Aloha! Welcome to Hawaiian Bistro

If you walk down the PIK area to have lunch or dinner or just hanging out, you sure have a lot of choices. Hundreds of restaurant approaching their potential customer with various ways; unique concept, unique food, unique design, etc. 

Let me present you one of restaurant that catch my eyes; Hawaiian Bistro. Located in the corner, the good news is beside good food and good place, it also has good parking lot. Since PIK is not a place you can go without your own vehicle, parking lot become something very crucial. It seemed more vacant, even always be full every weekend, but still acceptable. Big YAY. :)

"How is Hawaiian food look like?", you might ask. According to the chef (who is a native Hawaiian), most of native people in Hawaii is Asian. That's why the food is much influenced by Asian. So don't be surprised if many rice ingredient in the Hawaiian recipe.

It was a sunny day. I wanted something simple and yet refreshing at the same time. My choice was perfect; Lychee Ice Tea. Based from some information I learnt lately, I could say they used black tea as the base, with lychee syrup as additional flavor. Love the presentation. Simple yet sweet. 

Lychee Ice Tea

Hot sun had burnt my energy. I needed food immediately. Hah! I got the answer to my prayer. Lolo Shrimp Wrap looked interesting. Remind me of my childhood favorite appetizer; deep fried sausage rolled with noodle. But this time is prawn; bigger and (look) more mature. :p

Lolo Shrimp Wrap - IDR 38K

Getting bored with sushi roll with salmon? They have Spam Musubi (sushi rolled with spam). If you don't eat spam, don't you worry, they also have other choice: BBQ chicken and chicken katsu. 

Spam Musubi - IDR 22K

 I believe you already familiar with popcorn chicken. If you love it, then you'll love this even more. Mahaka Mochiko Chicken is basically BBQ seasoned popcorn chicken. 

Mahaka Mochiko Chicken (IDR 32K)

 Bistro Bento is my favorite of all, because it contained almost all the best dishes here. Spam, fried dory, BBQ fried chicken (this is sooo goood), and BBQ grill. Happy tummy, happy day. ;)

Bistro Bento (IDR 72K)

 Loco Moco was one of the top dish. Rice woth hamburg beef and sunny side egg, plus brown gravy. Well-seasoned, perfect portion. My mom's fave. :) 

Loco Moco - IDR 65K

Another star brought by Hawaiian Bistro: BBQ Mix. Thin sliced beef, pork, and chicken. Love the flavor and texture. I could lick the the plate until nothing left. If you don't eat pork, just tell the waiter and they will happily change the pork into chicken or beef.  

BBQ Mix (IDR 69K)

Coffee Jelly was a nice closing of the lunch. Coffee jelly with vanilla ice cream and kahlua. I wasn't a big fan of coffee and vanilla. But this one was an exception. Fresh and sweet vanilla ice cream bumped along to bitter coffee jelly. Suprisingly, i loved it.  

Coffee Jelly (IDR 25K)

Who doesn't love shaved ice? Me not. Hot sunny day was a perfect reason to have a glassful shaved ice with ice cream and tutti frutti syrup. 

Overall, I loved the food and ambiance. Price was definitely worth it. In fact, I've been coming back for some times. ;)

Hawaiian Bistro
Rukan Garden House A25
Pantai Indah Kapuk
Jakarta, Indonesia 10620
Opening Hour (Jam Buka): Senin-Minggu 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Phone: (021) 29033185
www.hawaiianbistro.com

Alcoholic Bar: Eat and Drink Alcohol! (Food Tasting)

Heyho, people! After a long blogwalking, my writing spirit has been awaken somehow. Thanks to my fellow foodies! :p

Kemang area is famous as hang out place for Jakartan youngsters. Many fancy restaurants built in here, offer their own uniqueness. Alcoholic Bar is one of them. Located a bit 'hidden', you may find it still in one complex with KOI Kemang. 

I received invitation to try their new brunch menu with some fellow foodies. 

My coming is well-welcomed with the first appetizer; Green Peas Cream Soup with Diced Pork (IDR 38K).  IMHO, this was a good appetizer. The green peas puree wasn't too soft, still had some rough texture. Glad to hear that. If the texture was too soft, I guess it would look like a baby food. 

