De Pluit

De Pluit is your normal around your neighborhood kind of restaurant. They serves a good variety of Chinese food, with a slight fusion mixture of Indonesian. Ambiance was reasonable, with air conditioning and sofa seats all over the 2 storey building. I wouldn't say this is a brilliant place and that you must try this, but it's decent for late night snack or a quick bite..

The pricing of the the menu were all reasonably priced with a decent portion. The additional free wi-fi service was a bonus point. But is it enough for me to go back for a second trip? Hmm ... read my reviews below and see how it goes ...

Menu : Siu May (Left)   /   Hakkau (Right)
Price : Rp 11,000 ++ per portion
Score : Siu May 5.0 / 10   &    Hakkau 5.25 / 10

>> Well, a disappointment but didn't expect much from the very beginning. It's a pass and thus edible and not a total junk. But it's for sure wasn't freshly made on the spot. It is most likely pre bought in frozen form. Whenever anyone order, they'll just steam it up quickly and served. The texture that gives a feeling of 'frozen food' is there upon the first bite. But then again, you can't complain too much for Rp 11,00 per portion.

Menu : Char Siu Panggang
Price : Rp 38,000 ++
Score : 5.8  /  10

>> This was not too bad, a 5.8 coming from a stingy person that doesn't give away points for food too easily. The portion was alright, standard for the pricing. I like the sauce that the roast pork is nestling on. Rather too oily but the taste was okay as a matter of fact. If I may complain, the thickness of the Char Siu was too thinly sliced. A little less slices but more thick cuts would be better for me.  Thus I won't recommend it to anyone.

Menu : Nasi Goreng Ikan Asin

Price : Rp 28,000 ++
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> Portion was a surprise for me. A good portion for a fried rice with a tag of Rp 28,000. Wasn't humongous but a good filling to my big tummy indeed. The taste of the seasoning wasn't half bad either. When eating with Char Siu (Above) and Babi Kuluyuk (Below), I should've eaten with white rice instead. Because the salted fish in this rice made it over salty. But as a single dish on it's own, was okay.

Menu : Babi Kuluyuk

Price : Rp 40,000 ++

Score : 6.5 / 10

>> When translated to English it simply means 'Sweet and Sour Pork' and the taste mirror the title of the dish. Sweet from the tomato paste, sour from the pineapple juice. This might be better dishes among the others in the menu. Size of the portion was enough for 2 to 3 person and reasonable priced too. Taste was somehow alright, a decent 6.25 from me. 

Coming down to the conclusion of will I come back for a second trip .... .... ..... ?

Maybe not ... I'd rather spend my money on Bakmi Pejagalan (Review post date : 22 May 2013). Hahahaha !

De Pluit 

Jl. Pluit Karang Blok Z6 Selatan No 13. Jakarta Utara 14450

Phone : 021 - 66672348

Guo Tie - San Tung

It's been a quiet April month for TryThisMenu, not so much reviews been posted on here. I've been really busy with work (due to all the Tax month thingy : SPT, PPh 29, bla bla bla) but that doesn't mean I've not been eating. To think about it, I've been eating just as much or not, more than usual. This May, there will be more reviews on 'Street Food'. It will be a compilation of road side food ('Kaki Lima') and more simple 'local food'. You know, your well known food stalls in Muara Karang & Pluit area. Begin reading and get ready to salivate !!

Menu : Guo Tie San Tung
Price : Rp 3.500 Per Piece
Score : 7.5 / 10

>> Who don't know the well known name 'San Tung'. The very first branch is in Central, Kota area in Jakarta. This brand is very much a big part of my childhood memory and it never fails to bring a smile whenever I came back and pop some in my mouth. 

Thickness of skin is neither too thin, nor too thick. The amount of pork fillings with vegetables was just perfect. The pork meat wasn't over oily at all. With additional condiments such as ; garlic, chili, soy sauce and sesame oil, you'll soon be having at least 20 pieces all to yourself. I had this beauties in the Muara Karang branch, even though it's still good, I definitely think the one in Kota branch is way better !

Menu : Tahu Kecap

Price : Rp 10,000  per piece

Score : 6.0 / 10

>> A simple dish that usually goes together with Guo Tie dishes. They usually sells this as 'Sek Ba'. A big pot that includes Pig's organ such as intestines, blood cubes, trotter, etc, cooked together with hard boil eggs and tofu in a heavy dense soy sauce mixture.

