Editor's Rating
TERRA Cafe Bar is the newest spot in the neighborhood of Senayan, located exactly inside Rukan Permata Senayan, our favorite destination near home whenever we are bored of malls.
You might think that the complex is only fulfilled with offices and such, but there are many restaurants which (we think) deserve more recognition and acknowledgment from foodies. Some of our favorite hidden gems are also located inside this complex, such as Coffee Cup by Chérie, Plan B Spanish Resto, and the-now-closed Arome Kafe.
Back to TERRA Cafe Bar, apparently this cafe brand and concept originally come from Tokyo, Japan; and a cafe with same name also exists in Tokyo. Bringing the concept of “preservation”, the cafe mainly serves frozen food, sealing bottles, and freeze dry food.
The cafe occupies 3 floors of the ruko: first floor has a glass display and counter as well as baked goods shelves, and smaller seating area. Second floor has nicer ambience as everything looks brighter and it’s more spacious than the first floor. Moreover, there seems to be a special space prepared for live music performance, cool! The third floor is used for private room mainly for business meeting etc.
The place looks very warm and comfortable when I stepped in. The color combination is probably not the most mature, but it gives a colorful, cheerful vibe which makes me want to stay longer.
FIRST FLOOR
SECOND FLOOR
More spacious seating area with more comfortable booth-type seating. I love spending time here now, but when it’s crowded, I don’t think I will. The “live stage” is located in the middle of the room. I am wondering how close and personal watching live performance here will be!
The word ”保存” which means “preservation” is carved well on the stage wall.
As TERRA Cafe Bar serves mainly preserved ready-stock food, and for the menu, there are soup, salad, bread, pasta, rice, dessert, and some drinks. Not bad!
Prices for F&B range from IDR 12,000 to 98,000.
Actually this review summed up two visits in one post, as I have visited this place twice until now. My first visit was late and it was almost closed so I just ordered some drinks and desserts, while the second visit was during daytime and I tried some of the dishes.
Dory Fish Salad IDR 68,000
Generous amount of fresh vegetables, topped with strange dory fish. The fish has a texture like fishcake instead of regular crispy dory, it was spongy and chewy. I wouldn’t say these “dory” were delicious or good, but the veggie was okay. The dressing sauce was some kind of spicy mayo, which was very spicy for Japanese standard. I mean, I don’t think that mostly Japanese can eat that dressing, which is weird because it seems that the target market of this cafe is Japanese living/working around the neighborhood.
Mushroom Cream Soup IDR 38,000
The cream soup wasn’t the best, but it was actually not bad for an instant one. The consistency was a bit too runny and watery, but taste-wise, it was alright. I like how they added some real mushrooms in it.
Beef Stew On Rice IDR 88,000
We love beef stew, and we gave this a try. Actually, it was alright and quite enjoyable. But something about it turned me off in some ways. The aroma was pretty much instant food, and even the rice didn’t look decent to me. I actually suspected that even the rice was an instant one, duh. The beef stew was quite thick and tasty, with lots of fillings and veggies too. But for that price, it is definitely a total rip-off.
Uji Matcha Latte (Cold) IDR 38,000
Sadly to say, this was one of the worst matcha latte I have ever had in my life, period. From the looks, I could tell that the matcha wasn’t really strong and it was indeed like what I thought. Instead of tasting like real Japanese matcha latte, this was more like milk with very faint hint of matcha taste. Instant or not, nobody should sell this kind of matcha latte!
Yuzu Green Tea IDR 30,000
The highlight of my first visit was this. Being a big fan of yuzu and green tea I am, this was a total jackpot to be able to find this in Jakarta. (Anybody knows where else I can find this?) The hot tea are served in black ceramic tea pot which is very Zen, IMHO. It is very beautiful in Japanese way and I think this is perfect for afternoon tea session too!
The yuzu green tea has a very faint color, almost transparent, between yellow and green colors. The aroma when it was poured down to the cup was amazing! The strong citrusy fragrance of yuzu and refreshing green tea is definitely the best. The flavors didn’t disappoint, either. If everything else fails, it is still the reason why you have to visit this place.
Burdock Tea IDR 30,000
During my second visit, I opted for Burdock Tea, or known as Gobo Root tea. The color is very beautiful, golden brown color with strong aroma. I didn’t really enjoy this as the taste reminded me of a kind of traditional medicine that I took during my childhood to increase my body height. In the end I didn’t even grow taller and I had to suffer so much from drinking that medicine, LOL! Even until now I am still traumatized by the aroma and flavor of that medicine, and too bad, it is exactly the same with this Burdock Tea.
Mango & Orange Smoothie IDR 44,000
I also tried their smoothie, which is (thankfully) NOT an instant product, as I could see them actually blending the drinks before serving it to us. The smoothie was good, with separated sugar provided.
Red Beans Soup IDR 36,000
Another favorite. This also is an instant dessert, which the actual dessert is already packaged in small sachet and the waitress just added certain quantity of hot water to serve it. It wasn’t spectacular but anything, but delicious enough to make me want some more.
Matcha Cheese Cake IDR 32,000
This seems to be TERRA’s signature dessert, which unfortunately sucked so bad. I am sorry for saying this, but seriously, selling this kind of cheese cake is a shame. There was no sign of cheese cake in this cup, everything was frozen except the green tea powder on top. The texture was hard, like it had been in freezer for long, and the taste was bland.
Of course when I first came to this cafe, I was told that the concept is similar to the one in Japan, and understood perfectly that instant food can somehow probably never be as good as fresh ones. The problem is, I don’t mind packaged food but perhaps the serving method should be changed? Especially the matcha cheese cake, I was totally annoyed by the way it was served, and in the end, we couldn’t even finish it because it was just horrible.
I really do love the place. It’s comfortable, and somehow private because it’s new and not many people visit this place yet. But a Japanese cafe with no smoking area? That’s a bit inconvenient for sure. One more thing about the place is that it’s very quiet, maybe adding some background music can help in lifting up the mood.
Service-wise, we had great experience with some staffs, but the others definitely need improvement as they seem clueless of what to do without any command from the senior ones.
Overall, I personally feel that the food are not something that will make me going back for more, especially because they are also very overpriced. It’s just not worth it.
In the end, a place that makes us want to go back and return again is the place that serves good food/drink and makes us comfortable.
I really wish TERRA Cafe Bar can survive though, hoping to explore more of the tea menu and hereby wishing them the best of luck!
*All prices are subject to 5.5% service charge & 10% government tax
*The Food Escape team are not paid whatsoever for writing this post.
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TERRA CAFE BAR
Rukan Permata Senayan Unit C-9
Jl. Tentara Pelajar
South Jakarta 12210
Phone. +62 21 5794 4283
Opening Hours:
Mon-Sun 10AM – 9PM
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