Contributing writer Christopher Ruane visited the Gandaria branch of LYMA Brisket and had a taste of the restaurant’s mouthwatering, meaty dish.
If you were to build a restaurant around one particular cut of meat, where would you start?
One option – common in the United States but much rarer until now in Indonesia – is brisket. Brisket is a cut from a cow’s lower chest or breast. If uncooked, it can be tough. However, slow-cooking it helps tenderise the meat while also enabling its connective tissue to break down. This can make for a soft texture that easily falls apart, packed with flavour.
The obvious appeal of brisket led to Jakarta-based LYMA Brisket being born during the pandemic. The company, whose name is pronounced “Leema” like the Peruvian capital, still does home delivery. They have also opened up several restaurants across the city. One is at Cideng, and the flagship branch is located at Gandaria.
I visited the Gandaria branch recently on a Monday lunchtime, a dining occasion so early in the week that it may not usually be associated with being laid-back or casual. But step inside and immediately the vibe is both chilled and sleek, with bare brickwork, industrial metal finishes, utilitarian chairs, and background beats creating an atmosphere redolent of a hip, contemporary, and stripped-back social space.
There is more to the Gandaria branch than just the main restaurant. It also houses a couple of social rooms for small private gatherings, ideal for a social get-together like a games evening.
At ground level, the main restaurant space is divided into two areas: a lower-ceilinged front room and an airy, spacious, and light back room. The choice of a slightly different ambience can help match the mood to the occasion.
Central to the menu, of course, is the brisket. LYMA describes it as Texas-style, but offers a range of meat provenances, including U.S. Prime and Japanese A5 Wagyu. The meat is hand-rubbed with a spice mix before being smoked over rambutan wood for a minimum of 15 hours. Depending on the meat, it may be smoked for even longer. The Indonesian rambutan gives a rich yet subtle smokiness to the brisket, adding flavour and complexity.
This process is what gives brisket its signature quality of a soft, fragile texture that falls apart in the mouth. LYMA has mastered this process. On my visit, the delicious meat was top quality.
The restaurant maintains an active social media presence with frequent guest collaborations and special edition drops, so it was no surprise that during my visit, there was a live carving of the brisket at a centrally located chef’s station, the knife slicing through the attractively hued meat effortlessly.
While brisket is the centrepiece, the menu is more sophisticated than just offering a pile of meat – even though some customers would be very happy with that alone! The brisket comes with a choice of sauces, from barbecue or honey mustard to bell pepper gravy or chimichurri. There is a large range of accompaniments, including staples like rice and potatoes, vegetables, and accompaniments including egg or cheese.
There are also brisket-focused interpretations of other dishes. I enjoyed some brisket tacos, for example. The menu offers many other options inspired by a variety of global culinary traditions, including Mexican pizzas, brisket bulgogi, brisket donburi, and, on a more local note, nasi brisket.
This approach works well: brisket is the undoubted hero at LYMA. That said, by offering it in a wider variety of dishes, it can dominate the menu without overpowering it. That means that there ought to be something for everyone who eats meat, and repeat visits need not be repetitive. For vegetarians, admittedly, this meat-focused restaurant is not an obvious choice, but there are some options available, such as the cheese quesadilla.
LYMA Brisket will likely spread the popularity of brisket in Jakarta and, more widely, Indonesia. The restaurant’s simple, dedicated focus means that it delivers brisket as good as any overseas and is well worth a visit.
LYMA Brisket, Jakarta
- Address: Jl. Gandaria 1 No.83, RT.2/RW.3, Kramat Pela, Kec. Kby. Baru, Kota Jakarta Selatan, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta 12140 (also at Cideng)
- Phone: 0812-7898-9855
- Instagram: @lyma.jkt, @lymaspace (for private events)