When it comes to à la carte, Sunday brunch at Park Hyatt Jakarta hotel delivers on multiple levels.
First is a menu of à la carte options that accompanies the brunch buffet. Options include classic breakfast favourites like poached eggs and French toast, grilled offerings including lamb chop, crispy pork, Australian Tomahawk steak, and seared halibut, as well as three signature dishes from across Indonesia: nasi bebek Andaliman, sop buntut and beef satay Maranggi.
During brunch, though, à la carte also takes on a literal meaning. A variety of delights are offered at the tableside from a cart. On a recent Sunday, these included risotto with Italian truffle, an intricate salmon Wellington and homemade limoncello. With the carts passing from table to table, the anticipated arrival of each one brought a frisson of anticipation, followed by the theatre of serving individual portions from the cart.
Having à la carte options does not mean, however, that the brunch has done away with a buffet. The buffet forms the centrepiece of the hotel’s 22nd-floor Dining Room restaurant. There are four main buffet stations, each with staff serving freshly prepared food.
The first one encountered is all about seafood. It offers a variety of shellfish including lobster, crab, and oysters as well as other delights from the deep blue. Seafood is a consistent theme across all four stations, but here it is front and centre.
An Indonesian station offered a variety of familiar dishes from across the archipelago. On this visit, the focus was on Balinese specialities, thanks to the visit of a chef from a sister property on the island. This is part of a series of occasional chef visits at the hotel. A recent highlight was the hotel’s Masters of Food and Wine event when visiting chefs added their own special touch to brunch. More such visits are planned for 2024.
The third brunch station focussed on all things Italian. With an Italian chef who formerly served as personal chef to the British royal family and official chef of the White House as well as an Italian sous chef, it should come as no surprise that Italian food is taken seriously here. From fresh pasta to substantial main dishes, this station showcased a wide variety of hearty cooking from the European nation.
Finally, fresh seafood flown from Japan is on the chopping block of the Japanese seafood station, where sushi and sashimi are the speciality. The old joke about being on a seafood diet (“I seafood and I eat it”) has rarely felt truer of a Sunday brunch than it does here. Caviar even popped up in one dish.
The combination of West and East, especially Italy and Indonesia, is also apparent in the cheese table. A variety of Italian cheeses sits alongside those from Indonesia, including Bali and Yogyakarta. These sit alongside local honey. It is refreshing to see a selection of sometimes hard-to-find Indonesian cheeses conveniently clustered together, alongside a range of freshly baked breads. I was fortunate enough to have the cheeses introduced to me personally by the aforementioned Italian chef, who was knowledgeable about the local selection as well as those from his homeland.
Similarly, a plethora of desserts includes Western classics but also Indonesian sweet delights, while an ice cream cart serves up a variety of flavours made by the hotel’s kitchen staff.
But while the candy colours of some ice creams may appeal to children, the overall vibe of this brunch is an adult affair. Sure, there are families scattered around the room. But from a heavy soundtrack adding vibrant atmosphere to the sleek, pared-back design of cold marble and floor-to-ceiling windows offering fabulous views of the city, this is a mature, considered affair.
A welcome glass of champagne at the door sets the tone. Tables of friends catch up on the trials and successes of their week at a leisurely pace. Around the edge of the room, banquette tables offer comfortable recesses in which to unwind as the conversation unfolds. This is a brunch setting where food does not necessarily dominate proceedings so much as providing an excuse for a weekend get-together with friends.
The Park Hyatt remains a newcomer to the Jakarta hotel scene and this brunch only started at the end of September. That is not obvious from the service levels. Indeed, the friendly and welcoming staff helped to set the tone from the moment one stepped out of the lift.
When it comes to food, there is a good variety. Many dishes are tasty without coming across as overly fussy. It would be a stretch to call this fine dining, although there are presentational flourishes on the plate as well as the tableside carts.
What might set the Park Hyatt apart when it comes to choosing a Sunday brunch option in Jakarta? The view is superb in all directions and as the restaurant is indoors, it is climate-controlled. The atmosphere is lively rather than subdued, perfect for a Sunday afternoon pick-me-up. There is a decent variety of food, with a notable emphasis on fresh seafood, all served by friendly staff.
The Brunch package is priced at Rp828,000++ per person, including a selection of non-alcoholic beverages available from 12 to 3 PM. Meanwhile, the Brunch packages with alcoholic beverages are priced at Rp1,178,000++ per person for cocktails and beers; Rp1,528,000++ per person for sparkling wine, wines, cocktails, and beers; and Rp1,728,000++ per person for Champagne, wines, cocktails, and beers. BCA credit cards attract a 15 percent discount.
Sunday Brunch at Park Hyatt Jakarta
- Address: Jl. Kebon Sirih No.17-19, Menteng, Central Jakarta, 10340.
- Tel: +62 21 31190333
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/indonesia/park-hyatt-jakarta/cgkph/dining