Cin Yen

I'm on fire! Another post in less than a week :)

So today I'm hitting a little closer to home. Cin Yen restaurant is a chinese food place in Pantai Indah Kapuk area. I've passed through this place like a million times and wasn't interested at all. Then, some insta-friends recommended this place, saying they have the best fried pork belly. Keyword: Pork. Next thing I knew, I dragged mami to grab a dinner after office.

The place is packed! I went there not long after lebaran so maybe it's a bit biassed since everyone is eating out... Located in a shophouse, the place is not big. They try to maximize the space by building a semi permanent tent at the parking lot, even with that there is still a long queue.

The food is typical Indonesian chinese food with strong influence from Medan. One of their signature is kwetiaw goreng. A dish that medan chinese can't live without. Cin Yen's is subtle in flavor but fragrant and perfect in texture. The type of dish u can have for like 3 plates and feel nothing. Yummy :)

Come the pork belly!! The pork belly is served with a green liquid chili. The pork itself is not as good as I expected. Just okay IMO, I had better. It's not that crispy and juicy that you can't stop munching piece by piece. One thing that differs it from the other is the chili. The green chili has lime leaves and some other aromatics infused, accentuate and give the plain pork the kick it needs to shine.

The surprise came in the next dish, Ayam Tangkap. It's basically fried chicken (free range one I thing) mixed with aromatics and chili. YUMMY!!! Bold flavor, a hint of spicyness and crispy chicken. Recommeded.

I tried some other dishes like Fish Maw Soup with Fish Ball and Cin Yen Tofu Seafood. The soup is good, typical MSG infused chinese style soup which never fails. The waiter said that the tofu was made by Cin Yen. I don't know how they make it but It kinda lean more towards steamed egg than tofu.. Very eggy and soft tofu with spicy sauce which needs salt desperately.

Will I come back? Maybe :)

Rating: 7/10
Location: Pantai Indah Kapuk, Near Waterbom

Beautika

Back to Jakarta patients!!!!

Holiday is over and I am so so so sad :(  But life must go on and tummy has to be filled. Meet Beautika, a perfect example of no pain no gain.

Beautika is a reputable manado restaurant in Central Jakarta. I've known this place for a few years but haven't been a loyal customers since lately. Pluit/Muara Karang area is not exactly where Manadonese people live so it's kinda hard to find a good Manado restaurant here. The one that i actually good, called Rampa Rampa is coming to an end I think.

I wouldn't blabber much in detail since basically this place serves BOLD, SUPER SPICY, YUMMY and AUTHENTIC Manado food. My fave would be the shredded cakalang rica (I think the name is rabe rica) One fucking spicy and yummy dish. Shredded smoked cakalang (blue fin tuna) buried in aromatics and chili. LOVE LOVE LOVE it

Another quality dish is their Ayam di Buluh, more aromatics than chili but still spicy to the max. Combine it with the rabe rica, resulting in chili high and a guaranteed multiple trip to the rest room.

The dessert are great too although a bit expensive. All of them are high quality Manado traditional cakes, greatly influenced by the Dutch when they Invided Indonesia hundreds of years ago.

Nougat Cake

Salad Buah

Last but not least, beware! You've been warned, spicy alert.

Rating: 8/10
Location: Hang Lekir, Jakarta (In front of Moestopo University)