Scusa

A while back I went to the AWA bazaar. This is not surprising since going to bazaars seems to be almost a sport here. It seems every association, school, or organization has a bazaar at some point in the year as a fund raiser. What made this baazar special for me was for once I actually won something in the raffle. I won ONE MILLION RUPIAH to go out to eat at the restaurant
of my choice. In case you are wondering 1 million rupiah is about $107 at current exchange rates. I credit this win to my bloggy freind Jenny who is the luckiest person I know, she always manages to win a door prize at the balls. We went to brunch with her shortly before the bazaar and obviously some of her good luck rubbed off on me!

I didn't even have to think twice about where I wanted to go for my special dinner. The choice was obvious. Scusa at the Intercontinental! Scusa is my favorite Italian restaurant, anywhere, not just here in Jakarta but anywhere. Scusa makes me want to move to Italy just for the food. We have only been a few times though because it is a bit expensive. We used my winnings and went there for dinner this evening. We were not disappointed.

I hope you are not dieting because I am about to screw up your diet. When we were seated we were given a choice of plain mineral water or sparkling water and we were each given a little loaf of brown bread with a small dish of olive tapanade. When we broke the bread open there was a pocket of crumbly cheese in the middle. I loved the bread! For an appetizer we ordered a trio of bruschetta, one traditional with tomato and basil, one with mushrooms (chanterelle I think) and one with a yummy thin sliced parma ham and shaved parmesan cheese. Dinner was off to a very good start.

Main course was a little harder to decide upon as there are many choices. I decided to go with a potato gnocci stuffed with goat cheese and topped with shaved black truffles and herbed butter. I also indulged in a very nice cabernet sauvignon. I am sure I gained several pounds but it was totally worth it. David went with fresh angel hair pasta and lobster tossed with tomatoes and chili. I tasted his and it was just as yummy as mine but a bit spicier. His dinner was so pretty I made him take a picture with his hand phone before he ate anything.


For dessert Dave and I split a dish of tiramisu. I only recently tried tiramisu for the first time. I probably would have tried it sooner but I read the recipe when I was first learning to cook and the thing that stood out to me was soggy lady finger cookies. The one dessert in the world I loathe is banana pudding with soggy vanilla wafer cookies, actually I loathe it because of the soggy cookies... in my mind both desserts were linked by soggy cookies so for the last couple of decades I have been missing out, but no more! I tried tiramisu at an event earlier this year and it was love at first taste! I am afraid I ate my half and a good portion of David's half of the dessert as well, afraid but not sorry.


We finished of with a shot of a very tasty lemon liquor to cleanse the palate.  It was a very satisfying dining experience.  Even better, it was free!