Rijsttafel Batavia Style

September 30, 2009

We arrived at Aryaduta Hotel in the older section of downtown Jakarta, where we met our friend, Bulantrisna Djelantik, a Balinese princess who is also a choreographer, doctor, and consultant of World Health Organization. She was originally planning on travelling with us by train to Yogyakarta then continue on to Magelang to attend my nephew's wedding party which took place near the Borobudur Temple. But her busy schedule only allowed us to visit for an hour while exchanging gifts and catching up. She did, however, invite us to go with her to Bandung in West Java Province (Bandung is one of her hometowns). We decided to take a rain check for we had made a dinner reservation at the Oasis Restaurant in Jakarta.

The first time I came to the restaurant was about 15 years ago. My former boss, Eddy, from the Indonesian Time Life Books, had invited me and two other friends to dine at the Oasis. I was so impressed with everything that I experienced at the restaurant at that time that I kept telling myself: "Someday ..... with someone special, I shall come back here". But not only it took me that long to find someone special, it was also in my memory of how intimidating it was watching Eddy, my boss, paid enormous amount of money for the dinner for the four of us fifteen years ago. I didn't have the time to observe the paintings neither the photos on the restaurant's walls at that time, since most attention were on the four of us from the moment we stepped in (I must admit, I did feel it.... though I knew the attention were for my friends Julie and Deborah, whose long blond hair and blue eyes had twisted everybody's neck in the restaurant. Mind you, they were also beauty queens from Fresno, California).

Our taxi drove us right up to the door step where we were greeted by a male attendant in costume, who then made a gesture for us to enter the premises. About 5 steps in, and he approached the humongous gong and hit it 3 times to appropriately welcome us. The restaurant was dimly lit. It was 6:30pm and the place was dead quiet. I asked one of the attendants, whose body language speaks much respect for those of royal guests, he courteously said: "Our restaurant is generally not open till 7pm". As Mitch and I looked at each other, the attendant who was dressed in the old Batavia style costume continued on saying: "Would you like to sit at the bar so you can enjoy some cocktail while waiting for the dinner time ? or perhaps you might like to sit in the back and enjoy our garden ?". The body language, the smile, and the protocol..... I expected a treatment no less than this based on my first experience, especially after seeing the photo gallery. ....Margaret Thatcher, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Kings of several middle eastern countries who came to dine at the restaurant.
We decided to walk into the bar area and ordered cocktail. The bar and it's dark woodwork, the finely carved wood shelves, and the priceless antique furniture with marble topped tables from the Dutch Colonial era brought back some old memories of the Indonesian movie "Tiga Dara" that my mother and I loved to watch. After a few sips and some mosquito bites later (yes), we decided to exit one of the ornate doors out to the garden area in the back and took some photos of the flower garden which was decorated with lava rock statues as well as wooden figurines that lined up 5 meters long making up a fence-like art work. The mosquito bites insisted on irritating my skin, so we went inside and 3 attendants seated us at the table where we had picked, at the corner bay window looking out to the garden. A few moments later the leading attendant came around behind me, leaned over and whispered if I would like some mosquito repellent. I told him I would. Mitch and I smiled at each other. He must have seen me scratching my skin. How could such a fine place have let mosquitos inside ? But rather than complaining about the itching mosquito bites, I decided to anticipate the Big Show !

