Red Tomato's New Face

Ever heard Red Tomato Express or Red Tomato outlet in several Jakarta’s mal? I dare you know moreover they have their signature crispy thin pizza. But hey, now you can get more than pizza because they has recently opened a new outlet, which is now restaurant not a pizza-express anymore, in Lippo Mal Kemang. Located at Avenue of the Stars, an open air area surrounded by several cafes and restaurants, Red Tomato established their rejuvenation with different concept with the previous outlet in Plaza Indonesia. If you ever dine in one of their outlet in Plaza Indonesia, you will aware of their differences. Yeah, they now provide a variation of alcoholic drinks ranging from beer to wine, you named it. They even have a chiller room in one of the resto’s corner which display the drinks beautifully. Maybe because they have a different market and customers here, in Plaza Indonesia you might dine with your family whereas in Kemang, where a bustling night life seducing you, you might be need drinks and cheers with your buddies, right.

Stepped my feet at this restaurant, I was pampered by the yellow light with cozy garden and barn-alike area. In front of the main door, there are several red tomatoes displayed in a big basket. Next to the red tomato display, there is also stack of red tomatoes with a beautiful artificial tree above them. After the garden-barn area, there is a dining room-alike area but still with garden ambience. I saw they use an artificial grass carpet as if I stepped into a real grass hehehe…In this area, we can see their open kitchen with waiters and chefs cooking and serving in a rush.

Then, here’s what I got on a private lunch invitation by them accompanied by their super kind representative.
Instead of offering variation of Asian-Western-Italian thin pizza, in their opening, they offer Black Series Pizza, a crispy thin pizza infused with squid ink with two choices of toppings either Pop Shrimps or Squid. This time I tasted the one with Shrimp. It’s a super thin pizza crust with a generous topping of shrimp and green vegetables! I never tasted such pizza with many vegetables before; I feel like on diet that time hahaha! The pizza crust and the topping just went well on my mouth. It blended perfectly.  


Appetizer. I give a try for Farmer’s Salad (55K). It is misclun salad with cherry tomatoes, generous slices of parmesan, dried figs, smoked duck breast, and balsamic dressing. The vegetables served fresh made me feel so healthy today hahaha!


Other try was Nyonya Chicken Rendang Pizza (89K). I wish I’ll find a truly Indonesian twist in this Italian pizza but it’s not. The rendang’s taste doesn’t too strong, it’s more likely similar with Peranakan typical flavour, and yeah the staffs admitted it. The topping are as usual full of vegetables, egg slices, rendang slices and cheddar grater. 


From the line of Pasta, I give a try for Gnocchi Quattro Formaggio (49K) and Dancing Pasta (59K). The first one is a homemade gnocchi made from potato dumpling cooked with cream and sauce and four cheeses. This is a recommended menu from the chef, but I’m not into this because I thought the mixture is too heavy, so does the cream, it didn’t give me special taste. 


While, the Dancing Pasta I admitted it as recommended since this spaghetti topped with homemade oyster chili sauce, shrimps, squids, and clams offers me a flavorous taste. Oh yeah, see the katsuoboshi on the top of which, that’s made the name of this dish comes from, the katsuoboshi which usually be a topping for Takoyaki or Okonomiyaki, appears like dancing when it is served hot. Funny!


Beef Veal Saltimbocca (185K). This main course made me glared because of its portion and serving on a super big plate, nope, it’s not, it is a picture frame! It is a 120 gr medallions of pan roasted beef veal tenderloin served with pan gravy sauce creamy polenta & roasted vegetables. The beef veal was tender and juicy while the polenta was creamy with rich corn flavour and don’t you think that this is similar with mashed potato? Indeed, but when you try, it isn’t. It is mashed corn and taste better than mashed potato for me.


For closing the lunch, I chose Watermelon Park (39K) from their Mixologist Mocktails line. It is a fusion of watermelon chunk, cucumber, vanilla syrup and lemon. Refreshing!


I also try a bit of In High Spirits (39K), a fusion of Apricot, Passion Fruit, and Lemon. More sour but still refreshing.


Bad news is the dessert display hasn’t arrived yet, so this time I couldn’t try their signature dessert. Well, maybe on next visit. For the pricing, they offer still reasonable price with good portion, appetizer ranging from IDR19,000 – 45,000 ; pasta ranging from IDR43,000 – 75,000 ; pizza ranging from IDR69,000 – 89,000 ; main course ranging from IDR69,000 -185,000. Then, for the beverages most of cocktails ranging from IDR75,000 – 100,000 and mocktails and other drinks ranging from 30,000 – 35,000.

Well, it was a superb lunch for me not only I got a superb menu but also welcomed by Gary, Red Tomato’s Marcomm Manager, which share anything and made me feel home. Never had such countless greetings and private food tasting before. Memorable! 




Red Tomato

Lippo Mall Kemang, Avenue of the Stars
Unit UG-OD-06B
Jl. Pangeran Antasari Kav. 36, Kemang
Jakarta Selatan
@redtomatoresto
www.redtomato-group.com

No comments