SEASONAL TASTE AT THE WESTIN JAKARTA - SCRUMPTIOUS BUFFET WITH PANORAMIC VIEW OF JAKARTA'S SKYLINE

Seasonal Tastes is located on level 51 of The Westin Jakarta, cascading full windows all round, high ceilings and offers diners to enjoy a panoramic view of the city skyline. The restaurant offers buffet option with wide selection of International and Asian cuisine with 7 interactive kitchens, where each chef is dedicated to a particular specialty.

The view from our table

We went there during lunch time on weekend, when it comes to buffet, it’s always fun to strategize what you are going to pick. To start off we headed to the appetizer area, whereby there were salads & cold cut selection. Once arrived, you could see tremendous green selections with 20 over vegetables option. The chef would ask you if you wanted to mix your salad with salmon, tuna, udon, soba, etc. and to accompany the salad, 4 option dressing was provided; Sesame, Spicy Mango, Red Dragon & Lemon.

At the Cold Seafood Selection, here you can get the chilled crabs, prawns, scallops and mussels. Not too interested with this, so I just took a snapshot of them and gave them a pass.

Moved to the Sushi & Sashimi section. For sashimi, it consists only a few cuts; Salmon, Tuna, Octopus and Amaebi (Japanese Prawn). The highlight was the Amaebi which we rarely see from another buffet restaurant, taste more sweeter than the normal prawn. The other highlight was the salmon mix with balsamic vinegar that was made look like a black caviar. The taste was sweet and sour but it’s a good fresh kick off to start a meal.

After the salad and sushi, we headed to the Pizza & Grill section. They offer 3 option of pizza where one of them is vegetarian. We did get the picture but didn’t manage to try one as beside it was the grill section where the red pink beef meat start to catch our eyes. They already grill the beef before, so the chef only carved it into slices when you ask for it. It served with foamed hollandaise sauce and range variety of grilled vegetable you could choose from. For the side dish, we picked the truffle mashed potatoes and it was extremely good! The texture was really smooth and rich in flavor. it just melted in your mouth. I know its controversial to say this, but it is the best mashed potatoes we had so far.

Truffle Mashed Potatoes

At the Pasta Station, you could create your own mixing of pasta, with option of cream or tomato based. If you are not good with it, they could offer you an option of Smoked Beef Cream & Cheese or Fusili Vegetable Tomato. I choose to create my own, my pick was fusilli, smoked beef, enoki mushroom and chilies with cream based sauce. Pasta was cooked al dente and with the cream sauce was enhanced with the sautéed mushroom flavor and the smokiness of the beef gives a perfect pasta harmony.

At the Indian Section, they offer choices of Naan bread and curries. Start from the Dali Makhani, Vegetable Curry, Fish Curry, Briyani rice and not forget to mention the grill tandoor. They have their own tandoori oven thus you could ask your requested naan bread fresh from there and you could see it live of the making. One portion consists of 4 slices of naan breads, at first we think we couldn’t finish it, however it tastes so good and its gone in a minute. After tried few of each, our winner goes to the Chilli Naan, mixed with the Fish Curry. Taste light yet so flavorful with a hint of spiciness from the chili naan.

Indonesian section. The Indonesian menu is rotated regularly to keep things fresh for regular diners; start from Balinese, Padang, Manado, etc. Here during our visit, the Balinese menu option was provided; Ikan Bakar Jimbaran, Sate Lilit Bali, Udang Sambal Matah and so much more. As Indonesian, we never forget our sambal to accompany our Indonesian dish, and here they are offering plenty of choice, such as sambal matah, sambal terasi, sambal serai, etc.

Last station before we heading to dessert was the Asian section, whereby Dimsum, Nasi Hainam, Roasted Chicken/Duck and noodles were all here. Dimsum range from steam option like, Siomay, Hakau, Kaki Ayam and also deep fried option. For Noodles, similar like the pasta, you could mix and match but they provide 2 option, Bakmi Ayam Jamur or Hongkong Style Noodles. Personal pick was the Hongkong Style Noodle, with Udon as my pick. The broth taste was light and full of flavor, savory and little bit sweet.

The station that were first seen upon the arrival and it actually hard to resist, the Desert. Fruits, Traditional Cakes, Martabak, Crepes, Chocolate Fountain, Slice Cakes, Mousse, Sorbet, Gelatos and Ice Teppanyaki is just to name a few type of dessert that they have. To close the meal they will ask you for coffee/tea.

Chocolate Fountain with 4 different flabours

Their collection of mousse & bite sized cake

Tepanyaki Ice Cream - mix & match

Capuccino

Personal opinion: Overall, lunch buffet experience was good. The quality of the food served here is being take care of and there is sufficient variety to meet everyone palate. The service is smooth and the view add the new experience of a dining scene in Jakarta.

SEASONAL TASTE AT THE WESTIN JAKARTA

The Westin Jakarta 51^st Floor

Jl. H. R. Rasuna Said Blok C No.22, Karet Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan

Phone: (021) 27887788