Mykonos Greek Restaurant - Bali

I've been to Bali countless of times and passed by Seminyak area countless of times also. And saw this eatery called 'Mykonos' many many times before but didn't thought of having a meal there. Ummm...maybe the thought of having Greek food in Bali was slightly off to me? I'll hunt for Balinese food while there and not Western. But nevertheless, I've heard reviews about this place and a friend wanted to try and hence why not? 

The eatery situated at in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Seminyak. Certainly a prime area and you wouldn't miss it. Ask any shopkeeper and they'll recognize this iconic restaurant. The decor had a theme of 'Mediterranean' thing going on. Lots of blue and white all over the place. Oddly said, it turn out to be quite okay. Nothing posh or fancy but certainly made quite a name for themselves. Three of us ordered lunch to share among us and here are my reviews !

Menu : Pita Garlic Bread

Price : Rp 20,000 ++

Score : 8.0 / 10

>> Fluffy dough checked. Steaming hot temperature checked. Wonderful garlic taste checked. Perfect combination for soaking in the sauces double checked !! I like bread to begin with and this is glorious for all sorts of dipping sauces. But by itself is good enough for nibbling.

I love how the garlic is infused in but still managed to be subtle, didn't overpower the taste of the sauces when dipped in. The temperature of the bread when served was perfect too. Still hot and fluffy and like those oven burn marks distributed evenly.

Menu : Sahanaki Garites

Price : Rp 45,000 ++

Score : 6.5 / 10

>> This is the combination to order when you have a dipping bread like the one above this. This dish is a basically melted feta cheese, prawns, olives and tomatoes all cooked into one. It's too salty to be eaten on its own. Bread or a plain rice is crucial to balance off the taste.

The portion was alright and enough to be shared among 4 adults. The prawns were cooked well and the olives and tomatoes were fresh too. Overall a good dip without nothing to complain about :p :p

Menu : Risotto Poseidon

Price : Rp 75,000 ++

Score : 8.5 / 10

>> I loveee risotto!! And maybe one of the most well done cooked risotto I had ever taste in Indonesia. Crunchy risotto is a BIG no no and mush risotto is a BIG no no too. This beauty over here is perfectly cooked! The risotto is cooked with spinach and served with prawns and calamari tomato sauce.

The seafood was nailed, cooked very well. The meat were succulent and fresh. The additional touch of the spinach with the creamy risotto was brilliant. Spinach serves not only as your greens in your diet but also serves an additional taste to the rice. Instead of a plain buttery creamy risotto, you get a slight hint of herbs from the spinach. Overall, my favorite complete meal of the day ^_^

Menu : Souvlaki Pita Bread
Price : Rp 55,000 ++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> There is a choice of beef, chicken or pork to this souvlaki and for an additional Rp 25,000 you have a lamb meat instead. My friends opt for pork and yes I enjoyed it ! The greens were plenty, all fresh and crispy. The pork meat was generous and succulent.  I like the idea of not using mayonnaise and instead, they used yogurt. Not only the yogurt was home made, it's adjusted well to the Asian palate too. Not overpowering the pork meat.

But if I'm allowed to give a constructive input, it will be to toast the pita bread slightly much longer. It was too cold when served and toasting the pita bread will give a crispy texture which will bring up the score higher than a seven. But still, a recommendable dish !

Mykonos Greek Restaurant

Jl. Laksamana 52, Oberoi - Seminyak, Bali.

Phone : +62361 - 733253

Jeeva Klui - Lombok (Lebaran'12)

So here I am, slapped back from my 8 days Ramadhan holidays from Lombok, Gili Air & Bali. I'm actually desperate for another extra week to pamper myself but nevertheless, reality is cruel and thus face it -__- lll. I am going to write a series of post with '(Lebaran Holiday 2012) at the end of the title just to mark as a continuation of my 8 days food journey. It might be quite long but i'll try to be as concise as possible. So relax, put your feet up and start feasting your eyes!

Above are several pictures of the resort I stayed (Jeeva Klui) during my trip in Lombok. Jeeva is situated near to the city center and has a stretch of private beach (Part of Pantai Senggigi) connected directly to the resort. Certainly a breath taking view! The resort only has about 20 bungalow cottages and thus it felt very homey. There were a handful of European tourist but even with that, the place still seemed serene to me. A good recommendation for those looking to visit Lombok.

