EN Japanese Dining Bar

My first post on En Dining can be found on December 2010 and did this double entry because the food I had this time round is completely different and too good to be missed. As always why I had dinner at En Dining was because there were 20 of us and wanted to watch soccer (Manchester United Vs Manchester City). However after this trip, I think I might be coming back soon not because of the fact they have a big TV with ESPN on it but for the first time I enjoyed the food. Thanks to my friend "Marwin", he knew the good dishes on the menu and changed my perspective on this restaurant.

Menu : Aburi Chasu

Price : Rp 42,000 ++
Score : 6.8 / 10

>> GOOD STUFF ! I know this grilled stewed pork is very fatty and very high in cholesterol but my tongue knew better that this is very yummy ! The soy sauce mixture at the bottom of the meat cuts into the fatty taste and the generous onion gave a crunchy texture.

Menu : Amiyaki Beef

Price : Rp 98,000++

Score : 7.5 / 10

>> This grilled sirloin beef with spicy ponzu sauce dish was a true surprising delight. I didn't expected this to taste good. I merely choose this from the menu base on the picture. I felt the ponzu sauce tasted more like salsa but nevertheless what ever the sauce was, this was really GOOD !

Menu : Beef Carpaccio
Price : Rp 68,000++
Score : 6.5 / 10

» The first time I had carpaccio was tuna fish meat. Instead this one was thin sliced raw beef with special sauce. I'm really a big fan of sour!! The surprising fact was that even though it is pure raw beef, it's not disgusting. The meat was fresh!! 

Menu : Crab Chahan

Price : Rp 85,000++

Score : 7.5 / 10

>> If you are bored of having normal fried rice then you should definitely try this ! This japanese fried rice has crab soup that 'pools' around it and on top there was glorious soft shell crab. I love the crab soup the most, really really good together with the fried rice !

Menu : Negi Chasu

Price : Rp 45,000 ++
Score : 7.5 / 10

>> Sliced stewed pork with leek and spring onion. Look very similar with Aburi Chasu but taste BETTER ! The sauce was slightly different, I can't explain what was different but bottom line this is the one you should choose over than Aburi. However, you'll need to order both and find out whether my taste buds are correct.

Menu : Rafte

Price : Rp 72,000 ++
Score : ---

>> I can't score this because I didn't taste this. This is a dish of stewed pork belly and the belly was so thick and fatty that I couldn't make myself taste the food. I know many people love this but seeing the 'look' of the thickness of the belly just made me choose the sliced one instead (Negi & Aburi Chasu).

Menu : Spicy Soft Shell Crab

Price : Rp 68,000 ++
Score : 5.5 / 10

>> This was okay, nothing great in comparison to other better tasting dishes I had tonight. The sauce wasn't spicy enough but the overall, I enjoyed this even though I may not re-order this dish again.

Menu : Dobinmushi

Price : Rp 42,000++
Score : 6.8 / 10

>> Steamed clear soup in Japanese tea pot. The presentation was very unique and the taste was very refreshing and in a way subtle and calming. It wasn't strong infused soup like Tom Yum or Laksa, this was leaning more towards home made soup. Very nice and recommendable !

Menu : Suchika

Price : Rp 58,000 ++
Score : 6.75 / 10

>> Broiled pork marinated with sea salt. This dish is really salty but a great appetizer. It really opens up your taste buds and instantly made you hooked into it. Very crispy, very addictive and very much like this ! Fyi, I ordered a second plate of this as everyone was snatching it way too fast haha !!

Es Teler 77

Es Teler 77 reminds me the good old time when I was 10 years younger,;still studying in Singapore. I had so much of fond memories there as I used to eat so much of their food. Mainly because it is affordable (SGD 2 dollars for chicken noodle *back then in 2000), situated near my school and it was a decent Indonesian restaurant within my knowledge. Upon since my Singapore days, I can't remember when was the last time I had a meal there.

Pleasant surprise due to the price, for 2 grown ups that were starving and had a natural big appetite, it cost Rp 90,000 (include tax) in total for both of us. I wasn't expecting much when I saw the decoration of the place. It was too plain and sparsely decorated. It wasn't comfy or anything suitable for couple of friends to have a chit chat session. The place is purely for diners to 'eat and go'. But at the end of it, I was pretty much satisfied with the food. I guess taste reigns above all things!

