Taste Paradise

Today's blog is about... DIMSUM

Yes patients, the little cute addictive devils :p I HEART DIMSUM!!!! U can have em as breakfast or lunch (or even dinner if you're in the mood) When I was a kid, there's not that many dimsum places like nowadays. I remember the IT place for dimsum is Shangrila Restaurant at Pasar Baru area, any of you know this place?

Taste Paradise is a member of Paradise Group, a successful chinese food restaurant brand that has expanded to Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and London. From Singapore, this brand consistently delivers great and modern chinese food without losing its authenticity. Taste Paradise is the high-end line of the restaurant group. Their Plaza Indonesia outlet is the first one opened outside Singapore.

I LOVE the place! Amazing grandeur over the top decor, very royal-ish. The service is impaccable, one of the best in Jakarta, in a chinese restaurant where usually service comes in second.

The dimsum spread is not that innovative, they stick to the classic with some modern touches. What I love about their dimsum is that they are simple (not some over the top weird tasting dimsum) with high quality ingredients which tastes really really good.

My fave of the brunch: Baked Chasiu Pao

 Simple looking fried rice, taste amazing

The price tag is quite steep, brunch for 5 cost us around 1 million IDR. Anyway, worth every penny!!! My top 3 for dimsum in Jakarta.

See u again patients, keep on munching :)

Follow my Instagram @aris100785 for your daily dose of mouth-watering food

Rate: 8.5/10
Location: Plaza Indonesia 5F

Song Fa

Holaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

It's been ages since I wrote my last post :p Such a lazy blogger --" What's up patients? I bet life's good for all of you. After my Hongkong-Macau-Singapore trip post, I suddenly lost my will to blog.. So to apologize, let me take you the wonderful world of porky goodness

Meet Song Fa, the IT place to eat now in Pantai Indah Kapuk area. Located in the Ozone Mall, just across RS PIK, Song Fa has become the new PIK sensation. Originated from Singapore, Song Fa has already had some eager foodies buzzing, having tasted them in SG I think.

The place itself has no special decor, just your ordinary casual dining place. Very generic with light wooden furniture and simple minimal design. They are very confidence with the quality of their food and they were right.

The specialty of Song Fa is Bakut Teh. I am not a huge fan of bakut teh. The tea colored pork soup is a bit to herb-y for me. Then, someone told me that Song Fa's serves a different kind of bakut teh, a peppery clear soup. I was intrigued

The bakut teh is a clear pork based soup with a very strong pepper taste. The ribs is oh so fucking yummy! Super tender although the meat is thick, no porky smell or whatsoever and you can have your refilled! I was in love... Then.. I met pork ribs sexy sister... Pork kidney. Fuck... It is even better... I tried the pork kidney and pork tenderloin combination soup. Using the same soup, this combination is deadly. The creamy kidney combined with the super tender tenderloin which literally melts in my mouth...

Not only they serve a great soup, they also serves cakwe (dough fritters) which I think is designed to be eaten with the soup and a rather salty chicken feet with bean curd. LOVE the bean curd, gives a salty sting to the rather peppery dishes.

Downside, a bit too pricey. I think spending 100-150K per pax for a dinner with soup is too expensive. BUT, since the food is good, sometimes we should splurge a little.

Rating: 7.5/10
Location: Ozone Mall, Jakarta

Lost in Hongkong: Part 1

Hello patients!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Back with me, dr.B

Recently, I got a chance to visit Hongkong, Macau and Singapore. Since I've been meaning to enjoy life more, I'm going to have more vacation (in Indonesia or abroad) as often as possible, life is too short to be wasted in the comfort of your bedroom right?

I will be writing this blog bilingually, hoping that more fellow Indonesians will read my blog and benefitted from it.

JADI!!! Alasan kepergian kali ini adalah... tiket murah! Yes, God's blessing called low cost airlines. Gw PP Jakarta-Singapore-Hongkong-Singapore-Jakarta habis kurleb 2 million idr, termasuk bagasi. Murah yaaa *joget joget*

Perjalanan dimulai sabtu malam dari Bandara Soekarno Hatta Terminal 2. Gw pilih flight malam jam 22.00 karena pagi nya masih kerja (derita kerja di rumah sakit jadi Sabtu wajib masuk) lalu dari Jakarta, transit di Singapura. Flight ke Hongkong baru jem 7 pagi nya jadi gw ngabisin waktu sekitar 4-5 jam di Bandara Changi Terminal 1.

