Gluttony Alert : Muara Karang

Holaaaaaa patients :) How u doin baby? Since I'm not really in the mood for transferring pics from my phone, I'll post some of the foodpic stocks in my computer. This is a brand new series of post. The "Gluttony Alert" series. If the "Lost in ....." series tells you about my travelling stories, the "Gluttony Alert" series will focus on all the yummies in a certain area.

Dr B's Journal has been my personal space for 8 years. I've wrote so many things in this blog, not only food reviews. I don't have much spare time like when I was in college so the number of post is very limited but I tried to make it as "me" as possible :)

So.. for the first post of Gluttony Alert, say hello to Muara Karang.

Why? Because it's my backyard :) And.. It's on my top list of places with good food hehe... Meet the yummies of Muara Karang

Bihun Kepala Ikan (Vermicelli with fish head soup)

Located in Pasar Muara Karang, this is a very crowded breakfast spot. Turn left at the Toyota Dealership from Muara Karang main street. U'll find this spot at the right side, in a food court in front of Aroma Seafood. I don't really like this dish since it's a bit too sour for my taste. In fact, the only memorable thing of this dish is the sourness.

Kuo Tie

This is a kuo tie (jiao zi) or gyoza from a small stall run by a chinese lady. The lady can only speak a little Bahasa Indonesia, so I guess it's pretty safe when I declare it authentic chinese dumplings. The skin is too think, minimal filling and too much greens. I like my kuo tie meaty and juicy --"

Another dish from the food court in Pasar Muara Karang. Mamak style (belacan) fried noodle. Yes. it resembles Malaysian cuisines yet the enci enci (chinese lady) doesn't announce it as Malaysian food. It's a dish from Medan that resembles Malaysian cuisines. I kinda like this noodle... Taste is bold, I can feel the heat and the savouryness of the noodle, seafood is fresh and portion is perfect for breakfast.

Sek Ba by Kuo Tie Shantung

There's a kuo tie place called Kuo Tie Shantung in Muara Karang. Opens around 9 P.M. in front of A&W Muara Karang. LOVE THE PORK INNARDS!!! The sweet and herby black sauce surprisingly goes well with rice. Order the tongue and tofu, those are my favorites.

Kuo Tie by Koe Tie Shantung

Kuo Tie is pan fried chinese dumplings. The characteristic of a kuo tie is the fried crispy part at the base of the dumpling and moist chewy part at the top of the dumplings. The deep fried ones are just fakes :p Kuo Tie Shantung serves on of the best kuo tie in Jakarta, recommended.

Rainbow Sandwich by Eng's

A very popular restaurant amongts enci enci and abege, serving affordable dishes all day long. The sandwich tastes really good! Toast is crispy, the dressing is enough to moist the dry sandwich but not too soggy. I think it only costs me around 18K :)

Steamed Chicken Rice with Free Range Chicken Egg by Nasi Tim Pasar Pagi

LEGENDARY!!!!! Some said (and I said) it's the best nasi tim (steamed rice) ever. Period. The fragrant rice, creamy and soft. It's like ur tummy is being awakened by the warm southern wind.... Oh so good! Tips: put some fish sauce into the hot steamed rice, adds another layer of goodness into the dish.

Stir Fried Pig Kidney with Onions and Celery by Chef Achun

This is one of Chef Achun's signature dish and one of my fave food ever. Pig kidney is a delicate ingredient that requires a certain way of containing and cooking to make it tastes delicious. The kidney has to be fresh, cleaned properly and eaten right after it is cooked. You have to be careful not to overcook the kidney or it'll get hard and a bit bitter. When it is cooked properly. the texture would be slightly chewy, creamy and melts in your mouth. Oh... blissful...

So, how about it patients? Come and visit Muara Karang to get your hungry belly entertained, satisfaction guaranteed. Give me a holler on my instagram @doc_babi I'll be glad to answer all your question :) See yaaaa

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

Hakata Ikkousha

Hakata Ikkousha adalah sebuah resto ramen di Muara Karang yang dengan terang-terangan mengklaim kalau mereka menjual ramen autentik Jepang. Ga tau kebetulan ato engga tapi kayanya daera Muara Karang-Pluit lagi kena ramen invasion. Setelah Marutama dan Sanpachi buka, skrg giliran Ikkousha.


