Washoku Sato 和食さと, Central Park, Jakarta

Washoku Sato is the largest Japanese family chain restaurants in Japan, and its first outlet in Jakarta has been operating since September 2013. I had always wanted to visit this place, but was only able to finally do it last month. 

Washoku Sato started its very own shop in 1958, in a 27 square meters place. As of November 2013, they already have 197 branches spread around Japan, and the number keeps increasing. What an achievement! 

The outlet in Jakarta is located in Central Park Mall, with spacious dining area. Outdoor seating is also available, although not many but during bright days, the view is very pretty because it overlooks the beautiful and refreshing Tribeca Park.

Every table is equipped with small bell that has functions of calling staffs if we need any help and also another button to ask for bill. And while in some other restaurants, this kind of bell is somehow like a mere decoration, this bell helped me a lot during my visit. The staffs were not too many, but they responded to the bell very quickly. +1000 point for the effectivity and efficiency.

This udon came in a very large bowl and the portion was more than enough. Kitsune Udon is served with deep-fried tofu, very tasty and delicious. I loved the soup very much, simple yet strong. 

This set is part of their DAILY SPECIAL LUNCH which are available everyday from 10am to 3pm (excluding holiday). Our visit was on Wednesday so we had available menu for that day, the chirashi set which included mini chirashi sushi, tempura moriawase, and miso shiru. Everything was very small but fresh. Didn’t get to try the chirashi but the others were super delicious!

Who knows a bowl of ebi tendon could be THIS good? Seriously, this is definitely the best tendon that I have ever had in my life, and I am not even exaggerating! Rather than tempura with rice, the tendon was completely united to become one dish. The rice was very tasty because of the tempura sauce, and the tempura were perfectly deep-fried, just crunchy and so fresh! THE BEST EBI TENDON EVER.

Their version of hiyashi chuka was a bit surprising because it was totally different from the classic one. Using some kind of sauce that tastes so much similar to Kewpie’s Japanese sesame dressing, the noodle tasted sooooooo good: sweet and aromatic. Not the usual kind but with twist.

Washoku Sato started its first shop selling sushi and nabe (hotpot) so I just had to try it. It came in a regular pot for single serving. I chose the pirikara kind because I wanted something hot and spicy for my hotpot. The ingredients used were very fresh and when it was brought to the table, the hotpot was put on top of a small gas stove so we could keep the hotpot warm as long as we eat. Like I said before, this is meant for single serving only so I don’t recommend sharing as some of the stuffs were only one each. Personally, I loved this nabe and I will definitely come back to try more of them!

What I love about Japanese restaurants is their delicious green tea desserts. Here is no exception, when I opened the dessert menu, I felt like I wanted to order everything. They serve many kind of desserts related to matcha, and after having difficult time to choose, I finally decided to try the dorayaki. The dorayaki is made from matcha and filled with red bean jam, served with a scoop of matcha ice cream and whip cream. The texture was right, the filling was generous and the sweetness was enough. The matcha ice cream was refreshing without being too milky or creamy, which totally suited my taste.

Including Soda drinks (Coca Cola, Sprite, Fanta Blueberry, Fanta Strawberry), Ice Cappuccino, Ice Mocaccino, Ice Matcha Milk, Ice Coffee Latte, Espresso, Hot Matcha, Hot Cappuccino, Hot Chocolate. I think it’s worth the price if you can drink like a fish. The price of Drink Bar becomes IDR 30K/person if you order this with any food or dessert.

An interesting point that I saw there was the table management system. There is a board with map of the dining area marked with numbers, and occupied tables get red balls. The system is simple but much more efficient than other restaurants that I know so far. During peak hours or weekends, usually these restaurants will be very crowded and guests might need to wait before getting their tables ready, so rather than writing guests’ names in waiting list or something, this kind of system definitely works better and faster.

An awesome dining experience with some of the nicest food. Definitely coming back real soon!