As a frequent visitor of Senayan City, I had been waiting for the opening of GB Bistro & Dessert, which is located on the Lower Ground floor of the mall. Although it is technically still in Soft Opening period since yesterday (5/25), this is not a new place to begin with. Originally called Gelato Bar (hence the GB brand), this is a new, renovated version of the previous outlet with major rebranding and completely different atmosphere.
The place is surprisingly quite big and there is a separated smoking area in the inner side of the restaurant. Strange enough, the smoking area clearly has no decent ventilation so I wonder how crazy it would be if it’s crowded, definitely not a smart choice to sit there. However, the decoration and ambiance of the smoking area is much better than the no-smoking one, so we chose to be seated there this time. Only us so didn’t really matter.
Well, before I start with anything, I must admit that one of the reasons why I remember about this GB Bistro’s opening was the gigantic wall poster during the construction time with the picture of Asian man on it. I had no idea who Edward Gunawan is, I thought he is a chef who owns the bistro, LOL! Turns out that he is actually an actor and film maker as stated in his website, and seems like he’s quite popular internationally too. The reason why his photo was on the wall is because he is the brand ambassador of GB Bistro and judging from the branding and everything, clearly they are very serious with its brand materials.
The place has a warm, inviting atmosphere to begin with, and lovely decorations including plenty of flowers in the pots, sparkling light bulbs in the shape of DNAs (really!), and dominated with yellow brownish tones. Honestly, I fell in love right away with the place the moment I stepped in, and I know I would definitely come back again and again just to sit around and enjoy some desserts.
XL Mixed Fruits Green Tea IDR 53.5K
You know, everytime I go to restaurants like this, I would recommend to enjoy the food with sparkling water to help digestion and you’ll avoid feeling fed-up afterwards. And because the sparkling water wasn’t available today (tolerable since it is just the 2nd day), our kind waiter recommended us to try the XL tea that is claimed can be shared for 3 person. That really made us wondering for a while but we thought that might have been a good idea. When it was served though, I was a bit disappointed because it wasn’t THAT big, and I have seen the same container is used in other restaurants for single portion. Taste-wise, it was horrible because it was just like a fruits-infused water, the bad one. I barely could taste any tea, not to mention “green tea”, however, they put quite lots of chopped fruits like strawberries, watermelon, peaches inside, which helped a bit. Maybe if they put the fruits in the tea longer, the taste would have been better.
Buttermilk Chicken Waffles IDR 55K
Both of these food are my favorites so having this together in a dish is always nice. Because this is categorized as one of the sharing menu and also appetizer, they were served in finger food size. There were about 6 pieces of chicken, with distinctive taste of buttermilk and very crunchy chicken. The taste was excellent and perfectly seasoned. The waffles were also cut into smaller sizes making them easier to enjoy, accompanied with separated shot of maple syrup.
Philadelphia Beef Sandwich IDR 75K
I was expecting something huge with lots of sauces and seasonings, something tastes like the food around Philadelphia. That area is famous for the Southern soul food, from Cajun flavors to BBQ, there are so many rich flavored food that can make me drooling just by thinking about them. In contrary, this sandwich was quite disappointing. The bread was burnt here and there, although for me it was forgiven because it was not bitter at all, and the texture was very nice. The tenderloin meat slices were quite generously given, but very pale in colors, lacking of flavors. I expected something more “kicking” and bold, because it was supposed to be a Philadelphia style, duh. The other ingredients like the bell peppers, onion and everything were fresh and crunchy, while the side coleslaw was just okay.
Mexican Pizza IDR 85K
The pizza was very cute in presentation, rectangle-shaped cut into 6 triangles. It was the kind of thin pizza, and uniquely, it was very fragile because the bread was very, very thin and on top of it, they spread the nachos all over beside the other toppings like cheese, meat, basil leaves, slices of bell peppers, jalapenos, onions and so on. What I love the most about this pizza was the aroma, thanks to all the herbs and spices. However, I found the same problem with the other food I tried today, the taste was lacking something, and it made the whole pan seemingly bland. The only highlight of this pizza beside the aroma was the crispy nachos that made the pizza unique and different.
Previously named Gelato Bar, GB Bistro offers wide selections of desserts, from gelatos, waffles, pancakes, cakes, and many other desserts that are surely hard to resist. I wouldn’t say the food were bad, but those definitely need improvements. As for the place, again, this needs to be emphasized, it is so darn beautiful and worth visiting! Very suitable for romantic dates, too! XD Service was probably one of the most excellent we have experienced lately, thanks to our polite and helpful waiter, Mr. Rico. Great service is always the best thing!
Meanwhile, welcome back, GB Bistro, see you again soon!
They are having promotion of 20% discount during the Soft Opening week (May 25th – June 1st) if you dine in there, upload the food photos to their socmed accounts and show it to the staff.
*All prices are subject to 7.5% service charge & 10% government tax
Senayan City Low Ground Unit 18
Jl. Asia Afrika Lot 19
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun 10.00 – 22.00
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