Lost in Japan: Osaka - Part 4

Back to another post of my Japan trip on March-April 2016 :) This post is about my last day in Osaka and the trip back to Tokyo. When this day came, I was kinda sad. Somehow, I fell in love with Osaka. No, Tokyo is still my fave place in Japan so far but Osaka is very comfortable. It's not as crowded as Tokyo, the food is nice and cheaper and most of all, it's more laid back compared to Tokyo. 

Since the check out time from the apartment in 12 PM, we decided to get up earlier and visit Osaka Castle before taking the shinkansen back to Tokyo. We took the train and get off at Osakajokuen Station (again, just follow what hyperdia told you). The castle is just in front of the station. When we got there, it was raining boohooo, making it a bit harder to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

The Osaka Castle is one of the most beautiful place on my short trip there. It's HUGE. Gosh... First, entering the castle area from the gate until you find the castle will take you approx 15 minutes of leisurely walk. It's a huge complex consisting of restaurants, gardens, water canal and the castle itself. No wonder ancient people rides horse all the time --"

After we found the castle and snapped some pictures, we just walked pass the gate and didn't enter the castle since it was raining and we only have a short time. Then we just walked along the canal/river and take more photos. The sakura trees are blooming over the river, the weather is cloudy with light drizzle and a bit windy. Call me weird but I thought it  was very romantic... 

Decided to go back to apartment and guess what? Took us an hour or maybe more to get back to the train station. That place is HUGE!!! Don't miss it when you visit Osaka :) 

The shinkansen back to Tokyo was 3.5 hours long and most of the time I fell asleep. This trip to Japan is quite tiring, we have to walk everytime and everywhere. So when there's spare time, sleeping is the answer. 

Arriving in Tokyo Station, we went straight to the next Air BnB apartment. This property is owned by a charming japanese girl name Luna. She picked us up at Akasaka Station exit 6. It's a 3 minutes walk from the station to her apartment building. The place is small but very neat and clean. The apartment is in better condition then the one in Osaka but smaller. I'd recommend this place since it's affordable and close to the subway station. It's not crowded like Shinjuku or Shibuya but you can still find many many interesting places around the apartment. 

We were kinda tired that day so we took a short break before continuing the journey to find dinner started. Decided to explore Shinjuku, a commercial area in Tokyo where the salaryman and salarywoman gathered. Shinjuku is also where the red light district of Tokyo resides *wink

After wandering aimlessly around Shinjuku, We decided to splurge and get a taste of authentic Japanese BBQ, all you can eat style! Woohoooo !!!!! Looking around and find this building where people line up. From the billboard, this building has like 10 restaurants in 10 different floors. The BBQ one is at the 9th floor I guesses. Judging from the queue of the elevator, I bed it was nice. So in we goo

The place is typical japanese restaurant in Tokyo. The place is quite big but the tables and seats are not as spacious as the restaurants in Jakarta. They don't have many waiters but the waiters work like really really fast.

The place serves beef obviously, don't know what kind of beef but I assume not the best kind of wagyu since after I converted it into IDR, costs around 400K per pax, not much of a different from Jakarta right?

I love the BBQ!!! The beef was oh so goooddd, go karubiiiii. It's not melt in your mouth kind of beef, you still need to chew the beef but that was the beauty of it. Damn... One of the best BBQ I've ever had. For 2500 JPY per pax, I wanna go backkk

That sums up my day. Next is the visit to the happiest place on earth :)

Shabu Ghin

One of the current trend in Jakarta culinary scene is all you can eat japanese shabu shabu. Shabu shabu is not a new item in Jakarta BUT the opening of Shaburi, which offers unlimited premium beef shabu with affordable price, really change the scene.

Meet Shabu Ghin, a late bloomer in Jakarta shabu shabu competition.

Like the hugely succesfull Shaburi, Shabu Ghin offers packages of all you can eat premium shabu beef. I tried the premium shabu beef package (168K IDR) with a 30% discount from Kesles (an android app) Yeah I know, what a bargain!!!

The strong point of Shabu Ghin is their delicious appetizer, dessert and drink bar. All of them are GOODDD!! The japchae (korean stir fry glass noodle) is off the hook. I really don't know and don't care why they serve a korean food in a japanese restaurant, all I know is that is one of the best japchae ever. Try their chicken karaage, a deep fried battered chicken thigh, dip it in the creamy nut shabu sauce, HEAVEN.

The beef, IMO is slightly better than shaburi. Somehow I feel em thicker and juicier. To enjoy the beef you will be given several choices of cooking soup, feel free to try different soup. I tried the original konbu, yummy.

Last, dessert and drink bar.... They have melon juice dispenser!! Oh the juice is a major help after the heavy beef shabu, totally in love. They also serve some soft cream, a rather yummy one compared to other all you can eat joint.

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit here, recommended

Rating: 7.5/10
Location: Wolter Monginsidi No 53, Jakarta

Publik Markette

Publik Markette is one of the newest addition to Ismaya Group. As one of the leading restaurant/lifestyle business group, it is indeed the market leader (in close competition with Union group IMO in terms of quality). Not like the earlier establishments such as Sushi Groove and Pizza E Birra, Ismaya is now more focused on quality.

Meet Publik Markette, a gem in Grand Indonesia. Definitely a strong contender in the endless fab eatery in Grand Indonesia. IMO, best concept so far. Publik Markette offers casual settings to fancy food.

