“The Essence of Indonesia” at Marjan, Muscat Grand Hyatt

We had an incredible evening at the Grand Hyatt Muscat’s Indonesian Restaurant, Marjan. It was the first day of their “Essence of Indonesia” promotion. Marjan is located right alongside the beach at the Hyatt and also right next to the pools. Its gorgeous location makes it one of our favorite restaurants at the Hyatt when the weather is right. They have flown in two guest chefs especially for this promotion, Chef Sarwono and Chef Tristiano from their sister hotel, Grand Hyatt Jakarta. Both chefs together with the Marjan culinary team will be presenting the essence of authentic Indonesian cuisine for a period of 10 days, from 20 February to 1 March. (9 days left now-don’t miss it!) L to R: Grand Hyatt’s Director of Food and Beverages, Dirk Holscher, Chefs Sarwono and Tristiano, and the General Manager of Grand Hyatt Muscat, Garry Friend.

Here are a few pics of the fabulous dishes we sampled: All the salads we shared were great but the last one pictured here, Gado-gado, was definitely my favorite! Here’s a look at the salads and soups and their prices on “The Essence of Indonesia” menu. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I was very pleased with my choice of Sate Ayam. Here are other main course choices as well as desserts on the second half of the menu.

Make sure to try one of their exotic cocktails if you head down to Marjan. No complaints about my 1st cocktail: “Marjan”! I had a “Blue Cooler” for my 2nd cocktail. This one was a bit strong for me and so it took quite a bit of time for me to finish it off. This dessert, Klepon (rice glutinous dumpling), had mixed reviews at our table. 2 of the Westerners didn’t like it at all, but my Filipino wife and I enjoyed it. I thought it’s a unique dessert worth trying out. The black rice pudding with vanilla icecream looked interesting (5 OR). I’m assuming it was good as I didn’t hear any complaints from “Angry in Oman” who ordered it. 😉 The dessert I enjoyed was the deep fried banana. The best part of it (not pictured here) was the incredibly delicious banana sauce that it came with! So good!