Botany Restaurant @ Holiday Inn Kemayoran

Whatsup!

one of the food stations

Holiday inn Hotel, under the same group of Intercontinental Hotel has finally opened its first branch in Jakarta, located in Kemayoran area of North Jakarta. What stood out from top-notch hotels are mostly the facility, cleanliness, hospitality, rooms and most importantly would be the buffet. 

Buffet dining has always been a signature dining experience in most of the hotels and it may actually make or break and define a hotel’s reputation and even more so in Jakarta. We rate our hotels by the buffet, and we take it seriously and that was the main reason why I decided to try this particular buffet place named Botany. 

the botany logo

Botany is located in the main lobby of the hotel and they serves all day dining; breakfast, lunch and dinner with opening hours from 6 am to 10 pm.

The restaurant itself is not that spacious yet I was told that it could easily accommodates up to 150 people at one time. Despite the size, the interior was well thought of to ease traffic and navigate patrons for a satisfying dining experience. The décor is simple and minimalistic with a hint of light green colors to express the outdoors as the name suggest, botany.

full of natural lighting

The variant of menu was quite impressive, from International selections to Asian and menus changes from time to time due to the availability and the season of fresh produce. On this particular day I was in for a treat; signature Singaporean Hainan’s Chicken Rice, Malaysian Bak Kut Teh, Japanese Ramen, Chinese Dim Sum and Indonesian Suckling pig, what a feast!

dim sum siumay is quite nice

just ordinary fried rice

the Hainanese chicken

sweet sour chicken

Japanese ramen

variety of dessert cakes

I particularly like the Singaporean Hainan’s Chicken Rice it almost tasted authentic; it was completed with grained ginger that goes along perfectly, the soy sauce with the chili hot sauce makes the mind wander to Singapore. 

My next pick would be mostly all of the Chinese section; sweet sour sauce, kung pao sauce and of course not forgetting the Dim Sum.

Venturing off from the buffet I decided to try the available ala carte menu and here are the dishes I tried:

Mushroom Soup

This soup usually served as an after thought (only needed when you need something warm) but it was actually the highlight of my day at Botany in term of presentation; Generous sized mushroom placed on the side as a showing off of how fresh the mushroom soup was and the thick and textured soup brags the creaminess and ample amount of mushroom you would have expected.

The calamari bites

Calamari bites are pretty common among restaurants but the way it is cooked shows how skillful the chef is. This dish was all about the chef; the skin of the calamari has a good amount of batter for that crispy texture and meat inside is tender and delicate. The sauce that accompanies completes the dish; sweet chilly salt mixed with mayo lemon sauce. It is definitely a simple dish yet the chef put a lot of thought for a balanced dish.

The Veal Schnitzel with steamed haricot vert

This is a more complex dish in my opinion and it was executed well; Veal was cooked and seasoned well, creamy and cheesy mashed potatoes was tasty and the Haricon Vert (green bean in French language) was fresh and complement the heavy dish. It comes with lemon sage sauce that gives enough tanginess that counter attacks the otherwise very meaty dish. Do give it a try for something different and interesting dish.

Finishing off that last dish I wished I could devour more that was offered but sadly I can’t as the tummy had shut down. I would definitely come back to finish off trying all of the food just because I know it won’t disappoint.

Botany Restaurant @ Holiday INN Kemayoran

Jalan Griya Utama Blok B no 1 Tanjung Priuk, Jakarta 14350

Ph : +62 2956 8800

Opening hour : Mon – Sun 6AM-10 PM

IG : Hikekemayoran

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