It taste a little bit sweet with a hint of 'herbal' sense. Difficult to explain but has that Chinese herbs smell that is quite soothing to the palate. This dish is common among Chinese tables and even though I had better than San Tung had to offer, it's not bad at all. Mountains of Guo Tie with slices of Tahu Kecap is definitely the 'must eat' menu over here!!

 

Guo Tie San Tung

Cabang Muara Karang ; 

- Along the stretch of eateries across Eaten Restaurant. 

Fook Yew

Fook Yew !! Yes I said it and I wanna repeat myself again 'Fook Yew!!'...sounds vulgar? Different spelling, same pronunciation but isn't that is one good attention grabbing marketing gimmick ?! Fook Yew is another restaurant created by the Ismaya Group people. Love the concept, it gave a very unique and a rather new type of fusion food. It's a cross between Shanghai and Java I suppose. Besides the very catchy name, I like the interior of the place; red represents the Prosperity color and the every other details that the place offer just builds on it. A solid concept from the menu, to the posters, napkins and even the modernized traditional song they play! Attention to detail is what I'm amazed.

Menu : Shanghai Pan Fried Bun (Chicken & Chili Crab)
Price : Rp 29,000 ++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> The appearance was drooling for me and the texture of the skin covering the meat inside was thin and crispy at the bottom. Not too dry, not too doughy. Just the right thickness to bit and chew on. The portion of the filling was good too. Not to stingy and each was made in equal size. But the small issue was at the texture of the meat, too soft and thus giving a false feeling of 'uncooked'. But other than that, the seasonings and everything else was delicious!

Menu : Ni Chang Sweet & Sour Crispy Chicken

Price : Rp 52,000 ++
Score : 7.0 / 10

>> The outer layer of crispy texture was perfection to me! Wasn't soggy nor too hard but the crunchiness was almost to good. But with that comes the issue of being the chicken meat was mallet too thinly. FW lovess this and has no issue with the thin chicken meat but I'd love it to be a little bit thicker. Thus instead of the crunchy fried outer layer, I can enjoy the plumpness of the chicken meat. But worth the order? I'd give a green light :)

Menu : Spicy Beef Fried Rice

Price : Rp 45,000 ++
Score : 8.0 / 10

>> Goodness!! I could feel the spiciness kicking dancing around my taste buds and love that sensation. I'm a big fan of chili and glad the chef was daring with the chili seeds! Hahaha...well I can't say too much with the portion, too little for my fat tummy and the fillings of the beef was almost invisible. But I would order this again I think. The seasoning of the dish was just right on my taste buds.

Menu : Deep Fried Beancurd with Uncle Zheng Sauce

Price : Rp 36,000 ++
Score : 8.5 / 10

>> My favourite dish of the day! The texture of the deep fried bean curd was just tooo yummy. It was crispy and still soft on the inside. I wonder what kind of flour they use to coat the bean curd skin. The sauce of the side was very complementing. It has a Vietnamese feel to it, very sweet and sour like. (Very sour actually). I recommend for you guys to dip the bean curd in the bowl of sauce instead of just pouring everything and mixing it together with the bean curd. First you loose the crispiness and then next it becomes too sour. Trust me! However bottom line, a must try menu !

Fook Yew

Gandaria City Mall Ground Floor

Angke

There's no single Chinese Indonesian that I know that hasn't ate at Angke. A complete nobody, everyone of my acquaintance knows Angke and nearly everyone likes it. What is there not to like? Well I love it, I might be biased because I'm a Hakka and Angke serves Hakka traditional food which reminds me of all the food that my grandmother used to cook back when she was healthier. So every time when I missed a good Chinese meal, Angke pops up into my head and luckily I got to visit there 2 weekends ago with a bunch of friends. It was a crowd of 10 and that equates to many dishes...nyummmm!!

Menu : Lindung Cah Fumak
Price : Rp 155,000 ++ (Large)
Score : 8.0 / 10

>> Damn ! What to say about Lindung Cah Fumak. It's probably my favorite Hakka dish, a must have on the table. I'm not a big fan of eel to be honest but when it's deep fried and sauteed together with Chinese red dates and Fumak veges...geeezzz... goodness is all painted all over my smiling chewing face. As a matter of fact, Angke cooks one of the best dish, perfect crunchy texture, together with the sweetness and the saltiness of the veges. A must have !

