The Nest Grill : Less is More

Life has its own quirky way of mashing up people from different works of the world at the same place. Such is my meeting with Nest Grill and Arnold Poernomo, the general manager and the man behind the kitchen. A young, determined, and skillful chef with years of experience working his way up from the bottom in many kitchen in Australia before finally settling in Jakarta. While I've also spent a year in Sydney before returning in Jakarta as well.

Source: Nestgrill.com

Hidden inside the Lumina building in Kuningan, the food place is effectively a small dining area within a food hall named Nest. The Grill on the other hand present modern minimalist interior with open kitchen, brick wall, dimmed lighting, and wood populated color palate. Why and why such a delicate establishment is separated a tile away from a seemingly misplaced food hall is out of my mind, but hey, let's just keep an eye on the food instead.

As he spills out his Sydney tales, Arnold prepared some of his cookings. Coming out kitchen smart as opposed to culinary school smart, he surely mastered his craft around the kitchen and watching him cook is a feast on its own. It was as if I'm in a chef's table. Soon after, came the 'must-try' as he called it: Beef Burger and Pork Belly. Both are as delightful as it appears, especially the pork belly. The soft and tender texture resulted from hours of slow cooking has won my tongue. The saucing was complimentary to the pork. If only I could have extra chili (I know, please pardon me =p) to add some hotness just the way I like it, then it would be perfect.

Beef Burger

Pork Belly

Not stopping at the main courses, he continues to awe with his creation of Eight Texture Chocolate Cake. Chocolate praline, mousse, caramel creme, ganache, chocolate disc, chocolate sponge, and chocolate dacquise all in one taking. I couldn't ask for a better dessert. I finished with a wide grin from ear to ear. That is one sweet sinful delicacy.

Eight Texture Chocolate Cake

The Nest Grill is indeed an epitome of the credo less is more. I am looking forward to its new place opening in Kemang, hoping that they would expand its selection of menu with a grandeur ambiance. Expectant!

Cheers,

Fellexandro Ruby
Food Conversationalist & Photographer

Snack on my tweets @Wanderbites

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The Grill At The Nest FoodHall
Lumina Tower
The Kuningan Place
Jl. Kuningan Utama Lot 15
South Jakarta
Tel: +62 21 2555 4614

Now Cooking - Four Fingers Crispy Chicken

Jakarta is definitely a foodie's city of choice. Every now and then a new establishment pave a way into the already diverse culinary universe, while another roll up their sleeve and gone. Four Fingers is one of those that I hope to stick around. Why? I just like to see how it played out. Food place with chicken wings as their signature dish was once an uncharted water, until Kamikaze Chicken opened their first store last October, and just recently this month, the first Four Fingers franchise is up and running. Before we start, in case you want to see my write up on Kamikaze, here it is, click.

My first impression of this food place was cozy, and youthful. You can see their grafitti boldly covering the walls, and their lovely eames chair added a hint of sophistication. The atmosphere somewhat resembles the parent store in ION Orchard, Singapore. Oh, you have to know that Four Fingers or widely known as Bonchon in Singapore is one of the local hits. You'll find it quite packed on lunch / dinner time and they ran out of their favorite chicken wings early. After missing the opportunity to try their wings a couple time, I wouldn't miss it the soonest I knew they opened in Epicentrum, Kuningan. And so last weekend I rushed there for a quick bite.

I ordered the 6 mix set with garlic soy and spicy wings and drummettes, also the chicken burger as recommended by the waitress.

My impression of the chicken wings? Ordinary. The soy garlic was quite salty and feels a little 'in between'. Its like they were half-hearted in showing the taste of the garlic. The spicy chicken on the other hand also tasted like ordinary hot sauce. I just can't help to compare with Kamikaze. I gotta say I prefer Kamikaze with their pepperish hot sauce really kick my taste bud to a level of enjoyment, while Four Finger is not to par with the hype.

 The deep fried chicken however was real crunchy. On the down side, the seasoning was skin deep. Yep, nothing goes past through the meat other than the oils.

At the time, the Chicken Burger started to look more tempting than the wings and the drummettes. The thick piece of boneless chicken fillet was well seasoned. The bread was airy and soft as well. It was only the added layer of curry-tasting sauce on the inner part of the bread that made it taste weird. It felt improperly squeezed in. Weird. The only defense I can think of is that probably they changed the recipe, test it in Jakarta, see how well its accepted and decide whether to use this recipe for their yet another fresh franchise in India. O well. And so I decided to eat the buns and the chicken separately. It was better that way. Oh, the seasoned french fries doesn't add anything extraordinary to the flavor. Just a little note for you Biters. ; )

Overall, my belly was satisfied, but not wide-grin-ly happy. If you know what I mean. Would I come back? Maybe, for a little variety. Now I'm getting curiouser and curiouser to try Bonchon in Singapore and see if the original is any better than the franchise in Jakarta.

Anyone tried the original in Singapore? Feel free to drop a comment. =)

Smile on, Shine On

Fellexandro Ruby
Food Blogger & Photographer
@Wanderbites