At the end of 2013

It's the last day of 2013. I need to end this year by saying thank you to all people who's been helping me to keep the continuity of this blog, directly or indirectly. Well this may sound like I'm winning an award or something, but I'm not, I'm just grateful that these people are all around me.

Firstly to God, of course, for I believe that this is part of his plan.

Secondly, to my family, bestfriends, and David, who's been there with me in my food journey. Thanks for being patient while I'm stuggling with my camera, tasting your food, and the most important, thanks for paying the bills sharing the stories, the excitement, and the laughters with me during our meals.

To my fellow food blogger friends, thank you for the friendship, the kindness, and the support for me and The Daily Nut.

To Restaurants and Media, who's been letting me be a part of your amazing events, thanks for giving me new experiences, new food, and new friends every time.

And I'm saving the best for the last, thank you all readers for reading my blog. I still can't believe up to 800 people is dropping by to my blog everyday. I promised to write more next year, and also improve my photography and writing skills.

Cheers for 2013, and let's work hard for the better 2014. Let me wish you an early HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

See you all in 2014 :D

Odysseia

After experiencing the not-so-nice service and ended up not having a table at PAUL (read about this on my previous post), we decided to have our lunch at Odysseia, which located just across PAUL in front of Galeries Lafayette. The place is divided into two areas. The smoking area is outside, decorated beautifully to look like a comfortable terrace, while the non smoking area is indoor, decorated a little too simple, to be compared with the outdoor area. It was past lunch time, only a few table were occupied, so we decided to sit in their beautiful outdoor area, which we regretted later because a couple sit right beside us and smoking non stop which looked like a nice place for girls day out.

The menu is mostly western, but they also serves some fusion menu between western and Indonesian cuisines. We decided to share these two main courses since we're still kinda full from eating panna cotta earlier.

Classic Grilled Salmon (IDR 155.000)

Thin crisped skin salmon served with mashed potatoes and dill butter sauce. Grilled salmon has always been everyone's comfort healthy meal. This one tasted decent, love the perfectly crisped salmon skin, but it's not the extraordinarily good one. Just nice and decent.

Wagyu Rendang Steak (IDR 145.000)

Diced wagyu beef topped with rendang sauce and fried shallots, served with fried rice, sunny side up, prawn crackers, melinjo chips, and acar. Unlike the salmon, I found this dish was probably one of the best nasi goreng dish I've ever had. Tender beef, rich and yummy rendang sauce, and delicious fried rice. More beef need to be added though, or you should call it nasi goreng wagyu, because this doesn't look like wagyu steak. Price is a little too steep for nasi goreng, but worth a try.

A very nice place to have a girls day out or maybe dinner date. Would surely come again for their fried rice, or maybe try the other menu.

Odysseia

Pacific Place, Ground Floor

(In front of Galeries Lafayette)

Jl. Jend Sudirman Kav 52-53

Jakarta 

ph. (021) 514 00028

Panna Cotta Etc

Merry Christmas everyone! How was your christmas? Mine was celebrated with my college besties at Pacific Place. At first we were going to have lunch at the newly opened PAUL at Galleries Lafayette, but as expected, we're already on the waiting list when we got there at twelve (PAUL didn't open for reservation). So we put our name and phone number on the waiting list -- the waiter said that they will SURELY call us when our table is ready -- and off we go to another new place in Pacific Place, Panna Cotta Etc. Dessert before lunch? No problem!

Located on the 4th floor just across Aksara, the outlet is simple and modern yet comfortable. They have 11 panna cotta variants to choose from and they also serve limited selections of main courses and beverages. And for this christmas season, they are serving two christmas special panna cotta, Toffee Nut and Gingerbread. Each panna cotta is sold at the price of IDR 30.000. We were kinda curious and hungry that time so we ordered 6 panna cotta variants for the four of us.

DELIGHT -- Tiramisu Panna Cotta with Coffee Sauce

SENSATION -- Cheese Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce

SEDUCTION -- Banana Panna Cotta with Hazelnut Choco Sauce

CELEBRATION -- Toffee Nut Panna Cotta with White Cream Sauce

INFATUATION -- Classic Panna Cotta with Butterscotch Sauce

ADDICTION -- Classic Panna Cotta with Baileys

From all 6 variants we tried, my favourite is definitely SENSATION (cheese with raspberry), followed by ADDICTION (baileys) and CELEBRATION (Toffee Nut). The cheese and raspberry was good and refreshing, really stood out compared with the other sweet panna cottas. I was expecting more from the butterscotch taste, but it tasted way too sweet for me. All panna cottas came in great smooth and silky texture, but slightly-too-small size.

