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

Spanky's Ribs

A friend recommended this 'Ribs' restaurant, saying it's better than all those Outback, Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe and even Tony Roma's ribs !! And of course being a food enthusiast myself, I wanted to taste it for myself. Spanky's Ribs is situated in the Kemang area, Jakarta Selatan. Not too difficult to locate, it's around 200 meters after Mc'Donald. Hence, just keep on staring onto your right after you drove past Mc'Donald. It's in fact the new tenant of 'Nu China' if you're familiar with the area. Nevertheless, the restaurant was rather quite, only a few tables were occupied (bearing in mind it was 8pm on a Saturday night), but then again, it was raining so I guess couldn't judge too much from the crowd. Ambiance was alright, it was decent although it gave a feeling of a 'diner' instead of a steak or ribs' house. I'm not going to judge too much on the decor but instead 'yap' away on the food ......

Menu : Pile 'O' Onion Rings
Price : Rp 49,000 ++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> What can ever go wrong with fried onion rings? Almost nothing right. But to make it spectacularly good...hmmm that's another story. The one served here was alright, a 6.5 over 10 from me. The onions were crispy all good and the additional home made 'sambal mayonnaise' was a great combination. The way it was served was similar to the one in Tony Roma's too. Piled on top another with all the wonderful bits of burnt parts distributed over. Well, a good starter but didn't blew me away.

Menu : Baby Back Pork Ribs
Price : Rp 315,000 ++ (Full Slab)
Score : 8.5 / 10

>> I sort of get it why my friend highly recommended this place. The pork ribs itself was a perfection! Very very succulent, the meat just slides off the bone. It didn't need too much effort in biting off the meat from the rib bone. On top of that, they managed to keep all the juices intact inside the baby back ribs. 

Whether it is better than Tony Romas? Hmm..I would say on the same caliber! But what was special about it was more on the sauces. We're given 2 choices of sauces that is served aside; Tangy Mango Chili, Spicy Alabama & Indonesian BBQ. The best one was the Tangy Mango Chili and that simple sauce might help hit the home run for this menu!

Menu : Chicken Wings
Price : Rp 45,000 ++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> For this menu, there is a choice of 'spicy buffalo' or 'honey bbq' and served with blue cheese on the side. We opted for the 'spicy buffalo' and another tasty dish. A 6.5 over 10 for me is like saying 'Well done, but a lot of other people can do just as good. Room of improvement!' hahahaha. The chicken wings were cooked well, crispy and moist on the inside. The spicy sauce were glazed evenly and the blue cheese were a good combination. Who thought of blue cheese with fried chicken right !!?? But again as I said, needed that extra kick somewhere.

Menu : Pulled Pork Quesadilla
Price : Rp 65,000 ++
Score : 7.5 / 10

>> Hmmm yumm! I love quesadilla and I mean who don't?? Warm, thin, crispy pita bread with pulled smoked pork in between. Have a good dollop of salsa and guacamole on top and pop it into your mouth. Hmmm...yumm!! The pita bread was well done and the guacamole was heavenly. It was obviously freshly made in the kitchen and couldn't stop asking for more. The salsa was alright, fresh but rather mediocre. And they could definitely improved more with the amount of fillings inside. The delicious taste of the guacamole overthrow the taste of the meat. But overall it is still a good dish for my taste.

Menu : Key Lime Pie
Price : Rp 42,000 ++
Score : 9.0 / 10

>> I was full as hell but was sooooo glad that I decided on the dessert. This is the best key lime pie I had ever taste in Indonesia. The sourness of the lime and the combination of the cream cheese with the perfect amount of sugar was heavenly! Well, I must say if you're not a fan of sour food then don't go for this one, have a chocolate cake instead but if you like it then, you'll love this! I finished every bit of the slice and licked my fork glistening clean. That was how good it was. Delish dessert !! Bravo !

Spanky's Ribs
Jl. Kemang Raya No 24 A, Jakarta Selatan 12730
Phone : 021 - 7182876