#Magnoffee : Fun Way to Have Coffee

Heyho, people! I’m back! No, not because I’m not busy enough, but because I have something to share with you, and I couldn’t keep it myself for a longer time. :p
What’s that? Hint: It’s something to do with Magnum.

Who doesn’t know Magnum? It is a legendary ice cream in the world. Started with a single variant: vanilla, now they’re expanding a lot. Since the first booming Magnum Cafe few years ago, the hype wasn't stop right there. Magnum still making further steps, which lead to more enjoyment. YAY!

I'm not a vanilla nor coffee person. But when it comes to Magnum and Coffee, this is where my exception begins. The first time I met Cikopi in Magnum Café (Grand Indonesia) few weeks ago, he told me a lot of coffee thingy. Made me come to a question “If you want to have a cup of coffee, then why you are here? Magnum Café is a place for ice cream, not for coffee.” , and warmly he answered “Ah, you must be haven’t tried Magnofee. Try one!”. Then I got myself a mini Vanilla Magnum and a cup of coffee. OMG! Now I can say I’m a coffee person! :p

I remember how I couldn't stand of coffee. Black and bitter. Thanks to Magnum who invented giving me the idea of #Magnoffee. So what is this #Magnoffee thing? Glad that you asked. 

#Magnoffee is the latest trend brought up by Magnum, simply by putting Magnum ice cream into coffee. You can use any flavor of Magnum (mini Magnum is highly suggested) and any kind of coffee. Well, it looks like Affogato, but this one is even better.  Perfect for afternoon coffee time, working company, dessert, just hanging out with friends or family, and any other casual occasions.  

Talking about the direction, nobody can say. I mean, like, everybody has their own way to do anything. And so about this one. Magnofee totally have no rule. You can have it your way.  For example, my sister loves to put Magnum Vanilla into hot black coffee, and then she stirs it around using the stick, until some of ice cream melted. In the other hand, I prefer to crush the Magnum inside the packaging, then pour it all into the coffee. My friend love to use Brownie Magnum for her caffe latte. Need extra topping? You may add cinnamon or sugar or any stuff suits you well. I love grated dark chocolate, and my aunty loves grated ginger.

Having Magnoffee is so fun. I’ve done few experiments until now, and still keep counting. What about you? Make you own creation now!

PS. You can grab your favorite Magnum at nearest supermarket, mini market or any other stores.

Cuca : The Real Gem in Jimbaran

Happy Belated New Year, hungry people! This is my first post in 2014. One of my resolutions is to post more often then 2013. Wish me luck. :p

Have I told you that I went to Bali last October? I'm pretty sure I did it on this post. Now I'd like to share another good food in Bali; Cuca.

They opened in August 2013, just exactly on Eid Mubarak day. But I heard their name way before it. Apparently they prepared the dishes, ingredients, concept, and whatsoever from far far ago. Good to know. I was more than excited to try, I even booked my table before I departed from Jakarta. lol :p

Located in Jl. Patih Jelantik, near Intercontinental Hotel, the place wasn't in the main street, but there's a signage so you won't miss it. Thanks to my driver who drove me along to all of places I wanted to go in Bali with all his patience. (His name is Pak Kadek, his number is 62-819 9910 0879. He is very kind and sincere. I definitely will hire him if I happen to go to Bali again). Cuca have 3 parts of seating place: garden (it didn't have beach view but very lovely on sunset), dining area (private area, suitable for dating, family dinner, or any occasion that need more privacy), and kitchen bar (very suitable for people like who loves to watch the chef doing his attraction). I chose kitchen bar!

I came with 3 of my empty-tummy-friends, but since it was our last night in Bali and we still had one eating place to go that night, so we managed to order 3 tapas (small dishes/appetizer) and 3 drinks. FYI, Cuca only serves tapas, so there is no main course. The waiter said it took approx 3-4 portion to make someone full.

Welcome Dish

While waiting for our order, the friendly waiter served us the welcome dish. Don't know how to call it, the texture was similar with cotton. The flavor came from powder spice. Kevin, the head chef and founder, said it had Ayam Betutu flavor. And he created the recipe by himself! Cool. I even amazed from the first dish.

