Kitchenette

Before I start this post, I'll have to inform you guys that my brain was scattered around and thus a lot of the basic details that I usually provide are missing. Forgive me for that :p

I was busy chatting, replying my work emails, eating, tasting and drinking (not forgetting I left the table early for a friend's birthday dinner). Therefore, do pardon me :p Other than that, please read and feed your eyes :)

Menu : Spaghetti Aglio Olio

Price : To be advised

Score : 3.0 / 10

>> The reason  why I gave this a score of 3 wasn't the fact that it taste bad but the fact this doesn't taste like Aglio Olio AT ALL. We, J-towners eats a lot of fusion food but this dish is 'fusionized' soooo much that it actually taste like a good 'mie goreng' instead of aglio olio. I kid you not ! 

Look at the picture and you'll realized that Aglio Olio doesn't have tomatoes in them. In here, there are some chunky ones. This taste sweet as if a good dollop of sweet soy (kecap manis) is added into. So, dear Kitchenette; please fix on this menu. I really think you serve relatively some good food for a shopping mall standard but if I wanted a bowl of Aglio Olio I'll never ever order it from you again. * Unless you write me an email informing me that you have switch recipe :) hahahaha

Menu : Beef Burger Steak with eggs on rice
Price : To be advise
Score : 8.0 / 10

>> Yummmehh !!!! Reminds me of college food I had in Chinatown back in the old days when I was still in Melbourne. A piece of meat, additional fried egg resting on a mountain of steam rice with some funky gravy all around. This taste 'homey' but better in many level. To begin with, the rice portion is BIG and thus if a female is having it, either you literally have a big stomach (just like me hahaha) or you just get out of the female prison, if not then you better share with another friend rather than wasting it. This definitely taste fusion but correct in all the taste department :)

Menu : Marie - Lou

Price : RP 55,000 ++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> This is basically a sweet crepe. Whole baked banana, a good dollop of nuttela, a little bit of whipped cream on the side, grated cheese & a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Lastly, drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauce to finish off. This screams "CALORIIIIIEESSSS" in so many level, especially after having half Aglio Olio and half portion of the Beef steak on rice. But my mouth is just too itchy, it can't stop until I have dessert to wash my main course off. Nevertheless, satisfying and a happy tummy is a happy me !!!!

Kitchenette

Plaza Indonesia Extension 1st Floor

(Across Baron Bistro or Louis Vuitton)

Phone : 021 - 2992 3580

First Love Patisserie - Original Flavor

Thursday, 19th July 2012 was my birthday and to those who didn't know it, shame on you !!! hahaha, oh well anyways, I received a cake from my dear friend S.M. Sound weird enough, I was thinking about this particular cake during lunch time and when I got back from work, thaaa da!!! S.M sent it to me :'), very very lucky girl indeed. 

First love patisserie concentrates on making only one type of cake; 'Hokkaido Thousand Layer Cake'. They claimed to sent their chef to Japan and uses imported natural ingredients (they use natural vanilla beans which cost 20 times more than vanilla essence). Each thousand layer cakes are made fresh without preservatives and can be stored up to 3 days only. If you freeze it, it'll last up to 7 days and put it at room temperature for 15 minutes before eating it.

Menu : Original Thousand Layer Cake

Price : Rp 280,000 for 20cm or Rp 320,000 for 24cm

Score : 9.0 / 10

>> My favourite thousand layer cake. First Love Patisserie only sells whole cake, if you want to have it per slice, you'll have to visit Kitchenette (Plaza Indonesia) or Social House (Grand Indonesia). Besides original flavor, they have : Oreo, Green Tea and Coffee (Rp 295,000 for 20 cm & Rp 360,000 for 24 cm). Remember to order 2 days in advance to ensure availability. Emergency orders will subject to cake availability.

