Last week T invited me to join him and his friends for lunch in Menteng, Jakarta. His friend, M recommended a restaurant that serves great Balinese crispy duck (a.k.a. bebek bengkil). We wasn't sure the exact location of the restaurant and we thought the cab driver should be able to get us there.
On the next day, we took a cab to Menteng. The first cab driver had no clue where exactly Bebek Bengil was located! We got down from the first cab and took another cab. I told the second cab driver that the place is near Plaza Menteng (that was one of the landmark I saw in google map). The driver nodded his head and fetched us to Menteng.
About 10-15 minutes later, he stopped the cab in front of Plaza Menteng. He told us that he had no idea where was Bebek Bengkil. Gosh! We got stuck and we had no choice but to get down from the cab. We asked one of the shopkeepers nearby and she knew which restaurant we were looking for! Thank god!
She pointed to the left hand side and told us to walk down the road. I asked if it is walking distance (Bisa jalan ke tempat itu, ke?). She answered 'Yes!' (Bisa!) and nodded her head confidently. So, we thought it might be near. Then, she added 'lumayan jugak!'. T and I thought she was commenting the food in Bebek Bengil was quite pricey. Well, we thanked her for the direction. After 15 minutes of walk, we still do not see the restaurant! We even dropped by a few shops for directions but they do not seems to know where is the restaurant.
Later, M sent an sms to inform us the full address of restaurant. The restaurant was at No.132, and we were right in front of No. 31!! The numbers were not even close!! Not only that, we were not even on the correct street! We started to feel panic and asked for more directions.
This time, I asked for the particular street instead of the name of the restaurant. The lady knew the street and pointed its way. Then, I asked if its far (jauh?). She nodded her head and said 'lumayan..'... GOSH! T and I were speechless! We finally understood what was the meaning of 'lumayan'... it meant very far!!
Isshh! We were tired and sweaty after the long walk. So, we decided to take a cab to the restaurant. Finally, we managed to get to the restaurant after the misunderstandings due to language barrier.
There were 2 monuments at the entrance of Dirty Duck Diner
And pond with tortoises and fishes in the middle of restaurant =)
Another view of the restaurant
I told M and MW about how we misunderstood the word 'lumayan'. They laughed out loud!! Hahah! I got to really brush up my Bahasa Indonesia. Or else, more of these may happen in the future. LOL!
For the restaurant, there were two sections - indoor and outdoor. Since the weather looked great, we preferred the outdoor seat. We were sitting under a 'pondok' (small hut). Looked cool huh?
M was distributing food to his daughter
My bebek bengil - the signature meal, came with vegetable and special chili sauce (not in the picture)
The crispy duck was simply great! Although I am not a fan of duck meat, I enjoyed this crispy duck very much! On top of that, the portion of food was pretty generous. I was stuffed even before I could finish up my rice.
I was relaxed after lunch
T was even more relaxed!
This restaurant was also recommended by a travel magazine recently
Finally, here's the address of the restaurant...
*Cheers*
2 comments:
Heyyy!! i think i ate there with my family too! looks familar but i can remember the name
Hahaha!!! U mean the original 1 in Bali? Mine was in Jakarta... :)
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