Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Ragusa Ice Cream Italia, Jakarta


The moment I stepped into this place, I instantly fell in love. It was my first year of university, with my classmates and seniors, getting assignments, exams, projects and deadlines off our heads. It totally helped.

It's just the kind of place we'd all adore. It's charming, fabulously old (Since 1932. Wow!), and indeed one of the city's iconic place. A couple of swanky new places which have been sprouting around it does not shake its popularity.

Ragusa is famous for its ice cream. It's light and refreshing, perfect for Jakarta's balmy weather.


My sis and I went there after a day of shopping (again?) in Pasar Baru, trying to avoid traffic jam, and resting our exhausted feet. I ordered a Chocolate Ice Cream Soda, which came pink, thanks to my sis who thought Chocolate starts with an S (Soklat, as it might be pronounced in Javanese accent) and wrote (S) on the order form (the code for Strawberry). I can't blame her. This is what a day of crazy shopping could do to you. It's not all euphoria, it too, could get you a bit delusional.


We also ordered a cup of classic Mocha Ice Cream. Just sounds so perfect for my blog, innit?


We gossiped (oh, I meant share valuable experiences) for hours, and just enjoyed the cool ambience. The crowd; the group of gentlemen just beside our table; the singer who did a beautiful rendition of the golden oldies such as Let It Be Me, Love Me Tender, and Only You (oh...all my songs!); the jamu gendong lady and other street food vendors delivering foods from outside the shop; the servers in neat uniform; the parking attendant who were downing a bowl of steamy noodles by the street; the sun setting behind the trees; the sound of the rain just outside the door....truly a feast for our senses and soul.


We were still stuffed from the huge lunch of noodles earlier, but we couldn't help ordering two servings of our all time favorite...

Krupuk (crackers) drizzled with palm sugar syrup and peanut sauce

We had to leave before we were tempted to order another plate of these bad boys.

Ragusa Es Italia
Jl. Veteran I/10"
Central Jakarta
Indonesia
Tel.: (62)(21) 384 9123

16 comments:

Terje said...

Looks really nice again! :)

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Anonymous said...

Ohhhh wooww that ice cream looks magical! It has the tantalizing glazed look to it mmmmmm! The Krupuk looks really good too, I want to tryy!

Jo said...

The ice-cream looks delicious and who could resist keropok!

Lidia Sianturi said...

ah ha..ternyata masih ada tuh yg jualan asinan...kangen jadinya...
Thx for sharing Rit!

Sara said...

You can't go wrong with ice cream, especially ice cream sodas!

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

Mocha ice cream is the best!

Dragon said...

There is nothing that ice cream can't make better. :)

Elsye said...

pengennnnn...Rit, nopo aku ra melu iki...hikkss

EatTravelEat said...

That mocha ice cream looks so delicious! Where did the shine on it come from? Milk?

Krupuk is new to me, haven't heard of it before. Thanks for introducing to me something new! Looks yummy too.

Unknown said...

huhuhu sumpe gue ngiler abis tuh lihat rujak juhi...

Anonymous said...

You're living the life Rita. It's hard to keep up with you. Great post! There's a typo on the first sentence though, it should say "The moment i saw zenchef". It's okay, it happens to the best of us. :-)

M said...

Hi Rita,
I'm new to your blog and I found your blog via Rasa Malaysia when you wrote the yummy sate recipe.

Ragusa brings back memories when I was in Indo... very yummy ice creams hmm ...and that singer is still there? I reckon he's quite talented!

sheshel said...

I like ice cream...
Sweet and cold, can relieve stress...^^

Unknown said...

OMG.... Krupuk mie with sugar on top.... Yummy

Anonymous said...

i visited ur blog before i went to the place u recommended. when i was there, i totally found a different opinion. the waitress has a very bad service, the place is so crowded n has not enough chair.. n when i tasted the ice, suddenly there was a small black mouse walked through my feet.. wanna scream, of course..!! but dont wanna make it worse. i also order "sate" in front of it. when i was eating, the Ra**sa's waitress told me.."you know, the sate seller never wash the plate"
what a perfect place!!!!

Unknown said...

oh noes... what an experience. i'm so sorry to hear that... i guess it's one of those days...

i guess it is different for me seeing mouses running across places because i grow up with that.. however, i've never seen any mouse when i visited ragusa