First Love Patisserie

Plaza Indonesia Level 3 #E 01 - i

Phone : 021 - 3623 2828 (call / sms)

Mobile : 0818 08843 888

Blackberry Pin : 22687290

Starbucks

Menu : Bolognaise Chicken Sandwich

Price : Rp 29,000
Score : 8.5 / 10

>> Who likes cafeteria sandwiches? Well, I don't! But I usually have my 'Rustica Chicken Sandwich' on my way to 'Tangerang'. I'll usually stop by the gas station and have a quick breakfast. And I stick to that menu until yesterday I had my first 'Bolognaise Chicken Sandwich' and I was truly taken by surprise! 

A super duper tasty Bolognaise gravy, good amount of minced meat, compatible tasting cheddar cheese. The only downside was the white bun was too thick. The gravy is really good and with that, actually made me wanna have it with a good bowl of spaghetti.

So...to you all Starbucks' drinkers, the next time you queuing up for your lattes, cappuccinos and frappucinos, do remember to peek at their display counter. If you see this, hopefully it'll remind you of my post. Grab and try it for yourself. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did !

Vietopia

My experiences with Vietnamese cuisine are rather shallow and my best ones were certainly a few years back when I made a trip around Vietnam. I'd say the food taste like Thai. Strong in lime, lemon, vinegar and can be spicy sometimes. Definitely my kind of food!!

F.W brought me to this Vietnamese restaurant in Cikini Raya. If you are unfamiliar with the area (just like me) then I assure you that 'Vietopia' will easily passes you by going unnoticed. The restaurant looked gloomy, unkempt and not inviting from the outside. I arrived there around 9 pm and there were only 3 tables occupied on a Sunday night. Maybe it was due to the fact that it is after dinner service peak hour.

Menu : Cha Gio

Price : Rp 26,000++

Score : 6.5 / 10

>> The number one rule : you can never skip spring rolls as your starter in all Vietnamese restaurants and I delightfully obeyed. This is basically a fried spring roll with minced chicken inside. The fillings inside were alright but what made this a delicious dish was the fried skin. It has this gooey slight chewy on the inner side and yet still crispy on the outside of the skin. Yumm - ooh !!!

Menu : Pho Bo

Price : Rp 45,000 ++

Score : 6.5 / 10

>> Pho is a Vietnamese renowned beef noodle soup is served with hand cut rice noodle, generous amount of sliced beef, beef brisket, Vietnamese basil, scallions, coriander, beansprout, lime and chilies to taste. I definitely seasoned my soup very well to adjust my palate. 5 wedge of lime and a few spoonful of cut green chilies. The warmth of the broth definitely warmed my heart.

Menu : Ca Mu Chien Voi Gung

Price : Rp 48,000 ++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> Resembles 'Gurame Asam Manis' but brought up to a few notch higher. This is a one portion dish of fried grouper served with mushrooms and poured with "Noucmam" sauce. Best eaten with steam white rice. Love the sweet and sour taste!

Menu : Ca Phe Sua Da

Price : Rp 22,000 ++
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> Served in the Vietnamese traditional way of drinking coffee. The coffee potion will slowly drip from the miniature pot on top of the glass filled with sweet condensed milk at the bottom. This might take 10 minutes for all the coffee to be filtered all the way through. You can have this in both hot and iced! Order their 'Ice lemon grass tea' (Rp 15,000) instead if you are extremely thirsty and couldn't wait for 10 minutes.

Total Cost for the meal of two : Rp 180,000 (inclusive tax)

Vietopia

Jl. Cikini Raya No 33, Jakarta Selatan

Phone : 021 - 3915893

Manimga

Manimga is situated in one of the most densely populated area where Korean influence are felt; Kelapa Gading, Jakarta Utara. Countless Korean restaurants can be found in Jakarta but I've never ever eaten 'duck' in a Korean eatery. Instead, I always have the common type of meat; beef and pork (sometimes chicken) cooked in all sorts of way - BBQ, grilled, stir fried, boiled in soup, etc, with all sorts of sauces and traditional condiments - gochujang, bean paste, etc. Not only I was actually surprise that I found a Korean duck dish, but even more that it was the house specialty !!! Goooood stuff :')