Jeeva Klui only has one restaurant, bearing in the mind the small scale resort that I classify them to be, it make a lot of sense! The partly outdoor resto sits directly in front of the resort pool and open for all breakfast, lunch & dinner till 11 pm.

Menu : Corn Fritters

Price : Complimentary (Free)

Score : 5 / 10

>> The sweet and sour condiment sauce at the bottom suits my taste but I think the fritter itself was rather cold and soggy. But at the end of the day, this was a complimentary dish so I'm not going to complain too much about it hahahaha!

Menu : Aromatic Beef Salad

Price : RP 65,000 ++

Score : To Be Advise

>> I must honestly say that I sort of forget what this taste like. But definitely and surely not horrible! If it was bad, it's impossible for me to forget the dish. On the other hand, it didn't leave an impression on me and thus it is logical to say this salad didn't blew me away :p

 

Menu : Tuna Sambal Bawang

Price : RP 85,000 ++

Score : 6.5 / 10

>> I was surprised by the size of the tuna fish. I am not sure how much does a kilo of tuna cost but man...Jeeva is generous with their portioning. I like everything about the dish, the salad was tasty, rice was perfectly steamed and cooked, the 'sambal bawang' (chili onion) makes the perfect condiments EXCEPT...the tuna was overcooked and thus slightly too tough for my liking. Nevertheless, it might be a one time mistake made by the chef. Thus if you are a tuna lover, you might wanna have a go at this.

Menu : Ayam Taliwang

Price : RP 85,000 ++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> Again! Thumbs up for the portioning :) Unlike the tuna, this time the chicken is well cooked. Slightly burnt grill on the outside but still tender and juicy on the inside. The only thing that I would like the chef (if possible) improve is on the sauce. Ayam Taliwang is suppose to be spicy and hot but the taste here lean more towards 'coconuty and peanuty' flavor if you can imagine what I'm trying to explain. It is like a satay sauce but with a stronger coconut flavor instead of peanut.

Menu : Trio Tomato Risotto

Price : RP 80,000 ++

Score : 9.0 / 10

>> This might be the best risotto I have ever tasted in Indonesia. I had a couple of good bowl of risotto back when I was in Melbourne, but in Indonesia?? Hell NONE! At Jeeva, the rice were all plump, soaked with all the goodness of the tomato gravy sauce. The risotto is far from overcooked, exactly right on point! The sunripe tomatoes were extremely sweet thus the name of the dish 'Trio Tomato Risotto'. After the 2 Indonesian dish on top, I understood that the resto cater to the European tourist that come to stay at Jeeva and thus adjusting the taste of the food to their tongue not the local Indonesians.

 

Menu : Penne Zucchini

Price : RP 80,000 ++

Score : 7.5 / 10

>> Another good pasta dish! Now I am more certain with the statement I made above; the fact the chef at Jeeva caters to the European tongue and taste. This is my first try on a Zucchini pasta dish. It has a cream sauce base, similar to "Carbonara" but not as thick. I am not a big fan of cream base pastas but this I certainly don't mind having :)

Menu : Chocolate Fondant 

Price : RP 55,000 ++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> My meal wouldn't be complete if I haven't had dessert to sum everything up. I chose chocolate fondant and it was an average one. The technique behind was nailed; right temperature, soft texture, melted chocolate oozing out from the center upon cutting into but it lacks a little bit of sugar and a gigantic scoop of vanilla ice cream at the side (instead of whip cream). Nevertheless, not a disappointing menu!

Jeeva Klui Resort

Jln Raya Klui Beach No. 1 Lombok Indonesia

Phone : +62 (0) 370 693 035

Fax : +62 (0) 370 693 036

Ocha & Bella

Something about the name that sounds so romantic and when I was there the place was soooo cozy and I love their outdoor theme. Ocha & Bella is situated at the lobby of Hotel Citadine and not only it was beautiful and the fact they're not crazily booked or packed, made it all even better. You don't need to shout while talking and you don't feel the pressure to walk off after dinner as the waiters are not waiting to turnover your seats. The place is well decor and a great place to 'date' too :)

Well, I have to admit, the food and drinks are slightly pricey as the portion was relatively small but hey! you need to pay for the service and ambiance for sure and forking out more cash on the weekends certainly won't hurt.

