chiky: Wilshire Restaurant - A Place That Connects Us All

Wilshire is a casual dining restaurant with no dress code. With aim to introduce Californian cuisine/lifestyle to the Indonesian market, Wilshire aims to also promote the "Wilshire Experience." Offering a fresh gourmet Californian dishes, the place also boast its liquor cabinet with single malt whiskies and exotic vodkas.

The whole area seemed so vintage but in the same time, sophisticated and also very warm. Wooden decoration meets the eye when you entered this restaurant. They have the VIP room which could hold 15-20 guests, the room is simple but more chic decorations and still has that vintage soul.

The food is influenced by Californian food. “Me and my partner Dolly used to stay in Los Angeles, California. I used to stay in San Fransisco too. We really love the lifestyle there, also in terms of the food, how they lay back, and also the culture. This is why we are really wanted to bring the atmosphere here in Jakarta,” said Hanna Tjhin, the owner.

Loving this area where it's decorated with fresh flowers, Hanna told us they personally grooms the flowers.

Wilshire is actually comes from the name of a very long road in LA, that connects the getaway’s park of down town LA, to the Korean town to west LA, Holywood, and Beverly Hills, so it’s like connects a lot of race and culture. California is known to be a melting pot, where they really bought their own food, their own heritage, like Japanese, Mexican, Vietnam, Chinese, and really the food there is very fusion and they don’t have their own local specialties. So it’s like the place is really connects all the different culture in terms of food.

“So we put this on our menu, in terms of that. Like we have Mexican – Japanese menu, and also few foods that are very famous in California, we make it a twist here and so far people liked it.” Hanna added.

The first menu Hanna presents us is Sesame Crusted Tuna with Ginger Lime Drizzle. It is actually a bit Italian and Asian combination, seared sesame crusted rare tuna served with arugula salad and crisps. The tuna is very fresh, you can feel how soft are the tuna while the first bite you will feel the crispness of a sprinkling of sesame. This one is a must try menu here!

Here in Wilshire not just a burger they served. This is an extraordinary burger that you must try. The name is Cheeseburger Eggsplosion, not only the size that very big, but the taste is also very rich. Contains with Monterey jack cheese, arugula, tomatoes, and served together with potato fries, a thin sliced potato fries that has big deep taste with the vegetables sprinkling seasoning. And the other big thing is they also put in is the big sunnyside egg between the vegetables you’ll never want to missed. Yummy!

If you craving for noodles menu, you must try their Garlic Noodles with Tiger Prawn. Served with garlic butter sauce and pan fried tiger prawn. This one is also amazing and you have to try.

Hanna told us a bit about how she is active and involved in the creation of many drinks in Wilshire, especially for the alcohol drinks. Including one of their signature cocktails, Nick’s Manzala and Poison Candy, magic mojito, which have a very unique presentation. Before you drink it, you have to pour the mixture of rum, triple sec, lime, strawberry to the cotton candy. And, voila! Drink and taste the blast!