Menu : Ayam Goreng Pecak

Price : Rp 25,000++

Score : 5.5 / 10

>> The chicken was too tough but I couldn't expect much from a fried chicken as frying it will definitely made it tough. The traditional 'sambal belachan' is spicy (which is always good for me) but the smell of the shrimp paste was rather nauseating and thus because of that factor, this score only a 5.5

 

Menu : Bakmie Ayam Pedas Istimewa

Price : Rp 20,000 ++

Score : 6.5 / 10

>> For the mere price of Rp 20,000 you get a big bowl of chicken noodle with 2 boiled wonton and 2 beef balls in chicken broth soup. I thought this was a good value for money. I actually quite enjoyed the chicken noodle, the chicken meat and the noodle portion was relatively generous and the spicy taste wasn't overwhelming. However the boiled dumpling was rather disappointing, it was tasteless and not good at all.

Menu : Pisang Bakar Coklat Keju
Price : Rp 11,000 ++
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> Not bad at all. The banana itself was big in size and tastes sweet by itself. The topping was slightly stingy and would have been much better if there were more chocolate and cheese shavings. What I liked most about this is the 'burnt taste' I tasted from the inner side of the banana.

Menu : Es Teler

Price : Rp 25,000++

Score : 6.5 / 10

>> Their famous house name dessert ! Generous pile of jackfruit, coconut, avocado drenched with ice shavings and sweetened condensed milk on top. Love it ! Very sweet, very refreshing and very yummy too !!

Jittlada

My friend; Caroline came by Jakarta last weekend and we had dinner together. It has been ages since I last saw her. She's getting married this March and that was a much needed get together session! I choose Jittlada for dinner because David was so crankily hungry and Thai food seems very appealing to him at that moment. 

I ate here quite often, has been repeating myself for multiples of time. To describe the decor, it was some how leaning towards 'modern traditional Thailand' and strangely enough there is an odd looking wedding cake stand / shop at the back of the restaurant floor. Even though the ambiance was alright, the service was rather annoying especially they got packed during dinner time. They forgot one of our dishes, it came out like one hour later. Overall, I like the food there on average and will come back repeatedly for future to come.

Menu : Shrimp Cake with Bread
Price : Rp 23,500++
Score : 6.25 / 10

» Slightly too oily for me but the bread was really crispy and the sweet chili dipping goes hand in hand very well. The fillings should be 'richer' Some additional vegetables should be mixed inside instead of just plain prawn fillings.

 Menu : Poh Piah Tod
Price : Rp 23,500++
Score : 5.0 / 10

>> My friend Ratna likes this very much however I don't. The rolls are stuffed with chicken, vegetable, mushrooms, onions, shrimp and glass noodle. But the taste didn't really stood out., it was just bland. Only the sweet chili, I thought it gave a very nice additional kick to the spring rolls!

Menu : Tom Yam Kung
Price : Rp 34,500++
Score : 7.25 / 10

>> Even though for the price, the size was rather miniature, the taste was a perfect balance of sour sweet and hot. I LOVE THIS SOUP. The broth was just delicious but the fillings should have been more creative, instead of 2 pieces of prawns and some mushroom slices floating on top.

Menu  : Green Curry Beef
Price : Rp 45,500++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> I am not a big fan of dish containing coconut milk. But every time I swing by this restaurant, I'll order this soup. The soup is some how calming in a way the coconut is not too pungent and doesn't give you a feeling of uneasiness in your tummy or throat after dinner.

Menu : House Special Claypot Prawn with Glass Noodle
Price : Rp 65,500++
Score : 2.0 / 10

» Good God! This is atrocious! The food was cold, the glass noodle were all broken into small pieces, the taste was just too plain but the most disgusting thing is the "licorice spice" they mixed all in and over the dish. I hate licorice so damn much and can't ever understand why you'd want it in your food --___--". Will the chef that made this recipe get a grip of his tongue???

Menu : Soft Shell Crab, Garlic Pepper & Salt
Score : 7 / 10

» Jittlada captured my taste for Thai food. This dish is good good good, slightly too salty actually but when ate together with steaming white rice it was party in your mouth.

Menu : Beef Nah Yang
Score : 8.25 / 10

» I love this beef, tastes like bbq beef jerky. It's sweet and tangy with a splash of sourness. The entire table agree this is the best tasting dish of the evening and all of u should try this!

Menu : Soft Shell Crab with Black Pepper
Price : Rp 75,500++
Score : 8.0 / 10

>> This is GOOD stuff! The sauce, the spice and the soft shell crab just mixed together into a dish is simply a God sent.

Menu : Minced Beef with Crispy Basil
Price : Rp 48,500++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> This dish is quite confusing. Meaning the restaurant cook this inconsistently. Some occasion this can taste really superb and I'll give a 7.5 in a heart beat. But today...not that 'great'. The chef might be having a fight with his Thai girlfriend in Bangkok haha!

Menu : Baby Kailan with Sliced Beef
Price : Rp 37,500++
Score : 6.25 / 10

>> The oyster sauce is good. I don't like sauce that are too thick and they are of the right consistency here. One of the downside here is the portion. It is too small or am I just too greedy ?

