JAKARTA EATS: Warung Pasta

“A warung (old spelling waroeng) is a type of small family owned business — often a casual, usually outdoor restaurant — in Indonesia.”

Traditionally warung’s sell Indonesian food, but these days more modern versions are all over the place, such as Pasta Warung in Kemang. It is small but has an air-conditioned area with 2 levels and an outdoor area. The entire place is smoking area so I don’t recommend it if you are pregnant.

TD was intrigued by this place because every time we pass by on weekends, it is always packed to the rafters. One weekday we were finally able to go because it was a Philippine holiday and it wasn’t as busy. (Filipino diplomats follow both Indonesian and Philippine holidays.) Pictures of the food and my verdict after the jump! 

I was disappointed in the Mushroom Chunk Baked Pasta which did not have much mushroom  flavor. The white sauce was just runny and lacked flavor as well. The top was cheesy but everything in the bottom was mush. I think they just baked some button mushrooms without seasoning it first. I think the mushrooms should have been sautéed first in garlic and onions before baking. TD improved the taste by adding a LOT of Parmesan and chili flakes.

The Meat lovers baked pasta was good – it reminded us of sweet pinoy kiddy spaghetti. I am not sure how much westerners would like this though since traditionally red sauce pasta is a bit tangy.

The actual Crispy Cheese Pizza did not look like the one pictured in the menu. It was too dry, not just because of the way it was cooked, but because only cheap cheddar was used. We decided to order another pizza to satisfy our pizza craving instead.

The Creamy cheese pizza was better (but nothing great), but the smoked beef didn’t really add anything to the flavor. I think that instead of the beef, if they had just topped it with A LOT of garlic and some basil it would have been good instead of just okay.  Too bad too, because the crust of their pizza is pretty good.

For drinks hubby had 2 cokes – again their Coke bottles here are the über tiny ones that just don’t hit the spot. And I had the bottomless Iced Mint Tea which was pretty refreshing. They served it with sugar-water in a ketchup dispenser (LOL!) I am happy to say that it’s one of the few places with refillable drinks.

All in all it was a fun experience checking out a local dig. The Pizza and Pasta is definitely tailored to local tastes so don’t expect a genuine italian experience. And prices are amazingly cheap for Jakarta standards. Our total bill was Rp 148,120 including 10% tax and 5% service charge.

Warung Pasta