Cutie Cats Cafe at Kemang

I am not a really a big cat person, but I went to Cutie Cats Cafe with my friends after much persuasion. This is my first time coming here, but I've visited another cat cafe before that is located not far from this one. Cutie Cats Cafe is located near ex-Splash Kemang on the second floor of their building and as you climb the stairs you will find a bunch of parody posters of hit movies starring some cute cats hehe. As for the place itself, it is not too big; there's a 15-person limit for the customer coming in to play with the dozen of cats to maintain the space and so that the cat will not be stressed out. There's an entrance fee, for the first hour we were charged IDR 60.000 and for the following hour, there will be a surcharge of IDR 40.000 for each adult on a weekday. Food and beverages available at entrance, right outside the playroom.

What I like about Cutie Cats is that customers can play along with the cats within the room using multiple toys and play set. There were also books and DVDs on cats that you can read along or watch for yourself in the room alongside with your feline friends. You can also get personable with each and every cat as there was a book guide on their profile, including their name, birthday, species type, and even a rating on their friendliness and activeness. I even found a cat-version of myself which I easily relate to! Hehe.

This one cat is the one that I said I relate to the most. His name is Fox and we're both born on October 28th! This fuzzy friend is a pretty cool cat that wouldn't bother to play unless there's food. He is pretty excited when we got some cat food consisting of shredded chicken (IDR 15.000) that we purchase at the counter and chased us around for that food. My friend said he is exactly like me as we're both lazy bums and would only go out to eat :p

Although I didn't try any of the food, the cookies available on the display is pretty cute! As for the whole vibe, my experience at Cutie Cats Cafe were great as there were much information about the cats and the staff were pretty informative. There were not as many photo props here, but I valued the time with the cats so much more. Hope my new feline friends stay cute and healthy. May we meet again :3

Cutie Cats Cafe

Jl. Kemang 1 No. 12F

+628111004560

contacts@cutiecatscafe.com

Instagram

WMiitem at Kasablanka

My love for Miitem, established by the notable William Wongso, goes way back to my elementary school year. The name 'miitem' literally translates to black noodle and this restaurant offer their signature black noodle that is cooked in multiple ways, from adapting traditional Indonesian noodle dishes to foreign-inspired pasta dishes. I remember having this black noodle dish in Kemang Food Festival, then having it moved to Plaza Indonesia and now they only have one remaining WMiitem restaurant in Kota Kasablanka. I went there on a weekend with my brothers; the service was really slow at the time but I am happy to have a plate of WMiitem after so long.

Miitem Aglio Olio (IDR 38.000)

This black spaghetti is made with squid ink and bits of the squid meat itself, and their aglio olio dish is my favorite! A good savoriness coming from the noodle is complimented well with a good amount of garlic, olive oil, and chili pepper. This dish was also topped with slices of chicken and parmesan cheese. The noodle itself were cooked well, it is chewy and bouncy as it manages the texture well.

Almond Vanilla (IDR 31.000)

This is one of the specialty drink at WMiitem. Vanilla ice cream added with almond essence and blended until smooth. This beverage is pretty sweet and the vanilla flavor is more apparent, yet the fragrant of the almond essence is dominant as it hits your nose. I wish there were flavors of the nuttiness of almond.

Blended Moca Meringue (IDR 31.000)

Blended coffee, milk and chocolate drink. This drink is pretty sweet but you still can taste the hint of coffee. The meringue itself is the cream topped on the blended mocha drink.

Miitem with Tuna Rica-Rica (IDR 38.000)

This particular noodle is cooked with shredded tuna, rica-rica chili blend with a good amount of spice and squeeze of lime that results in a spicy and tangy dish. This was the fastest dish that came to our table and the smell of the dish was really appetizing, despite the end result being too tangy for my personal taste.

Mixed Cheese Flaky Pizza (IDR 42.000)

This pizza is most unique as it does not use the usual stretchy and malleable pizza dough but instead, the crust was really crispy batter, identic to those of a puff pastry is. The dough uses so much butter that you can feel the layer crumbling in your mouth. This pizza is topped with plenty of cheese and without any other sauces. Flavor-wise it is pretty monotone as the cheese were not sharp, but as for the texture itself it certainly is different and quite interesting.