Sampe di Singapura, kelaparan akut!! Mau beli makan di pesawat mahal berat, nasi lemak dalam kotak aja 12 SGD (sekitar 120.000 idr) mahal benerrrrr... Jadi ditahan tahan, akirnya makan di Changi. Trus nyari tempat buat tidur setelah sebelumnya pijit kaki dulu pake mesin Osim yang ada di berbagai penjuru Changi Airport.

Long story short, I arrived in Hongkong around 11 AM on Sunday. Agak kagum ya sama bandara SG dan HK, ruame abis dan guede banget tapi rapih. Jadi malu ngeliat kondisi Soetta yang agak kumuh...  Sampe lagi lagi kelaparan!!! Secara ya makan terakir jem 2 malem, jadinya jajan sandwich di seven eleven. FYI, sandwich nya yummy banget, Tau dahhh karena laper atau emank enak.

Untuk masalah komunikasi di Hongkong, dari XL (sim card gw) bisa dipake 3 hari free. Tapi gw emank memutuskan akan beli sim card disana. Gw google sih ada tourist sim card yang PCCW tp gw tanya di airport kalo mau beli sim card dimana, orang disana bilang beli di seven eleven. Pas minta di seven eleven, dikasi nya sim card China Mobile Hongkong (CMHK) seharga 80 hkd (bisa buat iphone atau android, tenang aje). Jadi lah gw pake si CMHK ini selama di hongkong. Beli paket internet 5 hari 1.5 GB seharga 40 HKD, ada biaya admin 2 HKD jadi masi sisa 38 hkd di sim card sampai hari ini. Relakan saja demi kenyamanan berkomunikasi di luar negeri. Kalau ada masalah settingan, datengin aja counter nya yang ada di seantero Hongkong. Pas gw sih ada masalah ga bisa nyala internet nya, diganti APN nya jadi CMHK dan langsung nyala.

Selama di Hongkong, atas rekomendasi ie ie Foing, gw tinggal di The Cityview Hotel. Lokasi nya di deket exit A2 MTR Yau Ma Tei, Pitt Street.

Oh ya, sebelum lupa... Untuk kemudahan selama di Hongkong, belilah octopus card (silahkan digoogle untuk tampilan dan harga) Si kartu ini fungsinya mirip kartu flazz BCA atau e-money mandiri cuma lebih sakti!!! Selaen bisa discan cuma dengan nempelin dompet, kegunaan nya pun universal, ga kaya di Jakarta yang setiap bank ngeluarin kartu sendiri. Jangan ragu ragu untuk isi banyak di kartu karena hampir semua tempat bisa bayar pake octopus. Daripada ribet ngurusin receh, pake aja octopus. Bisa jajan di sevel, bayar bus, bayar mtr, beli makanan, ke supermarket dan lain lain.

Anyway... Hotel di Hongkong muahalnya amit amit!!!! Silahkan di cek di Agoda aja... Untuk Cityview ini, harga nya cukup bersahabat dibandingkan hotel lainnya di Hongkong, kamar cukup bersih dan praktis walopun kecil. Pelayanan cepat dan helpful walaupun kurang ramah. I think it's not the hotel but most of the people in Hongkong is rude by Indonesian standard. Jutek, galak dan buru2 semuanya. Lokasi hotel ini menurut gw asik banget. Selaen cuma kira2 10 langkah dari exit MTR, di depan nya ada sevel. Kemudian daerah nya kaya daerah pancoran/glodok gitu yang apa juga ada. Deket mongkok jadi bisa belanja pasar murah, banyak banget resto yang enak dan murah trus banyak jajanan!!! Let's talk food patients!!!!

Seafood Ball, Mini Pork Sausage and Bacon Wrapped Sausage (Around 10 HKD each)

The best one is the bacon wrapped one, yummyfuckinglicious!!! Yang ini gw beli di daerah Mongkok, kebetulan hotel emank deket sono jadi abis check in langsung muter cari makan siang dan snack. Dateng pas hari Minggu jadi rame banget, jalanan penuh orang semua.

