The Face Jakarta consists of 2 restaurants; Hazara the Indian restaurant and Lana Thai the Thai Restaurant and a bar, the Face Bar. We went for the Hazara, the Indian Restaurant. It was recommended by an Indian colleague whom have patronised them previously and found it to be good.

 

At Hazara, it was relatively dark and it is very much like having a candle light dinner since candle were lit at every table. I never like such ambience as firstly it is bad for my photo taking of food. And secondly, I couldn’t see well in low light environment.

 

 

On Hazara menu, there were 3 sections. First was the others, with Rice, Soup, Appetiser and Roti. Next was the Handi which are mainly the curry or gravy dishes. Lastly was the Tandoori where mainly meat and vegetables were cooked in clay oven.

 

First, we went for the Plain Poppadom. This isn’t stated on the menu instead you will only find the Papperdam Masala. If you prefer the plain one, you need to ask for it.

 

 

 

The Plain Poppadom was served with the Mint Chutney but we asked for the Mango Chutney as well. Personally, I prefer the Mint Sauce as it was more savoury while the Mango Chutney tasted like a Mango Jam to me.

 

 

 

Our second appetiser was the Keema Samosa (Rp 80,000). I was told this is a rare find on the menu, as most restaurants don’t served it with minced lamb and spice filling. For those who doesn’t like lamb, I am sure will prefer avoiding this. Personally, I was rather neutral to it not that it isn’t tasty. In fact, I do admit that it was flavourful but somehow I find something lacking in the samosa and I couldn’t nail it. But 2 other diners enjoyed it. As such, this is very much a preference, I supposed.

 

 

Mango Lassi (Rp 35,000) is one of the usual turn to drink whenever I am at an Indian restaurant. This round, likewise, no exception. The Mango Lassi was lightly sweet and lightly sourish which was good to along with the meal.

 

We ordered only the Handi dishes, curry or gravy and have these with bread. This round we did not order anything from the Tandoori section.

 

 

First was the Loki Raita (Rp 30,000). This dish consist of yogurt with small dices of white pumpkin. The taste of the pumpkin is similar to the honeydew except that it was very lightly sweetened. This make a good alternative to the curry and tomato based gravy.

 

 

For those who need more vegetables, Bengan Matter (Rp 80,000) is one great choice. This is a curry of eggplant and green peas, very much in tomato based. If all these were your favourite ingredients, this is made for you. I am not a tomato based sauce fan as such, again, I am neutral.

 

 

Next is the Mahi Khaliya (Rp 160,000), which all of us enjoyed. This is a fish curry cooked in mustard oil with fenugreek seeds. If I remembered correctly, I was told cooking curry with mustard oil is a characteristics of Kolkata curry dishes.

 

 

The curry that I enjoyed most among the few we ordered was the Gosht Khorma (Rp 135,000). This is a lamb curry with cashew nut and tomato. As such this make it another tomato based dish. But at the very least, the spice was rich enough to mask most of the tomato flavour.

 

 

Naan is the bread that most of us will order when we are at an Indian restaurant. It needs no introduction. This round we ordered only the Makhni Naan (Rp 26,000), that’s butter naan. There are a few other options.

In the same basket was the Roomali Roti (Rp 28,000). I am new to this bread. I was told this is the thin form of bread. But it gets dry when it was place in the air-conditioned room for a period of time.

 

 

 

The Tandoori Roti (Rp 25,000) is similar to the Pudina Parontha (Rp 35,000), except that the latter has chopped mint scattered over the bread. I prefer the former.

 

 

Saffron Pullao (Rp 45,000) was the last staple we ordered. It is a saffron infused rice dish. It has a nice scent of saffron and it went well with the curry we ordered.

 

 

NAHMJ Verdict

 

Looks like I enjoyed more of the meat curry than the vegetable based one. Perhaps it was the meat flavour that contributed to the curry that I find them tastier.

The dishes served at Face Jakarta Bar and Restaurant, Hazara, isn’t the most top notch but certainly above average.

 

 

 

Face Jakarta Bar and Restaurant, Hazara

Jalan Dr Kusuma Atmaja 85, Menteng, Jakarta, Indonesia
Tel: +62 21 31925053/ 0811 8191151

Website: http://face-jakarta.com/

Menu: http://face-jakarta.com/wp-content/uploads/hazara_ala-carte-menu_current-sept.-15.pdf

 

Opening Hours

 

Daily  1200 to 1430, 1700 to 2300

 

Getting There

 

By Taxi

 

Rating: 7.5/10