Paulaner Brauhaus, Grand Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

January 30, 2017

Being under the same management as Kempinski Hotel Jakarta, you wonder if the restaurant is as good as people say. Although there aren't as much German restaurants in Indonesia as I would like, it is always nice to know that there are one or two that are still open without closing within a specified time continuously. As it was dinner time when I came in, taking any photos of the interior would just ruin the photo as it does get quite dark inside as well as it was quite packed with everyone gobbling up and chuckling down their beer.

'Paulaner's lentil soup' (IDR63k ~=AUD$6.3) would not be a soup that I would typically order, however since we weren't wanting Goulash or Potato soup, we decided to try this instead. I do have to say however, it is rather thicker than expected. The lentils and Vienna sausages with chunks of carrots, potato and onion did blend in nicely though I did found it to be quite bland and there seemed to have been some thick cornflour or cornstarch residue hiding amongst it.

'Paulaner Pretzel' (IDR28k ~=AUD$2.8), fresh from the oven, still warn and fragrant served simply with butter on the side. Having the rock salt on top of the pretzel allows it to have that hint of saltiness to balance the flavour.

'Crispy Pork Knuckle' (for one: IDR228k ~=AUD$22.8 or to share: IDR357k ~=AUD$35.7) would definitely be one or if not, the main choice when dining at a German restaurant. Served with sauerkraut, brad dumplings and gravy. The size was not bad, it was smaller than I expected but then, I'm not able to compare the sizes to here in Aussie of course. As soon as it arrived on the table, I did see that the bread dumplings looked quite soft and soggy where it should have had a nice thin layer of pan fried crispy-ness.

The crispy pork knuckle was surprisingly already roughly cut through the edge and the centre which made the meat easily cold as soon as it arrived on the table. The crispy skin sadly was not as crispy as usual, the pork meat was rather tough and quite difficult to eat even if you have tried slicing it little by little. It just basically was not tender inside and melts in your mouth as it should've.

The gravy had a slight saltiness in it and since only a little was given, you may need to ask the waiter for more. A side of 'Mashed potato' (IDR40k ~=AUD$4) was ordered to add to our meal as we thought it would be a good accompaniment to the pork knuckle and to the lentil soup. It sure was and it was seasoned well, creamy and soft topped with a thinly sliced onion rings.