De Luca

Back to Italian :)


As I said in my Pesto post earlier, Italian restaurant is flourishing in Jakata. De Luca is one of the latest addition. Opened head to head to Monolog ( I think they belong to the same group) it's one of Jakarta's it place right now. Located in Plaza Senayan, De Luca is one of the alternative for a place to eat (fiuhhhh, finally... I kinda hate going to PS coz it's eateries are pricey yet not yummy)


The decor is simple, subtle light brown wooden chairs and tables with wooden panels along it's walls. Decorated with some metal-covered yellow light bulbs, De Luca is a warm, welcoming and cozy place to chat and hang out with friends and families. Some of the tables are located at the street side, giving a bistro like feeling. +1

The food:
1. Ice Peach Tea (Rp. 30.000)


I like the peach tea here for some reasons. Firstly, it's not too sweet. The glass is quite big and they put slices of peach in it. Love it :)

2. Sparkling Mango (Rp. 30.000)


Same like the peach tea, it's not overly sweet. A balanced drink to quench your thirst after shopping all day long, a mango garnish would be nice though. The two mini cherries at the bottom of the glass are a treat!!! :D

3. Bread Basket (Complimentary/Rp. 10.000)


It's a complimentary but we asked for more, they charged is for the additional basket. The bread... is yummy :) The basket consists of baguettes, focaccia and bread sticks. All of the breads are warm, I think they heated it before serving it to us. The baguettes have crunchy texture in the outside and fluffy in the inside. The focaccia is thick and heavy but exceptionally yummy, my fave! The bread sticks are different than Pepenero's heavy sticks. It's light, crunchy and hollow. Asmet really liked it.

4. Spaghetti with wood-smoked salmon, mushroom and spinach in cream sauce (Rp. 78.000)


YUMMY!!!! The pasta is cooked perfectly!!!!!! I loveeee the texture of the pasta. It's like undercooked pasta but it's cooked. You still need to chew it instead of just sliding it into ur stomach like some lame pasta from a fast food joint. The cream sauce tastes a bit like Pasta de Waraku's. It's thick and covered the pasta completely. You won't find any liquid in your plate. It's very creamy but not 'that' creamy u feel bloated afterwards. The combination of the 3 toppings (IMO those 3 are my fave toppings for creamy pasta) are just right. Not too much salmon, strands of spinach here and there plus those yummy mushrooms... Yum Yum Yum :) This dish go straight to my top ten pasta in Jakarta hehehe

5. Linguine with minced beef an asparagus in pesto genovese (Rp. 68.000)


Pesto genovese is one of my fave pasta style (the others are cream and aglio olio) but it's not a common dish. Many Italian resto didn't serve this kind of pasta. My favorite pesto is Pizza Marzano's but this is a tough competitor. Just like the spaghetti, the linguine is cooked to perfection. I'm a bit confused with the size of the linguine, it's too wide to be linguine. I had linguine a lot and usually it's a bit thinner but I still love it hehe. The linguine is covered in green oily sauce with lots of minced beef and small cuts of asparagus. I think they need to put more asparagus and less beef. The flavor of the beef is quite strong and it's like the beef and pesto are battling in my mouth. Strangely, their battle is my pleasure :p Yummy!!! The minced beef gives a slight creaminess which is a good balancing act for the heavy herb-infused pasta. The asparagus serves as tiny crunchy surprises in every bite. Another yummy pasta for the day!! *grin*

I love this place! The decor, the ambience and most of all the food. The service is a bit disappointing. The girl that waited on us had a very sour face and stood impatiently while I was reading the menu.

dr. B: Yang enak apa ya mbak?

girl: Wagyu nya pak, enak lho pak

dr. B: Ga pengen makan wagyu mbak, yg laen apa?

girl: (diem) (ngelipet tangan) (nyender ke meja) (berdiri dengan bertumpu ke meja) (goyang-goyang ga jelas kaya cacing kepanasan)

beberapa saat kemudian...

girl: coba wagyu nya aja pak

dr. B: (jutek mode on) uda dibilang saya ga mau wagyu!

I know they're having a wagyu promotion (for that price, it's not promo yaaaaaaa) but that doesn't give them permission to shove that wagyu up my face. Thank God the food was great, less than that, this entry would've been filled with foul words here and there. Additional info, the service tax is 10% :(

Narsis time

Rating: 7.8/10
Location: Plaza Senayan, P1