The Man from Mosel River

For a change we decided to have lunch at the Gourmet Garage in Kemang, a suburb about 20 minutes from our home in Lebak Bulus. Gourmet Garage is a large barn (or garage) full of different gourmet foods, an oyster bar, a wine cellar, a bakery, a supermarket and various food court type outlets where you can sit down and order food from three menus. It has Japanese, Italian and “continental” types of cuisine. One could call it a successful merger of an Asian food court with a modern Western gourmet supermarket.

Inside the Garage, second floor

The Gourmet garage has become a favourite dining location for many in South Jakarta and although we have known about it for a while, we’ve never had lunch there. This Saturday was a perfect day for a visit. Margit did not feel like cooking and the girls came back from a soccer game (they won 5:0) and were hungry like wolves.

We found the parking lot full of cars. Fortunately, the garage is huge and we had no problem finding a table for four upstairs. My women folk went for Japanese food, I chose ‘Aussie Blue’ a hamburger type dish. Margit had a glass of unwooded Chardonnay, I stayed with a draft ‘Bintang’ beer.

Sashimi set

Japanese Tempura and Udon Noodles

Traditional Burger with Blue Cheese

We gave Gourmet Garage a very good rating. The service was friendly, efficient and fast. The quality of the ingredients was very good, so was the taste of the dishes. We loved the atmosphere and ended our day with a shopping tour in its supermarket.

We did not have sufficient time to check out the wine cellar, but it looked promising. The facility seemed to be a work in progress though. As wine drinkers we welcome any new outlet in town giving us more choice when selecting fine wines.

The wine cellar in the making

Address:
The Gourmet Garage
Jalan Kemang Raya, No. 66
Jakarta, Indonesia
Ph: +62-21-7197161

Postscript: From the internet I learned that there is also a Gourmet Garage in New York City.