Laughing Stock Steak & Seafood Grill

Last week, I got an opportunity to taste the food of Laughing Stock Steak and Seafood Grill, a new restaurant in Cipete area. Before you start reading, I have to warn you that this post will be a long post containing lots of foodporn, and I will not take any responsibility for the drooling consequences, so read at your own risk :p Oh but I hope if you decided to read, please read it till the end, because I'm saving the best part for the last.

Located at the foodie street Jl. Cipete Raya, Laughing Stock looks pretty humble from the outside but it is warm and comfortable at the inside. The two-storeyed shophouses is designed with lots of bricks and concrete element to create the industrial look, yet provided warm sofas and bright sun light to make you comfortable. My favourite spot is the colorful Scandinavian sofas by the window at the second floor, you should aim for it right away!

Sharing a little background of the restaurant, Laughing Stock is a family business started by Mrs Febri, for her love of food. She loves cooking since she was young, and she and her family love having people eating her food. Having her own restaurant has been her dream since a long time. At first they tried franchising a quite famous restaurant, Seruput, and now that they've already got the experience and knowledge about restaurant business, they finally opened Laughing Stock for public this late January 2014. 

The food they served here is mainly grilled seafood and steak, as the name said, but they also provide all-day breakfast and Indonesian food. They also served limited choices of milkshakes and desserts, well for me I think milkshakes are too heavy to accompany a heavy meal such as steak, but their desserts are definitely must-try.

Chicken Mayo Bruschetta 

Chicken Mayo Bruschetta is one of their new appetizer menu, basically there are four slices of crunchy French breads topped with fresh shredded lettuce and chicken and corn mayo. A fresh and light dish to start our lunch.

Oxtail Balado (IDR 110.000)

Fried AUS Oxtail in Balado style, served with steamed white rice, pickled vegetables, soup, and crackers. To be honest I wasn't a big fan of oxtail and spicy food at the beginning, so I doubted this dish would be suitable for my liking. But it is! The oxtail was perfectly tender and the balado chilli was hot, but deliciously hot that I fell in love with it instantly. The soup was also light and savory. Dip your crackers in the soup, and eat it together with the rice and balado oxtail, yummm! 

(Psst, people said that the Oxtail Balado here are even better than Hotel Borobudur's! Curious?)

Pan Fried Salmon (IDR 120.000)

Pan Fried Norwegian Trout in miso broth served with baby tomatoes, baby potatoes, spinach, enoki mushrooms, and ginger flakes. It is another dish that has hooked me at the first bite. The combination of the perfectly crisped skin salmon fried together with spinach, enoki mushrooms, and miso broth are amazingly well balanced and delicious. Very light and healthy, yet addictive and contagious.

US Hanger Steak (IDR 110.000)

Seared 200 gr US Hanger Steak served with caramelized onions, mashed potatoes, sauteed vegetables, and Beef Jus Sauce. Hanger is a part of the plate section of the cow, which is also known at butcher's steak. There is only 400-650 grams of hanger meat in a cow, and the meat is very tender, that the butchers usually keep it for themselves instead of selling it. But here in Laughing Stock you can try the Hanger Steak, even better, it is served with Laughing Stock's special sauce, the Beef Jus. Beef Jus (or Au Jus) sauce is made of beef broth and wine reduction. The texture is kinda watery, it tasted light yet rich and a little sweet. I really love the outcome when you eat the steak with the sauce, caramelized onion, and mashed potatoes together. Totally the best main course of the day!

Surf and Turf (IDR 175.000)

Grilled Rib Eye Steak topped with fresh seafood in garlic and herbs butter served with mashed potatoes or French fries and asparagus. It is the dish for people who doesn't like monotonous food. By ordering this, you could have a huge steak together with fresh grilled prawns, sauteed squids, and battered-fried dory fish. Overall it is a nice dish, liked the salty and garlicky sauce, but for me the amount is too little for a steak that big, since I love to have my steak eaten with sauces. Oh and I have to give credit to the presentation! It's really artsy, beautiful, and unique, isn't it? The most photogenic food of the day, haha.

Grilled Maine Whole Lobster (IDR 250.000)

This was supposed to be the highlight of the day. Grilled Maine Whole Loster in garlic butter seasoning, served with sauteed vegetables and choice of shoestring french fries, mashed potatoes, or rice pilaf. Unfortunately, this lobster was not as fresh as I expected. It's not fishy, but the texture is kinda soft, it didn't have the seafood-ly crunchy texture, if you know what I mean. It would be much more delicious if the lobster was just a little bit fresher, since the seasoning was great and having pilaf rice as the side dish is a perfect choice.