Before I go into the details with the menu that I ordered, I have to inform you all that this is by far the MOST value for money Korean food I have ever eaten in Jakarta. Yes, I must say the place wasn't the most prestigious Ruko in Kelapa Gading area (but easy to locate). Yes, the place was rather small and rather run down and gloomy looking. Yes, the restaurant wasn't the best decor compared to other Korean eatery, but let me repeat it once again "Manimga is the most value for money Korean food I have ever eaten in Jakarta".

Buffet centre side dishes is a common thing in all Korean restaurants, but the distance of generosity that Manimga goes is by far the furthest I've known. Below are the pictures of items that two of us got for free. (Bear in mind that the 2 of us only ordered two meat dishes and one bowl of steam rice). Left : Sundubu (others usually charged for around Rp 50,000. Middle : Papingsu & Ice Coffee (ps : free flow rice green tea too). Right : Unlimited centre side dish (the only let down was the super sour kimchi).

Menu : Hunje Ori

Price : Rp 125,000 ++

Score : 9.0 / 10

>> This duck doesn't taste like duck at all. It taste like cured pork sausage and ham. I loooove this stuff. To begin, the portion is BIG. For two person, we ordered the smallest size plate and I was smiling for ear to ear when I saw the portion. Korean dish is famous for tiny weeny meat portion (I guess that is how they earn more money). The duck meat has the right amount of fat, nothing like the one I ate in Chinese restaurant (thick fat layer). This dish has the right amount of fat layer and when wrapped with fresh green leaves, cut chilies, kimchi and dipped into mustard and Korean soy sauce...my taste buds dances! Definitely two thumbs and two toes up! MUST TRY !!!

Menu : Gochujang Jumulruk

Price : Rp 90,000 ++

Score : 6.0 / 10

>> This dish comes after Hunje Ori and with the complimentary Sundubu and endless side dishes my tummy was 3/4 filled. I was again amazed by the portion of meat. My gosh! By far the largest BBQ pork dish served in Korean restaurant I have ever eaten in Jakarta for the price of Rp 90,000. I couldn't help but to think how much profit the other Korean restaurants made when they charged Rp 200,000 and sometimes even smaller portion that this.

However sadly, the taste didn't live up to my expectation and definitely outshined by 'Hunje Ori'. I didn't like the taste, it's too acidic and I couldn't smell the slight burnt taste that BBQ grilling usually gave. The cook might marinated the pork for too long or the helper might grilled it for too short. If only the taste can live up, then my lunch on that particular day was truly heaven. Nevertheless, a good size to share for those people who are not picky about their food. If you are then choose the duck dish instead!

Overall I must say that this restaurant left a big impression on me. Not only the service was very generous, the food portion were certainly satisfying but also not many of Indonesian actually notice this place and therefore NO queue. Bliss isn't it ??

Total Cost for the meal of two : Rp 240,000 (inclusive tax)

Manimga - Korean Barbeque Restaurant

7 Boulevard Barat Kelapa Gading
Phone : 021 - 4526 136

Restaurant Mandala

This restaurant is apparently a famous one in the Selatan area, but being a clueless me about the food in that area, I'm a truly a late bloomer. This run down restaurant has been established for quite sometime and had earn a lot of recognition by words of mouth across not only the Chinese, but also the Muslims community in Jakarta. They definitely serve good food, but be surprised on the interior. I think the owner is an extreme clutter but hey! Those weird looking ornaments made this place even more unique!

In addition, be sure to come slightly early from the 'peak dinner time' to avoid waiting for seats while smelling and staring at the rest of others eating and munching in front of you. It's a torture!!!

