Friday, November 27, 2009

Bumbu Desa Jakarta

Bumbu Desa

"Sema Wilu Jeung Sumping!!!"

That's the shouting that you'll hear from the waiters when you enter this Sundanese restaurant named Bumbu Desa. It means "Welcome" in Sundanse - West Java dialect.

Bumbu Desa

As soon as you have ordered your drink and what kind of rice you like (white rice, brown rice or liwet rice (nasi liwet which is rice cooked with coconut milk and wrapped in banana leave), you can start to choose your own dishes on a buffet style counter.

There are so many choices that make you sometimes confused but good thing is that each dish is tagged with the name of the dish. Keep in mind that this is not buffet, you have to pay according to the dishes that you are taking.
Bumbu Desa

Appetizer:
Sayur Asem
(Sour soup with corn, chayote, peanut, long green bean and melinjo cooked with red chili, and tamarind, etc.)
Bumbu Desa

Main dishes:
Bumbu Desa
Bumbu Desa

Side dishes:
Bumbu DesaBumbu DesaBumbu Desa
Bumbu Desa

Fried food
Bumbu Desa

After selecting the dishes that you want to eat, you can sit back to your chair and the waiters will bring the dishes to your table.
Bumbu Desa

Then there's a little stall in the middle of the restaurant where you can take fresh vegetables as salad with chili sauce and sweet soy sauce- free of charge. We called it as "lalapan".
Bumbu Desa

My ex-colleagues and me went for lunch to the latest Bumbu Desa's branch in Tanah Abang area.
Everyone is eating with their fingers :)
Bumbu Desa

We ate the food with brown rice.
Bumbu Desa

Dessert drink:
Es Campur
(young coconut, avocado, black cincau, kolang kaling with syrup and condense milk)
Bumbu Desa

Prices range from Rp. 3.500 (side dishes) to Rp. 47.000 (main dishes) plus 10% tax.

So, if you are looking for authentic Sundanese cuisine, Bumbu Desa might be the right place to go ;)

Bumbu Desa Tanah Abang
Jl. Tanah Abang II No. 97
Jakarta Pusat
Tel: 380 8270

Disclaimer:
The review and opinion expressed here are purely according to my personal taste. There's a possibility that the taste of the food might change later on, which could affect the review and opinion here. I also affirm that no monetary or non-monetary compensation has been received from this restaurant for writing this review.
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38 comments:

  1. KerstinNovember 27, 2009 at 11:46 AM

    Oh wow, so many choices, I wouldn't know where to start! Everything looks very tasty!

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  2. Angie's RecipesNovember 27, 2009 at 12:57 PM

    wow! This is a kind of restaurant I love to visit! Fresh, varied, delicious, and reasonably priced.

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  3. Kenny MahNovember 27, 2009 at 3:53 PM

    I do miss the Sayur Asem... Haven't had that in ages! Kicks off my appetite quite nicely. :)

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  4. Little InboxNovember 27, 2009 at 3:56 PM

    The sotong is huge!

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  5. AnonymousNovember 27, 2009 at 6:22 PM

    the vege looks similar to one buffet i've tried in Bali...mayb it's Indonesia's way of cooking??

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  6. Rebecca SawNovember 27, 2009 at 6:24 PM

    Oh my! I love this!
    Rice and dishes is alws my fav I hv to hv this for lunch almost everyday ;p

    Love the pics Selba.. drool-worthy indeed.

    I wonder tho, what is the diff between Indo food and Sudanese food?
    WE only hv one outlet here in KL that I knw of that serves Sudanese food. Needless to say, its very expensive so I only went twice w my friends (who paid ;p)

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  7. Sam Hoffer / My Carolina KitchenNovember 27, 2009 at 7:43 PM

    Selby, what a lovely array of food. I definitely would not have room for dessert. I agree with Kerstin - with so many choices who would know where to start.

    I've been traveling and away from internet service for the last couple of weeks. Looks like I've missed a lot of good food.
    Sam

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  8. Mary BergfeldNovember 27, 2009 at 11:17 PM

    There is so much to be had here that it would paralyze anyone unfamiliar with the food. How do you pick when there are so many choices. It looks wonderfully exotic to these Western eyes.

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  9. Cooking GalleryNovember 28, 2009 at 2:05 AM

    What a spread of food! And the Es Campur looks super delicious...! You make me want to have some right now (even though winter is approaching here...)

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  10. Monica HNovember 28, 2009 at 3:14 AM

    I love the green and uniformity of the banana leaves. It makes a nice presentation!

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  11. FaithNovember 28, 2009 at 8:39 AM

    What a gorgeous spread of food...looks delicious!

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  12. ♥peachkins♥November 28, 2009 at 11:16 AM

    everything looked so good!

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  13. CK LamNovember 28, 2009 at 11:31 AM

    Indeed brings out my appetite and lunch hour is just half an hour away...lol

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  14. 3 hungry tummiesNovember 28, 2009 at 12:04 PM

    Wow amazing food!! how long were you standing there taking all the photos haha!

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  15. SelbaNovember 28, 2009 at 12:38 PM

    kerstin: Yeah.. it's can be quite confusing and also tempting to try them all, hehehe...