Uncle Romy's Hotplate Chocolate Brownies (IDR 55.000)

Homemade dark chocolate brownies served with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate sauce. This restaurant's favorite dessert was named after Mrs. Febri's husband, Mr. Romy. He loves chocolate so much that he ask Mrs. Febri to create a chocolate dessert dish at Laughing Stock, so it is named after him. This dish looks like no other, at first it is a simple chocolate brownies topped with vanilla ice cream, once you start pouring the chocolate sauce, it will start boiling and create the hot-and-cold sensation to the dish. Such a creative and unique dessert, this might be the next IT dessert on instagram. lol.

Apple Crumble (IDR 55.000)

This is the reason why I told you earlier to read till the end. The new creation of Laughing Stock, warm caramelized apple served with cookie crumble, vanilla ice cream, and white sauce. After I took a bite of this, I literally raised my eyeballs and told the others that this is really good! Apple is cinnamonly sweet and has the perfect texture, and the crumble is not just like any other cookie crumble. It's really crunchy like it's covered with sugar, but it is not sweet, so I don't know what they did to the crumble to make it that good. Take a bite of it with the vanilla ice cream and the rum-scented white sauce, and that's heaven in your mouth. Like, seriously.

(FYI, this apple crumble is Mrs. Febri's new creation that will be launched with some other new dishes on April, so you wouldn't find it on the menu, but you can ask the waiter directly if you want to order this)

At the end of the post I know I seems like praising this place so much, so I'm going to tell you that this is NOT an advertorial post, and I didn't receive any payment for posting this. This was just like another food tasting, but I really love the restaurant, they've got amazing food with beautiful presentation and lovely taste, comfortable seatings, and natural daylight to help me capturing the food better. The only thing I regret is the fact that Cipete is far from my house, and the traffic is mad.

Lastly, thank you Mrs. Febri, Norwin, and family for hosting such a nice food tasting session. Please do wait for my next visit :D :D

Laughing Steak Steak and Seafood Grill 

Jl. Cipete Raya no. 7BC

Jakarta Selatan

Ph. (021) 7591 3285/86

t. @LaughingStockID

Bacchus Bar at InterContinental MidPlaza Hotel

Bacchus Bar is one of the restaurant at InterContinental MidPlaza Hotel that specializes at Asian Food. Last Thursday, I was honoured to get the opportunity to enjoy Lunch at Bacchus Bar.

Located at the Lower Ground Floor of the building, the venue itself wasn't too spacious yet it gave you the warm and private ambiance. Most of the seats are bar stools, but they also have nice comfortable sofas at the back. And they got their own wine storage room with lots and lots of wine selection. 

For the appetizer that day, we tasted two favourite menus from their Pan Flair Asian selections, Thai Beef Salad with Mango and Chilli Vinaigrette (IDR 98.000) and BBQ Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce (IDR 98.000). Their Beef Salad's presentation was such a feast for the eye, isn't it? Really love the bright colors. Taste wise, it was tangy and fresh, it also got a nice dressing, but for me the aroma of Basil was too strong. In the other hand, the BBQ Chicken Wings came in a generous portion, thickly marinated in a nice sweet BBQ Sauce. 

For the main course, Bacchus Bar have two options, you can either order the main course from the Pan Flair Asian selections, or order it from the live cooking stands. The live cooking stands is a collaboration between Bacchus Bar and Deli Restaurants, every weekdays during lunchtime, they served Pasta and Nasi Bakar (Indonesian style grilled rice wrapped in banana leafs). We ended up trying both of them, for they were both really tempting, especially when you see them cooked right before your eyes and you can smell the aroma.

Pasta Set (IDR 90.000 including bread and choice of Iced Tea or Iced Lemon Tea)

Here at the pasta stand, you can build your own pasta! Here's what you need to do:

1. Pick your pasta. The pasta selections varies everyday, that day they got penne and green linguine

2. Pick the sauce. There are tomato based sauce, carbonara sauce, pesto sauce, or simply aglio olio

3. Pick the meat, veggies, and cheese. You can choose up to three meat and veggies available. For the meat they have chicken, prawns, squid, beef bacon, pork bacon, sausages, etc. And for the veggie selections they have broccoli, tomatoes, onions, asparagus, mushrooms, etc. 