Menu : Sup Mun Tahu
Price : Rp 66,000 ++
Score : 8.0 / 10

>> Don't look down on this rather 'unappealing' looking kind of 'egg drop soup'. One of the best Mun Tahu soup I had for a long long time. The soup consist of the typical ingredients, tofu, minced beef, eggs, tiny prawns with scallions on top. But the secrets is definitely in the broth! Suddenly, this soup makes expensive ingredients seems trivial and not important at all. Cheap ingredients can certainly makes a print on your tongue. Perfect consistency and seasoning is what makes this soup shines!

Be careful when drinking it, don't get your tongue burn of you'll have a hard time enjoying the rest of the meal. A great portion to share for 3 to 4 person.

Menu : Bistik Ayam

Price : Rp 67,000 ++

Score ; 7.0 / 10

>> Be careful of staining your white clothing from the sizzling hot sauce and by that means you need to be slightly patience to let it cool down for a few minutes or else, you'll definitely burnt your tongue.

As of the above, this dish is a good size to share for 3 to 4 person. It comes with potato wedges on the side that compliments the dish even more if you drench it with the sauce. This dish might be a little bit too salty when you eat it on it's own, but steam rice will balance it extremely well. Chili sauce will be a good condiment to go along with this dish.

Total Cost for the meal of two : Rp 170,000 (inclusive tax)

Restoran Mandala

Address : Jl. Wolter Monginsidi No. 80 Blok Q Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan

Phone : 021 -9389 9597

Porter House

I did talk about the transformation that Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) had become in a short period of time. And so... the next time you're making your way down to the stretch of cafes that PIK has to offer and confuse on picking which one to check out, you might remember this post. 

Porter House is one of the busiest cafe that you'll notice. Three units of shop houses (Ruko) were combined to become a two level restaurant / cafe / hang-out place. They offer an indoor and outdoor separate place, both smoking and non-smoking areas, private rooms are available too on the second level.

Even though parking might be a slight hassle, I'm guaranteed a table every time I'm there to visit. Availability is a very important thing to me, I'm definitely a kind of person that wouldn't want to queue for an hour just to get a seat, unless the world is ending tomorrow and I must eat my last meal at a specific place, hahahaha ...

Menu : Hungarian Beef Goulash

Price : Rp 28,000 ++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> A warm hearty and a rather good size bowl of soup. The fillings inside were generous; diced beef, bell peppers, capsicum and all the typical ingredients you expect to find in a goulash were there. I like the balance of flavor, a good kick of tomatoes to the tongue. This soup reminds me of a cross between a marinara and a bolognaise sauce. Good stuff!

Menu : Scallop de Horenzo

Price : Rp 25,000 ++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> When the dish arrived on the table, I was slightly disappointed on the size of the scallop. I expect it to be like the ones served on Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen, but when I was reminded on the price tag that this rather perceived as 'expensive' seafood is a mere Rp 25,000 (for 3 pc), I shouldn't complain much. The well cooked scallop were place on a bed of buttery spinach with melted cheese and cream glazed on top.

Menu : Escargot Bourguignon

Price : Rp 55,000++

Score : 7.5 / 10

>> This time, I was surprised by the amount of escargot they serve on the tin plate. I usually find restaurants serving it on a much smaller quantity and charging with a much higher price tag. I love the generous amount of garlic, buttery, olive oil sauce served on the bottom layer. They definitely should serve this with more slices of toast. One of my favourites on the menu!

Menu : Spaghetti Aglio Olio

Price : Rp 45,000++

Score : 5.0 / 10

>> If you're hungry then you shouldn't order this dish. The size was a let down! It couldn't satisfy me, let alone if you're an adult male. You probably end up ordering two main courses. For the taste, I'd say I had better ones. This was a little bland, I couldn't find the typical strong garlic and spicy taste that Aglio Olio need to offer. But don't get me wrong, it didn't taste bad or disgusting; still fit for human consumption as long you are not picky about your pasta.

