Q Smokehouse: Mexican Food Panel

I love smoked meats! It has the best smell a meat could have. Q Smokehouse is an expert in smoked meats. They love to do experiments and they have invented many many many new unique recipe that no one has. Creative!  

Celebrating their 1st anniversary, Q Smokehouse Senopati invited some bloggers and try their new menu: Mexican food! Yeiy. 

So bad, I was a bit sick at that time, but I wasn't sick enough to not come, of course. :p 

Tortilla Soup (35K). Yes, this was good. Recording to the chef, they used three kind of beans for this dish. As it was a tomato based soup, it tasted a bit light and very powerful to kick my buds. 

Watching the chef cooking for us. :)

The chef's preparing tacos for us. 

Fajitas Delight- 135K. Consists of prawn, chicken, beef with fresh salad and soft tortilla. They smelled so good!! When it put on my table, I took photos of it quickly so I could eat it all soon. :p

Fortunately, the taste wasn't disappoint me at all. It tasted so good! I loved it. The beef and chicken was still juicy enough, but well done and well seasoned. 

This is the Tacos made by the chef. Mine was too awful to be showed off. Lol. 

It tasted fresh and yummy. The smell of the smoked meat met the fresh veggie and sour tomato. Slurp! 

Texas Style Barbecue Brisket Platter. Available in 2 size: regular for 200gr  (99K) and light for 150gr (79K). This is one of their signature dish. The owner, who is also the executive chef, said he used stock of rambutan tree to smoke this beef brisket. He also said, he already tried many kind of stocks available in Jakarta, and rambutan tree's stock had the best result. I didn't doubt his choice. He's right. It tasted so nice. The beef was so tender, juicy, and tasty. The bbq sauce was mild enough, so it didn't ruin the beef's taste. 

Crispy Prawn Bistro Pasta - 85K. No, it's not expensive, as it came in an extraordinary size. You can share it up to 3 persons. The pasta was al dente. The prawn was big enough and it didn't smell fishy. The sauce was mild but strong enough to leave a good impression on me. Love this too. :)



Agave Salsa Sorbet. This is also their new fusion mexican menu. They use lemon sorbet, which taste light sour, and fruits (tomato, olives, avocado, and raisins) with a hint of cinnamon and clove. At first I felt strange, but later, I couldn't stop to have more and more. 

I didn't take the picture of the place because they were close for public that day, and they would have an event that night, so the table arrangement was different with usual. But I love the place, it was cozy, neat and comfort.

Overall, I enjoyed all the food their provide. I definitely will come back again someday. See you there! :)

Q Smokehouse
Jl. Suryo No. 20 ( Senopati ),
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan.
No. Telp: ( 021) 723 5728 / ( 021 ) 722 9202
Facebook : Q Smokehouse Factory
Twitter : @qsmokehouse

The Harvest Cake

The Harvest Cake is one of the best cakery in town. First opened their outlet at Jl. Panjang, now they have a lot of branches already, even outside Jakarta. Whoah, big growth, huh? ;)

I had tried their Opera Cake. It was nice, me loved it so much. But as I have aten it for some times, so I gave the other choices a try. 

Chocolate tiramisu. Just like another tiramisu, it has a hint of coffee. Chocolate plus coffee? Don't you feel like mocca? Yes, that's a perfect word to call the taste. More like into mocca, but with a little less milky. With no hint of any alcoholic liquid such rhum or kahlua or baileys. 

The texture was moist and soft. The mousse was rich. The sponge cake was fluffy and not velvety.

Chocolate Devil. It was mousse cake with layers of sponge cake between. What's the difference with tiramisu? Choco Devil had no hint of coffee and a glimpse of heaven for a choco lover. The mousse was very sweet. The texture was soft, rich and nice. The mousse part was thicker than sponge cake.

