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