    AR: Psst... It's actually a bit pricey, it's more for middle and up class ;)

    LFB: Sayur asem is nice. Come visit Indonesia and I'll bring you to eat sayur asem ;)

    LI: Hahaha.. yup, it is kinda huge :)

    SG: Many kind of Indonesian cuisine look the same but it might taste different because of the spicies :)

    TNG: Hahaha.. I thought bread is your favorite food ;) Thanks for the compliments on my pictures. Well, Sundanese food is Indonesian food. Sundanese food is the food from Sundanese people who live in the western part of Java island in Indonesia. The Sundanse food can be also very pricey in restaurants here ;)

    MCK: Yes, there are so many dishes to be tried :) Don't worry, Sam! There's plenty time to catch up :)

    mary: Hehehe.. too many choices! Good thing that they serve the side dishes in small portion so we can have a lot of side dishes :)

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  16. SelbaNovember 28, 2009 at 12:55 PM

    CG: Drinking ice in winter can be fun ;)

    monica: yes, it's always nice to see banana leaves as a decor :)

    faith: Wait until you try it! I believe you will love it ;)

    peachkins: Agreed :)

    ck lam: hehehe.. hope you have a wonderful lunch :)

    3 ht: Hahaha... I think quite long as you can see at the picture of my ex-colleagues are eating half of the dishes and my plate's still clean and empty because I was too busy taking pictures :)

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  17. AnonymousNovember 28, 2009 at 1:13 PM

    Great variety, love sayur asem :)

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  18. SelbaNovember 28, 2009 at 5:51 PM

    laveena: You love sayur asem and tempe goreng, ya? ;)

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  19. email2meNovember 28, 2009 at 9:12 PM

    This is the type of food which I could eat daily. Help me diet! XD

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  20. CikiNovember 29, 2009 at 4:19 PM

    wow, did you eat all that?! the corn looks yumz!

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  21. debra@dustjacketNovember 29, 2009 at 5:18 PM

    Wow what choices, you are making me so hungry.
    xxx

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  22. SelbaNovember 29, 2009 at 8:01 PM

    email2me: Wooohoooo... well, I guess people can eat it daily since there're so many varieties :)

    cumi & ciki: Hahaha.. of course not! In fact, I was only eating the rice with green chili chicken :)

    sophie: Just wait until you try it, it totally will confirm how excellent it is ;)

    DA: Hehehe... Hope not making you to drool too much :)

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  23. kyhNovember 30, 2009 at 3:55 AM

    gotta love those food! so delicious and appetising they seem! :)

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  24. AnonymousNovember 30, 2009 at 9:09 AM

    Wow, look at all this amazing food!

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  25. SelbaNovember 30, 2009 at 9:18 AM

    kyh: And there're so many dishes for vegeterian also ;)

    5SF: hehehe.. it is indeed :)

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  26. LizNovember 30, 2009 at 10:50 AM

    OMGGGGG I LOVE THIS RESTAURANT! my grandma live just across the road from bumbu desa tanah abang, food there is sooo good. sigh this post made me homesick.. :''''(

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  27. theUngourmetNovember 30, 2009 at 1:09 PM

    Looks like a great place! The dessert is really interesting. I'd love to try it!

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  28. foodbinNovember 30, 2009 at 2:31 PM

    spoilt for choices-are the Petai eaten raw?

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  29. SelbaNovember 30, 2009 at 4:03 PM

    liz: Hi Liz, thanks for stopping by my blog :) Seriously, your grandma just live across this Bumbu Desa? Whoaaa... how nice :) Ouch... you feel homesick? It's almost Christmas holiday, hope that you come back for holiday ;)

    the ungourmet: The dessert drink is really yummy :)

    foodbin: Yes, the petai is eaten raw usually dip with sambal chili :)

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  30. UnknownNovember 30, 2009 at 8:14 PM

    eh, first glance at the collage of food shots, I also thought it's a buffet!
    hahaha, to imagine walking in thinking its a buffet and piling up those food!

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  31. SelbaDecember 1, 2009 at 8:08 AM

    j2kfm: Hahaha.... yeah, the food array looks like a buffet :)

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  32. worldwindowsDecember 1, 2009 at 6:34 PM

    Use to have these stuff with friends. Fond memories of the Sayur Asem. At one point had it in almost all my meals at the home of my friend!

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  33. ~Christine~LengDecember 1, 2009 at 7:59 PM

    what a spread with so many selections! and i thought it was a buffet! ;P

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  34. SelbaDecember 1, 2009 at 8:55 PM

    worldwindows: Hehehe... any chance that you got bored with sayur asem in the old days?

    CL: hahaha... yeah, if people don't know, they probably would think it's buffet and taken too much dishes which cause a big suprissed bill at the end :)

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  35. SelbaDecember 4, 2009 at 11:10 AM

    eugenereinos: thanks!!!

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  36. Indonesia EatsDecember 7, 2009 at 1:35 PM

    Darnnn again, I did it again.

    I did say bye on chat box, but I am still doing this "stop by here". Urap, sayur asam, paria, tempe, empal ohhh remind me of the university's time in Bogor.

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  37. Chef EDecember 14, 2009 at 6:50 PM

    I swear I can smell all this food! I had a rice in NYC that was steamed with crab and shitake mushrooms, and I cannot stop thinking about it, was so freaking good!

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  38. yuliaNovember 16, 2010 at 8:31 PM

    jadi laper nich lihat makanan"a

    enak buanget........


    :)

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