A delightful dine at Yogya's Canting Restaurant
Yogyakarta recently has a new addition to its restaurant scene.
Located on the rooftop (the fourth floor) of the Galeria Mall Yogyakarta, the Canting Restaurant offers guests super tasty bistro meals, as well as a stunning Yogyakarta city view right outside its windows.
Officially in operation as of Oct. 6, Canting opens its doors every day from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., serving Western, Mexican, Asian and Indonesian meals.
With an outdoor rooftop patio and big windows facing toward the west, guests will enjoy their meals while being mesmerized by the city's warm sunset scenery that includes Mount Merapi's silhouette standing to the north.
However, finding and then gaining access to this restaurant can be a little bit tricky.
From the Galeria's ground floor, the rooftop can be reached using an elevator located at the back of the mall. Be sure to tell the security that you want to go to Canting because sometimes the elevator can only be used if guests are expected by the restaurant. Alternatively, guests can first climb to the mall's third floor using escalators and then take the stairs to the fourth.
Once you set foot inside the restaurant, an interior displaying a mix of modern and vintage decor will greet you.
Black metal chandeliers hanging beautifully from the ceiling accentuate the wooden chairs and tables and huge posters showcasing historic Yogyakarta are used as wallpaper on one side of the wall. The bartenders can be seen busily serving beverages behind the bar.
According to Canting's director Rizky Prawiro during a press conference on Monday, the restaurant is not a fine-dining establishment, but instead serves a plethora of comfort food variants from appetizers to desserts. Collaborating with the two chefs from the private dining service, “Good for Eats”, Fernando Sindu and Ivan Wibowo, Canting's kitchen delivers healthy and tasty meals for your palate’s pleasure.
“We created all of our menus mostly using local ingredients without any preservatives and sodium glutamate,” explained Fernando.
“Good for Eats” held a three-day pop-up dinner at the restaurant from Oct. 6 to 8 and Ivan said that all the food at Canting can be considered as comfort food with a Mexican influence with one of its signature meals being the Canting “Joss” Burger.
According to Ivan, the burger recipe was inspired by the popularity of Kopi Joss (a cup of black coffee served with a dipped piece of burning charcoal) in Yogyakarta. The burger buns are made from coffee and chocolate powder sandwiching a slice of coffee rub patty, espresso BBQ sauce, lettuce, tomato, beef bacon, onion rings and cheddar cheese.
Canting's Steak a la plancha which uses Australian fillet mignon served with silky mashed potato, pan-fried cauliflower, roasted oyster mushrooms and bordelaise sauce is also worth a try.
My instant favorite was the short rib adobo. The slow-cooked short rib with tasty Pilipino adobo sauce was so tender and easily fell away from the bones. The short rib adobo is served with garlic rice, chili glaze, bok choy and Asian gremolata.
Canting's menu will also indulge those with a sweet tooth with its variety of desserts. Try the Merapi lava cake, which is served with strawberry sauce and vanilla ice cream, or the Bandrek pannacotta, which features the exotic coconut pannacotta served with orange-chili sauce, basil and orange segments.
For coffee aficionados, a cup at Canting will not let you down. Using Toby's Estate beans, the coffee quality at Canting is excellent.
As a refreshment, Canting iced tea is a perfect choice to quench your thirst, as are the variants of mocktails, like orange pop rock (with real pop rock candy), grape crush and purple rain.
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