Brunch in many parts of metropolitan Australia is like an institution. People expect fantastic service, coffee and most of all, food. Creative, delicious and presented like a work of art, brunch has to be spot on or not even bother at all (as I had lamented to my fiance a week earlier, after a failed attempt at a place whose name I will not mention).
I did have some reservations about finding somewhere in Jakarta that would satisfy my fussy palate, mostly because of the different breakfast traditions. But last weekend I was pleasantly surprised to find myself tucking into a plate of baked eggs with chorizo, which could have just as easily been served to me on Lonsdale street.
Common People is a relatively new restaurant, owned by the same people who run the well-acclaimed Ocha & Bella in Mentang. Even though it already has a solid online reputation, the place was almost empty when we arrived at 930 on a Saturday morning, although I’ve heard it does fill out later in the day. Maybe brunch is yet to cotton on with the Jakarta masses.
Like many of Jakarta’s trendy restaurants and bars, Common People has that minimal design that takes an extraordinary amount of time and money to achieve. Sunlight loungers, industrial tables and chairs and an impressive living wall are just some of its stand-out features which, when pieced together, result in a relaxing weekend atmosphere.
The brunch menu is small, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a host of delicious options to chose from. The eggs benedict, pork belly and the big breakfast (complete with bacon) all look delicious, and both my fiance and I were happy with our choices (he opted for poached eggs on an English muffin with crab patty and hollandaise, one of the house specialities). The coffee was great, too.
Although on the pricey side, brunch is something you don’t do every day and should, in my opinion, be cause to splash out a little. Our bill, complete with two breakfasts and four coffees, came to about RP300,000. Given the amount of time we spent lounging around in oversized armchairs using up the free wifi, however, it was a price I was happy to pay.
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