Menu : Man Cham
Price : Rp 17,500++
Score : 3.5 / 10

>> Not good. Do not bother to order. They have this watery slime at the bottom of the sweet tapioca. Maybe the food is turning bad? Well I do not think it was that extreme. But definitely not good, however better than the horrifying glass noodle (above) ;p

JITTLADA THAI RESTAURANT

GRAND INDONESIA, EAST MALL FLOOR 3A

King Chef

My head was all cramped with house topics and budget issues. I now understands when previously I heard stories that goes something like: "Omg! Have you heard A & B broken up? They've been dating for 5 years and about to get married, I wonder what happen...". Wondering what may happen? Sooo many freaking issues to talk and compromise about. And when you can't find common ground, that is when the 'cracks' develop!

Anyways back to food topic (sorry I got sidetracked), I went to 'King Chef' on that stressful day and it was my first time. I visited the branch in Emporium Mall Pluit but upon looking on the menu, they do open branches in Mall of Indonesia, Mangga Dua Square & Plaza Semanggi. Some dish took me by surprise; in a good way and overall the dinner was alright. Comparing to it's rival "Maystar & Duck King", this was less pricey. In addition to that, they're having 20% discount on all.

Menu : Pickle

Price : Rp 12,000++

Score : 7.0 / 10

>> I liked it! I know it is pretty much an ordinary looking pickle that the table seldom finishes it. But this is slightly different. The fresh ingredients blend into the vinegar with salt & sugary taste has a different kick on the tongue.

Menu : Steamed Scallop with Minced Garlic

Price : Rp 18,800++ / each

Score : 6.75 / 10

>> I'd give a 6 for the scallop itself, pretty much ordinary. What gave this a higher score was the vermicelli sitting on the bottom. It has so much flavor and sorts of balances the strong garlic shavings on the scallop.

Menu : Broccoli with Spicy Prawns

Price : Rp 40,000++

Score : 7.5 / 10

>> Again took me by surprise! The portion was generous, the broccoli was fresh; not overcooked and thus still has the crunchy texture! The prawns was slightly overcooked but it was forgivable when you taste the sauce. It's like a 'sweet chili' flavor partying on your taste buds. Not bad at all !

Menu : Beef Enoki Roll

Price : Rp 51,800++
Score : 2.0 / 10

>> Worst dish of the night and lost by a big margin! I gave a pathetic 2. The beef was chewy and not tender at all. The Enoki mushrooms were extremely soggy and tasteless (I bet the mushrooms were frozen ones). The oyster sauce on top was a joke and this was such a let down because the rest had my appetite going.

Menu : Soft Shell Crab Fried with Oats

Price : Rp 55,800++
Score : 6.5 / 10

>> Even though this was slightly on a mini portion for the price, nevertheless it was worth it. The crab was crunchy and the oats has a buttery fragrant which I love! Maybe the oats were fried in butter instead of oil. The generous oats were a perfect match with steam rice too.

Menu : Es Shanghai

Price : Rp 16,900++
Score : 3.0 / 10

>> I don't like this. The green bean was undercooked, thus slightly crunchy. The rest of the ingredients were just typical then picking and throwing it into the bowl. Nothing great about this. But because I need to have a desert for every meal, I finished it anyway :p

KING CHEF
EMPORIUM MALL PLUIT, 4th FLOOR (Next to Solaria)

Pisa Cafe

I went to "Alam Sutera" to hunt for new housings and had a quick lunch at this 'Pisa Cafe'. The restaurant is well known and when they first open in "Menteng" area, the place was a big hit. and impossible to get in without a reservation. 

The branch in 'Menteng' has live bands and serves relatively delicious food, but some how over the years the buzz around the restaurant name went down. And this time when I ate there, I understood why. The food has degraded in taste and the variety wasn't focused on Italian food. They had Indonesian and Chinese food all mixed into the menu.

Menu : Chicken Caesar Salad

Price : Rp 38,000++
Score : 2.0 / 10

>> Pathetic! If this was served to Gordon Ramsay, he'll spit it out immediately. The chicken was definitely frozen and not grilled fresh. Maybe cooked almost a week ago? It was so dry and tasteless. The bread was stale, the dressing was tasteless and for Rp 38,000 the portion was too small.

Menu : Aglio Olio 

Price : Rp 29,000++
Score : 3.0 / 10

>> I love Aglio Olio and this simply might be the worst Aglio Olio dish I had ever paid for. The pasta itself was alright not over or under cooked. But the sauce was just not seasoned! I can't taste anything except when I bite into the chili. I seriously think the owner need to have a chat with the chef.

