Cosi

I went to Cosi in FX Sudirman, Jakarta last month with my fam. Cosi is kind of Hong Kong/Macau cafe (they said) and generally they serve Chinese Fusion food which I've never tried before.
And that time there is a 50% discount from 1 credit card for this restaurant, that's why we came here..hoho.

Our first order or my sister's order actually is the appetizer platter. Consists of baked mussel, potato wedges, roast duck (hoho), fried chicken wing, sauteed chicken, and coleslaw no the center of it.
It was so good. Honestly. I don't even understand why this kind of food can be so nice like this??
The wedges was absolutly hearthy with nice crispy skin. The mussel was so big and juicy. The roast duck was also good with nice layer of fat below the crispy skin, it was roasted perfectly. The chicken wing was the nicest chicken wing I've ever tried, it has crispy skin and a very nice batter covered it. The sauteed chicken..hmm..average and so does the coleslaw.
For overall, this appetizer platter will make you can't endure your bursting saliva..



Our next order is the champion of this restaurant that I forgot the name..T.T
It is a roast duck but not the roast duck we usually had. Coz they also serve both of them, the usual roast duck and "this" roast duck.
We ordered half instead of the whole duck coz we still have few orders to go. It served on a hotplate with sizzling sauce accompanied the roast duck. And truly this is so hot coz it burnt my tounge for the first bite..
The next bite really made me speechless..
This roast duck is the best ever roast duck I've ever had..
The skin is so crispy with a very nice layer of fat below the skin and the meat is so juicy and succulent that you can't endure not to take it more before the other finish it..
The sauce was a perfect accompanyment for the roast duck, since it boost the taste of the roast duck with a hint of sweetness and the usual hoisin sauce taste. Soo good..
I would give 5 star for this menu.



My order was noodle with beef brisket.
Hmm..average..
Noodle taste plain although the beef is so tender.


My dad's favourite! Porridge.
I forgot what kind of porridge this is, but it taste quite good..
Ta Wan's porridge taste better though..


My Mom and Dad..^ ^
We ordered Milo bread for the dessert.
Hmm..I'm sorry for this but I was disappointed with this one.
This bread is just so normal.
Nothing special as I expected before.
It's just bread with Milo powder and a little bit of condensed mild on top of it.
En Dining's Honey Bread is thousand times better than this.





Soo..
I do recommend Cosi so much especially it's "roast duck" and the appetizer platter..haha
Their other menu was also can be tolerated.
For your info, there is a live jazz piano performance below Cosi so it's an additional value for Cosi..
Andd.. I would give 7.5 out of 10 for Cosi..

~Mr.Vee~

Merry Christmas!!

Sorry that we've kind of busy these days so we can't post our experience of tasting beautiful foods for a long time..T.T

But we want to say : MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!
May the joy of Christmas be unto your heart..

~Ms.Nick & Mr.Vee~

Tapex

Tapioca Express or Tapex is a really popular hang out place in Seattle. It's a bubble tea place that has a lot of variety of drinks. They also serve many kinds of food, from snack to meals. The last time I visited the place I ordered jasmine milk tea with big boba (tapioca ball) and my friend ordered the thai ice tea with big boba. Both of them are really good and refreshing. There are many other kinds of milk tea to choose from. For fruit lovers, they also have some choices of fruit, some of them are mixed with tea. It may sounds weird, but it still tastes good. Not only boba, we can choose different kinds of jelly. they have big boba, pink boba, small boba (yeah, a lot of bobas), mango jelly, egg pudding, and many more. For avocado lovers, I suggest the combination of avocado and egg pudding...

my jasmine milk tea (white) and my friend's thai ice tea (orange)

For food, my favorite is the popcorn chicken. It's flour coated fried bite size pieces of chicken seasoned with salt, chilli powder, and all spice powder. It is fried with basil leaves and it's really tasty. For those of you who doesn't like spicy food, you can adjust it according to your taste. They also have fried calamari and fish cake which are really good too.

As I say before, tapex is a hang out place. They provide many kinds of board games and cards. While eating and hanging out, we can also play games with our friends. Tapex is a great place to hang out.

