Convivium

"During a Convivium, a banquet with emphasis on richly prepared and novel food, the partaking of which was a pleasure - a conviviality - which would be accompanied by a generous flow of wines." ~ Stuart J. Fleming

And what a conviviality dining here was. This homey ristorante stole my heart from my first visit in May and since then I’ve been here two more times; and I will keep coming. There are lots of places that serve Italian dishes in Jakarta, but not many do it right like Convivium does.

I first heard about this restaurant sometime in May from my friends who swore by Convivium’s red velvet cake. MD actually passed by the place once around the same time, saying how the place was small and didn’t look so inviting. I managed to drag her here though, after a not-so-successful lunch (go to page), for the sole purpose of trying out their famed red velvet cake for ourselves. 


This little establishment was crowded at that time; the parking space was full so we had to park a bit far from there. Walking in, I immediately loved the interior; the bookshelves with their cooking books and cute kitchenware, the chalkboard with menus on it, the cupcakes on the serving dish, the open kitchen, everything. 

The Look

Once seated, we ordered a slice of red velvet cake (they call it torta passione here) (35K), a slice of mocha delight (recommended by the waitress) (35K), and two cups of caffe corretto (30K each) (literally “the right coffee”; a concoction of espresso and liquor which MD thought tasted like jamu). 


The torta passione was indeed scrumptious. It was moist, crumbly, and creamy at all the right levels. The cream cheese frosting was spread thinly it wasn’t overwhelming like with most cakes; and with some desiccated coconut, it was heavenly. The cake itself was delicious; with a bright, charming red color and fitting hints of cocoa. The mocha delight was a decent chocolate cake but we still prefer the one from that famous chocolatier franchise from Singapore (go to page). 

Red Velvet Cake

On our next visit, we came as they were opening the store at 11AM; and we got to choose the seats of our wanting. This time I ordered spinach and ricotta cannelloni (65K) and iced caffe latte (28K) while MD had lasagna (65K) and caffe mocha (28K). 

Iced Caffe Latte

Caffe Mocha

The cannelloni and lasagna came in around 20 minutes looking very tempting it was so very hard to hold ourselves for 5 minutes to take these pictures. Both of the dishes were in generous portion with generous fillings. 


I loved the tangy sauce of the cannelloni, and the pasta was also cooked perfectly. 

Cannelloni

The lasagna was very meaty, which is good, and the sauce did marvelous in distinguishing this dish from the rest of its ‘average’ counterparts in Jakarta. These dishes were served warm, and you’d want to dig in while they are; eat first, talk later.

Lasagna

So Convivium is now our most favorite Italian place in Jakarta. Service may be a bit standoffish at times (for such a small joint, it was kind of hard to get the staff’s attention), but the food is great and the place is cozy. We will definitely be coming back here for more pasta and desserts, and so should you 

Souly Butter Kitchen

One day, YP sent me a link about a small cakery in Kemang named Souly Butter Kitchen. After reading about it (and I’m easily tempted with pastries), we decided to try it that weekend. The article said that the place was small and had limited seating which could only accommodate approximately 15 people.  Hence we booked for seats, just in case the place was full.

Souly Butter Kitchen was located right across Kentucky Fried Chicken Kemang.  Entering the place, I was shocked a little, the place was smaller than I thought. I don’t think it’s even enough for 15 people (well, maybe if all of those 15 people were slim and sat crammed). When I confirmed about my reservation, the waiter seemed confused and there were no seats with the ‘reserved’ sign. It’s quite disappointing that they missed about the reservation.

The place was nice though. It looked like small painted white kitchen decorated with sofas and colorful cushions.  Red velvet cupcakes, black forest cake, caramel éclairs and buche were displayed on the kitchen table. It was a nice and tempting display. Unfortunately, I don’t think they were baking when we came, because I did not smell any cakes baking in their oven. I love the smell of freshly baked cakes.

The Displays

The recommended menu was carrot cake but they did not serve it that day, thus we decided to order a red velvet cupcake (20K) and a caramel éclair (25K). We did not order the buche  because we had lots of chocolates the day before. However, we could not resist ordering Valrhona ice chocolate (35K) for drinks.  We could always find excuses for Valrhona anyway.

I love the color of the red velvet cupcake, a tempting red, but the topping was a bit messy. I expected a cuter cupcake with pretty topping just as they pictured in the brochure. You can choose between cream cheese or mascarpone to be spread on your red velvet. We prefer a lighter taste, so we chose the mascarpone. Though the cupcake was too dry, the sweetness level suited me well.

Red Velvet Cupcake

On the other hand, the caramel éclair was too sweet for my taste bud. The look of the caramel éclair was also less attractive. In a glance, it looked like fried banana. I prefer the traditional chocolate éclair with a little infusion of rhum (I know, we mention a lot about the rhum, we just love it).

