Sushi Sen

Everyone knows the North is lacking Japanese flair. Other than Sushi Masa in Muara Karang, there is practically no decent authentic Japanese cuisine in the North of Jakarta. By that I mean fresh sashimi/sushi, which is why we were so intrigued with Sushi Sen that has recently sprung up in PIK.

Upon arrival at 6pm sharp, the restaurant is already crowded with people. Mind you, their dinner service only starts at 5.30pm. We were only 30mins post opening hours and we had to wait around 15mins for a table for 2. If you are one of those impatient patrons, might we strongly suggest you to come early for a table, especially so if you are in big groups.

The restaurant was fitted with simple, minimalistic and wooden furniture. Very Japanese, very simple and extremely eye pleasing. Reminded me of Komeyui in Meblourne if you had dined there before. Service was, unfortunately, not on par with Komeyui. We could immediately tell that most of the waitresses/waiters are new. Their constant needs to “check with the chef” and “ask the manager” was what gave their newly-employed status away. If you can overlook that, their responsiveness was pretty quick and they were friendly.

We started the dinner with 3 kinds of sashimi (2 slices each), selected by the chef. In our plate, we had the salmon, hamaichi (yellow tail) and maguro (tuna). In addition to that, we also ordered additional otoro (fatty tuna) and hotate (scallops). All the sashimi were fresh. The otoro was definitely my favourite and didn’t disappoint. It literally melted in my mouth, which is only possible if the serving temperature of the sashimi was on point; neither too cold nor hot.

Otoro – Rp88k/piece; hotate – Rp38k/piece

3 kinds of sashimi moriawase – Rp198k

Their famous special gyu don with onsen egg is also worth a mention. You could add additional uni and foeigras to this dish but unfortunately, uni was sold out when we came and thus, we were only given the pleasure of trying it with foeigras. We though that the foiegras and wagyu would be the highlight of the dish. To our surprise, it was the special (unknown) sauce that really brought the dish to another level.It was savory and an absolute delight to our taste bud – Umami as the Japanese would say it. Individually, the wagyu and foiegras was average at best. It was really the sauce that brings everything together so harmoniously. Totally recommend this, though you can skip the foiegras. Somehow, its distinct taste was lost among the sauce.

Special Gyu Don with Onsenegg  and additional foiegras – Rp153k

Sushi Sen’s version of tempura moriawase was not too bad. Really crispy but it lacks seasoning. Without the ponzu sauce, the tempura was too plain to eat it alone. It consists of 2 huge prawns, 2 types of mushrooms, 2 types of vegetables and a squid. However, given the price, I’d say it is worth every penny.

Tempura Moriawase – Rp75k

Overall, I had a good experience at Sushi Sen. One of the minor letdown was the noise. It looks Japanese, it tastes like Japanese, it is sort of premium priced (depending on what you order, we were charged Rp450k each), but the acoustics resembles that of a local fish market. The noise was too loud to make a civilized conversation without shouting across the table. Last but not least, if I may suggest to the restaurant is to add sake or wine list to the menu.

Food: |****  |          Ambience: |**    |         Price: |$$$$  |

Opening hours: Everyday 11am-2pm; 5.30pm-9.45pm

Location: Ruko Crown Golf, Blok B No. 1, Bukit Golf Mediterania, Jl. Marina Indah Raya,Pantai Indah Kapuk, Jakarta

Posted by AliceinWonderland