Easy right? And only for IDR 90.000 nett, you get your pasta served with bread and butter and also a glass of drink, which is a very nice deal, for having lunch in Sudirman area. That day I decided to have Penne Carbonara, but I was confused on which meat and veggies to choose, so I'll let the chef decide it, and it came with Prawns, Beef Bacon, Sausage, broccoli, mushrooms, and tomatoes! Phew that was a lot of toppings. But the taste was really great. The penne was al dente, the carbonara sauce was amazingly balanced between the creamy and savory taste, and for the toppings, I especially love the generous amount of fresh prawns. Oh I'll deal with you later, cholestrol, for now please just let me enjoy the fresh and crunchy prawns.

Nasi Bakar Set (IDR 82.000 + including a choice of Iced Tea or Iced Lemon Tea)

For the Nasi Bakar, you only have to pick your rice flavor (it also varies everyday), and it will be served with Balado Eggs, Sauteed String Beans, Shredded Chicken and Duck Meat, and Fried Tempe. That day they only have two flavor of rice, Oncom (fermented products of soy beans) and Ikan Peda (Indonesian salty fish). I'm not familiar with oncom, so I play safe and choose the Ikan Peda flavor. And that was a decision I wouldn't regret. The rice was very very fragrant and tasty, and all the side dishes were great and compliment it well. It was spicy but still tolerable for me. Well I'm not a big fan of Nasi Bakar before, but I am now. This dish was really satisfying for me, even better than the pasta! The best Nasi Bakar I've tasted so far!

I'm really impressed that their simple yet humble live cooking stands could create such an awesome food. Thank you InterContinental and  Catrina (Social Media Officer of InterContinental MidPlaza) for inviting me and being a really nice lunch companion! I definitely will come back to this place :D

Bacchus Bar

InterContinental at Jakarta MidPlaza Hotel

Lower Ground Floor

Jl. Sudirman Kav 10-11

Jakarta - 10220

ph. (021) 2510888 (front desk)

Bene Ristorante

Bene Ristorante is an Italian Restaurant located in Living World Alam Sutera. I am actually a regular visitor of the mall, but honestly I've never seen this restaurant before because it's located far at the end of the mall (near Bon Chon Chicken and Kafe Betawi area), and the music stage in front of the place kinda hinder it. But thanks to the food tasting invitation, I've got the chance to get to know more of Bene Ristorante and taste their food, which is actually good!

The food they serve here is mostly Italian, but they also have some interesting fusion menu to try. One of their specialty is the Pizza, which comes in three different sizes: Single Fighter (fit for 1-2 persons), Gossiper (fit for 3-4 persons), and the 1 Metre Pizza (1 metre long pizza with 3 different toppings). The 1 metre pizza really sounds fun to eat with your best buddies, isn't it?

Patate Fritte Alla Bolognese (IDR 37.000)

Thick-cut potato french fries topped with bolognese sauce, melted mozzarella, and yellow cheddar cheese. An awesome starter! I've always loved thick-cut french fries, now even better, it came with generous bolognese sauce and cheese. The beef bolognese sauce is really good, the sweet and sour taste are perfectly balanced. 

Paella Pasta (IDR 55.000)

Inspired by the famous Spanish dish, the pasta is tossed with curry-saffron paste, sauteed seafood, and shredded kafir lime leaves. This was my favorite dish of the night. Pasta was al-dente, while the saffron curry sauce is very rich and fragrant. A new way to eat your pasta, I'm definitely addicted to this.

Bene Classico Pizza, Single Fighter Size (IDR 71.000)

It is the specialty of Bene Ristorante. The Pizza is topped with homemade tomato sauce, grilled chicken breast, jalapeno pepper, pineapple, onion, melted mozzarella cheese, drizzled with mayonnaise and garnished with chopped beef bacon. I really like the pizza dough, it's thick and fluffy, the topping was also nice but it's just not my kind of pizza, since I don't like jalapeno and onion.

Iced Strawberry Caipiroska (IDR 39.000)

My drink that night, a nice iced tea with lime, strawberries, and mint leaves. Lovely presentation, it tasted cold and fresh.

Panetone all 'Aanas (IDR 32.000)

Lastly we were served with the dessert. It is basically a hot pineapple bread pudding, served with cold white cream sauce. It tasted quite decent, but the inside of the pudding was kinda mushy and it would be better if they add more pineapple slices to add the flavor.

After tasting several menu of theirs, I find all the food were nice and decent, and some even very good! That's just a little of them I've tasted, I'd really love to come back and try the other menus. And it's also a nice place if you like live music since it's located near the stage. I came there on Friday night and the band was really nice. Thank you Bene Ristorante for having me.