Psssst.. I heard they also have red velvet cake! Wanna try some? :)




The Harvest Cake
Jl. Arteri Pondok Indah No. 38E 
Kebayoran Lama Selatan 
Kebayoran Lama 
Jakarta Selatan DKI Jakarta
(0)21 720 1710


JL. Dharmawangsa Raya No. 10 B  
South Jakarta 12160(0)21 739 4225


Jl. Senopati Raya No. 78 
Senayan Kebayoran Baru 
Jakarta Selatan DKI Jakarta(0)21 7070 8793



Jl. Pluit Putra Raya no. 23
Ph. : +62-21-6690-250
Fax : +62-21-6690-250

Jl. Margonda Raya No. 295
Ph. : +62-21-7721 6200
Fax : +62-21-77202170

Jl. Boulevard Raya, Blok TA 2/4, Jakarta Utara
Ph. : +62-21-45844954
Fax : +62-21-45840880

City Plaza Building Lantai Dasar 
Jl. Gatot Subroto No.42 Jakarta Selatan
Ph. : +62 21 5297 1277

Jl. Sunda, No.7, Jakarta Pusat
Ph. : +62-21-2300369
Fax : +62-21-2300469

Jl.Alam Sutera Boulevard Kav.6 
Kawasan Flavor Bliss No.7 (Serpong)
Ph. : +62-21-53140400
Fax : +62-21-53140402

JL. Bengawan No.39, Surabaya Pusat - 60241
Ph. : +62-31-5616263
Fax : +62-31-5619696

Jl. H.Djuanda no.15 - Dago
Ph. : +62 22 4200756
Fax : +62 22 4200756

Nannini : Food tasting

After success with first outlet in Plaza Senayan, now Nannini opened their second outlet at Plaza Indonesia (Yeiy!). Just had the grand opening few weeks ago, two of my owners were invited to experience their new concept and food. We are so excited. 

Located in 2nd floor, just right behind Aldo and Zara, Nannini Plaza Indonesia seems more peaceful because not much people walking around there. A perfect place to have a bunch of chit chat with friends or even for meeting point/working alone. 

Actually Nannini provides various dishes from Italian to Indonesian, and they provides cocktails too. 

Fitra, the operation manager of Nannini, introduced himself and he did some demo of making Smokey Rosemary. So far, it's interesting. 

Beetle Juice - 35K. Presented as welcome drink that night. It's pineapple, orange, mango, with passion fruit and kiwi. Love the sweet and ice cold refreshing drink. Now, my tummy is ready for some kickin' dishes, I thought. So I just couldn't wait for their maincourse.

While waiting for the main courses, we were given Pineapple Cinnamon Roshka (80K). Consisted of vodka, pineapple liquor, lime wedge and mix sugar. Tasted sweet at first and bitter at the end. As I came with an empty tummy, cocktail is not a good choice for me to drink. 

Smokey Rosemary. As its name, it contained smell of rosemary. Fitra showed us how to do this. He put rosemary in the glass, that burnt it with lighter until it was considered as moderate, and then.....that's it. lol. He just showed us until there, maybe not much trick needed after that or maybe they even had a special trick that shouldn't showed to anyone else. I felt the alcohol level is less in here, rather than pineapple cinnamon roshka. Or maybe because I drank that first, so my tongue had became less sensitive. 

Finally, i had the food! What a happiness. :D
Nannini's Wild Mushroom Soup - 50K. A soft velvety cream soup blended with a medley of wild mushrooms and drizzled with truffle oil. It tasted light creamy, savory and a bit salty. Happily, it wasn't too thick, so it was very appropriate for an appetizer because you won't feel full easily. The garlic bread was crispy and nice, went well with soup. As compliment, there was a fried mushroom. I loved the mushroom! It was tender and juicy.






After a long wait, here's the main course. They served 3 main course in 1 plate. So what you see here were't the actual size.

 Here's the first dish: Nannini's Striploin - 195K. Grilled striploin served with mashed potato and creamy champignon sauce. I didn't know how long it had been served after they grilled it, but the meat was cold. Even there's still a hint of warm left, but it's still too cold for a steak. And it was medium well, so when I eat a medium well done meat with a cold temperature, all I could imagine was I ate a raw meat. lol. Okay, it was exaggerate. But I seriously suggest them whether it would be nicer if they could serve the dish in appropriate temperature. The sauce was nice, seemed like Nannini is genius in mushroom-processing.

