Damar Toba

The waiter at Damar asked me to give an honest review of the restaurant’s food and service, so here it is. He treated my family and me reasonably well, though we expected a more distinctive greeting. The food was average in taste, portion size, and presentation. With the unusually high menu prices, I expected something more memorable, something hard to find elsewhere. As it was, the prices felt inflated for what they offered. The Mie Gomak had a very small lobster in it. Shrimp would have worked better for this dish since it's easier to bite and chew. There were so many vegetables that I could barely see the noodles, and the broth wasn't very tasty. My aunt also said her Kecombrang Fried Rice had little meat and more chicken bones. They required us to buy hot water along with a small mineral water, which wasn't what we wanted. Damar should think about how to attract more customers with reasonable prices instead of charging so much for very average food.

The lakeside setting is lovely, and the place is spacious, with both indoor and outdoor seating. It wasn't too busy when we visited. The seats by the lake require a minimum order of Rp 220.000 per person before VAT, while regular seating seems to have a Rp 50.000 per person minimum. I imagine an evening visit for coffee and sunset would be especially nice. We came on a recommendation and found a broad menu of local and Western dishes, drinks, and desserts. The salmon I ordered was thicker than I expected, and its garnish was great, though a few more roast potatoes would have been nice. The price felt fair for the food's quality, variety, and quantity. There's also a small hotel with just six rooms; we had a look and they seemed quite good. We might stay there next time we're back in Balige. I'd come here to eat again.

The scenery, setting, and music are lovely, but I've visited this cafe three times over the past three years and the service still hasn't improved. We waited two hours for simple dishes like nasi goreng. During that time, the waitress came by three times to ask what we'd ordered, and after all that waiting the food still wasn't ready. The cafe wasn't crowded, yet four tables, ours included, were complaining. When the waitress came over, she seemed proud and didn't look sorry at all. We weren't even offered an apology. Those three visits have been really disappointing.

First time here, and honestly the service was all five stars. The food was good too, and the place and view felt really comfy. Such a nice experience 💕