Roastwoods Cafe, Kuningan Village, Jakarta

When I think about Kuningan area, I would automatically have this certain image of well-developed area with modern and tall buildings everywhere. Apparently, this was not totally true because last week, I found a quite simple complex named Kuningan Village, which is actually a dining complex. The restaurant that I am going to review today is the Roastwoods Cafe, one of the joints in the complex.

Roastwoods Cafe has this simple yet cute concept that is easily visible from its sleek design. The place is separated into two sections: indoor and outdoor. I arrived there around 4pm and it just started raining that time, so I sat inside although the outdoor seating area looks more inviting. Not that the indoor area is bad, but there were some occupied tables during my visit and the room looked kind of packed. Actually the outdoor area is still okay even when it rains, thanks to the glass roof, but clearly the weather wasn’t too friendly and it was very hot and humid outside. The ceiling fan didn’t help much, either.

The indoor area is quite small, but surprisingly I felt very comfortable there. The atmosphere, the music, everything just works perfectly together creating nice ambiance. I especially love the owls painting on the wall (sorry, didn’t have decent photo of it!) and picked my seat just facing that wall so I could enjoy looking at it during my stay. There is also a small but decent bar in the innermost side of the room.

What’s nice about Roastwoods Cafe is, there seems to be different promotions everyday! And everything is nicely informed on your table mat in front of you, so there is no hidden stuffs or something fishy about it.

Interestingly, this cafe serves quite wide selections of menu, from appetizers to desserts, and they also have bubble tea! Beside that, like any regular cafes, it also serves various kinds of tea and coffee, even Tanamera coffee! And although I didn’t expect to find Korean food there, in fact, the bibimbap (Korean mixed rice) is one of the recommended menu from Roastwoods Cafe. That got me even more curious about this place. Without further ado, with help of our super friendly waitress, we ordered some recommended dished and couldn’t wait to try them!

Popcorn Chicken IDR 38K

These popcorn chicken were very crunchy and addictive. Shaped into little balls, these are very good company for drinks, indeed. I love that despite being crunchy, they were not too oily when served. Honestly, they didn’t only look good, but also tasted good.

Fried Rice Kimchi IDR 45K
This Korean-inspired fried rice was shockingly unique. Presented just like Japanese omurice in different shape (not exactly omurice but hope you get the idea!), it was creative and nice to look at. Just like omurice, the fried rice was wrapped inside a thin layer of egg. The fried rice was cooked using Korean red sauce mixed with vegetables made it very tasty and a bit spicy. Personally, I liked this one, although my brother said it was quite weird. However, we all agreed that the fried rice was very unique and still acceptable.

Bibimbap: Grilled Tofu Kimchi IDR 59K
They have 3 options for the bibimbap: chicken, ground beef, or this. And I picked this because I was simply curious. The bibimbap was served on the hot stone and it looked just so beautiful with all the colorful veggies including the purple cabbage! I must admit that although I hardly tasted any usual bibimbap that I know, it was indeed a bibimbap and I actually enjoyed it!

Classic Aglio Olio Spaghetti IDR 48K
This was actually quite decent and very tasty (maybe a little too much) for a pasta. Personally, I thought the spaghetti was too hard and dry, but overall, it was quite good.

After trying those 4 dishes, I came into conclusion that Roastwoods Cafe is indeed very serious with what they serve. In the matter of fact, their dishes are no joke and some were surprisingly great. Everything was well-presented and interestingly, made with any possible twist, which is kind of brilliant when I think about it. Let’s say we order curry rice, maybe something different (not typical curry rice) will come up, and so on.

Red Velvet Cream Cheese IDR 45K

If this wasn’t recommended by LulabySpoon (thanks! =D), I would probably have canceled it. The preparation time was almost 40 minutes but since the cafe was comfy, we really didn’t mind waiting. XD The red velvet infused waffle was totally a feast to the eyes! Red in color, the waffle was stunning and I found it difficult to actually ruin and eat it. Errrr. The cream cheese was just nice, probably mixed and diluted with something else because it was less creamy and cheesy. The waffle itself tasted nice, but not necessarily my favorite (still prefer original ones). But well, it is not everyday that I got to eat red waffles, so it’s all worth the wait!

Choco Milk Tea IDR 24K & Honey Milk Tea IDR 25K
Didn’t expect much for the bubble teas but they turned out very nice! The cups were regular size, the bubble/pearls were chewy and not sticky. The choco milk tea was superb, with very rich cocoa flavor and perfect sweetness, it was very delicious. The honey was also given in proper amount so it actually tasted like real honey milk tea, not just “a hint of”.