Tasted a bit plain, but good enough to tickle my buds. Now I'm ready for bigger kick. 

Green Peas Cream Soup with Diced Pork (IDR 38K)

They served all the brunch menu with Italian Sparkling Wine. This was my first time having brunch with alcohol in it. lol.

Anyway, they are having weekend brunch promo, where you can have 3 course continental brunch menu (consist of soup, main course, and dessert) and FREE FLOW Italian Sparkling Wine, only for IDR 250++. This promo valid only on Saturday-Sunday 10am-2pm.

Go give it a chance and make sure you don't get drunk! ;)

Italian Sparkling Wine

Foccacia with Cointreau Gravlax Salmon, Scramble Eggs & Rocket Salad IDR 50K

Eggs Blackstone IDR 45K

Crispy Amaretto Pork Belly IDR 68K

Eggs Hemmingway IDR 50K

Jack Daniel’s Baby Back Ribs IDR 180K (full slab) or IDR 90K (half slab)

Orange Martini/Champagne (I forgot)

Salmon Crepes with white Wine Mornay Sauce served with rocket salad IDR 40K

Champagne Jelly

HOMEMADE VODKA RASPBERRY SORBET IDR 28K

I had a blissful brunch. I loved the food. My favorite was the Pork Ribs. I loved it. Heavenly well-marinated. Came in one plate with baked beans and chick peas. I loved them too. No, it's not canned baked beans. They made it themselves. Sweet enough and not tomato-sauce-ish.  

They had 5 types of poached-egg-with-muffin (you may read them on the photo above). The differences between them was the topping only. Which one was the best? Depends on your taste. ;)

The poached egg was perfect. The yolk running out sexily covering the muffin and topping. 

In the end, they served us Orange Martini/Champagne. I forgot what's that. The point is, it was orange alcohol, which I enjoyed a lot. It was my fave beverage that day. Light and refreshing. 

The dessert was too serious for me. I always love light and fruity dessert. But I just can't stand the alcoholic dessert. Maybe I got too much alcohol that day (since I'm not an alcoholic person). 

If you can't drink alcohol, don't worry. You still can eat the dishes. Alcohol material won't leave any alcohol effect after been cooked, but the exotic scent still remains in the dishes.

Alcoholics Bar

Jl.Kemang Raya no. 72N

Jakarta Selatan 

Tel : +628 719 5675 

@Alcoholics_Bar

http://www.facebook.com/AlcoholicsBarGrill

www.alcoholicsbar.com
info@alcoholicsbar.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

Tan n Tan

If you happen to Miniapolis, Plaza Indonesia, you might find a red and white chinese restaurant just right beside the baby-gym. Yeah, its name is Tan n Tan. As I walked through in, the place was still vacant at 11.00 am. But as the lunch time coming, the place was, slow but sure, pretty crowder.

I read, this restaurant was founded by 2 different Mrs. Tan, who were bestfriends and they fancy to have a modern chinese restaurant. So that's how Tan n Tan created.  

Pork Mee (36,5K). First thing I noticed was this restaurant served pork. Hardly find pork in Chinese restaurant that located in malls. Basically, pork mee was noodle that covered with tomato & chilli sauce, served in a big white bowl with two meatballs, beansprouts, fish ball, and fried pork fat (we usually call it cuyucha). First, I was annoyed by the smell of tomato sauce. I hated it. But then I tried, and it turned out to be better and better then. The bad news is the fried pork fat  was smell bad. I mean it's like had been kept for a long time, so it became musty. 

Bakso Goreng - Fried Chicken Meatball (19,5K).  Actually, this one didn't disappoint me. Pretty nice. Crunchy outside, soft inside. Tasted salty and savory. They put minced chicken and prawn together, mixed it with spicies, than repeatedly threw it forcefully. Yeah, that's how you make fried meatball. :)

Bakuteh (59,8K). As a chinese restaurant that served pork, of course Bakuteh is one of their speciality, and I wouldn't miss an opportunity to try one. :D

Served in a big hot bowl with a small bowl of cakwe, the smoke and smell was going through wherever. 

