Bakerzin Plaza Senayan Reopening

Bakerzin has renovated their outlet in Plaza Senayan and came back with a brand new concept: Dessert Bar. Now you can have your favourite dessert in a sophisticated bar, isn't it great?

At the first day of their opening, I got invited to their press and media event. The outlet is quite spacious, separated into two areas, which the inside is for smoking customers and the outside area is for non smoking customers. The ambiance is kinda more casual and warmer than before, love the combination of patterned floor tile, wooden furniture, and the stone on the wall.

image taken from google

image taken from google

The place was quite crowded, lots of media people and other invitations came that day. On the event, everybody is served with choice of main courses, the new dessert creations, and beverages. But before that, we were also served with the overflowing canapes.

Salmon Steak (IDR 90.000)

Grilled salmon served with sauteed baby potatoes and vegetables. Everything is cooked with perfection. Fresh and tender salmon, and perfectly seasoned baby potatoes and vegetables. Love everything about this dish.

Veal with Pesto Linguini (IDR 120.000)

Pan-fried veal with homemade pesto linguini and tomato vinaigrette. Another satisfaction. I'm actually not a big fan of pesto, but this one was actually nice. The veal also tender and beautifully seasoned.

Sliced Beef with Crushed Potato (IDR 160.000)

Tenderloin slice served over mixed vegetables and potato crush. Probably the only drawback we found that day. Actually everything's good, except the rubber-textured meat. It's just too chewy no one could chew it. Too bad since the sauce is delicious.

Classic Oxtail Soup (IDR 90.000)

Bakerzin's signature oxtail soup served with steamed rice and melinjo chips. Didn't expect much from this, but I found it the best main course of the day! Tender meat, rich soup, warm rice, Indonesian food at it's best.

Drinks, clockwise from the left: Iced Tiramisu Caffe Cinno (IDR 35.000), Sweet Peach Sparkling Fruity Tea (IDR 30.000), Iced Honey Lemon (IDR 33.000), Blue Passion Macaron (IDR 35.000)

Red Velvet Lava (IDR 55.000)

If you think chocolate molten lava cake is good, then this dish is a genius! The cake itself looked dry from outside, but actually it was kinda crunchy outside, but moist inside. Take a bite of it with the vanilla ice cream and cream cheese, and you'll find yourself drown in delicacy.

Deconstructed Foret Noir (IDR 55.000)

Another great choice for chocolate lover. Nice warm brownies, served with chocolate mousse, dark cherries, and vanilla ice cream.

Iced Puma (IDR 55.000)

The last dessert of the day. Chocolate mousse served with meringue and berries. Not a fan of chocolate mousse, but love the meringue.

Bakerzin is definitely one of the leading restaurant in Jakarta, especially in the dessert section. I've been a loyal customer of Bakerzin since long ago, and I'm going to visit it more and more now for the new dessert creations. Thank you Bakerzin for having me on your event. 

Bakerzin
Plaza Senayan Level 2

Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8 Senayan - Jakarta 10270 Ph: 021.5790 0408 Fax: 021.5790 0409facebook

TWG Tea Salon and Boutique

TWG tea is finally opening their Jakarta branch. Originally comes from Singapore, I've only tasted their famous tea-infused macarons brought by a friend once, and fell in love instantly with their Napoleon Tea and Caramel Macaron. But now I could taste everything they got. Yay!

image taken from TWG facebook page

The outlet is divided into two sections, the left side is for the tea display, while the right side is the dining area. Well I have to say that the dining space was not too comfortable. The table and chairs were fine, but the space between table was too narrow, especially when that we got seated at the corner, sharing our table with another customers. But in the end it goes down to the food, right? So here's what we had that day.

Eggs Benedict (IDR 80.000)

Eggs Benedict is a dish that I couldn't not order during any time of meal. And TWG did well on this one. There's choice between Salmon and Turkey Ham, so I went with Turkey. As you can see, the presentation was stunning, the eggs were beautifully poached, and the sauce had that perfect creamy, buttery and acidity taste in it.

Singapore Surprise (IDR 45.000)

It's like love at first sight. I took a single look at their cake display area, and instantly knew that I want it. Plus, the waiter also said that this cake was their best seller. Presentation wise, it's not beautiful, but definitely tantalizing. It has the creamy dreamy texture that comes from the vanilla cream, but the fresh and tangy taste of raspberry was balancing it well.

Chocolate Chocolate (IDR 45.000)

This is another best seller. It is beautifully presented, but let's just say, not my cup of tea? The upper part was the soft chocolate mousse, while the bottom was crunchy pistachio. First bite was good, but for me it got too overwhelming after several bites.

Napoleon Tea and Caramel (black) and Bain de Rose Tea (pink) Macarons 

(IDR 15.000 each)

We only tasted two macarons, since we've had cakes before. I still love the Napoleon Tea and Caramel more, but the Bain de Rose Tea flavor was also good. TWG's macaron has always got the light crisp outer skin while the filling was soft and slightly chewy.

White Silk Tea (IDR 42.000)

This tea is the waiter's recommendation. He said that it is a combination of Green Tea, Blue Tea, and Almond. And yes, you can smell a hint of sweet almond aroma when you drink it.

As I mentioned earlier, they also have the tea display section, which comes in attractive packaging, so it is definitely a good option for a gift to the special ones. TWG claims that they got more than 800 variants of tea from around the world, so the journey wouldn't end here. There's still much more to taste.

