MAD (Moderan Asian Dining)

I was at the Lotte Shopping Mall (LOVE), the one in kuningan I'm sure all of you know. I was about to grab a movie ticket and I saw MAD, which stands for Modern Asian Dining. I gotta say I hesitated to enter, it has this bright orange and neon printings, definitely reminds me of Disney mixed with Andy Warhol kind of vibe. But oh my, I was surprise by the size of the restaurant. From the outside, it looked like a normal entrance but 30 steps into the place, it was HUGEEE, with a capital H U G E! I really do mean it. I think it might cover more than 800 m2, the length of the restaurant was about 50 - 60 meters I think? I know you might think I sound hyperbolic by the bad description of just the 'size' but hey, you need to just enter the place to feel the space. Note : I didn't recommend you to try the food, but just enter and judge the space for yourself. Even better, it's entrance fee is FREE !

As for the food, I am not a big fan compare to the surprise I got by the size of the place :p hehehe

Menu : Pork Mantau

Price : Rp 80,000 ++

Score : 5.5 / 10

>> The photo in the menu made it look really tempting and I ordered. The taste was rather mediocre, the pork belly was juicy and has the right amount of hoisin sauce but apart from that, it's nothing special. Portion is too small for a Rp 80,000. Honestly feel this should be charged for Rp 35,000 instead of  Rp 80 K. A rip off? What do you think?

Menu : Laksa Lamien

Price : Rp 98,000 ++
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> So - So tasting laksa. I wasn't hoping to be better than the one sold in Singapore but I was far from being impressed. Portion was enough for a small adult female, soup was okay, wonton was cripsy, you know the ordinary. Bottom line, far from special, and I wouldn't miss having this. Btw, Din Tai Fung serves better tom yum lamien for only Rp 50,000 ... just something to think about :)

Menu : Josper Wagyu Claypot

Price : Rp 198,000 ++

Score : 6.0 / 10

>> Complete overpriced. Wagyu beef was okay (not brilliant), poach egg was perfect but Rp 198,000 ??? Come on, I think the price tag is not well suited with the ambiance. The place screams casual while the pricing is not casual at all.

Will I come back? Hmm...nope I don't think so. But you should !! See the perspective of the space and NOT the food. I warned you guys hehehehe...

MAD (Modern Asian Dining)

Lotte Shopping Avenue 4th Floor

Phone : 021 - 29889499

Bangi Kopitiam

The rate of new cafes and restaurants opening up in Pantai Indah Kapuk is almost too damn fast to be true. Bangi Kopitiam is a newbie in PIK area and situated near the entrance of Tol PIK, exactly across Hops n' Malt. I had a quick bite with a girlfriend, catching up and stuffs like that on a wednesday afternoon. The traffic wasn't that bad, there were quite a few tables on a down time but remains the same until peak dinner time. Maybe words of mouth hasn't spread too wide about this particular 'kopitiam'.

However overall, I quite like the food they served, I pretty enjoyed my bowl of tom yum and tasted my friend's bowl of curry laksa. But the service and the way the waitresses were trained was rather irritating. They were blur as hell, clueless, slow and ignorance when comes to serving and taking orders. Maybe the fact that the place had just opened and thus the flow wasn't yet smooth sailing as they should be.

Menu : Tom Yam Mee Hoon Soup

Price : RP 37,000 ++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> They served me raw vegetables, not even blanched in any way. That point was rather a turn off, it shows ignorance in the kitchen. However that was compensated by the tom yam soup itself. They fillings and the add-ons were all very ordinary but the soup really brought the dish alive. A good balance of sour, sweet and spicy. Ask for their 'sambal' too, they serve 2 kinds (besides cabe rawit); sambal bilis & sambal udang. I prefer sambal bilis to be added into this dish. You can have a choice of 'bihun' or 'bakmie' to go with this menu.

Menu : Ipoh Noodle Curry Laksa Soup

Price : RP 32,000 ++
Score : 7.25 / 10

>> I'm not trying to be stingy by giving quarter of ratings but that is what I felt. Just a quarter fraction better than the above tom yum soup. The fillings were again ordinary, just what any other curry laksa would have and once again their soup saved the day! Good kick of heat! Add bird's eye chili and sambal bilis into this and your tongue will go 'gaga' over the hot sun :) Spicy hot I mean and thus beware :p Bottom line, I wasn't disappointed by neither of the dish and will come back in the near future.

Bangi Kopitiam

Ruko Crown, Pantai Indah Kapuk (Close to TOL PIK entrance / Across Hops n' Malt)

Yummy Sydney Part 1

10 days in Sydney, Australia ended on the 26th of December and upon touching down on Jakarta soil I just can't wait to update my food blog and share my food joy with all of you readers. I might be splitting the content into a few parts and so please please do invest your time here :) I will be trying my very very best to insert in all the information as I didn't have the chance to record everything in detail hehehe...

ROSE HILL MALL

Rose Hill is a name of a mall actually and not a restaurant. These two dish I ate was bought in the Food Court Area. On the left is "Spicy Pork" which cost AUD 10.50 and the right one is "Sushi and Rice Roll Set" which cost AUD 7.00. I'm sorry to say the only thing that impresses me was the gigantic portion and not the taste. 

KINGSFORD CHINESE RESTAURANT

Kingsford Street is a stretch of road that is flooded with all kinds of restaurant. From Indonesian, Thai, Vietnam, Chinese and many other culinary cuisine. My friend brought us to this restaurant to try out the food. I pretty much like it but as it turns out the next following days I went back to Kingsford Street and tried a Thai Restaurant named " In Chan ". It was simply GOOD ! Might be the best restaurant I ate during this Sydney trip (In Chan will be posted below). Nevertheless, here are some pictures of the food that was ordered to the table.

Salt & Pepper Fried Chicken

Long Bean Stir Fry

Fried Calamari

Pork Belly

Kangkung Stir Fry

A - ROON THAI KITCHEN
I have to warn you that this restaurant is EXTREMELY far away from the city. It might take 2.5 hours of driving to reach here. We all came back from "JENOLAN CAVE" at the "Blue Mountain" and we weren't sure of what to eat. Thus when we were on that stretch of street and choose this place because it was the only place that was crowded.

I like the beef basil, it has the freshness of the basil and the unique taste from the fish sauce. However, the tom yum soup from "In Chan" was still way better. So overall, if you want to drive specially to have a meal here, I have to say it's not worth it. But if you are on your way back from the Blue Mountain trip, I'd recommend you to make a stop here.

MC LUCKSA
I was told that I had to try the "Fried Chicken Hainanese Rice" which I did. I like the rice very very much, I thought they really did a great job on the rice. But the chicken was a let down. It was too dry and difficult to swallow.

BOOST JUICE

I reckon' the Boost Juice we have in Senayan City, Jakarta has different taste from the original one in Australia. When I was studying in Melbourne, I had boost for nearly 4 times a week. I ordered 'All berry bang' and 'Mango Tango' during this trip. It cost AUD 5.70 for the small and AUD 7.00 for the bigger one. And oh by the way, it is 99% fat free too!!