Nannini's Salmon - 85K. Grilled fresh Norwegian salmon served with mesclun salad tossed in balsamic dressing and homemade sauce. This was my fave. The salmon wasn't fishy and it was well-cooked. Yeah, I love well-cooked fish, rather than medium well. The meat was tender and the sauce was epic. The sauce was sweet sour and savory. Ah, I don't know how to describe it, I enjoyed it much. :)

Here comes the last main dish: Nannini's Cordon Bleu - 75K. Tender chicken breast stuffed with smoked beef and cheddar cheese, served with potato fries and red wine gravy. The outside was crispy and the chicken meat was tender and juicy. The cheese was pretty strong. Nice combined with the sauce. The sauce was savory and could elevate the rank of this dish. So bad the sauce wasn't much enough to me. :(


Overall, I loved the dishes, just so bad, I wasn't full enough as these small portion had to be shared for two. It would be much better if they gave these 3 dishes in actual portion and could be shared for up to 4 people. I guess that's a better idea. :)

Sangria - 125K. Brandy, mix fruit, and red wine. I am not a drinker, so you may don't want to believe me at this section. The sangria here was stronger than Tapas Movida's, and even the fruits also tasted like red wine, maybe they had swamped the fruit from long time ago. 

They closed the night with Nannini's Tiramisu - 60K. It was Nannini's famous mascarpone mousse covered sponge cake drenched in Kahlua and Baileys. Yup, I loved it. The tiramisu was soooo soft, moist and light. Yup, they used Kahlua and Baileys instead of rhum, which brought more coffee and cocoa smells. Tasty!

Anyway, big thanks to Nannini and Goorme for inviting us. May success be ever in your favor! 




NANNINI
Plaza Indonesia 2nd Floor, Unit L2, No. T. 111
P: (021) 2992 3650
T: @nanninijakarta
www.nanninijakarta.com

Paradise Dynasty

Another food paradise opened in Jakarta last few months ago; Paradise Dynasty. Offers individual chinese dishes, Paradise Dynasty opened their first outlet in Jakarta at Plaza Senayan. Oriental ambience welcoming me as I walked in. Just like another Chinese restaurant, many family came to Paradise Dynasty to have family dinner (I came on Sunday). 

As I mentioned above, they offers individual chinese dishes. Means, the menu is more into la mien, or other chinese dishes that eaten individually. So I guess, their positioning is not family restaurant but more into meeting point restaurant or hang out restaurant for middle executive. But apparently, it's stick in our head that chinese restaurant is family restaurant. So here I was, seeing many families having lunch together. :)

They have open kitchen where we can watch the chef making our lamien/noodle. Their recommended dishes are la mien and xiao long bao. Can't wait to try!

Sliceed Pork Garlic (38K). IMHO, this was great! Out of my expectation. Pardon me if I'm wrong, because I don't really remember exactly what it is. For sure, it was slices of cucumber rolled in (pardon me if I'm wrong) pork slice and covered with minced garlic and sauce. The cucumber was cold, but the pork wasn't. So when I ate it, it was very refreshing. The garlic sauce was very tasty, which went super well to the cucumber and pork. The right choice to tickle my buds.

Black Truffle Xiao Long Bao  (108K).  They have a lot of xiao long bao variants. Some people says, the worst looking food has the best taste. Remembering that quote, I chose a black color xiao long bao. :p I never ate this type of xiao long bao, I usually only eat the ordinary ones. Well, let me finish my review about this black truffle xiao long bao. It contained pork, of course. Xiao long bao without pork is like sky without cloud. lol. As a black xiao long bao, nothing special in it. But as a ordinary xiao long bao, it tasted so good. The water (which was broth) was perfect, savory and not too salty. The pork was simple-seasoned and went well with the broth. The skin a bit thick, but that's okay. Not a big deal, since the filling was good. :)

Lamien Poach Marble Beef (58K).  What surprised me in this is the broth (which was thick and condensed) contained a lot of black pepper. So when I tried to swallow, it felt like my throat burning. Lol.  On the other hand, I was hooked. It was addictive. Even I've been sweaty like hell, a part of me want some more. :p
Anyway this is their noodle. Thin and silky. 

Lamien Pork Belly (58K). The broth reminded me of Ikkousha. It was thick and rich. It had half done egg too, which gave me sensation of heaven when it stirred to the broth. 