 

Cold noodle in sweet and sour sauce with squids, duck's tongue and prawns (Around 5 HKD per topping)

Walaupun rasanya agak aneh karena dingin tp lumayan enak. Yang gw suka adalah lidah bebek nya, kenyal kenyal asik hihi

Beef Brisket Noodle (Around 25 HKD)

This is my first lunch in Hongkong. Masih di daerah Mongkok, puter2 aja di segala penjuru jalan ada makanan menarik yang pengennnn banget dicobain. Nah si warung bakmi ini di gang letak nya, kaya gang sempit daerah kota gitu deh. Ada beberapa meja buat tamu pada makan. Sumpah enak banget!!!! Kuah nya brothy banget, gurih dan harum dengan didominasi wangi pekak. Tau kan pekak, rempah yang bentuknya kaya bintang itu lho... Daging sapi nya lembut banget, bahkan babatnya aja lembut. Gw kaga tau deh direbus berapa tahun tu daging, yang jelas lembut enak dan sedikit berlemak. Perfecto

Fish Ball Noodle (Around 25 HKD)

IMO, enakkan beef versionnya. Don't get me wrong, mie bakso seafood nya itu enak tapi menurut gw sih lebi enak mie sapi nya. Kalo mie baso nya, clear soup dengan kaldu ayam. Baksonya sih yang enak, kenyal garing dan tidak amis sama sekali.

Satu hal yang harus diingat dan diperhatikan, kalo disana makan itu ga semeja 1 tamu. Mgkn karena keterbatasan tempat kali ya... Jadi pas makan disini kan perdana tuh, gw disuru geser gitu ngasi orang laen duduk, dengan terbengong bengong nya gw geser. Kecuali makannya di resto mahal dalem mal gitu, rata2 meja bisa share, apalagi kalo dateng cuma sendiri atau berdua.

Well, that's it for now patients! Lots of yummy food ahead, see you :)

Mie Lontar Bangka

Today's post is gonna be a short post due to my utmost laziness in doing anything in this public holiday. BUT since one of my new year resolution is blog and share more yummyness to you patients, I'll try my best to write this one.

As you guys know already, Mie Lontar is Bangkanese noodle. Actually... I didn't pay much attention to what kind of noodle I'm eating. All I care was yucky or yummy noodle :p BUT lately, I've been appreciating the different kinds of noodle in Indonesia.

Quick noodle lecture from me, I divided noodles in Indonesia into several categories. First is local noodle. Local noodle is the noodle cooked and sold by non-chinese Indonesian. The noodle is usally thin with blackish chopped chicken mixed with chicken innards, fried shallots and a great amount of cheap chili sauce on top. Usually eaten in a form of soup by pouring the soup into the noodle bowl. This kind of noodle is usually halal (doesn't contain pork) and sometimes accompanied by beef meatballs or pangsit (wonton).

Next is Indonesian Chinese noodle. This kind of noodle is characterized by the use of pork (meat, innards or just the fat/oil) Of course, this is my fave kind of noodle because of it's unbeatable yummy comfortness and the sweet super appetizing scent of pork fat. This noodle is usually sold by chinese and sold in chinese populated area in Jakarta (MK, Pluit, Gading, West Jakarta, Kota, etc)

The third one is the original chinese noodle, sold in numerous high end chinese restaurant across Jakarta. Usually the noodles are thin to medium, no pork and tastes a bit bland. Into this category there are some great noodle such as lamian from Paradise Dynasty or Imperial Kitchen.

 Tahu Kok

The Indonesian Chinese noodle also has many kinds of noodle. Today, it's about bangkanese noodle. From what I gather, mie bangka or Bangkanese noodle is characterized by thin noodle, clean yet fatty taste, the use of fried shallots and minced pork and lime to give a burst of tanginess into the noodle. Usually served with wonton and tahu kok (another Bangkanese food, a meatball soup contains fish ball and fish tofu)

Mie Lontar has them all... Good consistency noodle (not too springy) thin but not too thin that u feel nothing after eating the noodle, oily enough so you won't be needing lipgloss afterwards and fragrant shallots to lock the palate. I don't have many reference in Mie Bangka since my neighbourhood isn't exactly the place where Bangkanese resides but I can assure you Mie Lontar Bangka is a must try!

Another great dish is their Nasi Campur. The usual hainam rice mixed rice with roast pork, chicken and pork satay. Their touch is the Bangkanese Roast Pork. A bit different from the usual roast pork, bangkanese roast pork has some condiments slathered on top. The taste is a bit sweet and savory, super yummy!

