Jakarta has no lack of cafe. Moreover, there are many outstanding ones, serving delish food in a great ambience. One of them which I visited in my August 2016 trip was Maple & Oak.
When I got down from the cab, the first I took note was the verdant of plants decorating the balcony. At the same time, it acts as a veil to sheer from the traffic filtering both noise and air pollution. I am not sure if the second purpose was intentional which I suppose not. Nevertheless, the facade draws attentions.
Comparatively to many other cafe, Maple & Oak is relatively small in space. Closely placed table are next to each other to create maximum seating capacity. Despite these unfavourable factors, tastefully beautified interior was present.
Focus at Maple & Oak is All Day Brunch items. To add on for variety, the cafe included sharing dishes, salads and desserts. Besides the list of food, it has as much beverages to offer; ranging from coffee & tea to cold press and mocktail as well as beers. Interestingly, they offer sharing jug.
Some of the attractive All Day Brunch dishes include Hotcakes with cream cheese & berry (IDR 68k), Pitaya Bowl comprising of fruits, granola and shaved coconut (IDR 63k), Tiger Shrimp Roll (IDR 78k), Maple Butter Brioche (IDR 78k) and M&O Cheese Burger (IDR 88k).
And the most tempting of them all was the Coffee Butter Steak & Egg (IDR 138k). In it are my favourite ingredients; homemade coffee butter, seared Angus Sirloin Steak with sauteed mushroom, 65ºC Sous Vide Egg, Baby Spinach and Potato puree There is an option of Foie Gras 50g at IDR 58k which I missed. It was a shame that the beef was a demanding trial for my jaw. I could hardly chew them as such I gave up.
Though limited dessert was on the menu, there is no reason why I shouldn’t be going for one. My first choice Coconut Sago (IDR 48k) was not available, hence I turned to Mascarpone Lychee Berry (IDR 48k) as my second option instead. This is a gorgeous and lightly sweet dessert with mascarpone mousse, lychee & strawberries, berry coulis, maple milk bread croutons, granolas, meringue buttons and edible flowers.
For drink, I have the Hugo Cooler (IDR 45k) constitute of Elderflower, Cucumber, Lime and Mint Leaves. I was glad that it was lightly sweet too. It was a great drink for thirst-quenching in the hot sweltering weather.
NAHMJ Verdict
Maple & Oak isn’t a cafe for the group to sit back as long as you want to enjoy the food. As each table is allowed only 1.5hrs during their peak hours such as weekend brunch hours.
I am not sure if less crowd is at the cafe during weekdays, if so, it would be a wiser option when possible.
Maple & Oak
Website: http://www.mapleandoakjkt.com/
Instagram: @maple.oak
Opening Hours
Monday – Saturday 0800 to 2100; Sunday 0800 to 2000
Getting There
By Car, Taxi or Uber
Rating: 7/10