Lamien Pork Dumpling Chili Sauce (45K). Aha! This is my fave. Imagine sour and spicy in one bite of noodle and dumplings. Yeah, that's exact how it tasted like. The sourness was more into vinegar or somewhat, but for sure it wasn't lemon or lime. The noodle had the clear broth separated, but it was already flooded by some tasty water (I usually call it as cep. It is few thick broth). 

Rice Ball Peanut (25K). It was like a hot mochi, with black sesame filling and peanut topping. It was nice. Me loved it though. The mochi wasn't too thick and wasn't too thin. As it was hot, the black sesame filling turned liquid. 


Overall, I loved all the foods I ordered. The quality was great, the portion was big enough, even for me. The taste also awed me well.  I promise I will make another visit.  :)




Paradise Dynasty
Plaza Senayan, Lt.5, Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8
(021) 57900146

Warung Ngebul

Bandung famous of its eatery world getting bigger and bigger each day. Every time my owner goes there, she do a lot of preparation such eating schedule, which take most of my time, and visiting route.
Vabyo, a well-known writer and seleb, has a small eatery house in Dago. Warung Ngebul it is. Interested with the fun concept that offers many light bites at reasonable price, my owner and friends decided to give it a try. 

Located in the heart of Bandung city, a small place with dim light and simple decoration. They had some old games such congklak, snake & ladder, etc. 

Vabyo was very friendly. My friend even got his book signed and we took a photo together. :)

Nori Krispi Kulit Tahu Bakar - 15K. Do you have any idea what is it? Well, actually it was grilled seaweed covered with tofu skin, with aci (sago powder mixed with water). Yup, unique. I never tasted this kind of dish before. It tasted savory and plain. Savory came from seaweed, and that's it. I didn't love it much, but it's fun to try it. 

Fusilli Carbonara - 18K. It came in a medium plate. The portion wasn't big, but considering this as a light bites, it was very okay. Surprisingly, it tasted so yummy! I loved it. Looked very simple. It wasn't milky, very light, savory and salty enough. In shorter way, I could call it yummy. There were pieces of sausages, and grated cheese on top. 

Mie Goreng Ngebul Spesial -15K. Another surprising dish. Basically this was instant noodle that cooked in certain way. They put sausages, vegetables, meatballs, and cheese on top. Easy cooking, but delightful to me. Well, this wasn't a fancy dishes but it was loveable. 

Roti Keju + Daging Asap (10K IDR)- Cheese bread and smoked beef. It was deep fried smoked beef rolled in bread loaf with cheese inside. Of course I loved it. Tasted savory and a bit salty with a hint of sweet from the bread. <3


Overall, I loved the place, even it's too narrow or somewhat, but affordable good food, easy bites (you dont have to think when you eat) and warm chit chat, Who will say no? :D




Jalan Ir H Djuanda 230 Bandung (Near McD Dago)
http://twitter.com/WarungNgebul

Bluegrass

Located just right at the opposite of Otel Lobby, Bluegrass succeed to attract my attention. Moreover, one of my friend highly recommend this place.  So I came by and tried some of their menus. Hope I wouldn't disappointed. 

Texas Beef Ribs (150K). It came in a big size, way from my expectation, and it looked good. So first impression was 10. Lets see if this dish could kicked my buds. They have 3 variants of sauce: original, BBQ, and gentlemen jack rare tennessee whiskey. I chose gentlemen jack, and I didn't have any regret. It tasted so good. The meat (beef) was so tender and juicy. Chewing it even seemed effortless. The spices really well-absorbed. It came with mashed potato which also tasted good and went very well with the tasty meat. For the matter of size, this dish could be shared for 2-4 persons.

Asparagus Bacon Puff Pastry (60K). As I ever said, I love puff pastry. Interested with this one, so I dared myself to try. And I loved it! Savory puff pastry and salty bacon, plus half done egg yolks combined with crunchy asparagus could bring heaven to me. 

Granny's Apple Pie (55K). Yup, it's double crust pie with apple and spices filling. The crust was (of course) crispy and the filling has soft texture and strong cinnamon taste. Came with a bowl of vanilla ice cream which went well with the pie. This wasn't my favorite, but I was quiet satisfied with it. 