Menu : Penne Carbonara

Price : Rp 47,000++

Score : 8.5 / 10

>> A very big difference in terms of taste with the 'Aglio Olio'. I'm not a big fan of creamy pastas, but the next time I'm at Port'er House, I'll order this again. This is not the typical tasting Carbonara that I've ever tasted anywhere else. A generous hand of bacon over a rather 'garlic' tasting cream sauce. I'm forgetting about Aglio Olio and changing to this instead!

Menu : Beef Mignoettes ala Pizziola

Price : Rp 55,000++

Score : 6.0 / 10

>> Size is again an issue here. The beef was very well cooked, perfectly medium just how I usually like mine. However, the fact that it is only a 3 slice beef medallion dish couldn't satisfy my hungry tummy made it a slight let down. They served it with two types of salad; a potato salad and a spinach salad on each ends. A super small portion of penne were placed on the bottom of the beef and a beef reduction glaze was poured over tying the dish together.

Menu : Oreo Thousand Layer Cake

Price : Rp 30,000++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> I know the fact that Port'er House get their 'thousand layer cake' for a local vendor in PIK. They have two flavours; original vanilla and oreo. To be honest, I like both and doesn't mind which one to have. Be quick to order it early because they usually ran out of it before they close.

Note : First Love Patisserie in Plaza Indonesia is better than this by a mile! 

Porter House

Rukan Crown Golf Blok B No 38 Pantai Indah Kapuk
Phone : 021 - 44632017
Mon - Thu : 11 am - 12 am
Fri - Sun : 11am - 2 am 

Fat Burger

- The Original Fat Burger -

Man Vs. Fat Burger

I would have to admit that my first time having a burger at 'Fat Burger' was bad. I felt it was too oily at all level. Trust me, I handle greasy food very very well and have no issues about it depositing along my waistline but the amount that drips out while biting onto it, is quite horrifying. That 'first time' was close to about 1.5 years ago I think.

Last weekend, FW was craving for it, apparently it was his staple diet back in college days in the states. I agreed on giving this fast food joint a second chance. I visited their 2nd branch in Plaza Indonesia, Basement floor. For a fast food joint, I felt their service was too slow, however I must say this time round it was better than my first. Don't get me wrong, the burger is still FAT, is still high in calorie + cholesterol and all that but definitely a big improvement on the grease. You can have a single, double, triple, quadruple meat stacks in between your buns. (Go figure on how you're gonna bite into the burger) Additional eggs, cheese and bacon are also options. I like their 'fat chips', a good size for chewing and for those who like normal size fries, don't worry as 'skinny fries' are available too. For drinks, I tried their 'strawberry milkshake' but honestly, it wasn't that good. I'll stick to coke to sprite next time.

Overall, it wasn't a nightmare. Surely a better experience than my first. But is it a better burger than Burger King or Carl's Junior... that I don't think so ! I'm definitely sticking to my regular, unless FW is having his cravings again.

FAT BURGER

- Plaza Indonesia, Basement Floor (Next to Lada Merah)

- Plaza Indonesia, Extension (Across Ak'sara)

Red Velvet Cake

Starbucks - Red Velvet Cake ( Score : 5.5 / 10)

I simply do not understand what is the big deal about 'Red Velvet'. We, Indonesians are a bunch of typical followers. You get a 'hip' hangout place to serve you an attractive looking piece of cake with mediocre taste and an expensive tag and suddenly BOOM ! They're starting a trend on cakes.

Red Velvet is basically a normal sponge cake with butter cream in between the layers. Different bakers do it differently, some uses cream cheese fillings instead of butter cream and instead of biscuit crumbles, some might use sweetened mixed nuts to line the outer most part of the cake. I've seen places starting to be different and alter the food coloring. Instead of red, they opt for blue, a smurf color kind of blue. It's a turn off for me as I felt those food dyes might somehow be harmful to our body.

