At long last, a new incarnation of Ten Ten finally reveals itself in Central Jakarta following its already-superior pioneer, Sushi Tei and Pepper Lunch. Boga Food Service Group never seem lacking in terms of managing and specializing Japanese theme. With Ten Ten, they’re not just simply introducing tempura as a main genre but also to make it even more popular than your usual rice bowls!

Not only that, Ten Ten also went for lengthy steps to introduce its newly opened branch in Plaza Indonesia by inviting food bloggers for the grand opening. From what I see today, food bloggers now possess an enormous energy and influence for expressing their likes/dislikes, despite being articulate or not, to anything they encounter during their culinary adventure. The existence of Goorme for instance, also further multiply their might.

It’s a huge gamble for Ten Ten but also a great opportunity. Another lengthy move they make was to provide a basic course for the bloggers from the starter up until the dessert.

As the appetizer, fried sweet potato and the enticing Ten Ten hot dog await to be devoured before all of us assembled and choose the main course. The sweet potato proved to be not that exciting. By providing sweet flavor for appetizer somehow does not boost your appetite for the next course. However Ten Ten hot dog was quite a catch with all the combination of fresh shredded cabbages, Bull Dog Sauce, Mayo and the substitute of the real sausage, the shrimp or prawn which seems to be made like ebi furai. Clearly Ten Ten hot dog proves to be fulfilling especially for some fellow bloggers who happen to wait quite long for their main dishes.

My personal experience there was actually quite satisfying, judging that my food came in earlier than those who had ordered their dishes earlier than I did! Some seemed ready to write something ugly in their blogs but grand opening can be messy especially when combined with angry bloggers. It might be too much, but next time anybody does this during grand opening they’d better be well prepared. Lucky that the attendants serve us with patience and perseverance but I bet the hell raised in the kitchen!

Some casualties made but I went through the main dish unscathed. I was a bit disappointed when hearing that whenever somebody from us asked for even a mineral water, the attendants preferred to stick to the rule and easily say, ‘Sorry, all you got is what you pick from the menu’. Well we had picked something else beside mineral water by the time we arrived and now water is all we need to quench the thirst that only the water can do if you know what I mean. At the very least they can consult first and allow us to order then billed separately. Anyway, it was a one-time event only but I gotta say if they had originally wanted to make the bloggers impressed then they utterly failed.

For the main dish, we were offered various options of tempura from the original, ebi, yasai, and kakiage for instance whereas of course Ebi Tendon seemed to be the best choice. Other main dishes only substitute the rice with udon. The best part was actually where we can pick between three flavors from the original, spicy, and black pepper. It’s actually what you what sauce to go with the tempura and of course I chose the black pepper since I usually find tempura lacking in strength to satisfy in terms of taste. I mean, it’s just like prawns ‘battered’ to death! So they’d better offer something special.

Turned out to be a great choice by the way. A moderate portion of rice bowl compensated with four black tiger prawns and two beans. The thick trace of black pepper combined with again, a well-made black pepper sauce which really boost the appetite again! Without hesitation and some extra Tonkatsu Bull Dog Sauce, it all ended up with a smirk on my face.

What’s next would be the desserts and Ten Ten seemed to prepare itself for my arrival. I don’t mean to be snobbish but they do know that serving parfait resembles much like typical Japanese restaurants nowadays but not necessarily adopted in Indonesia. Parfait usually made using many combinations of ice cream flavors and other condiments then topped with various slices of fruits. The one I had was this Choco Vanilla Parfait.

Well, it sounds good actually with all the cookies and cream ice cream flavor combined with Oreo, corn flakes and almonds but what matters was actually the placement. Usually parfait is made by, simply said, layers of ice cream with confectioneries in-between. What I saw was very different. They just put everything inside and then topped with ice cream which I think renders the ice cream useless and I ended up eating Oreo like the time I watch cable TV. Too plain but quite fortunate that their cookies and cream ice cream was sweet and delicious yet it’s homemade!

So in short, it was a delightful night despite all the fuss during grand opening with people flocking and create a long waiting list. I must say that the concept was nicely made but not without its flaws. In terms of design and interior, I trust that Boga Group indeed had spent more money to make it beautiful. I do hope that Ten Ten Plaza Indonesia will learn from its past mistakes where I saw one blogger asked for her main dish almost like ten times for the past less than an hour. They need to work on more to ensure that dish came in quicker next time since the patrons definitely won’t buy any excuses.

While Ten Ten creates new genre by emphasizing tempura as its core genre, I see also that the menu combination is less inviting than those for example Pepper Lunch has with all its mouthwatering dishes even though Ten Ten has more to offer! For longer term, at the very least, the desserts and the beverages might work for hanging out but without more improvisation, Ten Ten might have to end up installing wi-fi facility there.

I do wish the best of luck and with all those experience, I trust that Boga Food Service Group will be able to sustain the growth and maintain good number of customers constantly. Let’s give another shot next time! With all the very affordable price, I can get myself full again with tempura!

LOCATION:

PLAZA INDONESIA, JL MH THAMRIN 28-30, JAKARTA

PONDOK INDAH MALL, JL. METRO PONDOK INDAH, JAKARTA

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/tentenjakarta

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/tentenjakarta

PRICE: IDR 60,000 – IDR 100,000 for two