Caramel éclair

The Valrhona ice chocolate was quite delicious. They served the sugar separately. I like this kind of serving because I can adjust the sweetness level by myself. I had the drink without adding sugar, which could make me taste the chocolate better. They were quite generous with the chocolate. The drink had a rich chocolate flavor. For a chocolate lover, this drink could be a delightful option.

Valrhona Ice Chocolate

For such a nice and homey little place, it was a little disappointing that they did not forbid the guests to smoke. There were these other guests that smoke a lot. It was a small closed place, thus the smoke filled up the room and caused a disturbing suffocation. Another guest, which was a foreigner family (with a child), complained to the waiter about this but the waiter didn’t warn the guests who were smoking. I think the waiter might be afraid or hesitate. Ahhh well it was a little beyond their control anyway, but I think it would have been nicer if they could be stricter. Despite that smoking thing, this place was nice to chill. I won’t mind revisiting this place and try their other menus.

Summary:
Food: Average
Ambience: Average
Value: Average

Souly Butter Kitchen
Jl. Kemang Raya 15A
Tel: 021 719 9985
Twitter: @soulybutterkitchen

Awfully Chocolate

If you’re super busy and don’t have the leisure to read this whole post, just know this: Awfully Chocolate serves the meanest chocolate cake in Jakarta. Period. Hands down. If you have the time to spare, then please be my guest and read the rest of this article.

First of all, Awfully Chocolate has been in Indonesia for quite some time now. We, too, have been two of their loyal fans since forever. We didn’t, however, use to indulge ourselves with these sinful delicacies before as we have been these few months. You see, due to their very strategic location (as in, close to our office), recently we have been purchasing their cakes for our colleagues’ birthdays (gaining more fans in the process; we should really start asking for commissions). We love all three of their cake variations: original (instant classic; not too sweet just how we like it), banana (a tad sweeter thanks to the two layers of fresh bananas), and rum and cherry (the ultimate cake, be prepared for lots of  ‘oooh’s and ‘aaah’s).

A couple of months ago, we received one of the best news of our lives (this is no exaggeration): Awfully Chocolate’s Senopati Branch is starting its own dessert café. We couldn’t be more excited; we were to finally have what those lucky Singaporeans, Chinese, and Taiwanese have been enjoying!

So it’s sad that we missed their opening event in May and was only able to finally sit in their neat, petit café last week, along with two friends of ours. As we entered the store we didn’t waste any second and started ordering like crazy: two slices of super stacked chocolate cake (31K), a slice of white chocolate butterscotch roll (32K), one cold-poached chocolate with kahlua-infused cream (36K), and a few morsels of kahlua-infused truffles (9K each) (yes, we love kahlua, so what).

The super stacked chocolate cake was exactly what their website says: a richer, thicker, chocolatier version of their original chocolate cake. It was less sweet, denser (more fudge, less cake), and overall I prefer this to the original, although the lack of alcohol is quite a pity. A little rum (well, not so little) might go a long way. 

Super Stacked Chocolate Cake

The white chocolate butterscotch roll was sweet, sweet, sweet. From the start, we were no fans of white chocolate (white chocolate ain’t chocolate!), and this cake couldn’t make us cross over to the white side. 

White Chocolate Butterscotch

The kahlua-infused truffles were very rich; you might want to cut the small pieces to even smaller bits so you don’t feel overwhelmed.

Kahlua-infused Truffles

Now, the cold-poached chocolate was the highlight of that night. The soft, velvety dark chocolate just melted beautifully in our mouths along with the fresh, seductive kahlua-infused cream. Truly a brilliant concoction by the Awfully Chocolate kitchen. They had another version by the way, one with butterscotch cream instead of kahlua, which we didn’t get to try that night but would like to some other time.

Cold-poached Chocolate with Kahlua-infused Cream

The next day we tried their HEI chocolate ice cream (26K) (I seriously need to ask what HEI means next time) which proved to be scrumptious; perhaps the better choice for chocolate ice cream in town. Plus, they put these little scoops of heaven in cute Chinese-takeaway-esque boxes (yes, we will take pictures of it next time). Nice presentation never hurts.

Talking about presentation, the café itself is very charming, for me at least. Like I said, it’s pretty small, maybe only enough for twenty persons or so, with an open kitchen where you can watch the master chocolatiers at work. White dominates the interior. The staffs were helpful and friendly, and the (assumed) owner hopped in once in a while to lure her helpless customers to a chocolaty heaven.

The Looks

In conclusion, I will repeat the first sentence of this post: Awfully Chocolate serves the meanest chocolate cake in Jakarta. Period. Hands down.

Summary:
Food: Good
Ambience: Good
Value: Good


Jalan Senopati
No 41C Jalan Senopati Jakarta 12190Tel: +62 858 8015 8988, +62 21 573 1457

Plaza Indonesia
Level LB#31 Jalan M.H Thamrin Kav. 28-30

Jakarta,10350
Tel: +62 21 3199 0205

Web: http://www.awfullychocolate.com/jakarta/pdt.php