“I was never, ever interested in working as a teppan chef.” These may be surprising words from Andri Dionysius, who was turned off the prevalent juggling in American-style teppanyaki while pursuing his career in the United States. At Ironplate, housed in the same building as four fellow MDA Restaurants (Mexican-Peruvian spot Carbón is one floor below), the maverick chef expands the possibilities of cooking on a teppan with mind-boggling creativity. He has developed his own groundbreaking techniques to create French-Asian dishes using top-quality produce from Japan, Australia, and Bali. Hence the chicken fricassée shallow-fried on the griddle in a frame of pancake batter, and thick fillets of Indonesian kinmedai that are salt-baked and steamed with sake. Andri’s Asian take on moules-frites sees butter-seared baby abalone and accordion potato served in an herbaceous sauce of wild Japanese parsley, mixed with clam broth and dashi prepared in a Moka pot.

Year-round delights (try the snow crab–stuffed morel mushrooms) are complemented by changing summer and winter omakase menus. Andri insists the place is more of a lifestyle restaurant than a fine-dining venue; this explains the relaxed ambience of the tastefully designed dining room, where patrons cluster around custom-made semicircular teppans. With on-point flavors and eye-opening culinary techniques, it’s no wonder Ironplate is a hit among Jakarta chefs and restaurateurs. —James Louie

mdarestaurants.com/ironplate
+62 877 7476 6758
12/F MD Place, Jl. Setiabudi Selatan No. 7, Jakarta, Indonesia

Ironplate: Maverick Omakase

Jakarta Dining

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