Eats: Affordable Japanese set lunches at Boci-Boci

How we stumble across this Japanese restaurant is purely by chance. After our visit to Papaya Japanese grocer, Hubs and I decided to talk a walk around Blok M to explore and search for good Japanese restaurants. Who else to rely on but Google and a blind search term of "good Japanese restaurant in Blok M." A list came up but not Boci-Boci.

So we went looking for the first one that came up which was Ajihara if i'm not mistaken. We asked a security guard of the Golden Boutique Hotel exactly where is Ajihara. As he was pointing out to us where it is, he also mentioned that along the row of shops where we were, just two doorsteps away (if I'm not mistaken) from the hotel is Boci-Boci. He also mentioned that it is very popular among the Japanese.

We decided to take a gamble on this new lead and walked cautiously further down to look for Boci-Boci. When we were finally at what we think was Boci-Boci doorstep, there was no signage that indicate it was and it looked more like somebody's heavily tinted office. We looked back at the guard for confirmation. He just gestured us "Go on in, it's inside" Felt a bit like stepping into Alice's rabbit hole. LOL!

As we pushed open the glass door, the restaurant signboard appears. We approached the restaurant's hostess and was quickly ushered to a table. I reckoned we were still early, as it wasn't fully occupied. But the 3-4 tables that were occupied, they largely made up of Japanese clientele. We have come to the right place! :)

After taking our drinks order, we were presented the lunch menu below. The promotion was for Rp 79 000, we get to choose one of 6 types of rice, followed by our choice of 3 main dishes, which comes together with a bowl of miso soup and a plate of Japanese pickles. WOW!

There were 44 choices for our main. Definitely spoilt for choices!

And this was Hub's selection. Salmon sashimi, teppanyaki beef and grilled sanma with some dried-shrimp flavoured rice. The beef was tender and yummy! And the salmon were fresh too!

This was what i chose. Grilled sanma, agedashi tofu and tuna sashimi. Again, it was wholesome and yummy for the price we were paying!

In our miso soup, they had little clams too. Like it a lot, instead of just plain miso with cubes of tofu.

Hubs's friend and wife joined us as we were finishing up. The friend ordered a plate of gyoza for sharing and this was really good. The fillings were generous and the skin was thin. I liked it a lot!

I took a visit to the toilet and found the amenities provided to be very considerate for its customers. There were sanitary napkins provided (very thoughtful!) as well as cotton buds. Well, if you get an itchy ear halfway eating, you know where just to go! LOL!

Service was a bit slow. Personally I think they could beef up their service crew especially during peak hours. However, food quality wise vs the price that we paid, no complains because getting nice Japanese meal in Jakarta has been pretty much a miss. They are ok but the prices can get pretty steep. I guess in Boci-Boci, it's where both of them meet. :)