Anyway, we were having our lovely dessert time here for about an hour, and then we went back to PAUL. And guess what, our name has been skipped on the waiting list and they didn't even give us a single call. So we asked if we could have a table in the outdoor area, and they said that the outdoor is only for take away. Such a waste of space and disappointing service. I ended up taking away their cakes and eat it at home. They were great, but still, PAUL needs a serious improvement on their service.

Panna Cotta Etc.

Pacific Place 4th floor

Jl. Jendral Sudirman no 52-53

Jakarta

Instagram: @pannacottaetc

Coco Ichibanya Curry House

The largest Japanese curry house chain in the world has finally made it's way to Jakarta. Yes, it is Coco Ichibanya, everyone's favourite curry, which has more than 1300 branches in Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, USA, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore.

Their first Jakarta branch is located at Grand Indonesia. The interior is light and bright, the place is quite spacious but it was almost full even though we came on weekday. As we stepped in, the first thing I noticed is the fragrant smell of their curry. It's very appetizing that I couldn't wait to order my own plate.

The food they serve here is only Curry Rice. None other than that. But you can customize your Curry Rice by choosing the spiciness level for your curry, choosing your rice size, and get additional topping. You can also get additional Salad and Drink for IDR 25.000 or Salad, Ice Cream, and Drink for IDR 35.000.

Chicken Cutlet Curry with Vegetables (IDR 78.000)

rice: 150 gr  ,  spiciness: standard

I always prefer to have my curry rice with vegetables, to make it richer and (hopefully a little) healthier. And I have to say, this plate is such a satisfaction. The curry itself is, as I said earlier, very fragrant, perfectly balanced, the sweet and savoury taste combined nicely on the plate, and the vegetables are perfectly cooked. Also the chicken cutlet is thick and tender, but got the nice lightly crisp on the outside.

Chicken Cutlet Omelette Curry (IDR 70.000)

When you order the omelette menu, you cannot change either the rice size nor the curry spiciness. Well I can understand that if we change the rice size it would be affecting the omelette shape, but I don't know why we couldn't change the spiciness level. Anyway the omelette is also a nice addition to the curry rice. It's smooth and silky and a lil bit runny. Oh and I found that the my friend's chicken cutlet here is slightly bigger than mine. Don't know if it's just her luck or the portion is different.

Beef Hamburger Curry (IDR 65.000)

rice: standard  ,  spiciness: lv.4

Another friend of mine ordered this, and when it was served upon us, first thing that came into our mind is the beef hamburger is small. Didn't give the hamburger a taste since it's already too small for him, but I tasted his lv.4 curry. It was spicy, but peppery spicy. They might used a lot of blackpepper to make it spicy, looking at the colour.

Lightly Crisped Chicken Curry (IDR 65.000)

rice: standard  ,  spiciness: lv.2

This lightly crisped chicken, for me, tasted better than the chicken cutlet. It was seasoned well, and the chicken is more tender. But it is certainly not as thick as the chicken cutlet. Well, such a dilemma.

As a new comer in Jakarta, I think Coco Ichibanya is having a good start. It was such a delightful dinner, and I'll come back for sure. But just a little suggestion, I would love them even more if they also serve pork cutlet, like every other country does.

CoCo Ichibanya Curry House
Grand Indonesia
West Mall - Level 3A
Unit E 01-1
Ph. +6221 23580960

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

Indomie Taste of Asia

A few weeks ago, I received a box of the new Indomie flavors. In this brand new products, Indomie is slightly changing their concept. While usually Indomie is famous for their local taste, now they are expanding their flavors and launched the "Taste of Asia" concept. There are three flavors launched recently, each flavor represents an Asian country. Here they are:

Indomie Tom Yum a la Thailand

Indomie Bulgogi a la Korea

Indomie Laksa a la Singapore

After tasting all three flavors, my heart goes to the Indomie Bulgogi. I'm always a huge fan of Indomie Goreng series, and I have to say that Indomie Bulgogi is another great invention. The noodle is wider and chewier than the usual, and the seasoning were great, but I suggest not to blend all the seasoning since it'll get too sweet. Oh and not to mention the generous slice of beef, yum!

