Nusantara Food Festival at Grand Zuri BSD City

Saturday is time for culinary journey at Grand Zuri Hotel, BSD City. Serving food from Sabang to Merauke, the four-star hotel is educating its guests about the amazing (and of course delicious) Indonesian dishes with Nusantara Food Festival this August. What's not to love about them?

Hello, this is Ruth reporting from Cerenti Restaurant visit with fellow bloggers from Indonesia Food Bloggers (IDFB).

 

After a warm welcomed by Chef Robby, who started right away with the appetizers, we encounter Tahu Gimbal Semarang right next to lalapan. Gimbal is a shimp fried with flour. The dish is served with peanut sauce. You can find a lot of Gimbal sold alone by street vendors in Semarang or as the best friend of Tahu Pong. Okay, let's move on to another island.

Tahu Gimbal with Peanut Sauce

Rendang. Chef Robby invited a local Padangnese to cook the Rendang over trials and errors. The one served that night was one of the best Rendang I've ever tasted. Meat is soft, the color is right and the caramelized seasoning isn't too watery either. Provoking me to get up and add a scoop of white rice to finish the Rendang.

(L-R) Tahu Aci Tegal, Rendang, Ikan Woku and Terik Ayam

Terik Ayam is a Semarangan way to say Opor, chicken cooked with coconut milk and spices. Next to the chicken there's a fish dish from another island: Ikan Bakar Woku Manado. Chef Robby is using Gindara fillet which are cooked nicely with (again) spices and leaves. This dish is both fresh and spicy. If you like vegetables, give Genjer a try. Genjer (which according to wiki bears the Latin name of Limnocharis flava) is a tropical vegetable native to central and southern America but widely used in Southeast Asia.Despite being not a menu regular, stir-fried Genjer can often be found in Sundanese restaurants.

Moving on to the fried side, Tahu Aci Tegal is neatly stacked on the plate. Fried tofu filled with tapioca starch. A little chewy when bitten, this food has to be consumed fresh after fried.

When introducing Nasi Goreng Kampung, the chef quizzed us about the meaning behind the dish. "Nasi Goreng Kampung originated from the homemade fried rice. The first ones who made them are our mothers." It was spicy and caught us by surprised, but as Ruth once pointed out, spicy is the right flavor to cure your homesick, especially when you spend years studying abroad in a landlocked county. Mie Goreng Jogja is available for those wanting to avoid rice on dinnertime. 

"Our mission as chefs is to make people remember about our local culinary, about Indonesian food," said Chef Robby in the midst of explaining the different dishes.

But what's Indonesian food galore without Sambal? From what seems to be over the counter chili paste to the Colo colo spicy condiment brought from the Maluku region, Cerenti Restaurant has it all. Woku Fish can go with Dabu-dabu chili, while the rest can be paired with Sambal Terasi or Sambal Ijo.

Soto Betawi close the main food table. Served fresh when you order. But wait... before selecting your dessert, there's a secret counter for satay. BBQ is on the outside yard of the restaurant and that night, it was serving Satay Marrangi along with grilled chicken and fish fillet.

  

Dessert is sweet, from pudding to jajanan pasar. A beautifully decorated Colenak is on the spotlight. Colenak is a well-known Indonesian snack made of Tape (or Tapai), a fermented cassava with slightly alcoholic taste. Acquired taste for some, but hey, you're here to give those unique Indonesian taste a try. 

Colenak

Assorted Jajan Pasar

All of these are available for Rp150,000 (nett) on weekends in August 2015 at Cerenti Restaurant, Grand Zuri BSD City. Let's visit now while it's last.

Where is this?
Cerenti Restaurant - Grand Zuri BSD City
Jl Pahlawan Seribu Kavling Ocean Walk
Blok CBD Lot.6 BSD City. Serpong
Tangerang Selatan 15322, Banten- Indonesia
TEL: +62 21 2940 4955