Bene Ristorante 

Living World Alam Sutera G 71

Jl. Alam Sutera Bulevar Kav. 21

Tangerang

ph. (021) 29239570

fb. Bene Ristorante 

t. Bene Ristorante

Canton Paradise

Jakarta is never short of new restaurants. This time, Boga Group has brought us another Chinese restaurant from Paradise Group, Canton Paradise. Their first outlet is located at Mall Kelapa Gading 3, and it's quite tricky to find the place since we have to reach it from outside the Main Entrance of MKG 3.

The interior is mostly decorated with monochrome colors from the floor, wall, ceiling, and furnitures, so the purple lighting, which is their signature color, could stands out. They have quite variable menu, from dim sum to the main courses, that we had a hard time picking up what we wanted. But our decision went to these delicate dim sums. 

Crispy BBQ Honey Pork Bun (IDR 28.800)

You might noticed that this is my first review in Kelapa Gading area. I usually avoid Kelapa Gading area, since it's far from where I live, and the traffic is just too much too handle. But this pork bun has changed my mind and made me and David drove here to give it a try. We've fell in love with this kind of pork bun since we tried Tim Ho Wan in Singapore, and as far as I knew, Canton Paradise is the first restaurant in Jakarta which serve this. But sadly I have to say that this pork bun didn't meet our expectation. It was actually quite decent, it has generous fillings and the bun was soft and slightly crispy at the outside, but I should've known, it just can't compete with the 1 Michelin Pork Bun.

Crispy Bacon Roll with Cheese (IDR 28.800)

In the other hand, this Crispy Bacon Roll was outstanding. Well, who could resist fried bacon roll filled with cheese, seafood, and mixed veggie, and topped with mayonnaise? I definitely can't. Heaven in your mouth, I assure you, this is worth a try.

Prawn in Beancurd Skin Fritters (IDR 21.800)

Another favorite dish of the night! Prawn in Beancurd Skin Fritters is a must-have dish whenever me and David having dim sum, and by not being hyperbolic, I have to say that this is the best Prawn in Beancurd Skin Fritters I've had. The fillings was actually pretty much the same in every other places, but I looooove that very very crispy beancurd skin. 

Steamed Custard Bun (IDR 23.800)

Custard bun is another must-have dim sum dish for me, and Canton Paradise's custard bun has everything it needs to be a perfect one. Soft and warm bun, runny custard filling, and excellent taste. Have I told you that I ate all three of these with no regret because David doesn't like Custard Bun? *Ops*

Steamed Pork Dumpling "Siew Mai" (IDR 21.800)

The Siew Mai is another decent dish. It was cooked perfectly, all the ingredients were fresh and tasted good.

Crispy Roast Duck Noodle (IDR 58.800)

We wasn't meant to order any main course that day, but they were actually having a promotion and we could have this noodle for only IDR 9.999 if we spend IDR 150.000. So there it is. The noodle has made it to David's favorite for it's thin and chewy noodle but I didn't quite like it because there's something too smelly for me in the sauce or in the duck. I don't know what it is.

Overall I was satisfied with their dim sum selections, in fact I'm thinking to bring my family there this weekend. Even though it was far from my house, but it's worth it.

Canton Paradise

Mall Kelapa Gading 3

GF no 15 B-C

(next to Dante Coffee)

Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta
ph. (021) 4585 3918/9
fb. Canton Paradise Jakarta

[Singapore] Tim Ho Wan

Meet Tim Ho Wan's pork bun, currently the best pork bun I've ever tasted. I've been eyeing this pork bun for months since it's Singapore branch opening, and so there's no way I'm not paying it a visit on my Singapore trip last month.

As expected of a 1 Michelin Star Restaurant, the bun is to die for! For the price of S$ 4.50, expect three beautiful buns with sweet and crispy outer layer, fluffy bread, filled with tender and fragrant char siew pork with BBQ sauce. It is definitely a must-order dish when you're here, and let me tell you, they're best eaten while hot and fresh.

Also people said that your visit at Tim Ho Wan wouldn't be complete if you haven't tried their Big Four Heavenly Kings: Baked Bun with BBQ pork (S$ 4.50), Vermicelli Roll with Pig’s Liver (S$ 5.50), Pan Fried Carrot Cake (S$ 4.50), and Steamed Egg Cake (S$ 3.80). So we did order them all (I didn't take picture of the vermicelli and carrot cake), and also added Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce (S$ 4), Prawn Dumpling / Har Gow (S$ 5.50), Pork Dumpling with Shrimp / Siew Mai (S$ 5.00), Glutinous Rice Dumpling / Lo Mai Gai (S$ 5.00), and Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp (S$ 5.50).

Other than the buns, the other items that I recommend are their Glutinous Rice Dumpling and the Carrot Cake. But all the dishes were decent though, all ingredients were fresh and taste good.