Menu : Udang Rebus Yamha
Price : Rp 160,000 ++ (Large)
Score : 8.0 / 10

>> A plate full of fresh steamed prawns with a generous amount of ginger, garlic and a touch of soy sauce just to balance everything. Loveee this one! Beware of the cholesterol though, might be troublesome for some of you guys but a hand full of these beauties on rare occasion shouldn't be a problem. This taste reminds me with the dish below; " Ayam Rebus ".

Menu : Ayam Rebus
Price : Rp 140,000 ++ (Large)
Score : 8.5 / 10

>> For the taste, I'll give a 8.0 over 10 but an extra half point goes to the small amount of bones in it. There wasn't much bones around the chicken meat and thus better value and more importantly easier to eat. You just need to pick it and chew it whole. The condiments poured all over is pretty much the same with Udang Yamha (Above) which are : lots of ginger, lots of garlic and a good drizzle of oil to glisten and moist everything up. Another must have dish in the heart of Hakka tradition !! *Note : There is another dish on the menu called "Ayam Garam", don't get mixed up.

Menu : Angsio Bakut
Price : Rp 180,000 ++ (Large)
Score : 7.0 / 10

>> This is basically pork ribs deep fried and sauteed with sweet and sour sauce. The size of each cut might look huge but bearing in mind the thick bones that are inside....not so big after all. The sauce was balanced, not as sweet as I thought or compared to "Babi Kuluyuk" (below). A better dish than Babi Kuluyuk I suppose.

Menu : Babi Kuluyuk
Price : Rp 100,000 ++ (Medium)
Score : 6.75 / 10

>> No bones in comparison to Angsio Bakut. But on general, the taste is pretty much similar. A good hit of sweetness coming from the tomato condiment and a kick of sour coming presumably from lemon or pineapple juice. I'm not a big fan of Babi kuluyuk but a lot of people are in fact.

Menu : Cingkong Kepiting Goreng
Price : Rp 108,000 ++ (Small)
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> Some of my friends looove this dish (you know who you are haha) but isn't the same case for me. It's just a seafood ball deep fried with a sweet and sour sauce on the side for dipping. Well it taste pretty much like a decent fish cake, but with a good amount of crab added to it. It's well made and definitely a good appetizer but when compared to the other dishes Angke got in store, I'll pass on this and leave more stomach room for the other dishes !

Menu : Bakmi Goreng Ulang Tahun
Price : RP 90,000 ++ (Medium)
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> Well...I like their 'bihun' much much more. But in the first place, I'm not a huge fan of fried noodles therefore I might be biased. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people love this dish and as a matter of fact I finished my bowl but just felt that their fried bihun is much tastier. I'd probably won't order this if it wasn't for my buddies' choice. But in general a good solid noodle dish.




Angke Restaurant
Jl. Zaenal Arifin (Ketapang Raya)
Komplek Ketapang Indah Jakarta Barat 14440
Phone : 021 - 634 3030

May Star - Revisit

My last post on May Star was in 2010 and so here a revisit post !! A few weeks back, before Lebaran Holidays; FW and I were cruising Emporium Mall on a Wednesday and he was urging for some Chinese cuisine. The decision came down to either 'May Star' or 'Dian Xiao Er' and because we had Dian Xiao Er a couple of weeks back we end up going for May Star. I wasn't feeling hungry and my flu is still going on thus wasn't very much in the mood of eating for dinner.

Menu : Sup Asam Pedas Szechuan

Price : RP 34,000 ++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> They provide all the basic taste of what a Szechuan Soup should taste. The sour level is exactly where I would like it to be. I don't need additional black vinegar for this bowl. The heat is lacking a little bit (but hey it's me a chili fanatic talking hehehe) but the seasoning is correct at all department. The only additional thing they should do is to at least imitate Duck King's Szechuan Soup. They have a piece of prawn wonton inside.

Menu : Sosis Taiwan Special

Price : RP 54,000 ++ (for 4 sticks)
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> If you notice exactly next to the current May Star at Emporium Mall Pluit, there is a new 'to - go' May Star counter. They sell this exact sausage for RP 12,000 / piece (including tax). Price wise it's cheaper there. It taste slightly like 'lap chiong', those chinese pork sausages. A good snack but don't count on it to fill your tummy and as for taste wise, it was alright; rather mediocre. If you are curious, buy it at the 'to - go' counter instead.

