Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Bebek Dower at Blok M

After watching Scorch Trial at Plaza Blok M, my brothers and I decided to stop at Bebek Dower for dinner. I had been here once before yet my brothers had been here plenty of times for their value and flavors. This time we all ordered chicken as it's the end of the month and we're all short on money hehe. Aside from the food pictured below, I like to get their Bayam Crispy and their fried rice but even these were enough to get us pretty full for the day.



Ayam Sambal Dower (IDR 19.091) and Rice (IDR 6.364)
I ordered fried chicken with Bebek Dower's signature chili. The chicken were fried until its crispy and smothered in the oily sambal dower. Even though there's a lot of chili seeds in the coarse sambal, it is not too over-the-top spicy. It is a good dish but it can be seasoned better with more grains of salt. The chicken they use here were pretty big and definitely not ayam kampung and is really worth the value. The rice itself is pulen (padded, tender) and were just right for the meal.


Ayam Sambal Matah (IDR 17.273) + Rice
Out of the chicken menu the chicken with matah sambal is the recommended one, even beating out the Ayam Sambal Dower. I personally did not try this dish but my brother said that the spiciness of the sambal matah is the factor that makes him order this over and over again.


Nasi Bebek Sisit (IDR 32.727)
This dish consist of rice and shredded duck breast over a bed of lettuce. The duck were topped by sambal matah and I have to say this is a good dish! I really like the idea of the easy shredded duck, makes the eating process wayyy faster and simpler. The sambal were also delcious, I'd prefer the sambal matah over the sambal dower in this case. The bebek is cooked nicely, but watch out as this dish is not entirely bone-free.

Bebek Dower is executed simply, and their Blok M outlet has a pretty simple decor. Try seating at their lesehan where you can sit cross-legged on top of a pillow by the corner left of the restaurant. The place is clean and the service were nice, but really the point of Bebek Dower is their price for value of the food. The place have a great cycle of customer's running in but not too crowded like the first time I was here (it was during Ramadan). Good food, good value, I have no complaints.


Bebek Dower
Plaza Blok M
Jl. Bulungan No. 76
Ground Level
Blok M
South Jakarta
+6221 72799488

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Carl's Jr. at Cinere

On a Saturday post a core training at the gym I was really hungry and decided to visit Carl's Jr. mainly with the intention of sitting down for hours enjoying their free drinks refills. I usually visit Carl's Jr. on a Friday for they have a 'Friday is Freeday' promo whereby every Friday of the month you will get a particular burger for your a la carte order of another particular burger. As of the month of September you will get 1 Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Sandwiches for every purchase of 1 Hawaiian Teriyaki Burger either for dine-in or takeaways. But this particular Saturday I was really hungry that I didn't bother to think of their promotion and ordered a set for myself that day.





Jalapeño Burger - Set (IDR 77.000+)
I ordered the Jalapeño Burger complete with small onion rings and beverage. Initially the combo contains french fries but I swapped it for onion rings instead because I really like the crunchyness of the batter and the sweetness of onion they serve here. The onion ring is seasoned really well like the typical appetizer you commonly found at diners. As for the burger itself  I liked the spiciness added to the juicy savory burger; I surprised myself because I've grown to like burgers because of Carl's Jr. since most of the time I won't even eat burger at once in all its good layers but instead will pick it layer by layer. I really liked their burger wholly and in this case the jalapeño peppers really add another layer of flavor.




Hawaiian Teriyaki Burger (IDR 49.000)
Diggin in my archive I found a picture of this Hawaiian Teriyaki Burger that I haven't got a chance to post yet. Taken at the same restaurant branch, this one particular is unique as their cheeseburger is topped with a slice of pitted pineapple. I really like this one because of the interesting sweetness from the pineapple really compliment the burger. Its sweetness is still 'polite' and its texture were very soft; I'd rather have pineapple on my burger than tomatoes any day!

The service I've gotten here were very nice despite Carl's Jr. being a fast food restaurant. Even though the burger took about 10-minutes to serve and that your drink is self-service the staffs were really nice and polite, they will offer you help to take condiments or drinks happily. The place were also neat despite having so much younger customers playing around their playground (yup, they got a playground inside the restaurant). What else? They also have salt and pepper available on the table alongside with tissue dispenser and that's a great detail every restaurant should have. I hope Carl's Jr. get more recognized in Indonesia as of how big it is in the U.S. Will definitely come again as post-workout guilty pleasure ;)

Carl's Jr.
Cinere Bellevue
Upper Ground Floor
Jl. Merawan No. 84
Depok
West Java
+6221 1500992

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Cafe Batavia at Kota

The now fully operated cafe was actually first built as one of the Vereegnide Oost-Indische Compagnie in 1805. If you learn your nation's history correctly in elementary school, the compagnie is the sail in which took over Indonesian spices plantation for the company's trades and is the beginning of Dutch colonization in Indonesia. The office then were turned into a gallery by a Frenchmen and was latter turned into a café by an Australian in 1991. The timeline tells how Cafe Batavia today is filled with many portraits and is famous of its artistic décor. 



Regarding to the café, the food itself is very satisfying. Although not cheap, it is worth the scenery of Taman Fatahillah facing the Jakarta Historical Museum and a wide landscape of the Kota Tua landmark. The menu of Cafe Batavia is consisting of various dishes varying from Chinese, Italian and Indonesian cuisine. Ambiance is the focal point of this particular cafe that embraces the impression of dining in a colonial era atmosphere. Seen from the the carpentry, puffy carpet, batik tablecloth and the seating itself it can be concluded that the decoration is very well thought in order to capture the right vibe (minus the tension of colonization).



