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When chef Patrese Vito was researching the food culture of Sumatra’s Batak peoples for a new project, he drew an unexpected parallel with a dining format beloved by Jakartans: the wood-fired meats and various sides he ate at humble lapo eateries reminded him of Korean barbecue. The result is <a href="https://lapoporsea.com/?DestinAsian">Lapo Porsea</a>, arguably the world’s first upmarket Batak restaurant. Vito’s background in French cookery (he trained for two years at Macau’s legendary <a href="https://destinasian.com/macau-dining-robuchon-au-dome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robuchon au Dôme</a>) shows in the Toba and Karo Batak classics made with Gallic techniques and luxe ingredients. Cured yellowtail and Hokkaido scallop are procured for dekke naniura in a bracingly sour sauce with cucamelon and coriander leaf oil. Local buffalo cheese has been recast as burrata with turmeric dressing; smoked for six hours, unctuous Karo-style kidu kidu pork sausages come with black garlic and citrusy andaliman pepper sauce.
Platters of premium meats—Kagoshima Kurobuta pork, Australian wagyu beef kiwami—are offered, too, but it’s the Batak mains that really impress. Vito’s bold and earthy saksang stewed pork swaps out the traditional pig’s blood with a savory blend of red wine and chicken liver. Grilled over an applewood fire, <a href="https://destinasian.com/editorial/lake-tobas-enduring-magic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lake Toba</a> tilapia comes partly submerged in a runny andaliman and candlenut sauce. Accompaniments change according to the freshness of market produce: they might include green beans, pounded cassava leaves with coconut milk, and pickled young mango in an addictively sweet yet vinegary dressing. Wash it all down with Lapo Porsea’s homemade palm wine, which bears an uncanny resemblance to Korean makgeolli. —James Louie
<a href="https://lapoporsea.com/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lapoporsea.com</a> 
+62 821 8888 6082 
<a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/p6u6cbXFvUAeLqzo6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SCBD Park No. 8B, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52–53, Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia</a>

Tanggo Tanggo, Batak-style pork chop at Lapo Porsea; a corner of the restaurant’s interior.

Lapo Porsea: Wood-fired

Jakarta Dining