Jakarta Trip 2014 - Anomali Coffee

Similar to Malaysia, the cafe craze is real as well in Jakarta. You could find a cafe almost everywhere in the city. Since my two friends were coffee freaks they then went to research which are the best coffee shops in Jakarta. Over the course of 2 weeks we went to multiple cafes (though I was mostly just a visitor instead of a customer), and personally the best one I've been to was Anomali Coffee. 

This cafe has a few branches in Jakarta as well as Bali (although the ones in Bali wasn't that great). We went to the one nearby Senayan City Mall. Upon taking a taxi to the mall from our place at Bintaro, it was another 10-15 walk before we arrived. From the pictures of cars and motorbikes you can see that there were already many customers at the cafe itself even before lunch hour. 

I must say the design of the whole area was really nice, though there was really a lack of parking space. As soon as you enter the main entrance, the coffee smell greets you immediately as the coffee area is right in front. 

As you head up to the second floor, there is another coffee area which caters specifically to the crowd upstairs. This was really impressive as you hardly see a coffee shop back in Malaysia having two separate coffee preparation areas. I guess the regular crowds sort of make it worthwhile to invest in 2 separate but similar areas. 

As with other cafes, Anomali Coffee a huge variety of drinks as well as food. One thing i particular like was their Coffee Fusion, something similar to Starbucks Frappuccino. However, their flavours are just much more varied and tastier. Really hope that Malaysian cafes could try to do some of these instead of just serving same menu like every other cafe out there. Then again, coffee purists would argue that coffee fusions would be a joke.

It was also through this cafes (and other restaurants) that I witnessed how the Muslims here, at least in Jakarta, were quite conservative. There was hardly any restaurants displaying any halal signs, and people (Muslims) still throng it in bucket loads. For example, this cafe since it serves some alcohol in its Dark Choco Rum drink. The most was a signage indicating 'No Pork Served' since the majority of its customers do not consume pork. Indeed an eye opener comparing to the current state that West Malaysia is currently in.  

My Creme Brulle

Apart from drinks, Anomali Coffee also serves relatively nice dishes.  This Chicken Cordon Bleu is certainly one of the most unique plating I've ever seen. Instead of giving you the whole piece of chicken meat, the meat was chopped into smaller pieces and made into these scallop looking thingy with a mixture of flour, cheese and other spices. Really nice.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Face of approval. Drink: Dark Choco Rum 

Price wise is your standard cafe type pricing but the coffee fusion is slightly cheaper than that of Starbucks Frappuccino. 

So if you happen to drop by in the area and have some time to chill, I would like to recommend this place although accessibility is a bit limited. Best way is to take a taxi from Senayan City mall or walk!