Fried Rice 'Yang Chow' Style (IDR 75.000)
Initially the menu offer a plate of fried rice with shrimp and roasted pork. As I don't eat pork I requested the menu to be modified into seafood fried rice. The flavor of the fried rice were well executed and there were plenty of protein added to the meal. The garnish were unnecessary but portion wise it is appropriate.


Beef Steak Chinese Style - Small (IDR 97.500)
I did not try the meal as this is my friend's order. The small one were said to fit for one but my friend said that it is not enough. This dish is served by its own and best for sharing as it needs something else to accompany it with. Cafe Batavia with its newly improved menu has many options to be served for sharing, menu like this particular one is available in three sizes: small, medium, large. The large one would definitely feed a lot of your party.



Steamed Chicken Feet in Black Pepper Sauce (IDR 25.000)
The chicken feet, or fung zao, is served on a bamboo steamer consisting of three or four pieces of chicken per portion. They were having a promo for their chicken feet during our visit, buy 1 get 1, which we only realized after the dish came unto our table. The sauce consist of blackbeans, angkak, chili pepper amongst others but were not spicy and were rather sweet.


Steamed Rice Flour Stuffed with Shrimp (IDR 25.000)
The chiongfen served in Cafe Batavia comes in two variant: shrimp stuffing and grilled chicken stuffing. I opted for the shrimp one and it was delicious, the rice paper were on the thicker side but does not affect the dish at all. The sauce however is a bit too sweet for my liking but it does not affect my love for chiongfen, including the ones they serve here.


The food was all great and well portioned, overall it was delicious. My only concern is because they now serve pork in many of their dishes that I got to be extra selective; but the staff will kindly suggest other options for you. As for the place, we are seated next to a big window in the non-smoking area upstairs and the advantage of this area is that you'll get better view from a leveled floor. The dining area also had a bar and a lounge for live music performance. What makes all this experience valuable is the view! Try get the window seat upstairs to see the amazing landscape of the Fatahillah historical landmark.

Introduction from my previous blog.

Cafe Batavia
Taman Fatahillah
Jl. Pintu Besar No. 14
Kota
West Jakarta
cafe.batavia.jakarta@gmail.com

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Shirokuma Café at Gandaria

Shirokuma Café originally established at Pantai Indah Kapuk and I had tried their Mochi Waffle last year which were truly chewy alongside with their green tea ice cream. My friend on the other hand ordered their Snow Affogato and we took a bunch of pictures for our Snapchat (add mine: selenaimania). A year later as my other friends who were still mesmerized with the puffy cotton candy served with the green tea affogato decides to head out to Shirokuma in Gandaria City since it is closer to most of us.



Twist Soft Cream (IDR 15.000)
A mixture of the matcha soft cream and the original soft cream ice cream is served in either a glass or a cone since we are dining in. The 'twist' balanced out the sweetness and the bitterness of the ice cream. In all honesty I find their matcha ice cream to be too bitter since I'm not really into the green tea hype, but the ice cream goes well with other toppings or in this case the accompanying vanilla flavor of the original ice cream.


Matcha Soft Cream (IDR 15.000)
The D-Tector from the fourth generation of the Digimon series' franchise is a nice ornament to this picture. I was playing with it all day even with a glass of ice cream in front of me. The ice cream, flavor wise, too bitter for me as it were all a swirl of matcha, despite it still retains the sweetness of the ice cream.


Matcha Shiratama Balls (IDR 35.000)
This particular beverage is green tea latte topped with green tea ice cream alongside with shiratama balls which were supposedly tastes like mochi. The beverage were bitter as all the matcha flavor things served here but I can still take it pretty well. This beverage is served in a good portion but the shiratama balls were so weird, its texture were a bit too hardened and not chewy at all.



Snow Carapop Cone (IDR 25.000)
The twist soft cream served on a cone is topped with caramel popcorn and a thick swirl of cotton candy. It looked so pretty overall but eating it may get a little bit messy since the cotton candy weren't easily deflate (which is a good thing) so the sugar had to be eaten bit by bit as blending it with the whole ice cream takes a bit of more work.




Snow Matcha Affogato (IDR 40.000)
This is the most awaited order and it took the longest to come out. This particular dessert consists of matcha ice cream in a cup topped with hefty amount of cotton candy that is bigger than any person's face. You can either eat off the cotton candy little by little but that might've gotten too overwhelming since there were so much sugar, so you gotta pour up the steaming hot green tea concoction called 'matcha espresso' as its side. The super sugary cotton candy and the bitterness of both the matcha espresso and the matcha ice cream goes really well. With the price tag and the great size it was very worth the shot.

Shirokuma in Gandaria were not too big, the seatings were placed across the cafe's counter by a simple seatings surrounded by wooden furniture. As for their decoration and overall experience I'd rather go to their original location but the one in Gandaria City delivers the flavour as well as I remembered before. The service however were a bit slow but were no big deal since everyone had their curiosity fulfilled. Try out their snacks too since my friend recommended many of their side dishes too!

Shirokuma Café
Gandaria City
Jl. Sultan Iskandar Muda
Upper Ground
Kebayoran Baru
South Jakarta