Crispy Fried Chicken (IDR 60K)

First dish appeared so tempting. Came with an outstanding presentation, it wasn't hard for me to take a good picture of it. Crispy Fried Chicken. Even from the name, you could tell what's in it. Yes, it's chicken. But Cuca successfully put an extra touch that made the dish unforgettable to me.  With a hint of wild honey, sesame dust, lemon basil, and served with coleslaw, the chicken was crunchy outside and juicy inside. Well seasoning was definitely their plus point.

Roasted Tiger Prawns (IDR 90K)

Roasted Tiger Prawns brought me to in the middle of love and hate. Love it because the outstanding taste. Hate it because I need some more by now that I'm drooling while writing this. I can tell you the tiger prawn was all fresh because I could taste it. Came with deep fried eggplant as topping and light coconut broth successfully highlight the season.

Free Range Chicken Puddle ( IDR 58K)

Well, I'm Asian, I eat rice. I was curious what would happen to Indonesian red rice in Chef Kevin's hand. And it turned out very well. Free Range Chicken Puddle came as a luxurious result with a high rated taste. Broth was nice, a little thick and savory. The red rice was very fine, felt like less fiber-ish, very enjoyable. The chicken was cut into diamond cut, cooked into perfection. Well done.

Monkey Business (IDR  65K)

When it comes to dessert, I will never miss it. Monkey Business is a bowl of baby banana pudding baptized in caramel look-a-like sauce that made from whiskey butterscotch, with espresso gelato. Am not a big fan of banana, but this one was an exception! The best sweet bitter alcoholic dessert I ever had. :)

Cocoa 8 (IDR  80K)

From the first sight, I knew my heart would fall for this one. The idea of mint choco flying in my head. And I was right. The combination of warm dark choco mousse with homemade mint ice cream (yes, it was homemade and the taste was no joke, way better than the one sold in supermarket. How cool is that?) and chocolate croutons was incredibly the best! OMG. As a chocolate lover, am so proud and happy. Chocolate and mint will never go wrong, right?

Bali Breakfast (IDR 65K)

It was not a breakfast menu, it's dessert. Called as Bali Breakfast because of the look. Hmm.. What is that? Let me explain. The 'yolk' in the middle was mango puree that tasted sweet and runny. The 'white part' was whipped coconut which tasted light, creamy, and went super duper well with the mango. This was the best dessert of the day. Never thought coconut and mango could make a pretty result. I will definitely came back for Bali Breakfast. *big grin*

Sun-Gria Mocktail  (IDR 60K)

Sun-Gria Mocktail  (IDR 60K)

Besides the outstanding dishes, Cuca also has outstanding beverages. Sun-Gria came in an extraordinary appearance. They replace ice cubes with watermelon ice cubes. Since I ordered the mocktail, not cocktail, they used watermelon juice. There should be red wine if you order cocktail one. Yes, this is one of the best thing here, every cocktail had mocktail version. Suitable for a person who cannot drink like me. Anyway, Sun-Gria Cocktail will cost you IDR 90K. 

Moo - Cocktail (IDR 90K) 

I'm so familiar with chocolate milk. There's no day i spent without drinking one. Moo, was a chocolate milk I drank that day. But the difference was Moo got hazelnut liquor and vanilla brandy. Light and comforting, enough to got me a good sleep. 

Blush - Mocktail (IDR 50K)

Just like the others, Blush also had mocktail - cocktail version. The cocktail version would cost you IDR 90K. Blush contain red watermelon juice with yellow watermelon ice. So refreshing. Cute appearance, right? 