Filled with some kinds of fungi, yeah, chinese herbal recipes is the main idea of this dish. The pork was nice, not too hard to chew, yet not too soft. The broth tasted a bit tasteless, but the smell was so strong.

Compared to other chinese restaurant in malls, this one seemed pretty edible and nice. 

Compared to my owner's mother and grandma cooking, this one seemed horrible. :)

Ice Cocktail (27,5K). After tasting a lot of oily thingy, I thought I should eat some fruits to make myself balance. :p
So I tried this cocktail. First glance, it looked so colorful and fresh. It was shaved ice at the bottom, with fruits on its top, showered by liquid sugar. The fruits were strawberry, orange, watermelon, pineapple, and melon. I tried, then felt something wrong. Ah, I realised there was canned fruit, that made the taste became weird. Please, for 27K cocktail in this little bowl, you shouldn't use canned fruit. I really really really against it.Moreover if you put the water of canned fruit into it. Geez! It wasn't edible anymore. I even spit it out my mouth. Big disappoinment to me. 

Overall, my visit was just so so. The waiter/ess were friendly and helpful. :)




Plaza Indonesia, M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28 – 30, Tanah Abang, L3 # E45, Jakarta Pusat

Hakata Ikkousha

Heyho Readers! Who loves ramen? Me! Me! Me! 

As a big fan of ramen, it is a must to me to try the most happening ramen in Jakarta nowadays: Hakata Ikkousha! After the big hit of Ramen 38 spreaded throughout Jakarta and being calmed down already lately, now it's time for Ikkousha to be the next kicking point. 

Located in Muara Karang Raya, which is a food-crowded-place, Ikkousha has never been lack of customer. There's always a bunch of people queuing in the line waiting for their turn to taste the famous dishes. The place really reminds us of Japanese food stall, which is narrow and compact.

Dominated with wooden interior, they also have open kitchen where we could see the chefs working. 

As I saw some of the pictures hanging there, Ikkousha is based in Japan, and brought here by Japanese. 

This is their signature ramen.  Available with chicken and pork (38K).  I chose pork one. You know what makes Ikkousha different with another ramen? Their broth. As I overheard, it needed two days of cooking to make a perfect broth. The broth was not too thick but very taste and rich.
The portion was quiet big, enough to full my feast, but I was still like wanting more more and more. ;p
So bad there was only 1 pork slice served on the top. 

Tan Tan Ramen (46K). Just the same with the ramen, but it was a bit more spicy. You could see from the color, it looks more red-orange-ish. I thought they put some additional spicy broth. Oh, and tan tan ramen had half-cooked egg! Yippie! I was extremely in love. lol.

Gyoza. The gyoza was nice. Tasty and juicy. 

Chicken Karaage. Came in 5 pieces, and pretty big if compared to common karaage. Anyway. it tasted juicy, and crunchy outside. They spread peeper and salt on the top, and everything went well to me. 

Fried gyoza. just the same with the gyoza, but this one is the deep fried one. I prefer the other one. Although the crunchy skin was nice. :)




Hakata Ikkousha 
Jl. Muara Karang Raya No.85
North Jakarta
ph. +62 21 66600255
fx. +62 21 66670588

Kado ++

Grand Indonesia is one of food heavens in Jakarta. They have a lot good tenant. Kado++ is one of the new comer there. Actually first opened at Intercontinental Hotel, now Kado++ spread its wing into mall. Lets see how good it is.

Tori Don (54K). It was rice with scrambled egg, minced pork, and chicken. Tasted pretty good. The rice was perfectly cooked that time. The scrambled egg was tasteless. And the chicken was nice, tender, smells good. Minced pork was just okay.  