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique

Plaza Senayan, Shop Unit No. 103A, 107A, 109A and 111A 

Level 1, Senayan Square Complex,
Jalan Asia Afrika No. 8, Kelurahan Gelora,
Kecamatan Tanah Abang, Jakarta Pusat

fb. TWG Tea Official Page

web. TWG Tea

Cooking Class at Paradise Dynasty

Last Saturday, I got invited to a cooking class held by Groupon Disdus, in collaboration with Paradise Dynasty. This was my first cooking class, and I was so excited! The event was held in Paradise Dynasty Plaza Senayan early in the morning. There were two dishes for us to cook that day, the famous 8 Flavored Signature Xiao Long Bao and Vegetable Bun.

Before heading to our station, we got the chance to see Chef Atin doing the demonstration of how to make the xiao long bao and vegetable bun. The dough and filling has been prepared before, so all we have to do is inserting the filling into the skin, and cover it with folds at the top. Seems pretty simple right?

The picture above is the chef's Xiao Long Bao, and the picture below belongs to my team. Well for me, making the folds were actually pretty hard. My folds often got too thick and it can't patched well. But in the end, I quite satisfied with my Xiao Long Bao. The ones I made were the orange, pink, and green. For the taste, you can check my earlier post.

Same problem happened to the vegetable bun, so as you can see, our folds were a little bit too thick. But in the end the most important thing is the taste right? ;p Oh the green thing on the top of our bun is a part of the filling. We put it on the top as it was meant to be garnish, but Chef Atin said it should be done after steaming so the garnish didn't get watery, so we removed it.

Of course there has to be a narcissistic photo session of these young but talented amateur chefs (read: my team ;p) with Chef Atin and our dish (sorry it's over exposure). From left to right it's Yulie, Dini, Novie, Chef Atin, and me!

After the fun cooking session, we waited for our dish to be steamed, and we also got lunch served by Paradise Dynasty. What we got for our lunch is La Mian with Dan Dan Sauce, Paradise Dynasty's signature hand-pulled noodles, topped with spicy minced chicken and cucumber. And for dessert, we got Kue Kapas, a very soft textured cake with two flavors, the yellow part is Mango, and the white part is Coconut flavor. 

Bottom line, I would like to say thank you to Groupon and Paradise Dynasty team for having me in this event. I learned something new, tasted something new, and made new friends! See you again in the next event :)

Paradise Dynasty
Plaza Senayan 5th flr (across XXI)
Jl. Asia Afrika
South Jakarta
Ph. +6221 579000146

Roemah Rempah

Spice is the ultimate secret of traditional Indonesian dishes. Spice is the reason that rendang awarded as one of the most delicious food in the world, and also the reason I've never cook traditional Indonesian food. The spices were just too complicated. But when the right type and amount of spices blend together, they tasted like heaven inside your mouth. 

Roemah Rempah, literally translated as the 'House of Spices', is offering IndoAsian food which is a combination between Indonesian and Asian food, but still very rich in spices. The venue is decorated beautifully with attractive cinnamon ornament at their front facade, and warm ambiance inside.

Their signature dishes were Kambing Guling (motton ribs) and Sirloin Cabe Ijo (sirloin served with green chilli). But we're not in the mood for red meat, so we ordered these instead:

Kepiting Soka Goreng Asam Pedas (IDR 85.000)

Deep fried soft shell crab served with spicy and sour sauce and mango salad

Sate Ayam Pak Gembul (IDR 43.000)

Indonesian chicken satay served with peanut sauce

Kangkung Sambal Terasi (IDR 37.000)

Sauteed water spinach with terasi seasoning

Tempe Bacem (IDR 15.000)

Braised tempe (fermented soy bean)

Overall, the food were good. The soft shell crab was a little chewy, but the sauce were great. Satay and water spinach were just fine. But for me, their tempe bacem was my favourite dish of the night. Not only tasted sweet as the other, this one got a hint of lemon there, which make it taste better.

Roemah Rempah

Plaza Senayan 4th floor

Jl. Asia Afrika no. 8

Jakarta 10270

ph. (021) 572 5813

f. Roemah Rempah

Union

Meet the first and still the most wanted red velvet in Jakarta. Since it's first appearance on mid-2011 until this very moment where red velvet can be found easily anywhere (even BreadTalk is now serving this cake), Union's still remains to be my (and maybe everyone's) favourite. Four layers of  moist chocolate based cake, cream cheese frosting, and crunchy caramelized nut topping at the price of IDR 50.000. Heaven!

The fact is, even though I've had Union's red velvet for countless times, this was my first time dining in. Usually I won't bother waiting, I'll just take away the cake and eat it at home. But this time we waited 40 minutes just to got seated. Luckily we don't have to wait in boredom. We just have to register our name and leave our phone number at the front desk, and they'll call us when the table's ready. Meanwhile, we can do the shopping ;p

At first we only planned to have dessert, since we've had our lunch before, but in the end, we also ordered a plate of Calamari (IDR 75.000). Portion was very generous, too much for two people. It tasted good, love the tomato sauce.

Service was very satisfying. The waiter were friendly and polite. One tips, if you're not a smoker, came here before 3 PM. 

UNION

Plaza Senayan Courtyard, Ground Floor 

(Inside SOGO Dept. Store)

Jl. Asia Afrika no.8 

Jakarta, Indonesia

ph. +6221 5790 5861-62

f. UNION Jakarta