HYDE, Kemang

Some days ago, I finally had a chance to visit one of most-talked-about dining place in Jakarta lately. Usually I am not a person who want to follow the trend, especially because I always believe that whatever is “in” for most people usually (well, most of the time) leave me disappointed after I try it myself. Anyway, due to my curiosity about one certain dessert in this place, I went there with the high expectations because I have already read and heard so many times about the chef consultant, Chef Odie Djamil, who is like, a genius chef especially in pastry and dessert field.

HYDE is located in Jalan Taman Kemang, which is just across Plaza Bisnis Kemang, or German Restaurant Die Stube and Common People if that makes it easier. From the Kemang Raya traffic light, turn right and there it is, quite hidden spot and it can be difficult to find if you are not familiar with Kemang area, especially during night time. From that street, HYDE is on the left side and with a very hip, big and bright neon sign, it surely hard to be missed. 

The first impression I had was that the restaurant looks so beautiful and elegant, like typical fine-dining restaurant style in Western countries. With glass windows (and doors!), hanging wall lamps, and cobblestones-like tiles, it gives a very stylish European design throughout the whole place. And I wasn’t even inside yet. I was totally mesmerized by the beauty of the exterior and couldn’t help but peeking inside from the glass entrance door when a waitress greeted us.

There is a bar in the middle of the room, which looks so nice with glass shelves and various liquor bottles giving colorful decorations along with the glasses. I also love the decorations in every corners of the room, simple rows of wine bottles which create luxurious and expensive looks of the place yet still welcoming and comforting.

  

We chose the no smoking area which looks private, comfortable and nicely decorated. The furnitures are just eye candies! I love the comfy sofas and also the net-like chairs are just too beautiful! And it was hard not to notice the funky, over-the-top murals on the walls. And I just have to say this, I loveee HYDE’s generosity in installing many air conditioners in their dining rooms! <333

We went there for dinner in the weekday, so it wasn’t crowded at all (until a group of teenagers came, sat beside us and totally ruined the atmosphere) and we were so ready to try the greatness of HYDE like what we heard from friends, colleagues or even other bloggers! When we were making our orders, though, I was very disappointed because many menu couldn’t be ordered because they were not available. Even the drinks, for example: 4 out of 8 mocktails menu were not available, and 2 of those 4 were the ones that I picked in the first place! How could that be? In the end, we had to settle for some things less than what we wanted.

This mocktail contains mixes of strawberry, apple, yoghurt, banana, tofu and honey. Its presentation was fabulously pretty although I was hoping for bigger glass (LOL!). My first impression was that it looked more like slushed juice rather than a mocktail. The strawberry dominated the taste with a slight hint of banana, but couldn’t really feel the tofu and honey. Telling you, it’s just not worth your money.

Contains raspberry, lemon, ginger ale, and basil; this drink had so much to offer. From the bright red, bold presentation, to the tongue-biting taste, this mocktail was a nice drink to accompany my dinner. The raspberry was sweet and sour, complimented with aromatic lemon and basil, the taste was unique and addictive. 

The salad was a combination of grilled chicken breast, shiitake mushrooms, mixed greens, crispy fried noodles and Oriental dressing. Now, let me tell you the definition of disappointment, this was it. The salad was very messy in presentation, looked so fugly with all the crispy noodle things covering everything on the plate. And I am not even talking about the taste yet. The salad was completely destroyed by the so-called “Oriental dressing”, which apparently made from something like soy sauce (probably Japanese one -shoyu) mixed with vinegar, and that’s it. It was salty and weird.

I ordered this based on the waiter’s recommendation and it was a great choice. The pasta actually looked pink because the sauce is made from grated beet, then served with beef bacon and vodka. The last part intrigued me so much but unfortunately, I couldn’t taste or feel even slightest hint of it. However, I enjoyed the pasta so much as well as the sauce, it wasn’t the best but still nice.

This menu is HYDE’s signature burger which is filled with mozzarella cheese, served with brioche bun, crispy onion rings, homemade sauerkraut, sunny side up eggs, french fries, and garden salad. Okay, when I tried this dish, I cheated by tasting one by one instead of grabbing the whole burger and had a bite. The bun was practically the ugliest burger bun that I have ever seen in any upscale restaurant so far, it looked like cheap brioche, wrinkles everywhere and the over-burnt marks here and there (and you know, over-grilled food are so dangerous). The sauerkraut (literally “sour cabbage”) was smelly, and although I usually enjoy some sauerkraut in my dish, I think they should reconsider taking this out from the burger. The egg was excellent, kind of sunny side up that I love the most, well done, a bit dry and crispy on the side. I couldn’t find that much mozzarella cheese, although it says “.. filled with”, guess I was unlucky that night. The beef patty was quite thick, nicely seasoned and very tasty, although a bit too dry and grilled too long. In conclusion, a quite enjoyable dish but have tried much better one with much cheaper price.

By this time, my expectation has gone down so much that I merely cared about what was served next. When our last meal was served on the table, I prayed so much that it would be great, at least good. The kway teow looked very appealing with the Cilantro garnish and golden brown wide noodles. However, it seems that I couldn’t really hope anymore, as I found this dish disturbingly bland and tasteless. The noodles were wet and oily, unlike the description of “Wok stir-fried kway teow rice noodles”, which I assumed would be aromatic like the infamous wok-burnt smell. Said to be served with vegetables, smoked chicken and assorted seafood, I could rarely find any chicken, let alone the seafood.

This was the main reason why I visited HYDE. And before I even start, I must say that thanks to this dessert, I will make sure that I will come back there again! You know, before my visit some days ago, I’ve seen the photos of this cute, brilliant dessert in some social medias and I always thought the pot is big! But I was totally wrong because those pots are very tiny, a little bigger than a shot glass. The dessert is really about chocolate, from chocolate croutons, Baileys chocolate mousse, chocolate spaghetti, chocolate dirt, garnished with micro herbs, it looked dirty yet stunning. This is definitely not a good dessert to enjoy during first date, but can be a great choice too for ice-breaker and getting to know your partner better from the way he/she handles this not-so-usual dessert! The chocolates were very rich in flavors, especially the “dirt”, which was quite bitter and also my favorite. Not only that, you can find the “worms” inside the soil, which are actually made from jelly and will melt in the mouth. Freaking awesome dessert!

When I am writing this post, suddenly it just hit me that nobody really talked or gushed about the food in HYDE. All I always read or heard about this place is that the place is really beautiful and nice to hang out, a new place that is worth visiting, the infamous Chocolate Soil dessert with the “worms”, and Chef Odie Djamil. But that’s it. So yeah, now that I have tried this myself, I definitely wouldn’t recommend this place if you want great food, but again, I still have high hope on it and will come back to see the improvements!

As for the service, I was surprised that HYDE charges additional 11% from the total bill for service charge aside from 10% government tax. I mean like, SERIOUSLY??! Personally, I don’t mind paying high price for service charge, only if I really get great service in a restaurant. And I was hoping that a place like this surely has its own standard of great service, which I didn’t experience at all. Rather than being informative and attentive, our waiter was cold and distant, more like robotic performance who didn’t make warm gestures to the guests. Some other waiters just gathered somewhere like they had nothing to do and barely gave any attention to the occupied tables and dining-in guests. 

Anyway. I heard technically, HYDE is still in their soft-opening mode, which probably explains everything above. But it doesn’t mean that I hate this place, in fact, I plan to have some romantic dinners or just a lunch there some time soon! You know, with all the beauty during the night, I can’t wait to see HYDE during daytime, it must be very beautiful!