It was overall a good meal at WMiitem, I am happy for the aglio olio while the rest doesn't excite me as much. I hope the coordination between the kitchen and the floor staff will get better as our food came out so slowly. As for the decor itself, the wooden furniture and the dark tone of the whole restaurant is fitting to the concept -- but don't worry there was a pretty big window that will give you good natural light and gave the restaurant more space. Will definitely crave more of the aglio olio for sure, as the quality of the food were really interesting as they really deliver flavor.

Wmiitem

Kota Kasablanka

2nd Floor #246

Jl. Casablanca Raya Kav. 88

Tebet

South Jakarta

+6221 29612730

Instagram

Twitter

The Republic of Burger at Kemang

I had always been a fan of The Republic of Burger since having their burger at their (now closed) branch in Cipete. I had been there three times in total and were pretty sad when the management announced that they're moving to Kemang; albeit nearby, it is different. It is only recently that I finally tried out their joint in Kemang alongside with +Marsya Anindita and a friend because we're looking forward to eating a good amount of burger for a price that is worth every of its penny. Added bonus is that we came during lunchtime and grabbed their promotion of 'buy 2 get 1' of their Monster Burger. Fitting the amount of the party, we agreed to take on their promo.

Mushroom Gravy (61.000) + Curly Fries (IDR 15.000)

This is one of the restaurant's recommended burger that consists of 250-grams of seasoned grilled wagyu beef patty, caramelized onion, lettuce, and mushroom that is cooked alongside with gravy. This dish is paired with barbecue sauce and coleslaw on the side and my friend ordered an additional waffle fries as a side. I bet this one tasted good as it was fragrant; I can smell the gravy even from afar.

Juicy Lucy Monster (IDR 67.000)

One of the most popular dishes here, the juicy lucy took the name of the signature cooking style where the burger patty is filled with cheese that would melt alongside the beef while it is cooking so that it will be melted and stringy when eaten. Whether or not your cheese melt properly would be based on luck hehe, as I ordered this dish once and the cheese melts but didn't ooze out of the patty. This dish is also filled with tomatoes, lettuce, and white sauce.

The Jack's Ultimate Burger (IDR 77.000) + Waffle Fries (IDR 15.000)

This is my personal order, the house's signature menu. It consists of 250-grams wagyu beef patty drizzled with their homemade Jack Daniels® sauce, double cheese, smoked beef, onion, tomato, and lettuce. There was caramelized onion on the side alongside with barbecue sauce and coleslaw. The portion here were super big and I believe their bun is 12cm in diameter! Overall the burger was very juicy, sweet and umami at the same time. The ingredients tasted fresh and flavor-wise it was all great, except for the coleslaw -- I wish it had more dressing on it. As for the fries, it was very well seasoned and texture-wise it is pretty consistent that are crispy on the outside yet still soft on the inside. Yet there's this: the service is a big problem.

Traffic Light (IDR 27.000)
Melon syrup, orange juice and red soda. This beverage is suuuper sweet and I cannot taste the fizz out of the soda, but it taste pretty good when mixed together. 

Going to The Republic of Burger for its fourth time, the service is always soooo slow. Be prepared to wait a good 20 minutes, at least, to get your order onto the table. On this very particular afternoon, it got worse. The server forgotten my fries order, my friend got their drink (which was mineral water!) half an hour after coming in -- the waitress remembered the order midway, and they kept saying "sorry that it took so long, we're so busy during this hour of the day" when there were only two or three table filled on the two level of the restaurant.  That explanation made it worse than it is as we can clearly see that some of the staffs are just hanging around.

So yeah, expect excellent everything but the service. Regardless, I would come again but I won't expect much out of the service -- but I do hope they improve as The Republic of Burger have some of the best burgers I've tried and that is why I keep on coming back.

The Republic of Burger

Jl. Kemang Selatan

No. 150 D4

Kemang

South Jakarta

+6221 36580862

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Seoul City Tour - South Korea (Part 1)

It's been a week since I got back from my 2,5 week trip to South Korea. I went to Korea to join Chung-Ang University International Winter Program, I was chosen as one of the 15 participants who are sent as a representative from my home university to join this winter program. I went there to study (suuuuuure) mainly about Korean culture as well as its language. I can now read a little bit hangul here and there hehe. This is some of the earliest shot taken by my DSLR Camera, which I took only after my first week because I forgotten to bring my camera's battery that I unpacked right before I left for Korea and that I have to buy another battery on my 6th day in Seoul *cries* and that pictures taken prior to that were taken mainly by my Instax 210s and my camera phone (which I might upload later on).

