So this time I used yet another voucher to try a restaurant in Central Park. I bought this long time ago, but didn’t really have chance to go until last month, just one day before the voucher became expired. Honestly, Central Park is not my favorite place to hang out, because of a lot of reasons -far from my area, heavy traffic jam, and so on-, but every time I go there, I would say to myself that I would like to go there again to try those fancy-looking eating places.
Anyway.
That day, I went with my usual guys as usual. Last time I went to Central Park, I already saw the restaurant, looking all quiet and lonely during weekdays. When I went this time, though, we immediately proceeded to go right there, only to find that there was no place called Ribenkoff. We were confused as I remembered correctly that it was just the opposite of Gramedia on the same floor. I called them and turned out that they already changed their name to be Master Ribs. Sorry, but I think putting the old name anywhere near the new name would be much appreciated.
When we stopped by the entrance waiting to be seated, nobody came and welcomed us. Until we stepped inside and one of them just asked and brought us to the outdoor area after we requested so. The indoor area is not big, and there were some tables already occupied that day, so we thought outdoor area would be better. Surprisingly, the outdoor area was beautiful, the weather was great that day, not too sunny and a bit cloudy, very windy so it was a great choice, after all. There were many disturbing elements though, like unused easels (yep, easels), half-cut plastic bottles laying around the pots just around our table in the corner of the area, and so on. Other than that, this outdoor place is cool.
Master Ribs, not Ribenkoff anymore.

Outdoor area, just across the infamous Tribeca of Central Park.


Ocean Breeze – IDR 22.000
I was intrigued by the explanation about this in the menu book, so I ordered it. I forgot what the mixes were, but one of them was blue curacao liqueur. Love this! Totally suitable to drink this when you’re enjoying the whole scenery from the outdoor area. But I prefer it without the nata de coco.


Hot Tea – IDR 10.000
So my voucher was the one with 2 main courses that I could pick from 5 options: Fish/Chicken Steak, Grilled Gindara/Chicken, or Chicken Cordon Blue. After I saw the pictures in the menu book, we chose Chicken Steak and Chicken Cordon Blue. Then, as usual, we just couldn’t resist ordering other food from the menu XD My first aim was the salad for appetizer, surely. I ordered Salmon Signature Salad, but the waitress said that the salmon was not available. Okay, so I chose Caesar Salad instead. One thing for sure, minus one point because seriously I never can take availability as the excuse in any restaurants.
Caesar Salad – IDR 25.000
Despite of the good photo above, the salad was actually very terrible. First of all, this was served later, after two main courses came out, which was not smart at all. Then, the vegetables were cooked and it was just, weird. The sliced meat didn’t help either, very dry and so unappealing. I had hard time trying to finish this, although the portion wasn’t much and I am actually a big fan of all kind of Caesar Salad. 

Crispy Calamari – IDR 28.000
This was probably the worst calamari that I’ve ever tried in my life, no kidding. The outside was nice, crispy and crunchy, you name it, but the inside was just harsh. Very hard, hard to chew and the dip sauce, boo. Like you put a tiny spoon of the sauce and you add a liter of water, that’s what I felt about the sauce. Shame, shame, shame.

Chicken Steak
Surprise! It was decent enough to please my taste buds. It came with a plate of french fries, broccoli, and carrot slices, together with the sauce. The steak itself was nice, enough portion, the skin was so nice, very crispy and smooth in the same time. The chicken was well-cooked, but still very soft. However, I thought giving more gravy would have been better.

Chicken Cordon Blue
It was also nice, big chunks of chicken and cheese inside. The fries, I really can’t tell whether they’re frozen fries or what, but they were alright. This one seriously needed more gravy because it was just too little! *shrug* We asked for more but didn’t get it until we finally asked again then we were given a small bowl of it. The gravy was delicious, as we can tell from the picture that there was black peppers inside, it was quite spicy but very, very nice. 

Kampoeng Fried Rice – IDR 27.000
I didn’t try this, but it sure looked inviting to me. A said it was edible, quite spicy, but tasted just like another fried rice you can make yourself at home (duh!). What’s funny about this was we actually ordered 2 plates of this, but the first one came out like after we waited for 30 minutes or so, and the other one came out like 20-30 minutes after the first one. 
I really don’t know how to conclude my thoughts about this restaurant. First of all, the restaurant supposedly has a big potential, it surely does. But in my humble opinion, the main problem is the management which sucks, big time. When I was there, I saw how the waiters/waitresses were very helpful and friendly, most importantly very polite, they even didn’t dare to meet our eyes whenever they said that this and that were not available so we couldn’t order certain food in the menu. I believed they were also troubled by that because in the end they are the one who have to face the guests, not the managers or the owner.
I definitely won’t come back there again because I was just disappointed overall.

Ribenkoff
3rd Floor Central Park Mall
Jl. Let. Jend S. Parman Kav 28
Jakarta 11470
Phone: +6221-5698-5599