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

Pangkep 33

Another post from Pluit/Muara Karang area.. Pangkep 33!!!!

For you seafood lovers, I bet Pangkep 33 is no stranger. Serving makasar style seafood, this place has many loyal fans including Ms. Ratu Lebah. When I asked her about which seafood place is her fave when we were dining in Bandar Djakarta a couple of weeks ago, she instantly screamed PANGKEPPPP #lebai

The new Pangkep 33 has moved to a new place in Pluit Putra Raya. Easy direction, the road from Emporium Pluit Mal leading to Pluit Village where Jakarta Fruit Market and Harvest exists. Occupying what I think is actually a house, the place is ordinary. A big house converted into a restaurant that pays minimum attention to ambiance and comfort.

Talk no more and let's dive into the yummy seafood...

1. Ikan Aji Bakar Rica (Grilled Aji Fish Rica Style)

YUMMYLICIOUS!!! The fish has no fishy smell at all. Grilled into perfection, minimum moisture. Great texture, a bit softer than mackarel but not not too crumbly. Basted in chili, rica style which literally blow your tongue away... Spicy goodness.

2. Cumi Goreng Mentega (Stir Fry Squid in Butter Sauce)

Another winning dish from Pangkep 33. Small squids stir fried in margarine and oyster sauce... Salty and sweet at the same time, the squids are cooked perfectly they bounce around inside you mouth when you bite them.

3. Kerang Bambu cah Tauco (Razor Clams with fermented bean sauce)

The razor clam is fresh and huge! The fermented bean sauce needs a little more salt to give a punch to the buds. The clams is chewy and spicy, fresh chewy and juicy not ewww chewy. The chili helps give layers to the one dimensional salty fermented beans and the ginger minimize the weird clam smell.

4. Kangkung Terasi (Stir Fried Morning Glory with Prawn Paste and Chili)

Another classic.. Well executed but not the best. The morning glory somehow feels not fresh... Missing the crunchyness of a perfectly cooked morning glory.

Although I live near all these seafood places, I rarely dine there. Mostly because IMO,seafood is expensive. I love good seafood but I think seafood in Muara Karang is a bit expensive. Surprisingly, for all of the above plus rice, es campur and ice tea, I only spent around 250K. Well, those can feed up to 4 people right? So it's not that expensive :) Recommended!

Rating: 8/10
Location: Pluit Putra Raya, Jakarta

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

Publico

Heading to South Area! Senopati/Suryo/Wolter Monginsidi area has been known as Jakarta hot spot. A place where new trendy upmarket eateries established every day. This post, I'm going to share about Publico. A place that was once THE trendy place to dine (now the throne has been passed to Cacaote). I actually planned to go to Cacaote but since the place was still closed (it was 11.30 on a Sunday!) I change my destination and went across the road to Publico.

The place was cool! America 1920, has a resemblance with Tin Pan Alley.  Industrial decor seems to be very popular nowadays. The dining area is on the second floor so u need to get on the stairs. Thick heavy sofas facing the walls and metal furniture for the middle area. I love the place! It's artsy, it's classy and it is SEXY.

The food:
1. Creamy Smoked Scallop Spaghetti (Rp. 80K)

Divine! One of the best pasta I've ever had. It's creamy, it's full of flavors, it's elegant and the best thing is... quite a big portion! Very satisfied with this dish. The scallops were fresh and sauteed perfectly, pasta is al dente and cream sauce is oh so velvety creamy yummylicious.

2. Valrhona Mars Bar

Yummyfuckinglicious!!! Sinfully delicious! Smooth and creamy chocolate mousse with caramel sauce and candied peanuts, served cold. The combination of chocolate, nuts and caramel is perfect! Not too sweet that u want to vomit after the first bite but just enough sweetness to make u smile and be happy la la la la..

Ice Peach Tea

Latte

A very nice lunch on a hot sunday afternoon. Will come back for more, ASAP!

Rating: 8/10

Location : Jl. Suryo, Kebayoran Lama.

Garcon

Hari ini mari kita mencoba mengulas makanan dengan bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar :) Apa kabar pasien ku tercinta, jumpa lagi dengan saya dr. B. Semoga pasien sekalian tidak bosan bosannya membaca ulasan kuliner di blog saya ini.

Pada kesempatan kali ini saya akan mengulas sebuah bistro di Plaza Senayan. Garcon, sebuah tempat yang menyebut dirinya sebuah bistro. Apakah bistro itu? Istilah Bistro berasal dari Perancis, digunakan untuk menyebut sebuah tempat untuk makan (restoran) yang menyajikan makanan yang sederhana dengan harga yang terjangkau. Agak ironis memang karena apabila sebuah tempat memiliki kata bistro di dalamnya di Jakarta, otomatis harga nya melambung jauh karena dengan embel embel bistro tempat tersebut menjadi terkesan mewah dan elegan.

Setelah saya memesan, pelayan membawakan sebongkah roti perancis dan sepotong mentega. Uh la la.... Serasa di Paris. Kualitas roti nya... biasa saja. Kulitnya cenderung keras (seperti roti perancis pada umumnya), konsistensi agak kenyal dan cukup sulit dipotong maupun disobek. Walaupun begitu, roti dan mentega adalah duet maut yang tidak pernah gagal membuat saya tersenyum setelah memakannya.

Untuk snack berikutnya saya memesan Almond Croissant (Rp. 22.000) sebuah pastry yang tampak sangat menggiurkan. Tidak seperti croissant pada umumnya, lapisan luar nya sangatlah keras, sungguh sesuatu yang di luar standard croissant yang cenderung renyah. Rasanya yang tidak terlalu manis membuat saya bingung menikmati pastry ini. Seharusnya Almond Croissant manis dan ringan namun versi Garcon cenderung berat dan tawar....

Sebagai menu utama saya memesan Grilled Baby Chicken. Tampilan nya unik walaupun saya sempat terkejut melihat BESARnya porsi yang disajikan. Rasa ayam nya lezat dengan bumbu yang meresap dan daging yang sangat empuk. Sayang sekali porsinya yang mungkin lebih cocok untuk anak-anak.

Satu hal yang sangat saya suka dari Garcon adalah suasananya. Pelayannya ramah, sigap dan perhatian namun tidak menganggu privasi. Banyak tersedia stop kontak sehingga saya bisa mengisi ulang batere ponsel. Decor nya sangat modern dan sexy, asyik untuk tempat berkumpul dan berkencan dengan kekasih tercinta.

Rating:
7/10
Location: Plaza Senayan