Lin Artisan Ice Cream

I don't normally talk about dessert in particular. Well yes as apart of a complete dinner or lunch, but not a review on itself. But I wanna mention about this particular place ; 'Lin'. Food gastronomy is a common term in the States, Europe or even Singapore but Jakarta is always two steps behind. Finally, someone actually introduced liquid nitrogen ice cream to here! It's situated in Kemang which was exactly the right place to introduce this product. I supposed that the target market that visits Kemang somehow are a bunch of more open minded people. Liquid Nitrogen and ice cream? Hell yeah !!

If you love ice cream, then there is nothing like making your own. But the problem is, it is too long to freeze and some things just don't like to freeze. So now, there's a process using liquid nitrogen to freeze everything up in an instant. As you all know Nitrogen is 78% of the volume of the atmosphere and the boiling point of -185 Degree Celsius (wikipedia). In plain simple English, it is cold.

Well that's the chemistry lesson. Next is the 'cooking' part. Choose your flavor from the menu Lin provide (quite a variety of them) and their 'scientist' will mix all the sugar, milk, cream, fruit, chocolate, liquor (if you like) into the mixing bowl. When the sugar has dissolved into the solution, the liquid nitrogen would be poured into the mixing bowl slowly until completely frozen. The damage time would only cost 10 minutes!

Rum & Raisin With Alcohol  :  RP 69,000  ( Score : 6.75 / 10 )

Strawberry & Cheese  :  RP 39,000  ( Score 8.0 / 10 )

And so, how does liquid nitrogen ice cream actually taste?? Well, I must say it was your average ice cream with a twist. Meaning there is this sensation at the end of your tongue. It's a feeling that 'sting' but not in a painful or awful way, but more to a 'numb' feeling. I suppose it was due to the nature of liquid nitrogen itself, it is an insanely cold solution to begin with and thus able to cut so much time in the process of 'freezing'. It's little bit like having a dry ice swirl on you tongue for a little while, pretty much the same numbing sensation. As for the portion, it's big. More than enough for one person. If you're not much of a share food person, you'll still be able to finish one by yourself.

I had the strawberry and cheese and liked it. I can taste the freshness of the strawberry fruit bits and the cheese was subtle. It didn't overthrow the entire dessert. As for the sugar level, it was the right amount. As for the rum & raisin with alcohol, I thought it was slightly plain. I can't taste much of the alcohol but well obviously it must have evaporated during the 'freezing' process. But the rum and raisin flavor didn't came up to my senses either. But on a whole, it still taste pretty good.

Bottom line, I love the idea of having fresh ingredient ice cream without too much food additives to prolong their shelf life. This idea is encouraging fresh eating in a way. The product Lin made not only broadens the Jakartan's community by introducing cooking with chemistry but most importantly made a good tasting ice cream with that process. And thus a conclusion that yes I'll come back again to the parlor.

Lin Artisan Ice Cream
Jl. Taman Kemang 1 No 6. Jakarta Selatan (Below Umbra, Across Parc 19)
Phone : +62 21 71794393

Sweet Tooth

If you get to know me better and take notice of my way of eating, you'll know that I am a sugar junkie! I loveeee sweet treats, I need sugary stuff to finish my every meal. Even if it is just a piece of chewing gum, a glass of strawberry smoothie or an elaborate plate of desert I desperately need anything sweet at the end of my meal. If I didn't have any, I'll feel something is odd, something is not right, something is not yet complete. In short, I have a very sweet tooth and so I'll dedicate this post for sugar lovers out there.

Where : Canteen (EX, Plaza Indonesia Extension)

Menu: Chocolate Fondant with Caramel & Vanilla Ice Cream
Price : Rp 35,000++
Score : 7.0 / 10

>> Glorious chocolate!! Slightly bitter chocolate cake with melting sauce oozing from the inside eaten together with sweet vanilla ice cream is just wonderful! I reckon I had better ones but I definitely finished this plate by myself :p

Where : Canteen (EX, Plaza Indonesia Extension)

Menu : Creme Brulee

Price : Rp 35,000++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> The first scoop didn't taste that good but the more you dig into this, you can't stop. At least, I can't! I specially asked the waitress for a more burn caramel on top and that really increase the 'wow' taste factor.

Where :  Maystar (Emporium Pluit Mall, 4th Floor)

Menu : Coconut Pudding
Price : Rp 42,800 ++
Score : 8.0 / 10

>> Rather expensive but one of the best coconut pudding in town, even better their rival Duck King's. The sweetness and the tender pudding simply melts in your mouth! Heavenly! 

Where : Kiyadon (Several branches all over Jakarta)

Menu : Shiratama Zenzai
Price : Rp 35,000 ++
Score : 6 / 10

>> Even though I'm not a big fan of mochi but this warm mochi is very chewable and pleasant to eat. I love the strong vanilla infused ice cream, I must say it is more fragrant than usual and the asuki beans were sooo yummy, definitely the star of the dessert!

