too which always makes for a good addition to any brownie. However, as I held it, I noticed it left an oily residue on my fingers. Oh dear, oily brownie, tsk tsk, not good. I took my first bite, waiting with bated breath for that crunchy, crackly top to give way to the soft gooey inside and fill my mouth with chocolatey heaven. Yes I have high expectations. I make my brownies to a very high standard so when I'm paying 28k for the pleasure of eating someone else's I expect it to be of a very high standard. Yes 28k! Very expensive!
Unfortunately this brownie did not deliver. When I took my first bite I was extremely disappointed. Where was my crunchy exterior and soft gooey interior? Where was the explosion of chocolatey bliss? Where was the rich buttery undertone? All not there. What did it taste like? Sweet. That's it. Sweet with some nuts. I could hardly taste a chocolate flavour at all and let's face it, when we eat a brownie it's for the total chocolate hit that comes along with it. The chocolate flavour should be rich and smooth. I'm curious as to how they made these brownies because I don't see how it was possible to get the chocolate colour without having the chocolate flavour. Again, extremely disappointing. It's safe to say that I won't be recommending these brownies to anyone. I hope their other pastries and breads are better. However, I'll have to think about it before I go back and try. For those prices, I would want to be sure that I'm getting a little slice of heaven.
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