Breaking the Fast In Style
Jakarta. Ramadan brings people together. During the holy month, which will arrive on Monday, Muslims around the world will fast and celebrate special moments of togetherness with friends and families as they break their fast. In the cities, as traffic usually becomes unbearable towards the evening, many would choose to gather with friends and families in a hotel or restaurant near the city center and break their fast together.
If you happen to work in Jakarta's golden triangle — along Jalan Sudirman, Kuningan or Gatot Subroto — one of the places that you may choose to break your fast is the Gran Melia Hotel on Jalan Rasuna Said, South Jakarta. There are three main dining outlets in the hotel and all of them have already prepared special treats for breaking the fast in the holy month this year.
All-day dining outlet Cafe Gran Via offers a wide array of Asian and Western cuisines on their buffet stations.
"In addition to our usual stations, each day during Ramadan, we'll also have a Takjil [light bites to break the fast] corner offering sweets and Jus Kurma [date juice] to quickly replenish you after a long day of fasting," the hotel's executive sous chef, Apep Hendrawan said during the press conference at the hotel on Thursday (02/06). "And we'll also have a special Middle Eastern station offering two iconic dishes from the region."
Chinese restaurant Tien Chao offers two Ramadan Iftar set menus for breaking the fast.
These set menus will include bite-sized dimsum and traditional Indonesian sweet cakes to whet your palates, a choice of main dishes that comes with a bowl of sweet-smelling jasmine rice and free-flow of Chinese tea.
Japanese outlet Yoshi Izakaya also offers a wide selection of Indonesian sweet cakes and kurma (dates) on a special Takjil station.
"Buka puasa [breaking the fast] is buka puasa," said Japanese chef Tomoaki Ito. "I respect and follow the Islamic culture here in Indonesia. That's why we'll have these [Indonesian cakes and dates, in addition to authentic Japanese dishes] in the restaurant."
The Japanese Ramadan Iftar set menus feature a bowl of mixed-mushroom soup, two choices of main dishes, ice cream and fresh fruits.
And if you still feel like lingering at the hotel after the meals, you may head up to its lobby lounge where you can smoke shisha and enjoy their special Ramadan Cheese Avocado Mocktail, made of fresh avocado juice served with shavings of cheddar cheese.
"Avocado is everybody's favorite fruit during Ramadan," said Idrus Kilkoda, head bartender of the hotel. "It's full of vitamins and antioxidants. Thus, this mocktail will immediately refresh you after fasting the whole day."
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