Where : Korean Supermarket or Korean Restaurant

Menu : Ice Cream Sandwich with Cheese Cake
Price : RP 15,000
Score : 7.0 / 10
>> I like this Korean ice cream very much. The sponge cake on the top and bottom is very soft and even though you eat it out straight from the freezer, the cake wasn't icy solid nor difficult to bite through. The ice cream is smooth, no ice crystals and most importantly I can definitely taste the cheese cake flavor.

Where : Pluit Village 4th Floor

Menu : Chocolate and Cheese Doriyaki
Price : RP 7,000 / each
Score : 2.0 / 10
>> I bought this at Pluit Village 4th floor from a doriyaki stand that I forgot to note down the name (but definitely won't ever go back for the 2nd time). It taste bad -___-! The dough was cold and chewy, the filling was spare and so little that I cannot taste the cheese inside. I only had one bite and gave the rest away to my driver.

Where : Any Supermarket

Menu : Ultra Jaya Assorted Flavored Drinks
Price: Sari Asem (Rp 3,500), Sari Kacang Ijo (Rp 2,800)

& Susu Coklat (Rp 4,000)
Score : Average of 6.75 / 10

>> Every time I hit the supermarket, I'll pass by the drinks section and pile on these 3 flavored drinks. Compared to all of the other competitors' brands, Ultra Jaya has better taste, better consistency and from the taste I'm assuming they're only using pure sugar instead of artificial sweeteners.

Where : Food Hall Supermarket

Menu : Mrs Fields Triple Chocolate Cookies
Price : Rp 51,000 / pack (8 pieces inside)
Score : 7.5 / 10

>> Overprice for sure but I feel it is worth it to splurge on great tasting food. The cookies were wrapped individually for freshness. You can taste the moist, chewy and gooey chocolate in all of the cookies every time you bite into it. I love having this in front of the TV watching my favorite drama.

Yummy Sydney Part 4

Alright this is the fourth part of the mini series, hahaha and yes I know it's getting a little bit too long? I'll try to speed this one up alright!

LINDT CAFE

Glorious sweet treats! I love this cafe! Melbourne doesn't have this cafe and thus when I was in Sydney, I made sure I pop myself here. I had 70% dark chocolate ice cream and a piece of hazelnut cake. Both were really really yummy. I wanted to eat more but the timing was not right. It was close to dinner time and have to save some room for my tummy.

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN (KFC)

KFC wicked wings brings back a great deal of memories in my Melbourne days. My friends and I ate a lot of wicked wings back then, we can order something like 100 piece to share among 6 - 8 people at any one time. KFC in Jakarta doesn't offer this menu and thus when I was in Sydney I grabbed the opportunity to have 10 piece of wicked wings!!!

KOREE BBQ

I lost track of how many times I ate Korean in Sydney but this serves one of the best Ramen I had ever eaten. I love the Ramen Soup a lot !!! I'm not too sure about the Beef Galbi, because I felt the meat was too chewy and salty.

STREET FOOD

Snacks, snacks, snacks! I love to snack big time and so here some of the food I ate during my 'free time' hahaha! Let me tell you, I think I gained some weight upon my last day in Sydney!

Yummy Sydney Part 3

This is the third part of my food journey in Sydney. One of the star attractions in Sydney are the beaches and this trip I visited 2 beaches; Manly Beach & Bondi Beach. We choose a prefect sunny day to make a trip there. While the boys were swimming, I was busy eating and of course shopping!!!

MANLY OCEAN FOOD

I heard they are famous for their fish and chips and that was exactly what I ordered! I had the grilled one and DH had the fried. The seafood was really really fresh and I love the fact that we're on the beach eating fish that is some how very rustic and comforting.

COPENHAGEN ICE CREAM

After I had my fried and grilled fish, I went simply next door and wash down with ice cream!!! I had 4 scoops; rum and raisin, Ferraro, mango and strawberry sorbet. I love the rum and raisin, very very yummy indeed. If I can turn back time, I'll make sure I get a part time job in a Gelato store back when I was studying in Melbourne.

MAX BRENNER
Before I came to Sydney, I had my 'what to eat' list and this sweet cafe is definitely on that list BIG TIME! I love sugary chocolate so much that I can't imagine what my life will be without it. On dramatisation, I might shrivel up and die without chocolate hahaha !!

HURRICANE'S GRILL
I had "Hurricane Grill" for dinner when I was at the Bondi Beach. But let me tell you that the queue was just amazingly crazy, long, busy and hectic. Put it simply; Full House. Luckily, they had a 'Hurricane Express" right next to the restaurant. It is exactly the same food served in the restaurant except that it is a take away instead of eating it. Thus, we all picnic up at the sandy beach and ate our super yummy take away Hurricane Ribs.

SYDNEY'S FISH MARKET

KOREAN BBQ RESTAURANT
This Korean restaurant is the middle of the city, if I'm not mistaken it is on "Goldburn Street" about 2 blocks away from Paddy's Market. The food here is pretty okay, I wouldn't say it was amazingly yummy but was overall suitable for everyone's taste buds.