Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Hidden Gem Restaurant in Thamrin City

Hi there hungry peeps!

I am not a huge fan of French food, as much as a foodie as I am, it takes a lot of flavors and spices to delight my full blown asian palate and it is quite hard to achieve that ‘umami’ that I’m used to from French food. The name ‘Avec Moi’ did pique my interest, to me it gives off a certain approachability and accessibility than other French restaurants that mostly represent overwhelmingly high-priced fine dining. Avec Moi , which means ‘With Me’, seems to invite you to join them in their journey in making a satisfying meal that you might actually enjoy. So I took my foodie friends along and check the place out.
The restaurant is nestled inside Thamrin City office park, it is about two stores down from the famed Tana Mera Coffee shop and parking is easy to find as they have plenty of space for cars right outside of the establishments. As you walk in, you will be greeted by friendly staffs that will seat you right away and embraced by a nice, warm ambience that settles you right in.
 
first time you see when you walk in the store - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
first time you see when you walk in the store
  
what a cute caption next to adorable bunny - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
what a cute caption next to adorable bunny

The restaurant is run by a couple, the chef who is also the husband; named Chef Romano is a Malaysian citizen whom married to an Indonesian. He used to work in Singapore as a chef for couple of years and decided to be with his wife in Indonesia and open a French restaurant here. His passion is French cooking but without having to sacrifice his Asian palate background (again, who can deny the full-blown palate most Asians has?). With that in his heart, his style of cooking became undeniably French with asian fusion, and that makes it a contemporary French fusion dishes. His dishes are rich in flavors, staying true to core ingredients (he mentions of always keeping it simple) without sacrificing the 5 stars food quality

another interior detail - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
another interior detail

BUNNY chair - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
BUNNY chair

The restaurant is a three storey building, the first floor has approx of 25 sitting capacity and the second floor is designated for a private group functions and where the working kitchen is. The third floor is scheduled in the near future to be the designated wine bar and lounge area. The interior is clean, contemporary and bunny themed inspired. The bunny-eared chairs are definitely a scene stealer.

dining area first floor - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
dining area first floor

second floor private room - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
second floor private room

True enough, my gut feeling was right, it was more of a casual dining more than formal dining with excellent service. The waiters and waitresses have good knowledge of the menu and could explain in details any question asked. Let’s move on the food shall we.

Seabass grenobloise, carbonara pasta, sous vide chicken, amitriana pasta - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
Seabass grenobloise, carbonara pasta, sous vide chicken, amitriana pasta - all on my table Rp. 283000.00

Salade Avec Moi ( IDR 65k)

Chef Romano came down from the kitchen to personally introduced us his restaurant and the menus, he insisted to let us try the signature salad of the restaurant. True enough it became our favorite dish; ample amount of chicken breasts, the freshness from the mesclun (edible leaves), the sweetness from cherry tomatoes, the sourness from the sesame dressing, the right amount of saltiness and the crunchiness from the fried onions infused beautifully together. It is truly a perfect appetizer not to be missed.

Avec Moi Salade - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
Avec Moi Salade - new way for salad Rp. 68000.00
 
6 HRS Sous Vide Chicken (IDR 130k)
The term“SOUS VIDE”, as I learned from watching a lot of Masterchef TV series, is actually a way you cook the chicken meat; by putting the chicken in an air-tight plastic and leave it to steam with an average time that is more than the typical cooking time (it can go on to about 6 hrs). By this method, it allows the meat to maintain its moistness. The chicken was then lightly pan fried to achieve a mouth-watering crispiness that crunch as you bite. The mashed potato as side dish was cooked to perfection and so were the fresh grilled vegetables and mustard sauce to complete the dish. I called that good cooking.

6 HRS sous Vide Chicken - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
6 HRS sous Vide Chicken - super delish chicken dish Rp. 130000.00

Seabass Grenobloise (IRD 98K)
The presentation of this dish was irresistible; its colorful greens and perfectly cooked pan-fried sea bass, the mashed potato and Grenobloise sauce is mouth watering. ‘Grenobloise’ is a French term for sauce that is made of finely chopped shallots, capers, parsley, browned butter and zesty lemon. It was love from its first bite and I was already thinking of a second serving.

Sea Bass Grenobloise - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
Sea Bass Grenobloise - amazing dish (crispy outside, soft inside) Rp. 98000.00

Bacon carbonara (IDR 78k) and pasta amitriciana( IDR 85k)
The pasta dishes are non-halal as it is served mostly with bacon, however you can request to the waitress to serve halal as the bacon can be replaced with chicken. When ordering the pasta, you can choose two types of pastas; the spaghetti or the linguini. The amitriciana pasta was good and it was made to perfection, but I was not thoroughly impressed.
Different from the amitriciana, the Bacon Carbonara is by far more delicious. The aroma itself was mouth-watering. I know for sure that this dish will pamper my taste bud and it truly did. Do mix the pasta well together while it is hot to achieve a creamy flavor that melts in your mouth.
 

amitriciana pasta - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
amitriciana pasta - second option for pasta Rp. 85000.00

Carbonara Pasta - Avec Moi Restaurant in Thamrin
Carbonara Pasta - you MUST order this Rp. 78000.00
 
Overall I love this restaurant, it deserves a big standing ovation for the Chef Romano and the staffs. I cannot wait to come back and taste more of its deliciousness.
 
Ps : check the restaurant hour before going here since they have lunch break in between


Taste            8.5/10
ambiance      8/10
service          8/10
Cleaniliness   8.5/10

wifi is available
parking space is available

follow my ig @ whats_up_jakarta for some more food-venture

cheers! keep Starving 

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