Our table was attended by at least 4 people (young men and women in appropriate costumes) until other guests started to arrive. Then more attendants positioned themselves in different spots, a distance away but keeping an eye on our body language and our table to see what we might need. Two female attendants each handed us two different menus. One is an a la carte menu and the other one is titled "The Rijsttafel", it's the Oasis' signature, what we have come here for. Rijsttafel is a Dutch word that translates to Rice Table. During the Dutch Colonial era in Indonesia, a wealthy Dutch or Dutch-Indonesian family would have so many in-house servants and several "kokis" (cooks) that prepared several different dishes in large amount to feed the large family, frequent guests, plus the household workers. A rijsttafel nowadays is considered a feast. Generally over 20 different dishes are prepared and served as a meal. A few restaurants do rijsttafel, but it's hard to find. Mitch and I found one in New York, and the last one we experienced was in Curacao about two years ago. But neither one of these restaurants serve the meal the way Oasis does. We quickly put the a la carte menu down, and went through the rijsttafel menu with the seemingly endless list of the cuisines of the archipelago. The attendants seemed to know what we wanted. They started with serving tea and mineral water, then one after another and almost non stop, they served some mini appetizers then followed with mini salads and some mini bowls of different soup, which you would later understand why mini things? My husband seemed to work an appetite, while I was beginning to feel scared for my tummy is almost running out of space already. I had forgotten the mosquito bites at this time. No sooner had the attendants cleared the last dish off our table, when over a dozen of young women in colorful Indonesian kebayas were slowly and elegantly walking up in a single line towards our table with hot plates in their hands. This is It ! The elegant human buffet I've been bragging to all my friends in the United States. One hot plate at a time was held over our table in such manner by the servers for us to spoon to our personal plates. I put as many different dishes as I could place on my gigantic plate, for the temptation was real. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat it all, but I am here to enjoy cuisines of the different islands. I do miss rijsttafel after living in the States for 27 years. Oh ! Those attendants were so quiet but so quick in action. Not sure how they could see from a distance. It seemed like they just stood there behind those columns under the shadow, but they wouldn't let any one of my husband's meatless skewers sit on his plate for longer than 2 seconds after he finished each one. I know my husband is not used to getting so much attention, but I LOVED IT ! About fifteen minutes later, the marching ladies came back with their hot plates. This time I decided to take pictures as they served the food on to my husband's plates. Since I am no longer capable of taking anymore bite, I had gestured to one male attendant and asked for the special coffee after dinner. He asked: "the Oasis coffee?". I said: "yes". He asked again: "one freshly made in front of you?", and I nodded. He asked me again: "with the orange peel fired over brandy?" and I said: "Yes, yes, " with a couple of nods and smiled: "with the beautiful kitchen cart right here by our table so I can see the burning orange peel twist". For a moment I wondered why he asked for such confirmation. Is he new in the restaurant? Do they not offer the special coffee that much anymore ? Is there less demand for this delicious coffee which is prepared as part of the entertainment for the evening? A moment later, three attendants and a "coffee chef" (he was dressed like a chef with the appropriate white chef hat) pushed the famous coffee cart out towards our table. It took them a few minutes to set up. I saw that one of them suggested it might be out of gas. As the chef started to fill the aluminum pan with water, his two assistants were trying to get the burner ready for the chef. With a bit of a struggle, they finally managed to get the burner started. Hmm... had they wished I didn't mean to order this coffee earlier ?

As we were watching the coffee man skillfully prepare the famous Oasis coffee, I heard a live classical piano music in the main room, then a soft but clear sound of saxophones joined in creating the sound of music of the 60's. I rarely hear live saxophones played so softly these days. Perhaps because most of them are played outdoor at jazz festivals? How nice it was to experience a change. The coffee with the fresh orange peel flavor and brandy was then served in mini white cups and saucers. Mmm.... so delicious and sooo aromatic. It brought back the memory of sitting there with my friends Julie and Deborah, and my former boss Eddy, fifteen years ago. I was totally enjoying the moment, when I saw my husband's eyes started to droop from the jet lag. He had just arrived from the United States several hours ago, while I had been all over the island for a week with my family and friends. It must have been all that food that he so enjoyed, the cocktail at the bar, and the soft music on top of all that. The coffee should wake him up a bit. But no ! He had taken several sips at this point and it didn't help. I was so relaxed and now my alert buttons started to slowly light up, getting ready for next action. I looked at one attendant who stood in a distance with a little nod. With a light but quick stride, he came to us. "It's been a nice evening, but we are ready to go," I said. The attendant seemed so surprised for he didn't expect this. "Oh ! But the singers haven't serenaded you yet, please wait. They are looking forward to performing for you and your husband at your table", he said. But Mitch was not saveable. I know him enough. The only person on earth that I know only sleeps 4 hours a day and works the rest of the day, and only eats one meal a day. Dinner. He likes to use up all his energy till the one last drop, and I am not sure how many drops are left in him to get him to the taxi door. I quickly and kindly asked the attendant to bring our bill and to call a taxi. Alcoholics and super workaholics have one thing in common, they can fall into a deep sleep before they finish their last sentence. Sometimes they don't even complete uttering the syllables of their last word. I signed the bill, and composed the two of us as a couple to get ready to walk hand in hand as gracefully as possible through the "beautiful fence line" on either of our sides who cheerfully said "Terimakasiiih.... " , " Selamat Jalan, Ibuu...... ", "Selamat Malam Mister...... " to whom I replied in Bahasa Indonesia "Thank you and Goodnight Oasis ! We shall return"...... and the saxophones gave us a little stronger blow to gesture a goodbye.