It was another farewell but one of those were time seems to have stopped. We enjoyed the moment, the pleasure of being together for a memorable meal and we did not think much about parting or not living in the same city again. Any future starts in the present moment, and we were sure we would have lots of it. We were not doubting that we would meet again, as friends do.
Well, were did we go? And who is “we” in the first place? To answer the first question, we met at the Gourmet Garage in Kemang, Jakarta, a very fashionable place. It was also easy to reach for all of us.
The inside of the Gourmet Garage in Jakarta with various shops on the ground floor and the restaurants upstairs.
The answer to the second question is, there were the five of us: Flo (Florian) and Nelly, Jasmin, Margit and me.
Margit, Florian, Nelly and Jasmin
The three had invited us to spend our last Friday night in Jakarta among friends. They talked us into ordering the four-course Japanese meal. Depending on the day, the chef changes the composition of the dishes of the four courses. Surprise, surprise but since we like adventures, we were eager to wait for things to come. Flo and Nelly ordered other dishes from the Japanese menu. There are two more menus to choose from at Gourmet Garage, a Western menu and an Indonesian menu.
Flo started with an oyster.
The starters for the four-course menu were beautifully decorated.
So were other dishes from the menu.
This soup was just delicious.
The miso soup came with the four-course meal.
This was part of Nelly’s dish.
And Flo had a similarly decorated meat dish.
This is one of the desserts we had.
In short, the food was delicious. According to some expat Japanese, Gourmet Garage offers the best Japanese food in town.
You might like to know what wine we drank. Nothing special, I can tell you. Well, we opted for a simple, red wine from Australia. With ‘Penfolds Rawson’s Retreat Shiraz-Cabernet’ you cannot go wrong if you need a wine for every day which is easy to understand and to drink. Gourmet Garage prices these wines very reasonably. The choice was a compromise, of course, but I did not fancy the whites from the wine list. A Mosel or Saar Riesling would have been my preferred choice.
But we had a great time and that was what mattered most. Farewell gifts changed hands (I do not reveal what they were) and at about midnight we parted company as on many other occasions before. See you guys in Bangkok, or on our farm in Glenburn. As you know, you are always welcome; ‘sampai jumpah’ as we say in Indonesia.
The Man from Mosel River 
I can only agree, it was a very nice evening with declicious food and as much fun as most of our other get togethers! The only sign of farewell were probably the farewell gifts… Thanks for documenting it so nicely! I hope you are setteling in all right in Bangkok. Greetings from Jakarta!
G’day Jasmin, thanks for visiting “The Man from Mosel River” and your nice comment. We will repeat such dinners, that’s for sure. maybe in Glenburn next time or when you come to Bangkok of course.
Cheers Rainer
Halo Pak Adam!;) Indeed it was such a lovely evening,… and for me myself, i don’t want to think that last evening moment as a farewell dinner, cause i feel that “The Adam Family” moved only a few blocks from Jakarta..and we will soon have another enjoyable meetings, share many interesting experiences from here and there,..and how i love to hear the way Margit telling us funny stories and then we can have a very good laugh together…! i definetely will miss that! Until now, Flo likes to say that somehow, he’s still hard to accept the fact that,.. “Jakarta without Pak Adam!”. For him actually it’s pretty odd reality, no matter what!;p Been spending his early Jakarta experience until recently with your guidance really influenced him a lot in a good way! I sincerely thank you for that!
Many regards from Jakarta,..and btw, you have a very cool blog! Salam hangat untuk our favorite twin girls, Charlote&Lucy, and of course for you and Margit!
Cheers!
Hi Nelly,
what a wonderful reply (it brought tears to my eyes). The time we had together is also treasured by us. Your book occupies a prominent spot on our bookshelf.
No worries, yes, we will meet again, either on Two Hills or in Bangkok.
I changed the caption on your photos and added your full name, sorry for the oversight. I love the photos you took on our vineyard.
Come and visit us. Yours Rainer