I extremely enjoyed my visit and definitely will come back as soon as I can. Nice ambience combined with good food. What else can I ask for more? The real gem hidden in Jimbaran, Bali. :)

My view while eating

Cuca 
Phone:(0361) 708066


Hours:
 
12:00 pm – 12:00 am
Address: Jalan Yoga Perkanthi, Jimbaran, Bali 80364

Anyway, as you seen on picts, I got a new logo. What do you think? :) 

Sizzling Brownie to Sizzle Your Sweettooth - Fat Burger

Among many burgers joint in Jakarta, Fat Burger successfully caught my eyes. Used to be located at 5^th floor of Plaza Indonesia, now they move into a new nicer place; LG floor, still in the same building. Fun fact: they have classic-look jukebox where you can order your favorite songs for FREE. Yes, it’s free! I tried to order some songs then happily ate my meal while listening. It’s fun.

Offering juicy meat and delicious big size burger, now they proudly present you a new dessert. I found it very creative and inspiring. Sizzling Brownie it is. From the name, you might guess it is a brownie in a hot plat. Then yes, you’re right. This is how they served the tempting Sizzling Brownie: a brownie on a hot plate and vanilla ice cream on top, with the chocolate sauce poured onto them so the sauce will sizzle all the way.

Felt like a sweet dream to me. The moist rich chocolate brownie with cold and milky vanilla ice cream plus melted chocolate sauce gave a superb sensation to my palate. My sweet teeth were truly entertained. For you who don’t like sweet, you might find it too sweet. But you like me, so you definitely love sweetness. See you around, sweet heart! ;)

Fat Burger

Address: Plaza Indonesia

Jl. MH. Thamrin No. 28 – 30

Central Jakarta

Phone:(021) 3107584

Store Hours: Sun-Sat 10am-10pm

Plaza Senayan Food Court 
3th Fl, #339 Jl
Asia Afrika No. 8

South Jakarta

Paradise Inn : The Paradise for Your Buds

Paradise Inn is a second line of Paradise Dynasty. Opened their first outlet in Indonesia at Plaza Indonesia. FYI, Paradise Inn is a franchise from Singapore, brought to Indonesia by Boga Group. The room is decorated with Chinese theme and traditional Chinese song played, felt like I was in Shanghai.

Chinese food is famous of its traditional spices that good for health. Traditional Double Boiled Chicken with Spare Ribs and Ginseng (Rp. 45.000/portion or Rp. 158.000/pot) was my choice as opening dish to tickle my buds. To be honest, I didn’t expect the dish to be super delicious because, well, you know, traditional spices usually taste strange. But out of my expectation, this dish was so tasty. The broth was so rich, made from chicken stock with double boiling way. First they boiled the stock, and then they steam it. That’s why the chicken and pork meat were so soft. Delish!

Traditional Double Boiled Chicken with Spare Ribs and Ginseng (Rp. 45.000/portion or Rp. 158.000/pot) 

This wasn’t my first visit. I used to come with my family, and my mom always orders Hotplate Tofu with Preserved ‘Cai Xin’ and Minced Pork (Rp.48.000 for small size and Rp. 68.000 for medium size). I have to admit it also one of my favorite dishes in Paradise Inn (the other one is Imperial Pork Ribs). I loved the homemade tofu, so soft, mild and felt nice. Very easy to digest but solid enough to give a soft touch in your mouth. Ah, new idea. Someday if I get a toothache, I’ll eat Paradise Inn’s tofu instead of porridge. Lol. Anyway, the sauce went well with the tofu. Tasted savory and salty. 

Hotplate Tofu with Preserved ‘Cai Xin’ and Minced Pork (Rp.48.000 for small size and Rp. 68.000 for medium size)

Who doesn’t like coconut pudding? Paradise Inn made their Coconut Pudding (Rp. 42.000) everyday from a real Thai coconut. Enough said, I had no doubt about this fact, the taste spoke itself. Lemongrass Jelly with  Lemonade (Rp. 25.000) was also a good deal. Refresh my mind and belly, as if I’m ready again for another round. No, I’m kidding. I was full enough, but literally refreshed. Apparently lemonade is a good companion for a jelly. Nice touch.

 Coconut Pudding (Rp. 42.000)-back and Lemongrass Jelly with  Lemonade (Rp. 25.000)-front

Paradise Inn

Plaza Indonesia Level Basement Unit 25-27A

Ph. 021-2992 3848

Fax. 021-2992 3849

Business Hours : 10 am - 10pm (daily)

Twitter : @ParadiseIndo

Facebook : Paradise Inn Jakarta

You may read this post on Farrago Indonesia.