Menu : Babi Cincang Tim

Price : RP 68,000 ++
Score : 5.0 / 10

>> I'm disappointed at this dish here. It lacks of salt! Tim babi is suppose to be salty and has that strong punch of Chinese soy sauce flavor. The color looks right but eventually not so much on the flavor. The positive part is that the portion is reasonable for 2 - 3 people. 'SKY' restaurant at Muara Karang serves a better same dish than this one here. Skip this dish the next time you're here. I wouldn't say it taste bad, but rather disappointing.

May Star
Emporium Pluit Mall, 4th Fl Unit 26 - 29
Jl. Pluit Selatan Raya Bl S 6, Jakarta 
Phone: 021 - 66676280

Restaurant Mandala - Revisited

Do cross read my post on 15th July 2012 for my first experience with Restaurant Mandala. Thus, making this post my second trip and on this trip FW and I ordered a different course of menu. The two of us had 3 dish as follows :

Menu : Sup Kepiting Asparagus

Price : RP 75,000 ++

Score : 8.0 / 10

>> On this trip, FW and I realized that there's a 'half portion' bowl available. The previous trip we came (go to post 15 July 2012) we had the full portion of Sup Mun Tahu and we were over bloated by the end of the meal. This 1/2 portion order was definitely a smart move made. I'm not sure which one is better, Sup Mun Tahu or this, both are good but this one is definitely more pricey; twice the price. But I guess it's value for money, because I can notice the chunks of crab meat and asparagus floating and swimming all around.

Coming back to the taste, good seasoning, viscosity is just right, quite generous on the fillings inside.  Overall, it is a good big bowl of soup. Half portion is enough for 2 to 3 people to share.

Menu : Bistik Sapi

Price : RP 77,000 ++
Score : 7.5 / 10

>> The same menu we ordered with 'Bistik Ayam' on post dated 15th July 2012. But instead of chicken, we had beef this time. I would say this taste better. The meat is tender and neither chewy or overcooked. It also comes on a sizzling hot plate, served with potato wedges at the side.

After all the sizzling effect is gone, there will be a layer of sticky sauce lying at the bottom of the hot plate, that is all the goodness!! Combine it with the potato wedges or simply scoop it and have it with steam rice !

Menu : Nasi Goreng Seafood
Price : Rp 46,000 ++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> The portion was actually slightly smaller that I had anticipated. I expect it to be a 'porsi kuli' dish but instead a decent portion. For a quite pricey fried rice, I expect a lot of meat fillings and they lived up to it. Chunks of crab prawns, fish bits, squids are thrown into quite generously.

As for the taste, it was good but rather ordinary, my taste buds surely did not scream "TO DIE FOR". I might order the 'Nasi Goreng Ikan Asin' the next time I'm here but as for the time being, I have no complains whatsoever. A happy customer :)

Restaurant Mandala

Jl. Woltermonginsidi No 80 Blok Q Jakarta Selatan

Phone : 021 - 9389 9597

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

Nan Xiang

Out for group dinner on Saturday night at Senayan City with 15 people is a mess. We can't decide on which food to have and make matter worse having to find a restaurant that can fit 15 of us without having to queue narrows the selection down. Finally after 30 minutes of futile discussion we head down to Nan Xiang. No queue is definitely a big plus point that drew us all to there. I was still full from the afternoon snack I had earlier on and thus ate a little. The food was alright, nothing was disgustingly bad nor none was superbly delicious.

Menu : Sup Asam Pedas

Price : Rp 39,800++
Score : 4.0 / 10

>> I don't think this is better than Maystar's or Duck King's. I had 2 spoon full and passed it entirely to David to finish it. It wasn't sour enough nor able to taste the hotness. For the price and claiming as a Chinese Restaurant, soup is the fundamental skill they should be able to master.

Menu : Hak Kao

Price : Rp 19,500 ++

Score : 4.0 / 10

>> I love Hak Kao and often order this dish if you notice my old posts. However this was below my standard and scored only a four pointer. It was just boring and bland! I expect so much more from this restaurant.