Bluegrass Bar & Grill

Komp. Epicentrum
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said
Kuningan, Jakarta

Phone : 021-29941660

Twitter : @BluegrassBnG

Otel Lobby

Jakarta has a lot of new restaurants lately. It's even impossible for me to try them all in a month. That's why I am so excited to try new restaurant, because it means one more material to publish in this blog. lol. Anyway, this time I went Otel Lobby. Yup, the most hip new comer in Jakarta. Many people talking about it. Never hear any disappointment about it, I thought I should make a visit as soon as I could. 

Located in one of biggest business area in Jakarta, Otel Lobby easily climbing their name up into the list of 'must-try' restaurants. The signage reminds me about classic hotel which usually found in classic movie. When you enter the door, you'll find a hotel lobby. Literally, hotel lobby. Yes, I lied, it's not a hotel lobby, it's only hotel lobby-look-alike, complete with all hotel lobby decoration. There's a front desk where you can ask for tables. If you feel like going to the bar, it will be right on your left. if you feel like having dinner or lunch, your table will be in right area. The dim light, actually it was almost dark, made me harder to take much pictures even tough I went there in the afternoon.

Beef Wellington - 135K IDR. The size was not too big, approximately as big as my fist. But the taste spoke louder than its size. I got nothing to complain. The pastry outside was crispy, the beef was tender, juicy, and perfectly half-done. The sauce was light enough to balance the high tensed wellington.  

OTL Meatballs - 55K IDR.  Of course you shouldn't hoping for Chinese or Indonesian meatballs. Otel Lobby claims itself as a fusion restaurant and here's one of their creation. Italian meatball with emping (melinjo cracker). Well, it seemed awkward to me at first, but apparently they went well together. The meatballs made from minced beef that seasoned and be rounded. The beef was not dry. Actually they cooked it just like bolognaise. The difference was the shape of the meat. They put grated cheese on top, which a bit melted and fused with the sauce. The sauce tastes salty. Even for a salty lover like me, it tasted salty. But fortunately, it went really well with the emping. 

Lemon & Pear Souffle - 35K IDR. I am a souffle adorer. So I decided to order one.  This time, I chose lemon & pear souffle, as this was my first time saw this kind of souffle on the menu. Unfortunately it was too runny. Away from my expectation and imagination that souffle is thick and rich. Anyway, i couldn't find any hint of lemon, maybe it was not a main ingredients, but why they put it as the name. There's the sauce which I found hints of vanilla and ginger. Yup, ginger to be combined with souffle. Yes, this was my first time seeing this too. Well, it was not that bad. It was pretty nice anyway. But I just prefer chocolate souffle, a safe choice, which they do not have. 

Otel Lobby
Jl.Epicentrum Tengah
South Gate Entrance
The Annex Building of Bakrie Tower – Kuningan
Jakarta Selatan 12940

Phone : 021-29941324
Website : http://www.otellobby.com

The Strudels Factory

This time I was in Bandung. Felt so good after long time no visit. :D

Bandung has many many many concept restaurants. It was even hard for me to choose which one to visit first, since I only have one day there. Looking around Riau area, I saw The Strudels Factory. Ah, I used to want it so bad few months ago, and since it was justs in front of my eyes, I didn't hesitate to come in. 

Blueberry Strudels. What else you should order at The Strudels Factory? Of course I ordered their strudels. And apparently it was good. There's sugar on top. The strudels was crispy but soft enough to enjoy. The size wasn't too big, but that's not a big deal. It cost me about 18-20K IDR. I forgot the exact number. The blueberry sauce was a bit sour and the white sauce (I forgot what's that, maybe it was yogurt) was sweet. Sweet and sour in strudels? Perfect. 

Black and White Hot Cake. Yes, it is chocolate melted cake. I didn't know what took it so long, they spent almost 1 hour to bake it. I even asked to cancel because I still had other places to go, but they insisted that they were baking the cake so I couldn't cancel the order. Okay, in the middle of disappointment, I just sat and took pictures of my friends. After about 50 minutes, finally 'the king' arrived. I took some photos of it quickly then  grabbed a spoon, ready to prey it. :p  Well, the chocolate in the middle was melted, but not as good as I desired. It was a too thick and not generous. The outside part also not special, the cake was puffy but just okay. Nothing special here. The vanilla ice cream, I assume, was not a home made. But it went pretty well with the cake. 