Take a look at the carefully decorated place, love every details. Fancy yet somehow feels homey and laid back. The food court concept is not new but Publik Markette takes it into another level. All u need to do there is show your table number (in the form of a stick on your table) and start drool around the lavish food court style showcase.

As an avid pork addict, I instantly pick the pork belly. The pork belly is served with a sort of cranberry sauce and my choice of briyani rice as a side dish. The side dish is unfortunately not included.

The pork belly is superb! Super crispy skin, tender pork belly with a tangy note from the sauce. My side dish is not exactly in perfect sync but hey, what could go wrong with rice? :) IMO, one of the best pork belly ever, totally in love!

Another dish we tried that day is the BBQ beef brisket. The brisket is also yummy! Served with the english muffin and baby potatoes, a total tummy pleaser. The melting fat from the brisket makes me went awww....

For the coffee, they serve coffees from D'Journal (another Ismaya's establishment). Not bad for certainly not good. Well, it is not the place for coffee so I don't think it matters.

My verdict, a must try and I will come again for more yummy bites. Love the ambiance, love the food but not the price tag. Main course set you around 120-150K IDR and side dish 30K IDR. Drinks are around 30-50K IDR. One thing I fond of this place is the portion of the food. It's pretty, it's yummy AND it's not ridiculously small!!!! Recommended

East Mall, Grand Indonesia 1F
Rating: 8/10

Bulgogi Brothers

Fresh from the oven patients!!!!! Just yesterday, I had this early dinner at Bulgogi Brothers. A new korean restaurant in Lotte Shopping Avenue. At first, I planned to try Menya Ramen but unfortunately they only accept cash payment (it's 2013 man, nobody carries cash anymore). Luckily, I found Bulgogi Brothers to fix my hunger asap.

I heard about this place a while ago but wasn't interested to try at that time. The place itself is very casual. Heat conduction stove, cubicles of tables and sofas, more like fastfood join IMO. The menu.. quite interesting.. Offering many kinds of bulgogi, I was intrigued.

Banchan (Appetizer)

The food:
1. Bulgogi Brothers Special (400 Gr/Rp. 275.000)
A combination of Unyang and Gwangyang style bulgogi. Relax... I also don't know the difference. All I know is they come from two different regions. The Unyang Bulgogi is made from minced beef and shaped into heart shape. The Gwanyang Bulgogi comes from the southern province of korea made with Gwangyang sauce, mushroom, garlic, sweet potato and onion.

For me, I prefer the Gwangyang. The Unyang is minced, resulting in a rather mushy beef patty which is not my thing. The taste of both the bulgogi is okay, nicely seasoned with subtle sweetness and balanced. The bulgogi is cooked by the waiters so I guess they are trained to cook the beef while preserving its juicyness.

2. Haemul Pajeon (Rp. 109.000)
Korean style pancake with green onion and seafood. Resembles japanese okonomiyaki without the bonito flakes and the creamy mayo. This dish is tasteless without the pickled dip. Lots of seafood going on that pale pancake but once u sprinkle the dipping sauce, the dish comes alive.

I do think Bulgogi Brothers can survive the harsh battle of restaurants in Jakarta. Affordable price (in korean resto standard of course), nice flavor that is not too oily and too overwhelmingly delicious and great service.

Rating: 7/10
Location: Lotte Shopping Avenue, Jakarta

Tajima

Sebagai salah satu dari sentra kuliner Jakarta, kawasan Muara Karang - Pluit - Pantai Indah Kapuk menawarkan resto yang cenderung oriental (Jepang nyerempet nyerempet lah) dan banyak menu non halal nya. Tajima adalah salah satu dari sekian banyak resto baru yang bermunculan di kawasan Pantai Indah Kapuk. Terletak dalam gedung yang sama dengan Fish and Co, Tajima menjadi one of the hottest spot in PIK right now.

Sesuai namanya, Tajima merupakan resto Jepang yang menawarkan Yakiniku atau BBQ sebagai menu utama. NAMUN, gw ngeliat banyak terselip menu menu korea disini... Itu uda bikin lemes deh, IMO resto yang makanannya ga jelas ke arah mana biasanya engga enak.

Karena uda laper abis, gw sama Ratu Iblis en Pudel Perek memutuskan uda deh coba coba aja. Pesen aja macem macem, secara tempatnya rame, couldn't be that bad right? So.. These babies are what we ordered that night.

Tajima's Mentii (20K) and Tajima's Croquette (15K)

Mediocre taste, not that crispy. Nothing special really, fortunately we were hungry otherwise we wouldn't finish this rather greasy croquette.

 

Seriously, I don't know which meat is what part. Beef is good, tender and moist, cheapest wagyu quality. Pork also good but a bit chewy. Ox tongue are good too. Portion is small, around 5 small pieces per portion (beef 50K-120K, pork around 30K). Sauces, plain and boring. The quality of the meat helped a lot! I LOVE the old fashioned bricket grill, somehow more delicious :)

 Me and my meat!

The weird korean style soup

Overall, not bad. I expected more but hey this is Pantai Indah Kapuk. I think this area offers A LOT of cute and interesting place to dine but unfortunately only a handful really satisfies me. Tajima needs a little bit more effort to be on that super small list of THE go to place in PIK.

Rating: 7/10
Location: PIK, Ruko Crown Golf