Oh well, I pray that the next trend or craze that we Indonesians going to have will be at least something that makes your pallet dance. Lastly, just to humor myself I've copied and paste a link that might come in handy to some of you out there who are looking to bake one yourself; food network's red velvet cake recipe collection

Sengoku Ramen

- Tonkatsu Ramen -

Menu : Tonkatsu Ramen

Price : Rp 38,000 ++

Score : 7.5 / 10

Put your hands up in the air if you have been noticing the big changes that Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) had recently become in the past one year. The stretch of shop houses is nearly filled with all sorts of hangouts, cafes, pubs, karaoke, small eateries, big eateries. You name it, PIK has it. Those of you are 'slightly late' should do yourself some justice and visit there more often.

With new cafes and restaurants opening every few weeks, there is a new Ramen shop that just opened. Just for your information in PIK there are only 3 places that sells ramen :

1. Hachimaki Ramen (not good, don't bother trying)
2. Sengoku Ramen (Exactly next to Stevan's Meat Shop)
3. Ikkudo Ramen (opening soon in a couple of weeks)

Sengoku Ramen serves two kind of broths with every type of soup, the waitresses called it number 1 and number 2. Number 1 is slightly less thin and obviously number 2 is more thick and strong compare to the first. In addition, they serve three types of ramen; normal, firm and extra - firm. I had the 'Tonkatsu Ramen', number 2 with firm noodles. I like that they're generous with their spring onions, garlic and chillies when you asked for extra. Because I've ate in other Ramen places and they actually charge money when you want more onions, they consider it as 'toppings'. Personally, it doesn't cost any money for them to give their customers the basics, it's not asking for free slices of chasiu. Thus, I felt it's ridiculous when they charge for every single things.

Anyways, the service was fine, the soup is good !! I liked the firm ramen, love the extra crunchy mushroom bits. The only let down would be the chasiu slices are overly soft. There is no real bite to it. I'd love to have some firmness on the meat next time please. But overall, a thumbs up and would definitely come back and the others on the menu.

I MISS YOU . . .

To my dearest blog...

A friend of mine BBm me in the morning as it goes something like this :

Friend : yuliannnnn !!!

Me : yuppppp :)

Friend : I read your blog

Me : trythismenu?? Oyaah...hahahaha

Friend : It was good, very detail... bla bla etc etc

Me : *goes into guilty mode* ummm yaa...i've been absence for like 1 year :p

Friend : You should definitely continue writing it...bla bla

That conversation above really took place this morning on my way to the office which lead to this post. I know the previous post before this said that " I, yulian suwandri hereby promise and swore under the blogger oath that will continue writing this blog." hahahaha but umm...apparently 'other excuses' got the better part of me. But surely, I'm allowed to be granted another chance ya? Lets refresh my oath :

" I, Ms. Yulian Suwandri, the daughter of Mulia**** Set***** hereby is sitting down in my office alone, typing and staring at the computer screen; promising that I will regain my love for food writing (*during my absence, my love for food is still very very much intact hahahaha) and sincerely wanting to discipline myself to have a commitment with my food blog. I promise, through good times and bad ones, in sickness or in health, regardless of my wealth or during my poor period when my monthly income has been depleted, that I, Ms. Yulian Suwandri will continue and will not abandon this blog. "

Is that good enough? I assume it is !!

So, here are some updates about me. After nearly another 7 months since my last blog, I : 

• got a slight teeny weeny rise on my pay check
• loose nearly 7 kilograms
• got myself a loving boyfriend *blush blush*
• then start to put on my old weight back (increased 1.5 kilograms)
• got myself two brand new posh bags..loooveee it
• made chilled tiramisu from scratch a few weeks back
• played a lot of board games
• played a lot of card games
• learned to play 'Omaha Poker'
• won a couple of bucks from Marina Bay Sands *enough to cover my 5 day trip there
• discover a different perspective about architecture, interior and design
• tried almost every hangouts along Pantai Indah Kapuk busy stretch of eateries
• lost my blackberry and bought another one in the same hour