EXPATRIATE RESTAURANT KELAPA GADING - ONE OF THE BEST MEALS OF 2016?

We're reaching the end of 2016 and I haven't finished the big 10 that would fill up my "best restaurant 2016" list, and you know me, if by the end of December 2016 I couldn't find the restaurants that fit my criteria and finish the list, then there will be none, but this particular restaurant restaurant that I am reviewing to you right now has the potential to be sitting gracefully on the hot seat, and would you be surprised to know that as this post is written, a 15-year old own this restaurant? Okay keep reading ;).

Expatriate first introduced themselves and their existence on April 2016. I don't know why a lot of people refer to them as a coffee shop because to me it clearly is not, well I mean they serve specialty coffee but after my visit it's actually more like a semi-fine dining restaurant which served coffee. The interior of the restaurant rang humble and absolutely homey, especially the outdoor area (dedicated for smoking guests) which kinda gave me this Bandung cafe vibe with all the simple deco and decent amount of green surrounding the area. If you're an Instagram foodie who care so much about your pictures then do sit outside as the lighting on the indoor area was dimmed and warm.

Talk about their indoor area, it did has this Italian-French bistro look to it that even though it's dimmed and dark, but homey as fuck, it's almost like you're eating at someone else's house (or kitchen) with cooking pans hanging, a live kitchen and bar and nice air conditioning, the only thing that I expected to experience was the good jazz lounge music to support the ambiance. Also around their indoor dining area: a mini bakery/patisserie and a mini wine display located around the main entrance.

As for the food, they serve mainly Western (Italian-French) cuisine with special breakfast menus that you can find from 8 AM-3 PM daily. From their breakfast and all-day breakfast menu list you can find selections of American Breakfast like Eggs Benedict, Sunny Side Up (or customized eggs like scramble, omelette, egg white omelette, and over easy), Toto Eggs, Expat Gourmet, California Style Toast and assorted soups.

To kickstart your meal, it's suggested that you warm up your palate with selections of appetizers and I highly recommend their Escargot (more below) or if you fancy something else they also have selections of garlic breads, bruschetta, avo toast, pan seared foie gras and cheese platter. I have such big appetite and sometimes appetizers are not even enough for me and I need something heavier but not exactly main courses AND they happen to accomodate that! Expect to find various salad creations, calamari, onion rings, nachos, mini fish & chips, mozarella cheese stick, chicken wings, fried mushroom, truffle fries and more ok I'm hungry.

For heavier bites, here you can find various options of burgers and sandwich, pizza, pasta, main courses (protein courses) like fish, meat, poultry. Ok enough yakking pictures!!!

Complimentary bread: warm, fragrant, fluffy you can't complain.

Escargot - IDR 55k

For IDR 55k, this was surely an affordable Escargot (French snail dish), they perfectly cooked the Escargot and they weren't overly firm and delicately chewy, but I gotta give it to the seasoning and generous amount of butter as they were altogether savory, salty and absolutely delicious, that's how you cook escargot damnit!

Mushroom Ravioli with Alfredo Sauce - IDR 92k

The Ravioli skin had the spot on texture: firm with beautiful thickness, thick enough to hold the quite generous filling (considered generous for that size). The butter sauce was cheesy & savory in the same time.

Meat Lover - IDR 98k

Their Meat Lover pizza was indeed dedicated literally for meat lovers, it consist of beef salami, sausage, crumble, tomato sauce, mozarella cheese and oregano, altogether delicious guilty pleasure and everything that I like in a single serving. I appreciate simplicity and I like to keep it lowkey when it comes to my pizza, I mean sometimes you can be creative and shit but I always go back to what I initially really like. and that is pizza with generous meat and cheese toppings, it's all about flavor!

Aus Black Angus Tenderloin - IDR 248k

Now to my favorite dish of my lunch that day: the uber tempting looking 200 gr Tenderloin wrapped with bacon and served on top of mashed potato, asparagus and homemade sauce. You should always order medium or medium-rare for your steaks and please don't go with medium well you're ruining the meat. As you can see on the cut steak, the center was perfectly pink (that's how you cook steak damnit!) and it was so tender that chewing the steak was barely a chore. The sauce defo gave you a little enhancement to the meat but honestly I can still live without it.

Crepe Cake with Ice Cream - IDR 45k

Such a simple and safe dessert but undeniably sweet and satisfying: crepe cakes drizzled with chocolate sauce and paired with vanilla ice cream on a cone bowl.

Thank goodness I found Expatriate just in time before I release my "Best of 2016" list and will this make it in the list? You gotta have to wait for the official entry! What I can tell you is that I was highly satisfied with my visit, especially after being skeptical beforehand (I wanted to get this habit off me but I couldn't help it), it's surely one of the best places to have "serious" food in Kelapa Gading and one that I would happily recommend you guys going. I am so coming back to try more of their food, especially their pasta since I am a pasta person tbh.

BEST OF LUCK!