Javana Bistro, Bandung

I bet everyone knows what Paris Van Java is. Yes, it’s the hippest semi-outdoor mall in the city, the place people usually go out with a bunch of friends or family, either for dining out, watching a movie, or just walking around shopping.

Often times, I found it confusing to find a good place for dining in Paris Van Java. And lucky me, just a while ago, me and @makanpakereceh were invited by JAVANA BISTRO for a late lunch / early dinner. I never went to JAVANA BISTRO before since I thought it’s just some random expensive restaurant, but turned out, I was totally wrong. You’ll find out why later 😉

JAVANA BISTRO is a Indonesian – Western eatery and was established in 2006. You can easily spot this restaurant since it’s located just at the ground floor of the mall.

This restaurant is no doubt one of the best in Paris Van Java! It has outdoor and indoor seating. Since there were too many people smoking outside, we opted for the indoor one. But honestly, I prefer the outdoor seating, especially at night.

They have two floors : the first floor was the bar (cocktail, anyone?) and the kitchen area, while the second floor was the cozy sofa area. For some reasons, we prefer the second floor since it looked much more comfy, and exclusive. I mean, there’s not much people up there.

We tried 3 kind of meals and so many kind of drinks that day. I felt tipsy at the end of our food tasting session. Booo. Shame on me!

Hoisin Tenderloin with Mint-Butter (Prime) – IDR 88k

My personal favorite food here would be this Hoisin Tenderloin. It’s a stack of potato pancake, grilled vegetables rings (onion, red and green peppers, etc), and tenderloin served with mint and butter sauce. Yum! It would be even better if the meat is medium or medium-well. This one was cooked well done.

Honey-Mustard Glazed Salmon – IDR 85k

This was everyone’s favorite! The salmon was just perfect. It’s served with mashed potato with mascarpone and also crispy organic spinach. I like how they glaze the salmon with a tiny amount of mustard with honey hint. It matches the salmon really well!

Signature “Sop Buntut” Reguler – IDR 77k

Sop buntut (oxtail soup) is also one of their signature dish. It’s served in 4 different ways. This one is the regular one, you know, the meat was cooked together with the soup. You can also opted for the BBQ, fried, and curry one. Next time I’ll try the BBQ one I guess. The soup was a tad bit salty though.

Island Godfather – IDR 115k

This one is cognac based cocktail. It’s cinnamon infused cognac, with amaretto, bitters, and star anise.

You see the ball shaped ice? Honestly, this was my first time having cocktail with such ice sphere. Later I found out that the size and the shape of the ice play a role in how the drink tasted. You know, small ice cubes tends to melt faster than this one. The drink with small ice cubes will taste best when it’s first served, so you’ve got do drink it quickly before it becomes very watery. But no one wants to drink their cocktail quickly, right? So by using ice sphere, your first and last sip will taste the same since the ice melts much slower.

Kiwi Moncelli – IDR 80k

This one is vodka based drink. It’s made of Absolut Blue, with Kiwi, Lime and Midori (a sweet, green-colored liqueur). This one is sooooo refreshing! Girls’ favorite! 😉

Iced Dragon – IDR 24k

Dragon Fruit blend with ice and lime? Yum! Nothing can beats this on a hot afternoon.

Mixed Berry Cooler – IDR 49k

Frozen Matcha Latte – IDR 38k and Chocolate Frappe – IDR 45k

This Matcha Latte and Chocolate Frappe tasted good. I prefer the chocolate one since it has this dark chocolate flavor that I thought they put mocca in it. And it’s thick too! Not watery at all.

Banana Nutella Crepes – IDR 30k

This was DA BOMB! Banana Nutella Pancake. The must-order item at JAVANA BISTRO. It’s only IDR 30k and by buying this, you’ll get a free coffee / tea of your choice. And if you buy crepes + coffee, you’ll get a free crepe! What a deal, huh?

And besides, it tasted lovely! Love how they put generous amount of nutella in it and vanilla ice cream on the side. The soft crepes smells and tasted sooo good!

And after having some meals upstairs, we went downstairs to the bar area to have some more drinks.

This pretty lil green drink was made from Absolut Mandarin (and you can really taste the citrus flavor from it!), Cointreau (an orange-flavored liqueur), and Curaçao Bleu. What makes this drink unique is that they put Egg Whites on it and they kind of burnt the egg whites.

You’ve got to eat the egg whites first (but don’t swallow it!), then take a sip. The egg whites will melts together with your drink.

This one has a strong amount of Absolut Mandarin, so I prefer Kiwi Moncelli.

Another drink’s coming up!

This one is made of Single Malt Scotch Whiskey, Bitters, and cinnamon-infused Whiskey. And hell, it tasted smoky. I mean, it smells like smoke. Bet this one’s not girls’ favorite.

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Overall, I really enjoyed my late lunch here. And I really recommend everyone to order their HONEY-MUSTARD GLAZED SALMON, BANANA NUTELLA CREPES, and KIWI MONCELLI as they are my favorites!

Just as a final notes, I’d like to say thank you to JAVANA BISTRO for bringing a great restaurant to the city and of course, for the great meal!

Javana Bistro at Paris Van Java
Jl. Sukajadi 137 Bandung, Jawa Barat Indonesia
Phone : (022) 82063518 / (022) 82063519

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SHARON LOH
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email : lohh.sharon@gmail.com