Vietopia, Cikini, Jakarta

Finding a great (not decent) Vietnamese restaurants in Jakarta can be tricky, especially if you have tasted the real Vietnamese cuisine made by the natives. Here comes Vietopia, that is located in historical Cikini area, which is well-praised by many as one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in town, along with MonViet.

My visit wasn’t exactly planned before, actually I was just about to walk to Kedai Tjikini and I saw this red door, finding out that it is the Vietopia that people always recommend me to try, I decided to go in without any doubt.

What I love about those restaurants/cafés in Cikini area is the building itself and of course, the design. The exterior designs are usually very old and I find them attractive, like having some kind of memorable history behind them. The interior designs are also unique and show the characters of each building. In Vietopia, the interior design is simple yet pretty. The broken white color surrounds the place with comfort, elegance, and simplicity. I also like the furniture, especially the chairs: pretty but modest.

Thanks to my elder sister who introduced the glory of Vietnamese cuisine to me back in 90’s, I have become quite fond of it ever since. Vietnamese cuisine is definitely one of the healthiest yet delicious cuisine in the world, with mixes of flavors and generous servings of herbs and spices that make (most of) them special. I say “most of”, because for me, Vietnamese cuisine is like a hybrid of Chinese cuisine and cuisine from other South East Asian countries (like Thailand, Laos, etc). Some are really good, but some are just mediocre.

Vietopia serves authentic Vietnamese cuisine with affordable prices: (food) IDR 28,000 – IDR 69,000; (drink) IDR 9,000 – IDR 36,000.

Let’s start with the drinks first!

Tried the Iced Lemon Grass Tea (IDR 22,000) and Avocado Float (IDR 22,000). Quite disappointed because the lemon grass flavor wasn’t strong at all, I barely could taste it. The avocado was good, though, I can tell easily that they didn’t mix much water with it. Wanted the imported Vietnamese coffee in the beginning but was told that they ran out of stock, too bad.

Appetizers are definitely one of my weakness points, so although I was there only for “snacking”, in the end I ordered quite a lot like usual (-_-;;). And Mix Appetizers (IDR 55,000) seems like the best idea to try all the available appetizers on a plate.

Apparently, Vietnam also has its version of noodle salad using vermicelli which is called Bun Bo Xao (IDR 50,000), a traditional vermicelli dish served with grilled NZ beef then mixed with lettuce, onion, garlic, peanuts and nuoc mam.

This had to be one of my favorites because everything about it screams Vietnamese originality. The vermicelli is tasteless so it’s a good base to be combined with tasty beef. The dish is not only pretty, but also a joy to my taste buds. A colorful and merry flavors that can only be delivered by Vietnamese dishes. The nuoc mam (mixed fish sauce) is the key of the flavor. All we have to do is to pour that into the bowl and mix everything up!

Banh Xeo (IDR 50,000) is a Vietnamese pancake filled with chicken, prawn, and vegetables. Believe it or not, we had been trying high and low to find this dish here in Jakarta, while it has actually been available in this restaurant for so long!

The so-called pancake is actually like an (open) wrap with outer layer similar to popiah, only this uses some layers instead of one, and seemed to be pan-fried. The fillings were generous, dominated by minced chicken. This looked like a simple dish but actually was very satisfying considering the portion. I would recommend this dish if you want to try something authentic which you can’t probably find somewhere else.

A visit to Vietnamese restaurants seems incomplete without the famous noodle soup a.k.a. Pho. Pho Bo Regular (IDR 52,000) was my choice that day, with topping of Australian sliced beef and beef brisket, and comes with a separated dish of beansprouts, chili, onions, coriander leaves, lime, and hoisin sauce.

What I usually do when eating pho is mixing everything in the bowl and make the soup as colorful and dark as it can be, of course, with lots of hoisin and chili sauce involved. Don’t get me wrong, I already love the clear soup but adding more condiments will definitely strengthen the flavors and that’s how I enjoy my pho. Here, the soup was quite tasty and fragrant, which I like. The beef parts were also soft and tender, very enjoyable.

Overall, my first visit to Vietopia somehow fulfilled my cravings for authentic Vietnamese cuisine in Jakarta. I didn’t get to try some menu that I wanted, but at least from what I tried this time, I know the food quality and definitely won’t be afraid to come back!