Pictures on this post were taken on Tuesday, January 26th, 2016. It was a pretty cold day in Seoul but it is not as horrible as the day which I first got to the city, the temperature were about -18° Celsius. Even my Korean friends said that it was "one of the coldest days they ever had in Seoul" which says a lot about the cold. Us people from a tropical country even got it harder; my body even gotten swollen and red on the first day. Ah, as I said before, the pictures were taken on the date when students, as divided into their group, had their own session to travel around the town by buses. Our first destination as seen  by the photos above was taken in Changgyeonggung Palace - one of the five grand palaces of the Joseon Dynasty, built by the figure pictured below, King Sejong the Great.  

The statue of King Sejong can be found at the Gwanghwamun Square alongside with the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin. It is interesting to look up to Korean history and their struggle against Japan. Unfortunately, as it was a swift tour, I did not get a chance to look around further. By the time I was at the Square, there was also a memorial for the students of Danwon High School who were the missing victims of the sunken MV Suwol ferry. It is a truly sad sight, especially seeing some of the last pictures the students happily took together and I hope the victims had rest in peace.

Our second to last stop is the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. It is a modern architecture complex that includes museum, art shops and restaurants; you can also find malls and other little shops around the vicinity. Prior to this tour I had gone looking around the Dongdaemun area twice and it is such a lovely place during both day and night. 

We continued the trip by having Samgyetang for dinner and then closed our night by going to the N Seoul Tower. The Tower can be accessed by either cable car or by going through their entrance by a hill, which our group took the latter. The view from the top of tower were beautiful, but the sight from the hill itself were already breathtakingly amazing by itself and with this kind of view the cold doesn't even bother us. It's an amazing day spent well in Korea. Look forward to more updates on my trip! This is only the beginning :-)

Read my other posts on the South Korean trip, here:

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Pastificio K at Kemang

+Marsya Anindita, +Vania Boediman and I were spending an evening together and decided to have dinner. We went to look for another two restaurants before deciding Pastificio K which is located in  a little three-floor spot in one of the corners of Kemang Raya. The first floor is mainly the display for the array of fresh pasta, sauces and toppings in which you can choose to construct as part your meal. We dined on the second floor which were decorated with simple decor of white linen covering the table of the dimly lit dining area of the restaurant. Everything was pretty simple and straightforward in this Italian restaurant that is under the same management as Koi (which was also located nearby).

Gnocchi with Rendang Sauce and Mushroom - Starter

The pasta are available by two sizes, small starter portion and regular main portion. This one is a small plate and it is a good portion by its own. I really like this particular plate, the rendang sauce is pretty rich and has a good amount of spice but not overwhelmingly hot. The mushroom topping is a safe bet as it goes well with the whole dish. The freshly made gnocchi were also delicious, it is soft although not as puffy as I had expected. This one dish is my favorite out of the three we shared.

Pipe Rigate with Pesto Sauce and Anchovies - Starter

I wouldn't say that pesto sauce and anchovies makes the best combination but it was nevertheless delicious. This pasta is cooked al dente and the pesto sauce tasted fresh, although I would like it to be nuttier. The anchovies and spinach topping were truly salty and umami, but it is not overpowering once mixed with the pasta.

Spinach Ravioli with Butter Sage Sauce and Mozzarella - Mains

This one is my personal order and it was the most underwhelming. The pasta were very rubbery and I cannot taste much out of the filling. It was underseasoned that I added so much salt and pepper as well as chili flakes to the plate. Good thing it was pretty generous in portion and not at all bad, but it was certainly subpar.

The pasta in which you get at Pastificio K can also be bought by the kilograms to take home. Most of the pastas here are freshly made in their kitchen so their flavor were uncompromised. Aside from pasta they also serve limited amount of deserts which I were inclined to try out at the time, but ended up didn't. Service here is pretty standard as you only order your meal through the steps presented by the menu, order it and have it cooked to order. This one certainly is a good spot to enjoy a good variety of fresh pastas and Italian desserts.

Pastificio K

Jl. Kemang Raya No. 72

Kemang

South Jakarta

+6221 7195704

Facebook