If Ismaya Runs a Canteen, Here's What It's Gonna be Like: Publik Markette

Anyone living in Jakarta, will almost certainly be familiar with the name Ismaya. It's the name of a group, a giant in the local F&B as well as lifestyle and entertainment scene. For the past decade, Ismaya has expanded its brands, concepts, locations as well as target market encompassing all sorts, from the ultra high end to the super casual, Ismaya has got it covered. But bear in mind, Ismaya targets mid to upper class market, so expect nothing short of classy and branding as well as product concepts which are solely formulated for success.

Hearing the news that Ismaya is opening another new concept is not a surprising news for me. They already have Japanese, Italian, French, and other concepts, what else would they come up with next? Well, instead of going by the norm, offering menus based on the regions of cuisine, Ismaya this time toys with the customers, as in "You want your food? Get your lazy asses off your chair and pick what you want from the counter" (I'm just kidding!). But I really mean it when I say, you have to leave your seats to order your food. 

Publik Markette, is a concept by Ismaya after all, so you can expect a keen and classy elements of design in its every nook and corners. For Publik Markette, the design incorporates a lot of tartan patterns and mooses (deer with antlers) on the walls, on your table (hopefully they're not on the menu! LOL!).

moose oh moose on the wall, what's the yummiest of them all?

moose on the wall, mooses on the table, hopefully not in the food! LOL

Flower bouquets from the well wishers

The chairs and staffs are clad in tartan

It's a full house!

The Food Gallery

Now, the so called 'Food Gallery' is quite simply, a canteen like concept, where you enter the queue from one end and walk towards the end and pay up. But, unlike in normal canteens, there are no trays. What you have to do is prepare your eyes and noses and pick what you desire to eat, based on what's available on the display.

Sauces and condiments labelled Publik Markette, not sure if these are available for sale

The display would start from bread and butter selection, salad and followed by Meat or Fish with various choices of side dish.

Kombucha with Gorgonzola IDR 65,000 (2 slices, half portion) | IDR 80,000 (full portion)

Tomato Salad IDR 40,000

Creole Chicken with Spicy Tomato Sauce Served with Cauliflower IDR 115,000 (half chicken)

Next to it is the Baked Stuff (quiches, baguettes, pizza, foccacia, etc), and then Dessert (of course). Done with picking your food? Great, now pick your freshly pressed juice or order something else like coffee (by Djournal Coffee, naturally) or mocktails or even cocktails if you're feeling up for it. The menu changes daily, so what you find today, will not be there again tomorrow.

Right: Balinese Corn IDR 20,000/pc

Freshly pressed & bottled juices IDR 38,000/bottle

Left: Good Morning Vietnam (coffee based cocktail) IDR 95,000
Right: Adios Motherf***er IDR 125,000

Mad Hatters Tea Party IDR 95,000

I personally quite like this 'Food Gallery' idea, because it engages the customer in their food selection. We don't just come to a place, sit our asses down for hours on end, while stuffing our tummies (*staring at my increasingly noticeable belly fats). I think it is brilliant, because, there's something for the customers to do. Imagine if you're on a date, picking your food together from the counter is actually quite a fun thing to do, and if you're with your kids, your tots will be excited to see the cornucopia of feast they could choose from, or even be amazed by the busy open kitchen. You see, it's much better than leaving your kids staring at those glaring flat screens that most parents nowadays carry when going out with the kids to keep them sedentary ie: sit still. Very bad for the kids development, seriously, please do not encourage your young ones to start the gadget addiction too early in their lives, if you truly love them. Sorry for digressing, I just can't help.

Enough about the concept, now let's talk about the food. This is Ismaya that we're talking about, and if the food didn't pass someone's standard, it won't be on the menu. That person I'm talking about is Christian Rijanto, one of the founders of Ismaya group whom I've personally had the pleasure to be acquainted recently. This dude is meticulous, to say the least. I could vouch for it, when I saw him correcting the angle of one of the food displayed.

Now, let's see what kind of food you can expect here, these are what we got off the Food Gallery. I haven't checked the a la carte menu, so I'm still not sure how different they would be.

Crispy Pork Belly with Herb Mustard, served with corn IDR 155,000

The Crispy Pork Belly is a favourite of most my friends who came with me, so I reckon it must be really good. As for the dessert, basically all of them tasted fine, but my favourite it the Apple Tart.

Left: Coconut Cake IDR 50,000 / slice
Right: Tomato Salami Foccacia IDR 45,000/slice

Miso-glazed salmon with ginger sauce and Hainan rice IDR 165,000
Right: Kombucha with Gorgonzola

Bitter Sweet Love (chocolate pie) IDR 50,000

Apple Tart IDR 35,000

I joked with the staff, "After the queuing for my food, I'm still expected to pay the Service Charge?" LOL! of course, duh...the staff still had to deliver the food to our table, after all! Haha, just teasing the lad, who smiled sheepishly at my inquiry. Well, anyway, I'm definitely going to come back to try the Food Gallery's daily changing menu, and to try out some stuff off the a la carte menu. So I will update this post soon with new details of my next visit. Now, what do you think, is Publik Markette interesting enough for you to try? ;)

I don't suppose they'd take reservations, so sharing the land line number of the restaurant would be quite redundant...

Open Hours:

A la carte menu: all day, mall open hours

Food Gallery: 11.30 AM - 2.30 PM (Lunch) | 6.30 - 9.30 PM (Dinner)

*) Prices are subject to Government Tax & Service Charge

Publik Markette

Grand Indonesia Shopping Town - East Mall

Ground Floor unit #5 (below Social House), alight at Shinta Lobby

Jl. MH. Thamrin No. 1
Ph: +6221 23581281

Instagram: @PublikMarkette 

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