Cycle 16 – Item 278
Post 5,757
10 (Fri) October 2025
Ikan Bakar
3.5
at Hotel Indonesia Kempinski
Ganesha Executive Club Lounge
-Jakarta, Indonesia-
solo
Living Aboard the Mola Mola: Day -3 of 7
-
- Day -4 (16.277 Nasi Goreng Kampoeng)
- Day -3 (16.278 Ikan Bakar)
- Day -2 (16.279 Chicken & Beef Platter)
- Day -1 (16.280 Buntut Goreng)
- Day 1 (16.281 Beef Semur)
- Day 2 (16.282 Egg Fuyunghai)
- Day 3 (16.283 Egg Balado)
- Day 4 (16.284 Ayam Goreng Lengkuas)
- Day 5 (16.285 Hotpot)
- Day 6 (16.286 Beef Rendang)
- Day 7 (16.287 BBQ with “My” Sambal)
- Day +1 (16.288 Fried Chicken Nusantara (Quarter Chicken Package))
In Indonesia. Here for a 7-day liveaboard scuba diving trip: sailing across the Banda Sea on board the MSY Mola Mola, while diving, eating, drinking, sleeping (i.e., “living aboard”) the boat. The Banda Sea is one of four seas surrounding the archipelago of Maluku Islands aka the Spice Islands (where European powers fought wars during the 16th-17th centuries to gain control of the islands’ abundant spices, such as nutmeg, cloves, and mace). Primary objective: sighting schools of hammerhead sharks. (Two prior liveaboard trips were both to the Maldives aboard the MV Adora (see previously 14.062 Sautéed Sword Lettuce (Three Times) (2023) (9.191 Grilled Beef Tenderloin (2018).) My first time ever in Indonesia – who knows if I’ll ever return? – I arrived a few days early to maximize the visit and hang out in Jakarta.
BREAKFAST
Forgot to take a photo of the breakfast spread at the hotel’s buffet restaurant Signatures, but suffice it to say that the food was spectacularly diverse yet utterly forgettable.
LUNCH
Plaza Indonesia is a luxury shopping mall.
As part of the pre-liveaboard “safe and cushy” strategy, a non-negotiable factor in hotel selection was proximity to a major shopping center – for the restaurants (not the shops). Hotel Indonesia Kempinski is connected to Grand Indonesia and across the street from Plaza Indonesia. Conversely, Grand Hyatt Jakarta is connected to Plaza Indonesia and across the street from Grand Indonesia, but far pricier.
When I discovered that Plaza Indonesia hosted a restaurant called Samwon Garden, I couldn’t resist investigating to see if it’s the real deal.
The logo, at least the Korean one in small print, looked legit.
As featured in the menu, the history looked legit, including reference to the renovation of the main location in 2022 (see generally 16.217 Sinseollo Bingsu).
But the menu looked a bit iffy. First, the options included many dishes not available in Korea – somewhat understandable, as Korean restaurants abroad tend to offer a wider selection. But the English names/descriptions of dishes didn’t align with those of the menu in Korea – perhaps the local operators doing their own thing, but wouldn’t copying HQ’s menu just be easier? The photos of the dishes showed different shapes of serving plates/bowls, as well as wooden bases (see photo of soups), as if the photos had been clipped from different sources off the internet. And they didn’t sell Korean beer, but they do sell Korean soju.
Alas, the food was disappointing. The galbitang came with random bits of beef, and the broth provided very little beef flavor. The naengmyeon broth was slushy, surprisingly not tangy but instead weirdly bland, and of course the noodles were from a package. Whether the restaurant is somehow related to the Samwon Garden in Korea, the food does not appear to reflect a close connection.
And so, Indonesia becomes the 20th country and Jakarta becomes the 42nd city outside of Korea where I’ve experienced Korean food (see KOREAN OUTSIDE KOREA).
DINNER
Ganesha Executive Club Lounge is Hotel Indonesia Kempinski’s private lounge for VIP guests. It offers breakfast in the morning, afternoon tea, and evening cocktails.
Evening cocktails starting at 6pm, I arrived at 18:05 to ensure that I’d get a good table and first dibs at the food – thinking about the lounge at the Hyatt in Taipei, where the tables were quickly taken and food quickly consumed (see for comparison 16.201 “Chicken Meat”). But by 9pm, when service ended, I had seen a total of 5 parties, including myself. Can’t explain it – Taipei is arguably more of a food city, with better transportation, so hotel guests would seemingly be more inclined to go out and eat at a restaurant, whereas Indonesian food can be challenging to newbies, and the traffic is horrendous, so hotel guests would seemingly be more inclined to stay in and eat in the lounge.
With patrons few and far between, the lounge offers a menu of small bites, prepared upon order.
I’ll try one of everything, why not?
The food was mostly meh.
Ikan bakar is an Indonesian dish. Fish (ikan), marinated in spices, wrapped in banana leaf, grilled over fire (bakar), served with sambal. A national dish.
Here, the dish comprised white snapper, seared in butter, topped with sambal dabu dabu, a condiment made of raw tomatoes + shallots + chilies + lime juice.
The best dish of the spread. Buttery fish balancing very nicely with the tangy spiciness of the sambal. Should just had 5 portions of this.
BEST IN CLUB – an on-going ranking of dining experiences in hotel club lounges:
- Shangri-La Singapore, Singapore (9.082 Horse Doovers)
- New World/Coast Manila Bay, Philippines (6.360 Lobster, Maybe)
- Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri, UAE (10.299 Black Pepper Chicken)
- Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, Malaysia (8.355 Seared Tuna Canapes)
- Shangri-La Dubai, UAE (10.295 Tofu & Mushroom Spring Roll with Hoi Sin Sauce)
- Hotel Indonesida Kempinksi, Indonesia (16.278 Ikan Bakar)
- Grand Hyatt Taipei, Taiwan (16.201 “Chicken Meat”)
(See RESTAURANTS IN INDONESIA)
(See GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See BOOZE)