Comfort Chinese Cuisine at Paradise Inn

Paradise Inn is one of my family's favourite Chinese Restaurant.Especially here in their Puri Indah Mall branch, it's near my house so we've dined here for God knows how many times. The ambiance of the restaurant is very casual, yet you still can feel the Chinese atmosphere inside. It's dominated by the greyish concrete color, combined with the contrast pastel blue color. Not the combination you usually see, but that's why it's unique.

One of the reason why I love to dine here is because they serve non halal food. Oh you know how much I love pork :p Lately Paradise Inn is having new dishes published on their menu, and we tried some of them.

Crisp-fried Eggplant Tossed (IDR 28.000)

Deep fried battered eggplant topped with chicken floss. It's one of their new menu. It was crispy and flossy, but you can barely taste the eggplant. Well I'm not really a big fan of eggplant though, so I found this dish to be quite nice. You can eat it with rice or without rice, it's still good either way.

Hot Plate Tofu with Preserved “Cai Xin” and Minced Pork (IDR 48.000)

This one's not a newcomer. It's one of my must-order dish. Their tofu is so smooth and silky, and the minced porkk and mushroom sauce was just as good. It's served on a hot plate, and the bottom of the hot plate is coated with egg, so dont forget to dig it up.

Crisp Pork Ribs with Marmite Sauce (IDR 88.000)

A new signature dish from Paradise Inn. You better enjoy it while it's still hot, so you could taste the maximum juiciness of the ribs, and the good sweet yet savory marmite sauce. But I still prefer their old signature, the Imperial Pork Ribs, as it is not as sweet as this one, and it comes with no bones. But this one's still worth trying if you're looking for something new.

Prawn Mayonnaise with Katsuobushi (S IDR 88.000 / M IDR 108.000)

My favorite dish of the night! It's basically the everyone's favorite mayonnaise prawn, but topped with Katsuoboshi, the fermented fish you usually found on your takoyaki. It's a brilliant idea to add katsuoboshi on the top, as they work really well together. The crispy and crunchy battered fresh prawn, together with mayo and the fishy (in a good way) katsuoboshi, that was heaven in my mouth.

Poached Chinese Spinach with Egg Trio and Minced Pork in Superior Stock (IDR 58.000)

 The Chinese spinach with three eggs is my favorite vegetable dish to order in Chinese restaurants, and believe me, Paradise Inn served one of the best of this dish. Loving every spoonfull of the fresh spinach, warm and savory soup, and of course the eggs.

Keep up the good work, Paradise Inn! Oh and loving their creative Christmas tree made of dimsum pot lid. Uber cute! Merry early Christmas, everyone :D

Paradise Inn

Puri Indah Mall, Lt.1
Unit #102, Jl. Puri Agung Puri Indah,
Jakarta 11610
Tel: 021-5822-459
Fax: 021-5822-895

Hot Stone Steak Experience at Street Steak

Get ready guys, the culinary area in Pantai Indah Kapuk will be expanding soon, because the shophouses at the front area (across Burger King and Fresh Mart area) are now completely built! Meanwhile there are already two shophouses open for bussiness: Eng's Resto -- which is famous for their Asinan Bandung (Bandung's traditional pickle), and Street Steak.

As I'm not a big fan of asinan, that evening me and my highschool girls tried the newly opened Street Steak. The PIK outlet is their second branch. The first one is located in Kelapa Gading, and they're famous for the hot stone steak.

The name's not a bluff, because when we dine here, we are literary having our meal on the street! The place is decorated as a real street, complete with the pavings and road signs. Very cute and unique.

The other unique thing here is their food presentation. Your steak will be presented on a hot stone to maintain the quality of the steak. The concept of hot stone is actually quite similar to hot plate, the stone they're using is thicker, so it can keep your steak hot for longer time.

One portion of their steak consists your choice of meat, freshly-cut onions, thick-cut fries, sauteed vegetables, and one of their three choices of sauce (mushroom, BBQ, and blackpepper). The side dishes and sauces were fine, the only minor turn down was their sauteed vegetables, which for me, seasoned too strong.

Baker Street Steak (IDR 89.000)

This is my choice of steak that night, 200 gr of Australian Prime Tenderloin served on the hot stone. Well to be honest, I wasn't expect much from this dish. I mean, if I am craving for a big chunk of super juicy meat, I would order their choices of wagyu instead. But that night, I was just looking for something ordinary and affordable, so I ordered this. But what I tasted was totally not what I expected. The meat was grilled perfectly, it was very very juicy and flavorful, I would say that it was even better than some wagyu steak I've tasted in the other affordable steakhouses (no need to mention the name). Oh, and the seasoning was so good, that I could enjoy my steak even without the sauce.