In the other hand, the Indomie Laksa was pretty decent. I'm not a big fan of Laksa, but I find that Indomie Laksa was quite enjoyable. A little spicy but good.

The third one, Indomie Tom Yum, was kinda disappointing for me. As the picture shows, the seasoning couldn't blend well with the hot water, as well as the taste. And the taste also need to be more 'kicking', in my opinion.

All these flavors are now available in almost every mini market as well as super market in town, each at the price IDR 3.000 -IDR 4.000, depends on the market brand and promotion. 

Johnny Rockets

Another American burger chain has opened in Jakarta recently. They've opened two branch in Jakarta, and the one I tried is their PIM Branch. The place was not too big, the interior was taking the concept of classic American diner. They've got red diner seats, checkered floor, and even the music jukebox. Pretty much similar as what you've seen on TV.

The food they served are mostly burgers and sandwiches. For a fast food chain restaurant, I think the food was kinda overpriced, since the burger price starts at IDR 80.000 before tax and service. Anyway, here's what I had.

Philly Cheese Steak (IDR 84.000)

Thinly sliced sirloin steak grilled to perfection and topped with grilled onions and cheese, served on hoagie roll. It was really good at my first bite, all the elements blended well, perfect seasoning, and I especially LOVE that hoagie roll. It was warm, soft, a lil bit sweet, yum! Even though the picture shows a lot of onions, there's actually also a generous amount of steak behind them. But at my latest bite, I was getting overwhelmed by the cheese. Oh, it also came with generous amount of French Fries, and they were fat and thick and good.

Chocolate Milk Shake (IDR 50.000)

In the other hand, I found this Chocolate Milk Shake waaay too sweet. While I was getting overwhelmed by the cheese, drinking this made it even worse. Oh I knew I should just order soda. 

So will I be back? Well actually the food was good and service was fast and polite, but with that price, I'm not sure. I spent more than 150k for the two items above after tax and service, and they are fast food. Credit card discount, pretty please? ;p

Johnny Rockets
Pondok Indah Mall 
Street Gallery,2nd Floor No.204B 
Jl. Metro Pondok Indah Blok 111B 
Jakarta Selatan 12310 
ph. (021) 29529757-59
fb. Johnny Rockets Indonesia

also available at:
Lotte Shopping Avenue 3rd floor
Jakarta

Beachwalk Space L1-C1
Bali

Afternoon Tea at Bistronomy

Several days ago, me and my bestie Maya were planning to have an afternoon tea session since we have free time together. Did some internet research on where to have afternoon tea in Jakarta, and when I found out that Bistronomy served it, we decided to have it there (or I persuaded her to have it there :p). I've been wanting to visit this place since forever, but since the place is very popular nowdays, it's always fullbooked on weekend. Luckily it was weekday afternoon, only a few table was occupied when we arrived there.

As expected, the interior was very vintage and elegant, it was such a nice place for girls day out. See the pictures for yourself, how could you not love that floral chairs, and the vintage mirrors and lamps all over the place? Oh, and since there was a halloween party coming up, the place was also decorated with some spooky things.

Their afternoon tea is served everyday from 2PM to 6PM. For the price of IDR 150.000 ++ for two persons, here's what we got.

SWEETS

Fruit Tarts (Kiwi Tarts and Strawberry Tarts)

Muffins (Blueberry Muffins and Strawberry Muffins)

Chocolate Cakes

New York Cheese Cakes

SAVORY

Sandwiches:

- Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

- Egg Sandwiches

- Tuna Sandwiches

Cheese Puffs

Chicken Fingers

TWO COFFEE OR THESE TEA FLAVORS

English Breakfast Tea, Earl Grey Tea, Green Tea & Mint, Jasmine Green Tea, Pure Peppermint, Pure Chamomile, Passionfruit Mango & Orange, Lemon & Ginger, Peach Tea, Blackcurrant Tea

I couldn't help but notice that there's some differences between the menu and our plate. First, it was said in the menu that the muffins are dark chocolate and lemon, but we got strawberry and blueberry muffins. Second, instead of almond cookies (as it written on the menu), we got chicken fingers and one extra sandwich variant. I don't think that this differences is a bad thing since we wasn't drooling for some specific items, but maybe they should told us first.