3 minggu yang lalu, gw, Asmet en Salim nyobain tempat ini. Kita dateng jem 11 pagi ennnn tempat nya uda ampir penuh. Pas uda jem 12, orang uda waiting list di depan. Dahsyat benerrrr!!! Emank sih, kayanya ni tempat lagi hits banget, secara rame abis dan ngantri mulu. Dan antrian nya bukan marketing strategy tapi emank karena kapasitas tempat nya cuma segitu (yang di dalem uda cukup sempit dimasukin kursi en meja) sementara peminatnya bejibun.

Dari luar seh sebenernya menurut gw kurang menarik, kaya resto biasa aja deh. Dalam bayangan gw, mungkin kaya begitu ya restoran biasa di Jepang (not the upscale one maksudnya). Dengan memajang kompor di depan, ada panci gede gede diatasnya, kita bisa ngeliat langsung kalo they do cook the broth, not using some magical instant soup. Interior dalem biasa banget deh, nothing fancy. Cuma meja en kursi kayu dengan exhaust di atas nya buat nyedot asep. Dalem nya ada open kitchen plus waiter yang jumlah nya puluhan. Banyak benerrr. Oya, ada chef en manager nya orang Jepang pula, so it is authentic :) servicenya top notch! Fast, efficient, good knowledge of menu and attentive. Kapan ya resto indo bisa kaya gitu... Buktinya cuma gara2 si Jepang ngasi instruksi bisa kok bagus kerjanya, brati no excuse buat resto laen yang jelek servicenya :)

The food:
1. Pork Ramen (Rp. 38.000)


YUMMYLICIOUS!!! IMHO, the best ramen in Jakarta. Gila mantep banget tu kuah nya... Kalo ga salah denger, broth nya itu dibuat dari ikan dan ayam kemudian dimasak 72 jam (lupa lupa inget gw) Kuah nya agak sedikit kental, sangat sangat meaty rasanya dan super gurih. Karena broth nya intense banget jadi agak berminyak.. Tapi karena bahan dasar nya ayam i think it's relatively less dangerous daripada pork atau beef based soup. Mie nya sendiri sih menurut gw biasa saja, nice consistency and cooked perfectly. Gw benci banget makan ramen yang mie nya lembek gitu tapi disini mie nya masi ngelawan dikit pas digigit. Untuk topping nya dikasi sliced pork yang empuk dan gurih, taburan daun bawang, wijen dannnn telur!!! Telur nya itu lho astaga.. Masaknya pas bangetttt!!! Just the way I like it :) Ga tau sih istilah nya apa tp gw ngomong nya 3/4 matang. Masi ada elemen kuning telur yang kental cair tapi sekilas uda agak keras gitu, enak banget. Laluuuu untuk menyempurnakan nya, mereka menyediakan fresh garlic dan garlic press nya. Setelah dikasi garlic, it's YUMMYFUCKINGLICIOUS!!! Ada a hint of garlic that gives extra kick and a nice aftertaste to the ramen :D

2. Pork Gyoza (Around 20k)


Now the gyoza... Yummy :) Gyoza nya sendiri berisi minced pork yang tidak terlalu padat sehingga pas digigit ga daging banget. Yang gw kurang suka adalah gyoza nya nempel semua... Untung aja pas dipisahin, kulitnya ga robek (sign of good quality gyoza) Rasanya balanced dan pas banget buat jadi appetizer.

3. Tamago (Around 20k)


Another yummy dish!!!! Gw lupa sih namanya apa soalnya bon nya ilang tapi basically it's japanese omelette. Japanese style omelette kan biasanya itu telor goreng tipis dengan rasa cenderung manis yang diroll kemudian dipotong, disajikan pake japanese mayo and ketchup. Nah Ikkousha beda, dia ngasi abon ikan kaya yang biasa jadi topping okonomiyaki di dalem nya kemudian disajikan panas2. Damn... It's like a party in my mouth. Telur nya kan pasti agak creamy gitu sedangkan abonnya tuh asin asin gimanaaa gitu. Trus dicocol pake mayo yang sedikit asam, wah mantap!!!

We were really satisfied with the food here!!! Ini merupakan contoh nyata dimana makanan berkualitas tidak berati harus disajikan di restoran upscale yang mahal gila dengan dekorasi super keren. Restaurant sells food and Ikkousha is doing it marvelously.

Rating: 8.5/10
Location: Muara Karang Raya