Everyone love seafood! Who doesn’t?! But where to go for the best seafood in Jakarta? Well, there are some good seafood restaurants in Jakarta, and Layar Seafood Restaurant, which recently opened in my neighborhood, is one of the good seafood restaurants that I’d like to recommend to you. Layar Seafood Restaurant apparently is originated from Surabaya, where they already have two restaurants there (Layar Seafood Manyar, and Layar Seafood Bukit Mas), and Pesanggrahan (West Jakarta) is the third branch outside Surabaya. After one month since this restaurant opened, we finally go there for our first lunch in 2016. Together with my sister in law, and her kids, we spent a quality time together over good seafood at Layar Seafood.
The restaurant is always crowded with seafood lovers, and because we went on the first day of the new year, we had trouble in getting a seat. Fortunately, after waiting for 30 minutes, we were finally able to get a table for 12 of us. Layar Seafood specialized in serving various kind of seafood dishes fresh from the ocean, and we were quite surprised by the wide selection of live seafood at the right side of the restaurant. Here, diners can select their own live seafood, ranging from crab, lobster, fish, etc while still alive and kicking, before the chefs cook and serve it.
We actually enjoyed everything at this restaurant, except the slow service that we experienced that day! Our food came after 1 hour we ordered the food, and the King Crab in Onion sauce came after we finished consume everything. Fiuuh!! But anyway, here’s what we had that day! Gurame Goreng ala Layar (Deep Fried Gourami Ala Layar), Gurame Bakar Kecap (Grilled Gourami with Soy Sauce), Kepiting Jantan Saus Bawang (Live Jumbo Male Crab with Onion Sauce), Kepiting Jantan Telor Asin (Live Jumbo Male Crab with Salted Eggs), Deep Fried Squid with Flour, Mantau (Bun – 2 pieces), Daun Pepaya Saos XO (Papaya Leave with XO Sauce), and Pucuk Labu Bawang Putih (Sauteed Shoots Pumpkins with Garlic).
Gurame Goreng ala Layar (Deep Fried Gourami Layar style), IDR 70K
From the fish section, we had Deep Fried Gourami Layar-style (IDR 70K) and Grilled Gourami with Sweet Soy Sauce (IDR 70K). Both fish tasted equally delicious and instantly became our favorite! If you like the classic Indonesian version, you can try the Grilled Gourami which has been marinated in a mixture of sweet soy sauce and spices, and grilled to perfection! It tasted sweet, and we can sip all the sweetness of the sauce in the fish flesh! But if you like the Chinese style and prefer a deep-fried fish, you can try their signature Gourami Layar! The fish was deep-fried until crisp on the outside and served with some vegetables, mushrooms, and onions on top.
Gurame Bakar Kecap (Grilled Gourami with Sweet Soy Sauce), IDR 70K
Aha! If you are a true seafood lover, do not miss their Crab selections when you visit Layar Seafood Jakarta! Either Live Crab or King Crab, both types are available in several choice of dishes. Of course, we tried their signature dishes, which is the Salted Egg version, and ordered another flavor with Onion Sauce. We ordered six ounces of live crab for each dish, and we loved it! Both sauces were so finger licking good; from the sinfully rich and creamy salted egg sauce, and the onion sauce that was like a black pepper sauce. And we were more than happy because we got the fat jumbo live crab, no wonder the meat was so sweet and delicious.
Live Jumbo Male Crab, IDR 31K/ounce/ons
Kepiting Jantan Saus Bawang (Live Jumbo Male Crab with Onion Sauce)
Kepiting Jantan Saus Bawang (Live Jumbo Male Crab with Onion Sauce)
Kepiting Jantan Saus Telor Asin (Live Jumbo Male Crab with Salted Egg)
Kepiting Jantan Saus Telor Asin (Live Jumbo Male Crab with Salted Egg)
The Calamari (IDR 53K) and Mantau (IDR 9.5K) also became our favorite. The squid rings were so crisp! Not to mention, the mantau paired wonderfully to complement the crab dishes! It was served warm, and we loved it even more, when we dip them into the Salted Egg Sauce, or the Onion sauce served on the crab. It was so good and addictive!
Deep Fried Squid, IDR 53K
Mantau (2 pieces), IDR 9.5K per portion
Both of these vegetables are rarely found in many seafood restaurants, so we decided to try it. Although the presentation weren’t anything special, the Papaya Leaves with XO Sauce (IDR 35K) and Sauteed Shoots Pumpkins with Garlic (IDR 25K) both tasted delicious and became a beautiful complement for our main dishes.
Daun Pepaya Saus XO (Papaya Leave with XO Sauce), IDR 35K
Pucuk Labu Bawang Putih (Sauteed Shoots Pumpkins with Garlic), IDR 25K
Overall, it was a nice lunch for all of us. Lovely food and friendly service. The food was very delicious, especially the Crab with Salted Egg and Crab with Onion Sauce. With so much to choose from, Layar Seafood has become our favorite seafood restaurant now, and we will be back again soon. So, for those of you who want to visit this restaurant, lunch and dinner reservations are a must to avoid a lengthy wait.
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