Sulaiman Resto at Pecenongan

I've heard Sulaiman, a Chinese-Muslim restaurant which name is eponymous to its chef-owner Sulaiman who comes from Xinjiang, China to Indonesia about ten years ago and creates a name of his own through his dishes that serves authentic food of his hometown. I finally got a chance to try Sulaiman Resto with my family as my brother had been raving about it a couple of days back and I'm really happy that we tried this one restaurant out. The interior of the restaurant is pretty simple with wooden furniture and white walls decorated with framed calligraphies. You can also peek a little into their kitchen to find what they're cooking.

Sate Kambing (IDR 13.800 per skewer) 

This mutton satay is one of the most famous dish from Sulaiman! Generously seasoned chunks of mutton meat grilled on a stainless steel skewer until it becomes tender and definitely not smelly. The rub on the mutton is pretty spicy, but nothing you can't handle. The oil coming out on the plate just proves how well-seasoned this dish is. This is one of the must try here as this one dish is one of the menu that stood out as its Middle-Eastern influence is very clear.

Cumi-Cumi Panggang (IDR 35.000)

This grilled squid dish is the most underwhelming dish, portion wise as well as flavor wise. The squid is rubbed with a blend of dry spices and then topped with sesame oil. The flavor of the dish was so-so as I cannot really taste the spices on the scuid.

Da Pan Jimian (IDR 68.000)

This dish might look like a pile of stir fried vegetables but the numerous slices of onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, shallots, garlic, et cetera, et cetera, there was wide strings of hand-cut pulled noodles. The texture is similar to kwetiau, but a lot firmer. This dish is served with chicken as its main protein and its portion was sooo huge and affordable considering the price. This dish is will be great for a rainy day as its peppery sauce will instantly deliver heat to your body.

La Zi Ji (IDR 88.000)

La zi ji translates to "spicy chicken' and you can simply see it from the amount of dried szechuan chili pepper all over the plate. This dish is my favorite of the night, this is sooo delicious! The chicken were crunchy, super juicy, and the seasoning was so spot on. The chili pepper gives a bit of spiciness and savoriness that really complement the chicken. Don't let the chili intimidates you as this one is just one super good dish.

Nasi Goreng Telur (IDR 32.000)

This is one simple Chinese fried rice topped with fried sunny side up egg. This is one good filler, I even have this without white rice (I mean... steamed white rice is just basic, right?). I also have their Lamb Fried Rice (IDR 42.000) pretty much the same fried rice mix, added with chunks of lamb. This is one of the more familiar dish and overall a good one.

Suan Rong Xin La Hua (IDR 68.000)

Stir-fried broccoli with a good amount of garlic. It is great that Chef Sulaiman maintains the color of the broccoli; its texture also remains crunchy. Simply done but it's still tasty.

Ma Po Dou Fu (IDR 58.000)

I usually pronounce this as mapo tofu, this is one tofu stew cooked with a lot of spices and of course it is topped with so many chili flakes as that is Sulaiman's signature on many of its dish. Flavor-wise it is delicious and super garlicky which I like. As the other dish were, the mapo tofu is not /that/ spicy. I really like how the spiciness of the dishes here does not burn the tongue.

Tea (Complementary)

I've never been served with this type of tea. I cannot even comment on the flavor aside from this being very fragrant, but there's no apparent flavor coming out from the tea despite having it served with hot water.

Suan Rong Shang Hai Qing (IDR 38.000)

Super fresh bok choy cooked stir-fry. Again, a simple dish executed beautifully. The one thing I'm most impressed with is how the vegetable maintain its color as if the veggies had been blanched after cooking -- which is unlikely in Chinese cuisines.

Food comes relatively fast and the portion was huge for the price, making it worth every penny. For those of you who were not comfortable entering a Chinese restaurant for its questionable 'halal' produces, you can enjoy this without hesitation. The restaurant will still also gives you the experience of eating Chinese food which you can share alongside with your family and friends on the table. The one hassle I got here is that most of the menu are written in Chinese with Indonesian transliteration but in most cases it doesn't help. We have to ask the waitstaff a lot of question before ordering a meal which takes some time. Overall I love the food here and I'm considering visiting it as soon as possible!