Nasi Campur

 Choi Pan

Chinese snack, it's like steamed triangle risoles filled with thingly sliced bengkoang and ebi (dried shrimp)

U Yen

Another chinese snack, deep fried thin sliced yam, usually seasoned with ginger and garlic

Location: Muara Karang, Blok 6 near Permai School
Rating: 7.5/10

The Duck King

Happy new year patients! Wow.... Looking back, I've been writing this blog since 2007. It's gonna be our 7th anniversary this year, yippeeee. Thank you for all your support patients :) This blog is a place for me to be me. My philosophy in blogging has always been the same, be myself. Forgive me if sometimes I'm too harsh or too foul but hey, this is me :)

To open this year, I'd like to post about The Duck King. Well.... It's a new year so I'll start with breakfast. Nothing too fancy and too pretentious, just a simple dimsum bfast that I usually enjoy with my family.

The Duck King is an established brand here in Jakarta. IMO, this brand has served us affordable yet great modern chinese food. My visit to The Duck King has become more often since they open their branch in Central Park Mall (FYI, soon they'll open their Baywalk Mall branch, literally 5 minutes from home!) They offer discount on Sundays so we usually come here for dimsums.

Kuo Tie 

Fish and Pitan Porridge

Prawn Chong Fan

Prawn Wonton with Mayo

Ha Kau

Lotus Bun

IMO, the dimsums are not exceptional but tastes really good. Nothing tastes wrong, a bit generic but a good kind of generic. Sometimes, what you need is not super fancy food but just a bite of comfortness from the food you love.

Rating: 7.5/10
Location: Central Park, Jakarta

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

Bangkok Delish Part 2

Another food parade from my recent trip to Bangkok...

Mango Sticky Rice 

Cheap, yummy and addictive. Perfect combi of sweet mango, savoury coconut milk and sticky rice as the balancing bland rough texture. Don't know why but Jakarta's doesn't tastes as good...

Breakfast at Grand Fourwings Hotel

Nice convention hotel, breakfast not bad. Butter is awful, ughhh

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab

Thailand has many cheap yet yummt treats! This is from Pattaya Floating Market, crunchy and spicy.

Grilled Pork with Sweet Sour Sauce

 

Another treat from Pattaya Floating Market. Just sit on one of the many stalls selling anything from Pad Thai to Fried Scorpions. The grill pork is okay, nothing special.

Chinese Food by Royal Dragon Restaurant

Said to be the biggest restaurant in the world (definitely not the best and the most delicious) Mediocre to bad chinese food, no further comment.

Pokatiam

Beberapa minggu yang lalu, gw ke bandung buat refreshing. Iseng aja jalan jalan sehari, pengen adem adem di bandung.. hehe... Uda lamaaaa banget kayanya gw kaga ksana (untuk liburan bukan buat kerja) kangen juga sih sama suasana laid back nya Bandung.

Pas lagi bingung mau makan apa menjelang balik Jakarta, temen gw si Elvina rekomen makan Pokatiam di daera paskal. Keyword: babi --> langsung napsu! Sooo here we goooo

The food:
1. Nasi Goreng Babi

Sepiring besar nasi goreng dengan topping ham babi yang muantep tenannnnnn. Thumbs up for this. Nasi goreng nya chinese style yang dominan asin. Nasinya kering en pecah (ga nempel nempel), rasanya gurih dan asin, just the way i like it. Itu porsi saking gedenya kayanya bisa deh buat makan berdua.

2. Kwetiaw Siram Ayam

This is another yummy dish! Kwetiaw siram ayam adalah spesialisasi nya si Ciwalit, ayam gitu lhoooo. Rasa dari kwetiaw siramnya cenderung manis dengan tone gurih di akhirnya. Porsi tentu saja besar dengan potongan fillet ayam yang cukup banyak. Mantep dah kalo uda ditambain sambel, yummmm :)

3. Mie Ayam Samcan

Yang gw suka dari mie ayam nya adalah rasanya homemade. Feels like mom's cooking! Pake samcan beberapa  potong yang surprisingly quite good, padahal biasanya tempat kaya gini kan samcan nya generik banget. Daging ayam cincangnya juga enak, creamy and meaty kaya toppingnya spaghetti.

I think this place serves warm well cooked home style meal. Recommended!