Pancious - Perfectly Homemade

I remember when Pancious opened their first outlet in Permata Hijau area was a big hip. Now they already have more 10 outlets in Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya. I love the ambiance of Pancious' outlets. The decoration dominated with white and red, with sofas everywhere made the customers comfy. The place is perfect for all occasion from hang out with friends, dating, family gathering, or even a business meeting, maybe that's why Pancious is always crowded. 

Blueberry Cheese Pancake (Rp. 43.500 for single and Rp. 62.500 for double). To be honest, I'm not a fan of vanilla ice cream. But this one was an exception. The homemade ice cream was milky yet light enough as a vanilla ice cream. The pancake wasn't too sweet. The blueberry cheese sauce was so good. Sweet and sour, mixed with milky vanilla ice cream to flavor up the pancake. 

Blueberry Cheese Pancake

Blackpepper Meatball Pasta (Rp.65.000) was the highlight of that day. Served with creamy sauce, but tasted light enough that I could finish it all in less than 15 minutes. Homemade meatball was made from minced beef. A little too dry, but went well with the creamy sauce. Extra sausage was also a homemade and made the dish taste even better. A perfect shot of blackpepper made everyone can eat it.

Blackpepper Meatball Pasta (Rp.65.000)

My heart fallen for Fresh Fruit Ice Tea Cocktail (Rp. 52.000). Made from fresh mango juice and tea, with diamond cut strawberry, mango, apple, and kiwi. I think the drink was good as dessert too. Came in a huge glass bottle, the portion was enough for 2-4 persons. 

Fresh Fruit Ice Tea Cocktail (Rp. 52.000)

If you notice, almost all the menu in Pancious are homemade and no preservatives or any other chemical thing. Glad to know it, and don't you wish to find other food taste like theirs. Other good thing is, they serve breakfast menu all day. :)

Pancious

Plaza Indonesia Level 5 Unit E06 – E08
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav 28 – 30
Jakarta 10350

Phone: (021) 29924808

Opening Hours:
Sunday – Thursday: 10am – 10 pm
Friday – Saturday: 10am – 12 pm

Twitter : @panciouspancake

Facebook : Pancious Pancake House

You may also read this post on Farrago Indonesia. 

[Food Tasting] Shang Palace: "Tea Wonders" Sensation

I was pretty amazed when I know we could eat alcohol (if you haven't read, you read my post here). Then I found out that we also could eat tea. Yes, tea. Amazing, right? 

Apparently, using tea leaves for cooking is not something new. Chinese people usually use tea leaves as cooking ingredients. Chef Benson Fok, yes he's a chinese too, prepared some delicious tea-infused menus for you to try. Please welcome, Tea Wonders. This menu only available during September. 

Tea Wonders consists of :

• Braised Bo Lei Duck - Rp. 68,000++/portion
• Stir-Fried Phoenix Prawn with Long Jin Tea Leaf - Rp. 98,000++/portion
• Lamb Chop with Golden Phoenix Tea - Rp. 88,000++/portion
• Steamed Bai Ling Mushroom and Seafood with Rain Flower Tea Sauce - Rp. 78,000++/portion
• Glutinous Rice and Fish Cooked with Yellow Treasure Flower - Rp. 58,000++/portion
• Steamed Tomato Stuffed with Assorted Vegetables with Dongding Oolong Sauce - Rp. 58,000++/portion
• Stir-Fried Lotus Root, Water Chesnut, Lily Bud and Pumpkin - Rp. 68,000++/portion
• Chilled Red Tea Jelly with Chinese Pear and Pipa - Rp. 58,000++/portion

I hadn't tried all of them, because part of me insisted to try the regular menu too. :p

Menu that day

Corn and Crab Soup 

Corn and crab soup wasn't part of Tea Wonders. But as it was a good dish to giggle my appetite, it was (actually) a good choice. So bad, due to my allergic to crab, I had no guts to try. Poor poor me. 