Tsukune Zousui (35K). Basically it's Japanese risotto. Different with modern risotto that served by common bistro lately, this Japanese risotto tasted much purer. Salty and creamy. But I didn't like the the texture. The rice was sticky, in a bad way. And I couldn't feel the meat. :(
Anyway, it was successfully full my empty tummy. Tommy's happy now. :p

Taiyaki Angko (22K). You must be know Korean fish ice cream. Yeah, it is so good! Nah, this Taiyaki  is the mini version, but without the ice cream. So it's like the crepes shaped like a fish. Angko means red bean. I chose Taiyaki Angko, so my fish crepes came with red bean paste filling. Nyum! 
The read bean paste was sweet. It was exactly the same taste with Korean fish ice cream without ice cream. So bad it made me craving for ice cream. It would taste much better with ice cream. :p

Overall, I'm not too satisfies, since they only had few variant of dishes. And the menu book was already bad enough for a such pretty high end restaurant. The taste of dishes was also just so so. 
They should make some improvement I think. :)




Kado++
Grand Indonesia West Mall Lvl. 3A
(021) 23581871

Warung Naughty Nuri's

I believe you all have heard this big name; Warung Naughty Nuri's. First opened in Ubud, Bali, its big name is a guarantee to be crowd in Jakarta. I knew this kind of phenomenon already. And I know I wasn't wrong and i wasn't the only one who knew it. First branch in Jakarta, Kelapa Gading, was quite a big hype. No more than a quarter year, second branch was launched; Pantai Indah Kapuk. As it is much nearer to my home, so I chose to go there. And it turns out that 2nd branch in Jakarta wasn't less hype than the first. As I asked the waitress, she said I have to wait in 10 lines of queue. Well, not surprised. I saw many people standing outside just to wait their name to be called. Just so you know, it was a ruko (home office) kind of building, and they use 2 floors to serve customers. There's also seats outside the building, but unfortunately it was full of smoke from griller. But still, some people rather chose to sit there than wait in a long queue.

Spare Ribs (95K). It looks tempting, doesn't it? It came up with a pretty big portion. But after I ate it, I still felt not full. lol. Yeah, ribs contain bone and meat (in this case, pork), so the bone was quiet big. Plus, they served it without any side dish. Please, with that price and location like this, it won't be hurt if they give some french fries. Anyway, it tasted nice. Well-absorbed seasoning. And me loved it. I believe they cooked (maybe boiled it in seasoned broth) it forst before they grilled it. I could see a super big pot full of spare ribs. After they boiled it, they put it into seasoning (I am pretty confident it was made from soy sauce), then grilled it.

Pork Chop (80K). This one was not less outstanding than the former dish. I even love this more. I guess the seasoning between this pork chop and spare ribs are the same. They tasted exactly the same. I loved this one more because the pork was much easier to eat and the seasoning was even much well absorbed in this pork. The pork itself was tender and juicy. Plus, it didn't smell like pork, which much better. Maybe the pork-smell already covered by grilled-smell and seasoning-smell.

I could see while the chef was preparing my dishes. They grilled it in front of the main entrance. So bad they don't have a chimney, so the smoke was just spread all over the outside-area.

See the people who were waiting for their name to be called. Good foods worth your patience. :p

Warung Naughty Nuri's

• Jl. Raya Sanggingan, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
• 361/977547

Ruko Crown Golf Blok A no.55

Jl. Marina Raya - Pantai Indah Kapuk

Jakarta Utara

(021) 70098999

Jalan Boulevard Raya TB 2 No 27,
Kelapa Gading Jakarta Utara

Phone: (021) 452 0380

Jam Buka:
Siang: 10.00 – 22.00 (Last order 21.30)

Paulaner

have you heard about this hip-lately restaurant? well, i've just made a visit here. :)

i started with Side Bread (18K), which consisted of 4 kind of wheat bread and butter. served on a wood cutting board. so cute! :D

and i ended with this big Pork Platter for two (199K). Yeah, this plate was totally full of porky pieces.hahaha. It consisted of smoked pork chop, boiled pork knuckle, 1 piece pork sausage, meatloaf, 2 pieces Vienna sausages, 1 pieces Nuernberger and half pork knuckle platter with sauerkraut and mashed potato. how was it? it was so make me full! :D

i love all kind of sausages and mashed potato here. but all the big-pieces of pork was a bit porky-smell, and i didn't like it. maybe for other people that's ok, but i cant stand for it.hehe. and the sauerkraut is yucky! taste like kimchi, but this one was more sour.

they said they brewed the beer by themselves, but since i don't like beer, so i didn't ordered it. :)

Paulaner Brahaus

Hotel Indonesia Kempinski

Jl. MH. Thamrin no.1

Jakarta