Menu : Sapo Tahu Ayam Ikan Asin

Price : Rp 58,000 ++
Score : 5.5 / 10

>> Personally I felt this is slightly expensive for a tofu dish. It taste alright, the portion was medium and the meat slices was pretty generous but the sauce was too thick. I would prefer it to be less viscous.

Menu : Xiao Long Bao - Prawn & Chicken

Price : Rp 48,000 ++
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> The stuffing was good and tasty and the temperature when served was steaming hot (which is correct). But the problem lies with the skin wrapping, it is too thick and doughy! Din Tai Fung has better ones !

Menu : Mie Cha Chiang - Ayam & Jamur

Price : Rp 42,000 ++
Score : 6.75 / 10

>> This noodle dish saved my experience. Right pricing, right portion, right seasoning, right noodle texture, right sauce. Simply fine ! With cut chili soaked in soy sauce and sprinkled generously onto, made this a seven pointer dish. Yumm !!!

Duck King

This was an unexpected trip to Duck King. David and I wanted to eat "Shabuya" at Central Park; a place that serves grade 9 Wagyu beef hot pot in buffet style for a mere Rp 120,000 per person. However, unpredictably the restaurant was fully booked and we were have to wait for 45 minutes for our seat; thus we canceled our initial plan! We turn our back and the first restaurant I saw on the right was this; "Duck King". The place was fairly packed with Chinese families sitting down on a round table having dinner but luckily no queue (hooray !!).

On the left was the initial dishes that they'll place on the table, it varies from place to place (I got served crispy fish skin this time) and the thing that bothers me the most is that the restaurant always make the eaters pay for this. On the right is my all time favorite condiment; bird's eye chili with garlic in soy sauce. No chili sauce in the world can beat the taste of biting into real fresh birds eye chili !!

Menu : Steamed Chicken Feet

Price : Rp 14,800 ++

Score : 5.75 / 10

>> I noticed I have been eating quite a sum of chicken feet every time I come to a Chinese restaurant. Mainly because since my glorious experience with Din Tai Fung, I'm actually fond of the menu. Duck King's wasn't too bad, even though it was certainly not as great.

Menu : Hak Kau

Price : Rp 16,800 ++

Score : 6.5 / 10

>> Fresh Hak Kau is David's all time favorite Dim Sum. He loved this a lot but personally for me it was good but not damn good. The shrimp meat were fresh, the food was served steaming hot but I'm sure I had better ones.

Menu : Tom Yam Seafood Soup

Price : Rp 38,000 ++

Score : 7.0  / 10

>> I usually have Szechuan Wonton Soup when I hit Duck King but this time I had a different one. Their Tom Yam was good, they had the level of sourness just right and balanced it well with the chili too ! Good stuff !!

Menu : Garlic Steamed Scallop

Price : Rp 19,800 ++
Score : 7.5 / 10

>> My goodness, one of the most fresh scallop I had ever consume in my life. I may sound exaggerating but this was better than the Duck King's in Emporium Pluit branch. This was succulent, firm, scallop big in size and most importantly the garlic and the soy sauce was heavenly good as ever with white rice!

Menu : BBQ Double Combination

Price : Rp 78,000 ++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> This is a double combination of BBQ chicken and duck. I liked the chicken better because it was more fragrant and seasoned better. While the duck has a little bit too much bones and the layer of fats was slightly too much for my taste.

Menu : Deep Fried Squid with Chili and Pepper

Pirce : Rp 52,000 ++
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> I don't particularly like squid, octopus, calamari or anything of the same species. But this I quite enjoy the seasoning. I like anything with fried garlic and abundance was poured on top of this dish; together with chili and pepper. I would also like to praise about the bite size portion, you'll be able to easily pop one entire piece into your mouth.

Menu : Watercress in spicy shrimp paste (Kangkung Terasi)

Price : Rp 34,000 ++
Score : 8.0 / 10

>> This may look like a humble dish, but this is the star of the night. The portion was generous, the vegetable was really fresh and crispy but most importantly the taste was really good. You can taste the shrimp paste without overpowering your entire pallet, great seasoning !!

Menu : Glutinous Rice with Durian Ice Cream

Price : Rp 25,000 ++
Score : 3.0  / 10

>> Bad dessert and was extremely disappointed! The glutinous rice was so bland that I thought water has more taste. The durian ice cream was also a joke, it was too tasteless and just doesn't taste good at all.