Braised Bo Lei Duck

Ms. Agnes - manager of Shang Palace - said Bo Lei was a type of tea. Bo Lei had similar taste with Pu-Erh, but they're definitely different. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of duck, but I do eat one slice, so I tried one and........one more, and.......one more. This was one of the best duck dish I ever met. Nice sweet savory sauce, juicy and well cooked duck meat. Apparently the chef really knows how to cook duck. 

Lamb Chop with Golden Phoenix Tea

Have I ever mentioned that I can't stand of lamb? If not, now you get it. 
I tried for some times, but my sense of smell was just too strong. Nah, lets talk about this one. To be honest, it was well-spiced. I didn't know how the chef cook it, but he succeeded to reduce the lamb-smell. This dish came with scrambled white egg and yummy sauce. I guess there's a tea ingredient in the sauce. The scrambled white egg was magnificent. Absolutely love it. :)

Steamed Bai Ling Mushroom and Seafood with Rain Flower Tea Sauce

Steamed scallop and prawn plated with Bai Ling Mushroom was nice. I am a big fan of prawn, and prawn never goes wrong with anything. :p
The sauce was mild. Actually i was hoping for stronger sauce because the scallop-prawn-mushroom need to be highlighted. 

Glutinous Rice and Fish Cooked with Yellow Treasure Flower

This dish looked similar with Lo Mai Kai, glutinous rice with meat that wrapped in lotus leaf. And I wasn't wrong. They tasted similar too. The difference was the presentation and additional ingredients. Lo Mai Kai didn't use bamboo bowl. Glutinous Rice and Fish Cooked with Yellow Treasure Flower had a 2x2cm piece of fish on the top. I assumed it was snapper fish. The glutinous rice was sticky and tasteful. I found little fiber appeared in the glutinous rice, and thought it was coconut until Mrs. Jajan asked the waiter and the waiter asked the chef and we found out that it was CRAB. Oh, crab! (As I told you I am allergic to crab)
The good news is there was no symptom of allergy later on. Fiuh. Am I crab-immuned already?  Maybe I am. I was a little regret that I didn't eat the corn and crab soup. :p

Chef’s Special Stewed Pork Rib served with Chinese Bread 

When I asked about what are their recommendation, Joris (Digital Marketing Manager) and Felicia (Marcom) said this stewed pork ribs, then we agreed to order. And none of us regret! The stewed pork ribs was soooooo tender and no pork-smell at all (that's my main consideration of ordering pork in a restaurant). The sauce was also perfect and joyful. So when I put the ribs' meat in the bread, it was heaven! (I'm drooling now)
Love the texture and taste combination. Good job chef! Hats off! ;)

Chilled Red Tea Jelly with Chinese Pear and Pipa

Back to Tea Wonders, here was the only dessert of the series. I watched how to make this pear in Masterchef US and was amazed and confuse at the same time. It's pretty hard for me.:p First you must peel the pear, then make a big hole in the middle where the seed and core are there. No worries, here you can enjoy the pear effortless. The dessert wasn't sweet, more in to plain and pipa taste. Good dessert to finish the dinner. To be honest, I didn't know what is pipa. But as we talked about it, the taste reminds us with one of cough syrup, and we assumed pipa was a kind of chinese herb that also used to make cough syrup. I did some small research and got some endorsement for our "theory". lol

Anyhow, the conclusion was this dessert was healthy. ;)

Psssttt.. they also have dimsum menu available everyday until 2.30pm, and all you can eat dimsum also available on weekend at IDR 188,000++. Will try that soon! 

Shang Palace 
Shangrila Hotel Jakarta
Kota BNI, Jl. Jend. Sudirman kav 1, Central Jakarta
Ph. (62 21) 2922 9999
Fax. (62 21) 2922 9900
http://www.shangri-la.com/jakarta/shangrila/
http://www.shangri-la.com/jakarta/shangrila/dining/restaurants/shang-palace/
Twitter : @ShangrilaJKT
Facebook : Shangrila Jakarta
Instagran : @ShangrilaJKT