On the top of that, I found that everything served on the plate was more than satisfying. Well they're not perfect, the muffins and sandwiches was just a little too dry and the tarts crumbling apart when we try to lift them from the plate, but the taste of all elements was delicious. I especially love their fruit tarts, even though they're crumbling apart, but they got perfect sweetness from the custard cream and it blended well with the crunchy tart and fresh fruits.

On my first visit to Bistronomy, I was pleased. Couldn't wait for my next visit!

BISTRONOMY
Jl. Ciniru 1 no.2
Ciranjang, Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta Selatan
ph. +6221 7396655
fb. Bistronomy

Heavenue Churros and Desserts

Heavenue Churros and Desserts is another newbie at Pantai Indah Kapuk area. After enjoying our lunch at Locale 24 earlier, me and David were kinda full but we're not willing to go home yet. Therefore we decided to try this new churros place, which location is aligned with Locale 24 and also other well known joints at PIK such as Hakata Ikkousha and Hong Tang.

As the name said, the food they're offering is Churros and Desserts, varies from the old fashioned churros with dipping and icing to the Churros Parfait and their signature desserts like Panna Cotta and Apple Pie. Since we were still quite full, we only ordered their Churros de Amor (4 Churros and 1 Dipping) (IDR 25.000) and Orange Mojito (IDR 30.000).

Our Churros de Amor tasted good and crunchy at the outside, while the milk chocolate dipping was slightly too watery but I like it that it's not too sweet for my liking. One little disappointment was that we ordered cinnamon icing for our churros but it came with no cinnamon icing, only cocoa powder. In the other side, the Orange Mojito was tangy and refreshing, but I was hoping that they used fresh orange though.

Well my short visit still cannot do the judge. Even though what they served wasn't mindblowing, but it was quite nice and heartwarming. I won't mind visiting it again next time to have another round of churros (but I hope they get my order right) and try their desserts.

Heavenue Churros & Desserts

Ruko Garden House Blok A no. 8

Jl. Raya Pantai Indah Kapuk

Jakarta Utara

ph. (021) 290 33398

fb. Heavenue Churros

opening hours : 10.00 AM - 11.00 PM

Locale 24

Locale 24 is a new restaurant joint which just opened recently in Pantai Indah Kapuk. Being a regular at Pantai Indah Kapuk area, I've already attracted to this mysterious green bus even when it was still under construction. Now that it is on business, I was beyond excited to visit it yesterday for a late lunch.

Having the green bus as their facade is a brilliant idea to attract customers and make it stood out among the other restaurants around. Well at least for me, seeing a cute restaurant like this, I have that urge to pay it a visit and have a nice lunch inside at a table by the window (pardon me and my weird urgency). Too bad that time all the table by the window was occupied, so I have to stick with the accustomed restaurant interior. The interior was more simple, the green and white colors still dominating the ambience.

The choices of food was not too much and to be honest it was not tempting for me. No pictures, no description for most of the food, and some of the selections was too ordinary. Well but that was just my opinion, who knows if they could pull out something special out of ordinary dishes? So here's what we had there.

Appetizer Platter (IDR 46.000)

It was one of a few dishes that comes with description, so we decided to have it. The platter consists Potato Wedges, Fish Fingers, Chicken Wings, and Nachos, also comes with BBQ Sauce for the chicken wings and Tartar Sauce for the fish fingers. Overall it was a decent plate, I really love the seasoning on the potato wedges and the sauces. Portion was also satisfying. But the nachos comes with grated cheddar cheese topping, and I think I still prefer Mozzarella on my nachos.

Country Fried Steak and Milk Gravy (IDR 42.000)

You can choose the steak between chicken and beef, and I went for beef, simply because they came in the same price (HAHA). Again, portion was generous. The seasoning on the steak was nice, but the milk gravy tasted kinda too milky that it's getting overwhelming at some point. And they need to work on something for the sides, pretty sure that were just lazy frozen french fries and frozen vegetables with mayo. I don't mind smaller portion if the sides compliment it better.

Overall I think this restaurant has potential, looking at it's creative concept and the affordable pricing. But a slight improvement on the menu and dishes could do them much better. Oh and have I mentioned that they open 24/7?

Locale 24 Diner & Bar 

Rukan Garden House Blok B 10-11

Pantai Indah Kapuk

North Jakarta

Ph. +6221 29033162

[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)