Sulaiman Resto

Jl. Batu Ceper No. 73

Pecenongan

Central Jakarta 

+6221 3511757
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Tim Ho Wan at Pantai Indah Kapuk

Tim Ho Wan, famous for being one of the most affordable Michelin-starred restaurants in the world had come to Jakarta about one year ago. First started out in Pantai Indah Kapuk, Tim Ho Wan has finally opened its second branch in Grand Indonesia. I haven't personally been to its restaurant in Thamrin, but this post will conclude my second visit to Tim Ho Wan Pantai Indah Kapuk. The reason I came back is because for the fact that Tim Ho Wan leaves a good note although I wasn't completely blown away the first time. But with quick service and a decent price with all its reputation, there's no fault in turning back here. My friends said that it's because the best thing about Tim Ho Wan is their pork menu while I don't eat pork, so that might be the thing I'm missing there hehe.

Anyhow, that doesn't mean their other menu isn't worth praising for!

Braised Chicken Feet with Abalone Sauce (38.800)

This is the first thing checked out of our order sheet, I liked the chicken feet that is steamed until tender. The meat is so soft and it easily detach from the bone once bitten and the abalone sauce gives a sweetness to the savoriness of the rest of the sauce blend. The texture of the chicken feet is maintained well during cooking at a temperature that does not shrivel the chicken during the steaming process and was not fried beforehand.

Prawn Dumpling - Hakau (IDR 43.800)

My friend once told me that the best way to judge a dim sum restaurant is by tasting its hakau. The hakau served in Tim Ho Wan has a very thin dumpling skin that it becomes translucent as it cooks. The dumpling is folded really well that it shows in the shell-like end product. The minced prawn itself were sweet although might be plain as there were no apparent spices mixed in the dough or filling.

Yang Chow Fried Rice

This is one of the newer menus from Tim Ho Wan. The fried rice is served with plenty of toppings for a price which I remember being below IDR 50.000. A good filler to your meal.

Fried Wasabi Prawn Dumpling (IDR 43.800)
This dish is actually pretty simple but it is one of my favorite. This is a fried dumpling filled with a hefty amount of prawn and then fried as a whole. The dumpling  is then drizzled with a creamy, green wasabi sauce that gives the dish a good amount of 'hot' without being too spicy.

Chinese Tea (IDR 9.800)

Beef Ball with Beancurd Skin (IDR 33.800)
This dish consists of a minced beef patty that is shaped into a ball alongside with garlic and scallion amongst others, then wrapped in thin tofu skin. Flavor-wise it is really delicious but the texture itself is too soft for me and that there's no apparent meatiness coming from the meatball because of that.

Vermicelli Roll with Sweet Sesame Sauce (IDR 27.800)
Cheong fun drizzled with sesame sauce, hoisin and topped with sesame seeds. The cheong fun is served plain without any additional topping but the sweet sauce, which is too sweet for me so this might be one of the dishes that can be enjoyed by either vegetarian and vegan out there. Some other vegetarian alternative can be: pan-fried turnip cake (one of their signatures!), steamed egg cake -- depending on which type of vegetarian are you, or just simply order their poached seasonal vegetables.

Vermicelli Roll with Prawn (IDR 43.800)
Not pictured is the sauce that comes along with this dish, a thin mix of soy sauce which you can drizzle on top of the rice flour cake. There's a good amount of small shrimp inside the roll that is very sweet and its texture still bouncy. As for the layer of the cheong fun itself, it is cooked pretty well. It is not sticky and also not dry (which is often the case when the skin is cooked too long on one side).

That summed up my experience at Tim Ho Wan! Until now, I haven't tried any of their signature 'Big 4 Heavenly Kings', mostly because of my dietary restriction. But as for the rest of the meal, I enjoyed thoroughly. Try it out yourself, especially as now the place is not as crowded as it was during its opening week and there's no crazy amount of queuing to get into the green and white dominantly colored building. I always dine at their main floor, but you might check out their upper floor seatings (wheelchair accessible) by using their elevator. All and all, Tim Ho Wan is a good experience, but it still have to maintain their consistency to set their step in the Jakartan culinary industry.

Tim Ho Wan

Ruko Crown Golf

Blok D No. 8-10

Bukit Gold Mediterania

Jl. Marina Indah Raya

Pantai Indah Kapuk

North Jakarta

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