Restaurant Trio

As this weekend is a long weekend, I used this opportunity to explore new spot a bit far from West Jakarta. This time, I visited the nostalgic area of Jakarta culinary at Gondangdia-Cikini-Menteng. This area has a lot of heritage culinary spots. One of them is Restaurant Trio.

Restaurant Trio is famous as one of the heritage Chinese food restaurant in Jakarta. According to some sources, the interior and exterior of this restaurant was never changed since its first opening in 1947. Green painted wall outside the restaurant is the unique identity of this place. Inside, the interior is so oldies including the cabinet, wall clock, posters, etc.

Among the crowd who swarmed this restaurant dominated by Akong and Ama (this what we call Grandpa and Grandma in Chinese language) with their son/daughter along with their grandchildren. Either they feel fit with the dishes here, or they eat here for the good old time sakes. The oldies 70s and 60s music accompanied us while eating in this restaurant through old bass speaker hanging on the wall. Surprisingly, the music was western, not chinese ones.

Looking at their menu was so confusing with lots of variety of dishes. Surprisingly, they also have premium Chinese cuisine dishes like Shark's Fin and Roasted Duck. I was relying on my guts when I choose what to eat, also based on my experience eating at Pecenongan area, since I was thinking the way of the cooking will be quite the same. So I choose Ayam Goreng Mentega (Butter Fried Chicken) and Kangkung Hotplate (Hotplate Water Spinach).

Ayam Goreng Mentega - IDR 45K

Almost all of the food was served on aluminum plate. I also found this way of serving at the heritage Fajar Restaurant. For this dishes, this was what I call the real original Ayam Goreng Mentega. It was not using too many Worcestershire sauce, and the taste was mainly depends on the butter that they used. The chicken itself was so crispy, though I feel it seems a bit dry. Taste wise, this chicken dishes was delicious and reminds me of the good old times.

Kangkung Hotplate - IDR 65K

Kangkung Hotplate was one of the famous dishes if you are visiting Pecenongan area. If we compared with here, it was a bit dry with less of sauce. Served with thin slices of beef, quail egg and cashew nuts. The cashew nuts was a surprise, since usually Kangkung Hotplate in other restaurant didn't have this. I personally prefer Kangkung Hotplate at Pecenongan. Actually, this dishes was in the last list in their menu, maybe means less favorite. I choose this dishes only for the sake of comparing. It was a complete missed.

I learned something if I want to visit this restaurant again next time. Actually, instead of looking at their menu book which contains lots of dishes, you can choose only the favorite menu on the wall near the cashier. It will make you choose easier. One of my next target will be Lumpia Udang Khas Trio. Maybe next time, for the good old time sakes....

Food - 7/10
Cleanliness - 6/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Price/Value - 7/10

Restaurant Trio
Jl. R.P Soeroso No. 29A
Gondangdia, Central Jakarta
+62-21-31936295
Business Hours : Mon to Sun 10am - 2pm and 5pm - 10pm