Menu : Del Re'

Price : Rp 36,500++
Score : 4.0 / 10

>> A few scramble pieces of tuna and 4 onions place with melted cheese on top of a pizza dough. That is all ! Very disappointing. Pisa Cafe was supposed to be well known of their pizza and yet this was pathetically served. I bet Pizza Hut serves way much better pizza than this!

Menu : Sop Buntut (Oxtail Soup)

Price : Rp 68,000++
Score : 6.0 / 10

>> Surprise surprise! Instead of Italian food, this 'Italian' restaurant actually make better Indonesian food. After a few squeezes of lime, chili and soy sauce stir into, the score increased from a 5 to a 6.

Food Hall Supermarket (Food Court)

   

The next time you go to Food Hall Supermarket, take two seconds and notice the 'open kitchen' they have in the middle of their store. You can choose the meat and for a little more money, you're able get them to cook it for you on the spot. It's like a mini food court area. The concept was attractive, thinking extremely fresh produce cooked on the spot. However this was first time trying and I could only say nothing except bad reviews.

Menu : Nachos Chili Bean Supreme
Price : Rp 24,000 ++
Score : 4.0 / 10

>> The portion was generous but the food tastes barely a pass! The nachos was cold and the dipping chili bean sauce was way too oily. The wasn't enough chili spice in the dip and rather tasteless. It was disappointing and definitely far away from the true Mexican nachos!

Menu : Potato Skin with Chili Beans
Price : Rp 18,000
Score : 4.5 / 10

>> I gave this a near pass because I like potato skin by natural. But this doesn't mean I'm encouraging you guys to try. Not good either. The skin wasn't crisp at all, it was all way too dry and I seriously think that the potatoes are all frozen and just re - heated when ordered.

Menu : Wagyu Steak
Price : Rp 55,000
Score : 3.5 / 10

>> Wasn't sure which grade was the Wagyu but still, for a mere Rp 55,000 I was all excited but the when the food came, I frowned. I asked for a medium well and they gave me rare. I saw blood oozing out from the middle. I needed them to heat it some more. The salad and mash potatoes was quite pathetic too. Bottom line, bad cooking !

Kihana

Last Saturday, I went out to Plaza Indonesia (again haha :p) and had Japanese for dinner.  I'll never thought of 'Kihana' if weren't for my friends who brought up the suggestion. We nearly didn't have our food there because they were 10 of us and the only big table to fit all us has a minimum charge of Rp 2 million (dua juta). I thought to myself the restaurant's rule was quite stupid; the place wasn't packed at all and yet put a minimal charge for that 'special table'. Anyways in the end we stayed and split into 2 tables. Luckily, the food was not shitty (not crazily good either) and the service was alright. Thus, I forgave 'that rule'.

Menu  : Tom and Jerry
Price : Rp 73,000++
Score : 7.5 / 10

» Tom and Jerry is definitely the recommended sushi dish by the restaurant and didn't let me down! Even though the fillings were pretty much standard; Unagi eel, cucumber, seaweed, salmon roe, I felt the spicy mayonnaise generously sauced on top really brought the dish alive!

Menu  : D.I.G Roll
Price : Rp 73,000++
Score : 6.0 / 10

» The fillings were standard, the sauce was standard mayonnaise, the garnishes were standard! Basically just a standard tasting sushi roll. This didn't taste awful but even though the presentation was very similar to 'Tom & Jerry', the taste surely lost when compared.

Menu : Gindara Teriyaki
Price : Rp 100,000++
Score : 5.8 / 10

» The fish was slightly too mushy for me. I'm not sure whether it's because of the fish itself or it wasn't well cooked. The teriyaki sauce was okay, wasn't digusting but didn't blew me either. Nevertheless, for the quite pricey price tag, I felt the portion was slightly too small and didn't even include in the steam rice.

Menu : Gindara Teriyaki
Price : Rp 100,000++
Score : 5.8 / 10

» The fish was slightly too mushy for me. I'm not sure whether it's because of the fish itself or it wasn't well cooked. The teriyaki sauce was okay, wasn't disgusting but didn't blew me either. Nevertheless, for the quite pricey price tag, I felt the portion was slightly too small and didn't even include in the steam rice.

Below are some dishes that my friend ordered but I didn't get a chance to taste it. The price was not noted by me either. I'm sorry for the lack of info. Nevertheless, you still get to 'feed your eyes'. Enjoy !!

Beef Teriyaki

Yellow Tail Sashimi

Tori Katsu Curry Don

KIHANA JAPANESE RESTAURANT
PLAZA INDONESIA GROUND FLOOR MAIN LOBBY (ACROSS STARBUCKS)