Located on the ground floor of the Morrissey Hotel (formerly the Citadines Quartier) on Jl. Wahid Hasyim, Ocha & Bella is an indoor/outdoor, Japanese/Italian, chic/cozy new eatery and nightlife entertainment zone that’s making a big splash with Jakarta gourmands and socialites.
With its quirky and tasty mix of Japanese and Italian comfort food, it certainly hits all the right notes.
The Neapolitan-style pizzas are all Italian, however, courtesy of Chef Willie di Nardo—and his on-site, wood-fired, brick pizza and bread oven—who is from Italy, but has spent many years working in restaurants in East Asia.
It also gets high marks for the prosciutto-cantaloupe appetizer and the risotto with crab and basil. Good for a business lunch, a weekend brunch (they have a live band every Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.), an afternoon cocktail or full dinner, this place is laden with social butterflies and foodies for good reason.
While it gets high marks for the food and its fresh mix of quirkiness, there have been some teething problems on the service side, but that seems to be improving. Also … as romantic as the alfresco areas are, you’ll have to be careful about mosquitoes in the evening. Nonetheless, a very nice addition to the Jakarta restaurant/nightlife scene.
At the Morrissey Hotel Jakarta ([previously Citadines Quartier] Jl. Wahid Hasyim No. 70, Menteng, Central Jakarta)
Phone: 62-21/310-5777
E-mail: whatsup@ochaandbella.com
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This restaurant review appears in DA MAN’s June/July 2011 edition. To see it with all high-resolution images, subscribe here or pick up the magazine here.
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