More info: http://www.tapiocaexpress.com/

My ratings: 8 out of 10

~Ms. Nicks~

Bibimbap

This recipe is really easy to do but it has a lot of preparation to do.. I am not really sure what the real ingredients is, but I just substitute some ingredients with the ones that are familiar for me.. So, if you don't have time to go to a Korean restaurant, just make this at your house.

bibimbap

Ingredients:
- Steamed rice, if you have time put it in a ceramic bowl and put it in the oven
- Bean sprout, the big one from soy bean is preffered
- 3 Cloves of garlic, chopped
- Ground beef
- mushroom, slice it
- Spinach
- seaweed
- carrot, slice it like matchsticks and boil until tender
- Sunny side egg
- Sesame oil
- toasted sesame seed
- vegetable oil
- teriyaki sauce, subsitute with soy sauce and sugar
- Gochujang, very important and can't be sustituted, you can buy it near your local supermarket in the Korean food isle




1. Sautee the bean sprout with some sesame oil and garlic untill tender
2. Sautee the garlic with some veggie oil and put the ground beef. after the meat is brown, put in the mushroom and the teriyaki sauce. Continue cooking untill the mushroom is cooked through.
3. Put all the ingredients on top of the rice with the sunny side egg on top of them and the seeweed with the sesame seeds.
4. Mixed in gochujang and just stir the whole thing and it's ready to eat.


Note: 1.5 table spoon of gochujang is enough if you don't like spicy food.




~Ms. Nicks~

Piroshky

It's been a while since I post anything.. sorry guys, so here's my update..

In Seattle there are a lot of place to eat.. We have one farmer's market in downtown called the pike place market.. they have a lot of different kind of food there.. I used to go with my friend to buy some bread in Le Panier. I bought the baguette for $2.00 something, I forgot.. it is best if you eat it right away...

Another food that I really like is Piroshky. It's a small bakery serving different kinds of bread. It's originally from Russia. I used to buy the smoke salmon pate piroshky. I dont really know what's inside the bread. It's for sure salmon. And I think they have some cream cheese and some types of herbs. The bread is really soft and nice.. the filling will melt in your mouth. I also try the Cheese onion garlic roll. For those of you who likes cheese, this is your choice because they put a lot of them in there. It's too cheesy for me tho.. It's best when it is still warm..

Salmon pate

They all cost about $4.00-$6.00
More info: http://www.piroshkybakery.com/

My ratings: 9 out of 10

~Ms. Nicks~

En Dining, EX Jakarta

This time I wanna share my experience of dining at En Dining, a Japanese dining resto placed in EX Jakarta.
I've shared about their famous Honey Bread which is absolutely stunning and this is about the food.

The picture below is kind of rice with burrito's filling (I forgot the name.T.T) which taste exactly like rice with bolognaise sauce. Hmm..it's nice coz bolognaise sauce is always nice eaten with rice..haha.
Priced 50 thousand something..


Below is salmon sashimi. What can I explain about a salmon sashimi? It's just perfect with it's white stripe of fat..hmm..
This is what my dad always order in Japanese resto.


Below is my sister's order, double salmon roll. It's actually sushi roll with poached salmon inside and topped with raw salmon with green tobiko that taste like wasabi on top of it. But my sister asked if they could switch the poached salmon with raw salmon and they did it.
This is sooo good..
Salmon in the inside and on the outside is definitely superb.
Fully recommended.


I ordered many other menus that I forgot to take the picture..T.T
Like aburi sushi, that is grilled sushi. Rice with grilled things on top of it and it's so good..
I also ordered salmon ikura don which was served in a really small portion like even you can hold the bowl in your hand..T.T But I can tolerate it since the ikura really hypnotized me..haha.
And I did order grilled sishamo, a small fish that has no flesh at all and instead of flesh, the whole fish contains of it's roe.. It is SO DAMN GOOD!! Wow, I can't describe how tasty the fish roe is..
Yumm..
I also did order ordinary Japanese menus like tempura and teriyaki which is quite good and served in a good presentation.

For the overall, I love En Dining. The interior was superb that makes a good atmosphere. Their food taste good. The only concern if their price that is quite pricey compare to other Japanese restaurant.


So, my rating for En Dining : 7.5 out of 10

~Mr.Vee~

Ampera

For those of you that have ever been trying Bumbu Desa, you have to try this one!
Ampera is a sundanese restaurant that have a concept of prasmanan eatery. I dunno what's the english for prasmanan. Haha.
So they put a lot of food in front of you as shown in the picture below. You just have to point at food you want and the waitress will take it for later being cooked, coz the foods is still just marinated or just half cooked.
I forgot what I took coz it's been a long time ago.
I just remember that I took fried chicken, roast chicken, fried lung, fried intestine, fried squid, roast squid, and few vegetables which I forgot..
Just look at the picture below. hehe.







Actually they set a lalapan (indonesian salad consist of cucumber, lettuce, kemangi, eggplant, etc all raw to eat with sambal) bar which we can take it free with many kind of sambal like sambal terasi, sambal oncom, sambal goreng, etc. The sambal oncom was really really good that even I that hates sambal took it for 3 times.
Their pricing was fair, it's not expensive and I think quite cheap.
What matter is their food taste good. Highly recommended.