Rating:7.5/10
Location: Jl. Pasir Kaliki, Bandung

Dimana-mana Makanan

With the hectic schedule, I barely have time to relax on my bed... Lately I've posted more food pics using Instagram, Twitter and Path instead of blogging. Well, better less than nothing right? Todya I'm gonna share some food porn randomly since I'm to lazy to write a complete restaurant review :)

Nasi Pedas Bu Andika Bali (Rp. 15.000 - Rp. 25000)

Mediocre overrated super spicy nasi rames ala bali. Good deep fried intestines but honestly that doesn't help much. What's with all the hype?

Cocktails from Rock Bar, Ayana Resort Bali. (Rp. 150.000)

Overpriced but delicious cocktails!!! Awesome view but not worth the effort of coming down and climbing up, scorched till I got dehydrated by the afternoon direct sunlight (and has no intention of ordering a 70k-ish water or juice. A must try in Bali but just once, no second visit. 

Assorted fries by Rock Bar (Rp. 50.000)

Another overpriced but delicious food. The hummus dip is refreshing in the world of mayo

Mie Ayam Jamur by Pinang Sari 

Top 3 noodle in J Town. Perfect noodle consistency, subtle yet flavorfull and topnotch soup with fresh lettuce.

Jade Imperial Sichuan

It's been forever since my last post. Sorry patients, got this new gig going and I can't find a time to blog :( Today I'm taking a sick leave soooo I got time to writeeee, woohooo *evil grin*

Today's post is dedicated to my younger brother Bie Bie. Congratulation on your graduation brooo, welcome to the real world!!! And congrats also for being accepted in Delloite, so proud!

A few months back, my family went to Jade Imperial Sichuan to celebrate Bie Bie's graduation. Went straight there from JCC where the graduation ceremony took place. I originally picked Paradise Inn but seing the menu only serve small portion, I can't imagine ordering many dishes to feed all of us. So went up to try Jade Imperial Sichuan.

I don't think I ever tried Sichuan Rest before. Encountered mapo tofu before but didn't give me any picture about real sichuan food. The place is quite elegant. Classic chinese decor with jade ornaments and splash of greens here and there.  Small entrance leading to a huge dining area inside. Unique!

The food:
1. Sichuan House Smoked Duckling (Rp. 220.000/Whole)

A duck, smoked and grilled I think (can smoking things make it brown?) served with shell shaped white bun (mantao). Hmm... This dish is a bit confusing. First, dry smoked duck served with bun, not a good match. The taste of the duck is also rather weird... I didn't find it delicious and so did everyone else on the table.

2. Barbecued Lamb with Anise (Rp. 44.000/2 pcs)

Small pieces of lamb on an iron stick, grilled and served with lime. Hmm the taste is ok and very middle eastern-y.

3. Barbecued Chicken with Black Pepper (Rp. 44.000/2 pcs)

Just live the above only its chicken. Nothing special either

4. Deep Fried Squid with Garlic and Chili (Rp. 91.500/M)

Yummy!!! The squid is fried perfectly, fresh and big. Seasoned nicely with salt, pepper and chili powder giving spicy and salty treat. Love it :)

5. Deep Fried Spicy Chicken with Dried Chili (Rp. 105.000/M)

Another yummy dish! Salty and spicy, goes perfectly with a bowl of warm rice. The chicken is tender and moist.

6. Sauteed Sliced Beef with Garlic and Chili on Sizzling Hotplate (Rp. 105.000/M)
I didn't take a picture of this one... The beef is tender and spicy. All of the dishes are spicy actually.. I think that's the strength and also the weakness. Their taste resembles each other.

7. Sauteed String Beans with Mince Chicken (Rp. 84.000/M)

Yummylicious!!! One of the best I've ever tried. The string beans are crunchy. the minced chicken complements the tasteless string beans perfectly. Highlight of the day :)

8. Barbecued Pork Ribs Chong Qing Style (Rp. 44.000)

This is a snack actually but the taste is ohhh sooo yummyyy.. Pork has never failed me and this dish proves it. The pork is tender and juicy. Very bold and flavourful. The oily pork grilled and marinated with chili powder is a match made in heaven.

9. Chicken Feet (Rp. 22.000) Steamed Pork Bun (Rp. 22.000) Fried Shrimp Roll (Rp. 22.000)

I love the steamed pork bun the best!!! The others are quite good, definitely above average.

I think this place is a good alternative to the chinese cuisine scene in town. After all the HK style modern restaurant and the traditional hakka style restaurant, it's time for sichuan to shine! Worth trying but pick your dish carefully. Big portion, steep price but worth it :)

Rating: 7.5/10
Location: Plaza Indonesia F3