Jakarta’s culinary scene has never been more exciting with endless selections of cafes, bistros, bars and fine dining establishments. Lately the restaurant lounge concept seems to be trending again. If you are wondering what exactly is a restaurant lounge, it is a dining space combined with sofa style seating/cocktail bar that accommodates live band/DJ. Definitely a great choice to hang out and grab a bite with friends! Moonshine Dine & Lounge in Mega Kuningan, is one such place.
It is currently THE destination now in Mega Kuningan with its crowd of blockbuster restaurants and bars like Basque, Hurricane’s, J. Sparrow’s, and Belly Bandit. Moonshine Dine & Lounge first opened its doors on 15 December 2018, and it recently celebrated its grand opening on 15 March.
The decor is chic and upscale, to a slight extent, almost resembling a modern speakeasy. Upon entering the restaurant, I was ushered up the stairs and then down again on the opposite side to our table. Unnecessary extra steps perhaps, but it made a unique lay out with unobstructed view of the establishment from the top of the stairs. I stood there for a while admiring the beautiful patterned floor and gorgeous chandeliers. The DJ booth is tucked in neatly under the stairs with the stage for live band right across it. The dining tables are placed in the centre row, the bar on the right side, with liquor bottles stacked high behind the bar, ready to imbibe. Look up and you’ll see a sleek private dining room encased by clear glass, which gives the impression that its structure is hanging from the ceiling and suspended mid air. Pretty swanky!
We were seated on the dining sofa on the left hand side of the room by the window, with view of the Jakarta skyline. There were five of us and we ordered plenty from the menu for sharing so we had a bit of everything. The menu is a complete compilation of Indonesian, European, and some Mediterranean-inspired dishes. We ordered funghi pizzeta, hummus, tenderloin steak, Moonshine pan seared salmon pasta, Paris Tokyo’s chicken burger, roast half chicken, beef tartar, and Moonshine tart pear bandaloue for dessert.
The establishment, being a restaurant lounge and with such diverse menu, I didn’t expect the food to stand out but I was pleasantly surprised to find certain menu items were truly exceptional. The funghi pizzeta and the pear tart are amazing! The aroma of the truffle preceded the waiter who carried the pizza to our table. Thinly crusted with just the right amount of cheese, served piping hot from the oven, it was so good that everyone was surreptitiously scrambling for the last bite of the pizza. I hardly encounter pear tart in restaurant menus, so it was quite a rare treat, especially being tender, light flaky, golden as it is, I assure you, this pie is delicious to a fault. Apple tart is so yesterday, I am moving on to pear now!
If you want to impress someone on a date, the beef tartar is an excellent choice. The dish was served with great flourish. The sous chef came pushing a fancy trolley filled with an array of goodies: hand-chopped beef, capers, chives, shallots, mustard, cornichon, salt, pepper, lemon and a runny egg yolk. He then mixed the ingredients with flair, and voila! Beef tartar served with crispy baguette!
In general, everything was good although the hummus didn’t work out for me and the roast chicken was too dry. However, being newly opened restaurant, I am sure these are still work in progress. I think the place has great potential and who knows, it could be the next it thing in Mega Kuningan area after Loewy’s and Basque. Especially with their impressive wine, hard liquor & cocktail selections with considerably wallet friendly price plus different live bands from Monday to Saturday and DJ spinning on weekends, it really made a great hangout place.
The band on Thursday night when we were there was great, playing lots of 80’s pop songs and some disco. The thing was, the band started playing very early, we arrived at 8 p.m, and the band was already playing. The music was quite loud and made it almost impossible to converse with my dining companions, which put a damper on our dining experience. However, the other guests didn’t seem to mind the noise, so perhaps it was just us being party poopers. Although post dinner and three bottles of wine later, we were then genuinely enjoying the live band who were playing loads of nostalgic numbers.
All in all, we had a great time at Moonshine, and I will definitely come back for the funghi pizzeta and tart pear bandaloue, but this time I am not sharing!
Moonshine – Dine & Lounge
Noble House, 8th Floor
Mega Kuningan, Jakarta
+62 811 9222 690
www.moonshine.id
