Off With Her Head
Our expert epicure continues an undercover operation to bring you the truth about Jakarta’s dining scene. No spoon is actually left unturned inside quest for honest, balanced reviews, via long-established favourites to the hottest completely new tables in town.
This specific month, pseudo-pub, Queens Head Jakarta.
Ah, the pub. is actually there any British cultural institution more important? If you let This specific, the humble pub can give you everything: home, community, sustenance, diversion. There’s nothing better than a bitter by the fire after a winter’s walk, or a summery Pimm’s inside beer garden. The folks over at Queens Head chose a pub’s name, along with English-inspired dishes, to bring the iconic British drinking-hole up to date in Jakarta. A great idea. Only they missed by several thousand miles – so much to ensure I doubt the pub concept was ever genuinely their intention.
The Inside is actually more Seminyak than Sheffield. This specific’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, yet quite what This specific’s got to do with HRH, or her Royal head, I don’t know. A smaller forest has surely been cleared for the bare-wood-panelled walls, along which has a less-than-smaller fortune has been splurged on the rest of the décor – This specific place is actually aimed squarely at the young, rich along with beautiful Jakarterati, along with This specific means business. Most of the space is actually given over to the bar along with lounge areas, which has a dancefloor along with DJ booth tucked under a glass roof. The dining area enjoys a view of the kitchen’s pass, where current Chef Blake Thornley can frequently be seen (along with heard) barking out orders in Bahasa.
Thornley – a Kiwi – is actually a graduate of Chris Salans’ Mozaic Ubud, along with This specific shows inside intent of his food, if not always the execution. When Queens Head opened in January there was considerable buzz: the owner is actually Steve Collinson of Ku De Ta, so This specific was promising via the off. At first, the menu was straight-up pub grub, along with This specific was great – a genuinely welcome, completely new addition to the Jakarta restaurant scene. yet Thornley’s appointment took things in an unabashedly ‘fusion’ direction. Gone are the pies along with the fish cakes. In their place is actually Tom Yum soup along with Beef Rendang Tortellini, furthering the Kuta-meets-Kings-Cross theme.
After ordering, complimentary bread appeared which has a lovely herbed butter – a nice touch. Sadly the rolls were little pellets more readily found on economy-class airplane meals: possibly yesterday’s, crisped up inside oven. Still, the thought was there.
For mains, there’s a short selection of sort-of pub classics: Fish along with Chips, Tandoori Chicken, steak. More interesting is actually their Roasts section, offering either a sharing portion or a one-person plate of belly pork, lamb, beef or chicken. This specific is actually a great idea in theory along with rare in Indonesia. Just a few tweaks along with This specific’d be genuinely Great: better cuts of meat, proper gravies along with sides, along with Bob’s your uncle. As This specific was, the miso-mustard gravy with the Belly Pork (Rp.190,000) was a little bitter along with the fat-to-meat ratio was more-than-usually skewed to fat, although the crackling was fabulous. Potato gratin on the side was slightly burned yet surprisingly still tasty (Rp.35,000).
Fish along with Chips (Rp.140,000) should have been better than This specific was. Gindara fillets were in a heavy, yellow batter of which unfortunately was 95 percent soggy rather than chip-shop crispy. The hand-cut chips were chunky yet seemed like they’d been cooked at two different intervals hours apart. The mushy peas were simply mashed without seasoning, yet the tartare sauce was Great.
This specific’s possible This specific was an off-day, yet service – when This specific remembered This specific had a job – was achingly slow. 10 minutes for a beer, along which has a glass of wine failed to show up at all. I suspect This specific is actually because they actually do have talented, innovative bartenders along which has a comprehensive drinks list. This specific means wait times go up – not ideal, especially when This specific wasn’t even busy.
There’s room for improvement yet in general the bar is actually impressive: they understand of which a cocktail is actually only as Great as its worst ingredient, along with therefore use top-quality liquors instead of cheating you with the cheap stuff.
There’s also Guinness on tap. If Queens Head succeeds nowhere else, This specific is actually at least an appealing alternative to Koi for lively late-night drinks.
This specific, however, affects the comfort level of those who come here to dine. There is actually a tendency for the space to feel hot, loud, along with smoky. There’s not a lot management can do about of which, yet installing a few more ACs might help.
Overall, I might go back – the value for money is actually not bad. yet I do wish they might pick one concept along with go with This specific. If This specific’s Jl. Petitenget-style mod-Asian cuisine they think will bring the bucks, be my guest along with compete with the myriad various other joints in town offering the same. yet I for one might love to see Queens Head do proper British pub grub, elevated. I guarantee the hundreds of expat residents of South Jakarta might, too.
Food: Rp.675,000
Drinks: Rp.250,000
Service: 10%
Total: Rp.1,119,250 (inc. taxes) For two main
Queens Head
Jl. Kemang Raya No.18C, Jakarta Selatan 12730
+62 (0) 21 7196160 www.queensheadjakarta.com
Comments
Off With Her Head
Off With Her Head