Tomahawk Steak (IDR 345.000)

500 grams of enormous wagyu sirloin steak. Look at that huge steak! My friend ordered this to be shared for the two of them, as Street Steak are having promotion for this steak. It's only IDR 280.000 during their soft opening period. I usually avoid sirloin, as I hate that chewy fatty part of it, but I took a bite of this steak, and it wasn't chewy at all. All hail the power of wagyu!

Stone Grilled Chicken (IDR 50.000)

A friend of mine didn't eat red meat, so she ordered this grilled chicken instead. It was decent, though I'm not a fan of chicken breast. I love the fatty thigh more, lol.

Another worth visited restaurant in the neighborhood, for sure. Other than the special price on the Tomahawk Steak, they also got the 50% discount on the Hokubee Premium Beef during the soft opening period. Be sure not to miss it!

Street Steak

Jl. Pantai Indah Utara

Rukan Metro Broadway Blok 9BE

Pantai Indah Kapuk

WakuWaku Japan Cafe at Kaffein

 

New place to hangout in Jakarta, it's WAKUWAKU CAFE! If the name WakuWaku reminds you of the popular Japanese TV channel you watch on your cable TV at home, then you're guessing it right. WakuWaku Cafe is presented by WakuWaku Japan, an entertainment channel which brings you popular Japanese programs, such as Japanese dramas, movies, animations, culture programs, etc. Not only bringing Japanese culture on the screen, now WakuWaku Japan is also letting people to taste the real Japanese food here at WakuWaku Cafe.

Taking place at Kaffein Cafe at Gandaria City, WakuWaku did an amazing job transforming the place so you can feel the traditional Japanese ambiance inside the Cafe. The dining area is separated into the indoor and outdoor area. The indoor area is beautifully decorated as a sakura garden with a small tatami area. Having your meal here feels like having the real hanami (sakura party) in Japan.

 

The interior at their outside dining area is lighter and brighter than the inside. It's simply designed with light wooden colour combined with paste pink and green colors with Japanese texture. And there's also a wall mounted cabinet which displays lots of cute Japanese ornaments at one side of the outdoor area. So simple yet comfortable!

 

The food they serve here are the authentic Ochazuke series. Ochazuke is the type of Japanese dish which is made by pouring Ocha (Japanese green tea ) and Dashi (fish stock) over rice and some savoury toppings.

Tempura Chazuke (IDR 120.000)
 The first Ochazuke series comes with assorted tempura as the savoury toppings. It has Ebi Tempuras, Fish Tempura, Squid Tempura, Mushroom Tempura, and Spinach Tempura as the toppings. After the ochazuke soup poured into the bowl, the taste of the tempura became crispy and soggy at the same time, yet so good. And of course I love the rich and unique taste of the ochazuke soup, the combination of ocha and dashi is not something you could easily found in Jakarta. Must try!

Tai Chazuke (IDR 120.000)
 If you love to have your fish raw, this might be the right dish for you. Tai Chazuke is one of their best sellers, using only the freshest snapper fish as their topping. Well for me, I'm not a big fan of raw fish, usually I would avoid eating any dish which contains raw fish such as nigiri sushi or sashimi, but I tried this dish and I must say that it was pretty good. It has that chewy texture, but it's not smelly at all. Combined with the ochazuke soup, well, ochazuke soup makes everything better! Lol.

Sake Chazuke (IDR 120.000)

The last dish of the ochazuke series, it comes with shredded grilled salmon as the topping. Well now this is something I love! The combination of the salmon, rice, and soup was so warm and comforting. The kind of comfort food that I would love to have over and over again.

Chirashi Sushi (IDR 150.000)

The last dish was not a part of the ochazuke series, but don't worry, it's just as good as the others -- if not better. Colorful seafood and vegetables over vinegar rice, it feels like you're eating sushi, in a bowl! It's pretty and tasty, highly recommended.

Last month on November 28-30th, WakuWaku Japan was also holding a grand opening event for WakuWaku Cafe. The event was held at the Piazza at Gandaria City, and you can enjoy Japanese games and culture there. You can also take picture with Ultraman Mebius (it's one of my childhood superhero!) or wear your own yukata. It was so much fun! Here are some pictures.

FYI, WakuWaku Japan Cafe will only be here for a very short time, only until January 28th 2015, so you better be on your way now before it's too late! Thanks BBlog and WakuWaku Cafe for the authentic Japanese experience :D

WAKUWAKU JAPAN CAFE

Gandaria City

Mainstreet Dining UG

Unit #MUC33

Jl. Sultan Iskandar Muda No, 8
Jakarta Selatan 12240

WAKUWAKU CAFE