Menu : Tagliata (Sirloin 180 grams)

Price : Rp 180,000++
Score : 7.5 / 10

>> Cooked 180 grams of beef is not massive and actually looked like an appetizer to me haha! I realised the price was rather expensive but certainly worth it. I asked for a medium and they give me medium. Nothing worst when you ask for a medium and they give you well done of overcooked meat. The meat is tender, well seasoned, beautifully plate and the cheese shavings was a great combination. LOVE THS !

Menu : Sea Bass with Cockles Stew

Price : Not noted down

Score : 6.5 / 10

>> The ingredients are all fresh and nothing fishy at all. The sea bass and cockles were perfectly cooked but I felt it was slightly under seasoned. Maybe a good stew doesn't need to much seasonings, I don't know but I certainly will sprinkle more salt and pepper on top of this dish.

Menu : Risotto al Granchio

Price : Rp 90,000++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> I LOVE A GOOD RISOTTO and this is a good one! The rice was cooked perfectly, not soggy and certainly not raw. The crab seafood infused broth was totally absorbed by the rice thus making it a delightful meal ! The only downside was the portion, tooooo little as the plate was extremely shallow in depth.

Menu : Papardelle Salscia

Price : Rp 70,000++
Score : 8.0 / 10

>> It has been ages since I ate a good pasta and this is surely a top notch dish. The pasta is freshly made in the kitchen, the cream sauce was at a right consistency; not too heavy or thin. Very well seasoned and I can certainly taste some herbs in the dish. The only down side is once again; the small portion!

Menu : Tiramisu

Price : Rp 50,000++
Score : 4.0 / 10

>> This was a let down unfortunately. I think I can make a better Tiramisu because this was just not sweet enough, can't taste the coffee or rum liquor, the cream was too heavy and wasn't chilled enough. Well basically wasn't up to standard with their main courses. This time since a very very long long time, I didn't finish my desert. You hear that? I didn't finish my desert.

Yummy Sydney Part 2

This is the second part of the blog. During my trip to Sydney, I remembered I ate a lot of Korean and Thai food. Not sure why I stumble upon that kind of food but nevertheless I was satisfied eating them. Desserts; cakes, tim tams, ice creams and gelatos was never missing from my 'what to eat today' lists. I try to consume as much ice creams and cakes as much as possible as I learn from my Melbourne days that Australia has one of the best dairy and confectionery products!

YUMMY FUSION BBQ

 

This restaurant is situated in "Castle Tower" in the Baulkham Hills area. It is about 40 minutes drive from the city area. We did some shopping therapy in this mall and had lunch here. I ordered the "Chili Pork" AUD 10.90 and DH ordered "Grilled Pork Belly" AUD 12.50. The food was quite tasty and the big portion sufficiently powered me to walk and shop even further.

WATERS EDGE

The main reason why I came to Sydney was to attend DH sister's wedding. It was a beautiful setting and venue. The Waters Edge was situated at the quay of Darling Harbor and thus the view was surely splendid to the eye. Everyone dressed up to the occasion and the food was simply mouth watering. The day begins with everyone busy preparing getting ready and the night ends with people partying on the dance floor!!!

 

IN CHAN

This is the Thai Restaurant that I bragged about in the previous post (part 1). "In Chan" is situated on the Kingsford Street, just along Kingsford Chinese Restaurant. One of the most things that amazed me was that the cook in the kitchen were very young. Probably in the late 20's. I also assume that this is a family run restaurant, because almost all of the worker there looked alike. The next time I come back to Sydney, I'll definitely pop myself back in here again and order more dishes for sure!

> Tom Yum Goong AUD 7.00

> Yum Ped yang AUD 16.90

> BBQ Beef Crying Tiger AUD 15.90

THAI FOON
That day, a few of us went to the Star City Casino and try out our luck and as it turns out, we had good luck on our side! I won AUD 1200 and DH's dad won even much much more. Thus as for dinner, we decided to splurge more because in a way it was complimentary from Star City. We had exotic Kangaroo's meat, duck salad, tom yum soup, curry seafood soup (turns out to be the star of the meal) and many others.

PHO PASTEUR

I wanted to eat at "CHAT THAI" in the city but the queue was just crazy to be true. Instead we went for Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup at "PHO PASTEUR". The restaurant was pretty busy when we were there during the peak dinner hour. I had a "Grilled Pork With Vermicelli AUD 9.00" and DH had "Special Beef Rice Noodle Soup AUD 11.00" and as for our starter, we choose to have fried spring rolls to share.