The Den of Kalaha, Sommerset Grand Citra

Hi Eaters.

Last Saturday I got invited to a foodtasting event organized by FoodyID. Well, it's been almost a year since last time I went to a FoodyID event, which was held at Oku. You can read the review about it here. This time the event is held at The Den of Kalaha, which is located inside Sommerset Grand Citra. And that Saturday was not like my regular Saturday. I've got 3 foodtasting events that occured in a slightly tight hours, but lucky enough the distance between those places were not that far so I managed to squeezed all of them in one day.

The place itself was quite fancy as in terms it is well decorated and mostly quite instagenic. I certainly loved the ambiance, the dominant-wooden-theme applied in the restaurant, and those swinging chairs in the outdoor dining area. It is a well-thought and 'well-dressed' restaurant. 
We were directed to the outdoor dining area where the event was going to take place. Luckily it was kind of a cloudy day, so it wasn't a hot noon and the natural light was quite sufficient to take good pictures.
And like many others foodtasting event, we must share the food. Not that I'm complaining, since this is not my first time joining and experiencing this kind of event, but I do think the food that was served should fit the quota of the guests though. It was like maybe almost 20 people (or maybe more?) that came and certainly sharing 6 pcs of escargot that much people is rather silly and absurd.

So this is going to be my most objective review, considering I didn't try all the components in every single dish. Yes, it seemed that I must do a re-visit just to get and to feel the proper taste of every dishes served on that event.
Here goes..

Mushroom Soup - IDR 50K

Creamy and fresh mushroom soup, served with garlic bread. This one was quite good. The taste was nice and I can certainly feel the taste from the mushroom and those cream. What I would suggest is that for the garlic bread to be served on the side of the plate instead of having it dipped inside the soup. Well, for my personal taste I would prefer my garlic bread to stay crunchy and to dip it myself. I also would love if the soup was more thick. Again, this two suggestions are just based on my personal preference.

Foie Gras - IDR 150K

Pan seared duck liver served with peach and red wine reduction. I simply loved the way this premium ingredient was plated. Unfortunately I only got the chance to try maybe just an itsy bitsy bite of this dish, and only the duck liver part too. I didn't get to try the peach or even tasted the red wine sauce. I simply can't give any objective review on this dish. But I must say the duck liver was nice and tasty. Don't know about the other components though.

Escargot - IDR 60K

Baked snail sauteed onion, garlic, with garlic bread. The escargot here was pretty nice. This is one dish I have been putting my eyes on since the first time. Yeah, I like escargot. Some find it maybe a bit gross but I sure do love the chewy and spongy texture of this dish. This one had all that texture and certainly its garlicky flavor was my favorite too.

Bamboo Charcoal Pizza - IDR 100K

Black style pizza with 4 different toppings: seafood, cheese, herb, and meat. So this dish was served in a portion of 8 slices, in which every 2 slices consist of a same topping. I only tasted 1 slice in which I think the topping was seafood. It's pretty good though. I like this kind of pizza that has thin crust, giving it a nice crispy texture in every bite. The topping was okay, in terms that it didn't wow me in a certain way. Overall it was okay, pretty curious about the taste of the other toppings.

Pan Seared Salmon - IDR 100K

Salmon with sauteed vegetables, baby potato, tarragon sauce. This is one gorgeous dish. Indeed the colors and the plating were so inviting. I'm so loving how they seared the salmon to a golden-brown-ish color that really captivated me. The crispy skin is another mezmerising thing about this dish. Overall this was the dish of the day for me.

Seafood Paella - IDR 150K

Rice cooked with saffron, seasonal seafood, and seafood stock. This one was quite good. The rice was nicely cooked and also quite fragrant. It's good that they stick to the root of using saffron to make this paella. The seafood was nice and fresh, and the seafood stock had a nice taste too.

Volcano Shrimp - IDR 110K

Grilled herb shrimp served with mashed potato, grilled vegetables, egg and hollandaise sauce. Well, noticing the name of the dish, I would expect it too be spicy. But nevertheless it didn't turn out that way. The shrimps were grilled perfectly. You can see that nice red-ish color that looked so intriguing. The egg and hollandaise sauce was nice, and it was in a good consistency. Surely making a good egg and hollandaise sauce is not an easy job, so I think they did very well on delivering it on to this dish.

Cutlet Curry Rice - IDR 70K

Japanese curry served with rice and topped with breaded chicken cutlet. For this dish, there is another option of meat you can choose, which is pork. This dish was okay for me. This is good, the taste was fine, but it's not something that again would wow the hell out of me. I feel that this dish still needs more innovation, because it basically just tasted like any other curry dish you can find at another restaurant. Maybe they should try other kind of protein instead of just poultry or meat. Seafood maybe?

Chicken Diablo - IDR 75K

Breaded chicken thigh with mustard cream sauce, sweet chilli sauce, and German potato. Another chicken coated with thick batter of breaded crumbs. For my personal taste, their kind of breaded dishes just tasted okay. The sauce was not my cup of tea. I prefer they only use the mustard only. But I have to say their condiments (the German potato) were delicious.

Overall conclusion, it was a pretty good restaurant to spend time with friends, colleagues, or loved ones. The ambiance is nice and cozy. One would just love to spend hours here since it is quite solitaire even though located next to a very busy street. The food has its plus and minus, but nevertheless it didn't disappoint me in any terms. Probably since I didn't get the chance to try most of the dishes served that day (or at least the complete components of the dish). Maybe next time I should make a personal visit to feel the maximum taste of the dishes. Care to join me?

Keep on chewing!

Jazzy Dee

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The Den of Kalaha
Somerset Grand Citra Lt. G

Phone: (021) 29956848

Jalan Prof. Dr. Satrio Kav. 1

Jakarta Selatan