Pepenero

Pepenero pepenero. I've heard about and remembered about this restaurant mainly because i heard it was helm by Italians. And any restaurants that are opened or run by people with the same ethnicity as the cuisine, i believe, retains their authenticity and thus the food taste better (but this assumption is currently being proven wrong for the Japanese Sushi chefs in Blok M, more on this later)

The 1st time i went there was with a friend, she suggested it and we managed to get a booking at the branch at Kuningan. We were sitted outside the restaurant, but still in the building, probably because the building was close, the aircon was switched off, making me slightly hot (this wasnt helped since i ordered the chianti, which was not bad) and bothered. Another problem with sitting outside was that i was situated at the corner and partially hidden by the pillar, calling for service was really really a hassle.

Anyway on to the food, the food is reasonably cheap (40-90k) compared to what you can get at other Italian joints. And considering this is run by Italians (i saw the Italian or some guy with western descent in the kitchen) and the nice dim light semi fine dining ambiance at kuningan, its really really a bargain. Which is probably why its so packed even on weekdays and the need to extend their restaurant floor to outside.

I ordered Osso bucco with rissotto (90k) and my friend ordered the Penne Al Tonno E Olive Nere (penne w tuna fish, black olives in tomato sauce) (40k)

The bread basket came and it had quite a variety with one of them slightly resembling the deep fried wanton skin they serve at noodle places. Thumbs up for the bread and bread sticks being warm. However, the bread sticks were slightly oily. And when we asked for butter, it didnt arrive... Probably we should have asked for olive oil instead.

We were also served bruschetta which i did not particularly fancy. It did not feel as fresh as the ones i've made or tasted before.

The Osso bucco came out and it was too tough. I was expecting an osso bucco with the meat literally melting in my mouth and not having to use my teeth at all to chew it. I was hoping the meat will break apart when i lifted it with my fork, but it wasnt. On top of that, the rissotto was too hard, it should have been cooked awhile longer to achieve that slight bite that is so synonymous with risottos but it was crunchier than what it was suppose to be.

Thank god the chianti was there to make everything go down much easier. But by now i was getting hotter due to the lack of air conditioning!

However, one thing i have to say though, is that the sauce and base that was used to cook the ossobucco was good. It was only the texture that was missing in this puzzle. Same goes with the risotto.

Same tragedy befall on my friend, the penne was undercook and not al dente.

I ordered the tiramisu (40k+), and i would imagine that they use mascarpone cheese, but it tasted abit like cream which made it taste artificial and not so appetizing. But there was coffee beans inside which kinda add a different dimension to it. But having eaten too many coffee beans from the tiramisu i think my throat was kinda irritated by it

Sure the place is ridiculously cheap and has really nice ambiance, but i wouldnt hurriedly go back there again. The problem with the food was that they cant master texture. To not cook the osso bucco longer so that it transform into a melt into your mouth sensation i believe is a sin to that cut of meat. And the really undercooked risotto and penne, yes it should al dente, not al hardte

Maybe chefs cooking their own ethnic cuisine does not mean that its gonna taste good. Either that, or they havent mastered the art of running a restaurant, or running a restaurant with Indonesians.

Menara Karya Building 1 Floor
Jl. H. R. Rasuna Said Kav 1-2
Mega Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan