IDN: Hotel Santika Premiere Hayam Wuruk [Breakfast]
A huge spread of international cuisine for breakfast, but tasted so-so...
For the one night stay at the heart of the capital city of Indonesia, I decided to give Hotel Santika Premiere Hayam Wuruk (4*) a try. It's a 10-minute drive from Grand Indonesia, which is one of the largest shopping malls in Southeast Asia as I mentioned before in my review on Artotel Jakarta (3*).
I was pretty surprised at the huge selection of food provided for the buffet breakfast. The Indonesian food corner, as shown in the picture above, was seen to be quite a big hit among locals and foreigners alike.
Assorted Stuff #1
I had Western and Japanese style salad to begin with, which vegetables could be fresher. There were also assorted sushi that might look interesting, but tasted so-so. I felt that the rice was lacking in vinegar, and many of the rolls used crab sticks.
Assorted Stuff #2
The omelette could be cooked in a shorter period of time, but it was cheesy enough for my liking. The baked macaroni cake was too dry though. I really didn't expect to be getting a saucer of phoenix claws, but alas, the gravy wasn't rich enough.
Assorted Stuff #3
The fried noodle was pretty decent, as were most of the Western food items. The exception was the beef bacon that was fried to dryness. Besides that, the chawanmushi (Japanese egg custard) was pretty tasteless unfortunately.
Assorted Stuff #4
The nasi kuning (lit. yellow rice) was pretty aromatic, thanks to the adequate amount of turmeric used in the making, accompanied well by the earthy fried tempe (lit. fermented soya bean cake) and beancurd. The vegetables, however, were slightly overcooked.
Assorted Stuff #5
After downing all the savoury food, it was high time for sweet stuff. Unfortunately, nothing really shone that morning. The kue pukis that looked like a half moon, made of flour, eggs, sugar, coconut milk and chocolate, was quite good, but it could be fluffier. The same could be said for the chocolate donut. By the way, the star-shaped cereals had apparently been sitting in open air for quite some time that they weren't crispy anymore.
Fruits
The cut fruits were of adequate freshness, and all of them were pretty sweet. I also took a sauce of even smaller cantaloupe and honeydew cubes with strawberry jam on top of them.
Tea & Melon Juice
Of coffee and tea offered by one of the waitresses, I chose the latter, which turned out to be of medium strength. I also tried the freshly squeezed melon juice that unfortunately was mixed with too much water. It became more like flavoured water if you ask me.
Melon's Rating
Taste: 6.5/10
Ambience: 7/10
Overall: 6.5/10
The variety was pretty impressive indeed, but the quality of the food could certainly be improved. Pika's advice: Do note that some of the food items, such as dim sum, may not be replenished quickly.
In this occasion, I shall also talk about the welcome treat that was given to each guest upon checking in. I couldn't really tell the actual identity of the drink, but it was gingery and thus heart-warming. The bite-sized deep-fried tape singkong (Indonesian fermented cassava) was sweet and mildly alcoholic.
In the afternoon, I dropped by the Monumen Nasional (lit. National Monument), which is more affectionately known as Monas among the locals. It's a 132 m tower that was erected in 1961 to commemorate the struggle for Indonesian independence.
Hotel Santika Premiere Hayam Wuruk
Jalan Hayam Wuruk No. 125
Jakarta
Indonesia
(Daily: 7.00am - 11.00am)
*No separate price given as buffet breakfast is included in the room price.
Have a nice meal,
Cliff(y)
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