THE STRUDELS FACTORY
House & Cafe
Jl. Progo 13 A
Bandung
Ph : 022.424.1075

Kopitiam

Lately, name "kopitiam" has something. You could find it everywhere. This is the first kopitiam I saw in malls; Kopitiam. 

Fried 

Fried Carrot Cake (36K). When it's warm, there's a little crispiness in the carrot cake's skin. Unfortunately, it went away after it became cold. The taste was nice, sweet and savory. Just like another fried carrot cake, like what I expected. 

French Toast Kaya (28K). Actually I was hoping for toasted bread with kaya jam in the middle. But apparently they had some surprise. The bread was dipped into egg and been fried pan, it tasted not bad at all. the bread was puffy, and no egg smell. The kaya jam was a big surprise to me. Looks like thousand island mayo, but it tasted lighter and not thick. So bad I couldn't find any hint of kaya. :( 

Another surprise is, it came with french fries! Yes, french fries. To be honest, when I ordered french kaya toast, I was hoping for something to tickle my buds and sweet tooth. No wonder I got french fries. Well, not that I didn't like french fries, it was just......unsual. :)

Ice Cappucino (27.5K).  A glass of coffee is good to start the day. As it was a hot day, so I prefer iced coffee. Turned out it was good, and the coffee was not too strong, so I have no problem with my stomach. :)

Earl grey Tea (16K). Tea is coffee's direct competitor. I chose earl grey tea. They had Dilmah's. :)

Kopitiam

Alam Sutra Boulevard Kav 21

Living World, Serpong G27, 

Tangerang

021- 9969 5522

Grand Indonesia, West Mall LG - 15, 

Jl. MH. Thamrin No.1

(021) 23581862

Central Park, LG, 

Jl. Letjen. S. Parman Kav. 28

Mall Taman Anggrek, Ground Floor #G78, 

Jl. Letjen. S. Parman Kav. 21

(021) 5609732

The East Building, Lobby Fl, 

Jl. Lingkar Mega Kuningan

Pondok Indah Mall 1, First Floor #FC06 Area 51 (Food Lounge), 

Jl. Metro Pondok Indah Blok 3 B,

http://kopitiam.co.id/

The Playground

What do you think when you hear "playground" ? Kid, child, play, fun, etc. 

Remembering when I was a kid, I loved to eat while sitting on a swing. Yes, it could happen again now, at The Playground. The Playground presents the concept of playground ambiance, with grassy floor, swing seat, bench, and other playground's material. Cool, isn't it? 

Pepperoni Pizza. I was excited when I knew it was square pizza. Well, it's just a matter of shape, but tried something unique is always exciting, right? ;p
The pizza was crispy on the edge side. The tomato sauce was a bit sour, but balance enough with the cheese. Just for tips, you'd better eat this while still warm. :)

Katsutti (65K) - is a fusion pasta. Spaghetti with cream sauce and chicken katsu, covered up with egg. As good as it looked, it tasted superb. Me very loved it. The portion wasn't big, but I found myself full enough because it's creamy and sweet. Anyway, I want it again now. *drooling*

Aglio Olio (45K). I'm not expecting much about this dish. I thought, as I was in major hunger, it would be better if I ordered safe menu. And turned out it was good! Well, a bit oily, but it tasted nice. The spaghetty was al dente, not too spicy, smelled very tempting, and really well-seasoned. 

Ice tea, lemon squash, and strawberry ice tea. (@20K) 

Zabaglione (35K). The waiter said, there's Bailey hint in it. But I tasted was milk and rum. Yeah, I was disappointed. 

Peanut butter and jelly. Actually, I was just curious, how this thing could be very famous among western people, so I ordered one. Apparently it was toasted breads with peanut and strawberry jelly in the middle. I couldn't taste the peanut jam. I forgot how much it cost, but I'm sure, it wasn't worth it. I prefer toasted bread sold in hawker stall; cheaper and yummier. 




The Playground
Plaza Indonesia Extension - Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28 - 30, Jakarta - (021) 3199-0221