Platinum

The first time I tried "Platinum" is at Mall Ciputra which was then a hip trendy mall that had deteriorated in quality and image. I remembered the restaurant as a place that serves cheap steak. I forgotten all about the taste or anything that got to do with the place but when I visit Mall Karawaci the other day I wanted to try it; remembering the good old days.

Surprisingly, I wasn't disappointed at all and bearing in mind their very reasonable and leaning to cheap price tag, I was actually impressed. I ordered the Chicken Mozzarella and David ordered the Combo Tepanyaki that comes with steam white rice. I had 'Strawjelly' (Rp 12,000++) for drinks which was yummy too! Strawjelly is a mixed of fresh strawberry, strawberry jelly and fresh milk blended into one with ice! I reckon it tasted straw-licious!! For two grown ups our bill came down to Rp 83,000 (included tax) which was a good value for money!! I'll definitely come back here again in the near future.

Menu : Chicken Mozzarella
Price : Rp 32,000++
Score : 7.5 / 10

>> For the mere price of 32K, I personally think 'Platinum' hit the ball out of the park! with this fried chicken dish! A home run indeed! Crispy chicken skin on the outside, still tender and juicy in the inside.  With a good swap of barbeque sauce in between the fried chicken and melted mozzarella cheese was awesome. The portion is perfect in size with all the extra vegetables on the side to make your bowel smile :)

Menu  : Combo Tepanyaki
Price : Rp 24,000 ++
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> I can't complain about the pricing that comes together with a bowl of steam rice. The sauce is well seasoned, vegetables were not soggy, chicken and the sausages were well cooked too. However maybe due to the 'hot plate' that still cooks the beef even until the dish is in front of me for a good 10 minutes made the beef overcooked and thus chewy. Apart from that, well done! and definitely coming back there!

Bubur Ayam Abang - Abang (Road Side Chicken Porridge)

I have been in working in PT. Wihadil for about 1.5 years and just for your information and slight free advertisement; we're a manufacturer of sodium cyclamate (artificial sugar or sweetener) and for details, you can visit www.wihadil.com hahaha! Anyways back to the food topic, I had my first "Bubur Ayam Abang Abang" since I get in here. I often ate bubur ayam (Chicken Porridge) in my previous company for breakfast. But I don't know why, I stop having chicken porridge in the morning. 

I love road side chicken porridge, even though it is truly a simple food and some people think it is a 'peasant' food, it taste real nice and authentic to our traditional way of what the local eat. On top of the porridge you'll find shredded chicken meat, roasted ground nuts, birds eye chili, special gravy and crackers on the side. The food is cheap; RP 5,000 and it surely fire you away in the morning, giving you the extra energy to get through another day in the office.

Bubur Ayam Abang - Abang
Price : Rp 5,000
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> It has been ages since I ate bubur ayam and to be honest my first time eating it in the office. I was surprise and the price in comparison to the quantity. For the mere Rp 5,000 the portion is quite large and not only that, the shredded chicken and all the other goodness were plentiful and yummy! Definitely going to have breakfast more often in the office.

Rice Bowl

I wasn't in the mood for food but for the sake of just eating I had 'Chicken Rice' at Emporium Pluit Mall. It was a quick trip down to 'Rice Bowl' and actually my first. Rice Bowl (www.ricebowl.co.id) was first opened in October 2004, with the goal of providing great food, great services at an affordable price. Rice-Bowl serves many different variety of Asian cuisine, such as their all time favorite Roasted Duck, Black Pepper Beef, Hainan Chicken, Braised Japanese Tofu, and many more.

Menu  : Singapore Hainan Chicken Set
Price : Rp 39,900
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> For the budget price, I reckon the portion and the taste was satisfying and definitely worth it for money. The portion was generous and I couldn't finish the set. The rice was fragrant, chicken was succulent and broccoli was crunchy and yummy! I felt the chili was alright but definitely can improve on the taste; it was spicy enough and a little more ginger can do more good than harm.

Ta Wan

I had dinner on a Sunday at the Emporium Mall with (DH). We choose this place because of the reasonable price and the generous portion. I spent too much money on the weekend shopping so I thought less money on Sunday's dinner would make sense. Ta Wan has a chain of restaurants all over Jakarta, located in big malls, therefore definitely very easy to locate and dine. 

In Mandarin, "Ta" means "Big" and "Wan" means "Bowl". Put together, the restaurant name means "Big Bowl". And they stay true to that name, by serving their soup and their specialty porridge in BIG bowls.

Menu : Hot & Sour Soup
Price : Rp 26,500++
Score : 7.0 / 10

» Aline with the restaurant's name, this come in a BIG bowl (Sorry the angle of the photo didn't show that) and very value for money indeed! The soup has the spicy and the sourness I love! In addition to that, you'll be amaze of the portion, you can have 4 servings and all that for mere Rp 26,000. Hell yeah good deal !!!

Menu : Broccoli Tiga Jamur
Price : Rp 27,500++
Score : 5.0 / 10

» It was okay so-so I'd say. The broccoli were crunchy and the restaurant was generous with the mushrooms' portion. But apart from that, the whole dish was more to plain actually :p. I think the next time I come here, I'll order some other vegetables dish.

Menu : Lumpia Keju
Price : Rp 43,000++
Score : 5.5 / 10

» Prawns, egg, carrots and block of cheese stuffed in rice paper skin and fried to standard. Not particularly wonderful, but the cheese gave a different taste and texture to the ordinary vegetable or meat spring rolls that I usually eats.

Menu : Black Pepper Beef
Price : Rp 39,000++
Score : 6.5 / 10

» This was rather nice! Generous portion, tender beef, crispy onions and zucchinis, definitely tasty black pepper sauce! For Rp 39,000, I thought this was quite value for money too!

TA WAN RESTAURANT

Address : Emporium Pluit Mall, 2nd Floor (Besides Sate Khas Senayan)