Unfortunately, to get this scrumptious Dim Sum, you have to wait in the line alongside with the other hungry Singaporeans, because Tim Ho Wan has no reservations policy. I waited for two almost two hours to get seated, but there was not even a slight regret. So hereby I'm leaving you with this picture of people lining to get their favourite buns. And trust me, this is not even the end of the line. Get yourself prepared!

Tim Ho Wan Singapore
68 Orchard Road #01-29A 

Plaza Singapura Singapore 238839 

(Dhoby Gaut MRT) 

Tel:+65 6251 2000
Opening Hours: 10.00am – 10.00pm 

(First-come-first-serve basis; no reservations)

also available at:

ERA Centre, 450 Lorong 6 

Toa Payoh, #02-02

Telephone: 6483 2000Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Daily)

Afternoon Tea for Two and Carvery at CANTEEN

CANTEEN is now serving Afternoon Tea for Two! 

Well I don't think I need to write a long introduction for CANTEEN. Has been serving you since 2008 under the same group as Loewy, Union, Cork&Screw, Casa, and E&O, CANTEEN has now becoming one of the well known and reputable restaurant in Jakarta.

Last Friday I was invited to a private tasting event to try their new Afternoon Tea for Two. Later that day, I happened to be very fortunate to meet Head Chef Chris Moes himself in person, and also tasted his signature Carvery.

CANTEEN's Afternoon Tea for Two

SWEETS
Dark Chocolate Rum Truffle
Dutch Butter Lemon Cake
Olive Oil Madeleine with Blueberries
Dark Chocolate Tart with Raspberry and Italian Meringue
Coconut Cookie
Dutch "Olie Bollen"

SAVORY
Crostino Smoked Salmon with Crème Fraîche and Dill
Crostino with Tomato Jam, Feta Cheese, and Basil
Dutch Bitterballen
Dutch Edam Cheese Croquette

and two choices of CANTEEN's gourmet tea selection:
Earl Grey, Camomile, English Breakfast, Peppermint, Ginger, or Japanese Green Tea

(IDR 165.000 ++)
Available everyday at 3-6 PM


What made CANTEEN's afternoon tea special is the taste of Dutch on the plate, which is brought directly by Chef Chris Moes from his hometown. I personally really like the Olie Bollen, a traditional Dutch food which recipe comes directly from Chef Chris' mother. His mother always made it every year only during the New Year's eve. Literally translated as "Oil Balls", it is the Dutch style Doughnut topped with white sugar, but without the hole, which was crunchy at the outside but the inside was moist and it got a glimpse taste of cinnamon.

From the Savory selections, their Crostino with Tomato Jam, Feta Cheese, and Basil 

is to die for! I've never thought that tomato could taste that heavenly. The tomato jam got melted 

as soon as it enters your mouth, and it tasted sweet. 

Well even though I'm just praising that two items, it doesn't mean that the other's not good enough.

 Every little thing on that plate was more than just satisfying, but I'm leaving it to you to try and decide

your favorite ;p

CANTEEN's Friday Special: Carvery

Carvery is held every Friday night at CANTEEN. It means that Chef Chris Moes himself will be out of the kitchen, slicing the meat for customers based on order. The meat changes every week so the customer can always taste something new. Well that night's meat was Pork Knuckle, so he didn't literally slice it, but he was preparing it for me, how lucky I am :D

Not going to hold you any longer, here's Friday Carvery menu that night: Pork Knuckle Served with Hutspot (another traditional Dutch cuisine, which is a combination of mashed potatoes, carrots, and onions), Brussel Sprouts, and Gravy (IDR 165.000). First impression, the portion was so generous that I think it could fed 2-3 girls. But then I took a bite of that crispy golden pork skin, combined with the succulent and juicy pork meat, and I just can't stop munching. In the end the portion was really too big for me to handle, but it was indeed a delightful dinner.

One last thing, I also tried one of their signature cocktail Sakura Spring (IDR 110.000) which is a mixture of Japanese Sake, Strawberry Liqueur, and Fresh Strawberries. Presentation was lovely and it tasted fresh and light. It could be a great choice to accompany your girls night out.


Well my day couldn't get any better. Thank you Febrina, Nina, Ing, and Chef Chris Moes for your kind invitation and warm companion. Till we meet again!

CANTEEN

Plaza Indonesia 

5th Floor # E02,E10, 

JL MH Thamrin, Kav 28-30, 

Jakarta, 10350  , 

Indonesia

ph. +62 21 3156537

fb. Canteen Jakarta

also available at:

Pacific Place 4th Floor SCBD

Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53

Jakarta 12190

ph. +62 21 57973742