My rating : 8 out of 10

~Mr.Vee~

Fish & Co

Fish & Co is one of the most attracting restaurant in Jakarta. First, because of the name. I was wondering what kind of restaurant it is when I first heard it's name until I found that this is a restaurant that specialized in Fish N Chips and the other seafood..hahaha.
So, my family and I visited this restaurant and this is my review.



This is our first order : NZ Mussels in Garlic Butter Sauce.
This dish is quite good I think. The mussel is so big and juicy as usual NZ mussels and they did a good job to combine this excellent mussel with the sauce coz this mussel cooperate really well with the creamy garlic butter sauce.
Must try.


My dad's order, Seafood Pasta Salad was not good. Haha.
They put spaghetti, boiled shrimp, lettuce, black sesame, and cherry tomato with a very light dressing. I dun like that combination of pasta with light dressing..T.T
But my dad thought that it's good though..hahaha.


My sist's order, Fried Calamary. Taste exactly like Chinese style fried calamary.
This is my sister's favourite food, she is fried calamary's worshipper so she said that this calamary is so good. But for my taste, this is a bit to salty and I always prefer grilled calamary than this..haha.


This is the star of this restaurant! The Original Fish N Chips. Rp 55.ooo
First, I have to say not to believe what I say about this fish n chips because this fish n chips is sooo stunning that I can't describe it in words anymore!
You'll understand when u eat this heavenly fish n chips.
I suggest u not to use knife to eat this! Just use your fork to cut the piece.
You'll find that the breading layer is separated from the flesh of the meat and when you eat it, it is a perfect texture of the crispness of the outer layer and the smoothness of the flesh.
Wow.Wow.Wow.
The fish is really fresh and it served in a really big portion! haha..
They serve it with tartar sauce separately but I prefer not to put anything in it to really taste the freshness of the fish.
I don't really sure if this is snapper as what fish in chips usually is, I think this maybe marlin.
But this is a must try..

My dad, enjoying the fish n chips. hahaha..

In overall, I really love this restaurant. They decored the restaurant like a harbour and that really makes the atmosphere of this restaurant.
The portion and the taste of the food is good and they present it well in a frying pan..haha.
So creative.
Actually I did ordered many more from their menu like Seafood Platter for two, etc.
But I forgot to take the picture..T.T, it taste good though.
The price? I think it looks a bit expensive but you'll got what you pay for.
For me, I certainly will go back to Fish N Co.

My rating : 8 out of 10

~Mr.Vee~

Honey Bread at En Dining

I love sweet foods where we can find most of them in the dessert menu of course..(not just food actually,I love all sweet things..XD hehe..)
So time I wanna share my experience of having En Dining's signature dessert, Honey Bread w/ Ice Cream.
En Dining is a Japanese restaurant located in EX Plaza Indonesia. They serve good food for dine in there and I've dine there for quite many times, but I've never tried their honey bread! Everytime I dine there, I saw every table beside me ordered honey bread and this makes me quite "stimulated" (good food will be ordered by everyone remember?). So, I ordered the honey bread..Well MY DAD ordered this.
Well actually I don't have any desire to order "bread" for dessert coz I never thought of something special with "bread". What can they do with bread? Coz bread is just..yea..bread!




And the waiter brought the Honey Bread to our table. At first, it looks like just a normal white bread which has not been cutted yet. So, it looks like a cube of 12cm thickness (my estimation) and maybe 15 width with a look of toasted bread on the outside. Then I realize that the "skin" of the bread is separated from the inner core of the bread, so the inner core and the "skin" of the bread is "connected" only from the 4 corners. (You'll know how hard it is to describe the exact shape in words if you already see that thing..T.T). On top of the bread, they put 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream an a swirl of raspberry sauce. And they also pour some honey around the bread.
So the way they serve this; first, they cut each corner of the bread's "skin" so it separated from the inner core and kind of like opening our way to directly pick the inner core of the bread which they already cutted it into 9 pieces or 3 times each sides if I'm not mistaken.
I took the first piece with some of the ice cream and the raspberry sauce.
Here is the exact chronology that time:
1. Took 1 piece of the bread and putted it to my plate.
2. Eat it.
3.
4. Shocked and silence for a moment while still chumping that bread in my mouth with closed eyes (to kind of meditate on that taste XD).

The bread is sooo goooddd!!!
IT IS TRULY REALLY GOOD. Really you will never imagine the taste until you eat it yourself. This is magnificent, make me speechless for a moment.
The bread is the softest bread I've ever eat before with it's sweet taste that taste like it has been soaked overnight in honey, it was really a perfect combination with the Ice Cream. The raspberry sauce itself I think is only a garnishing coz I almost cannot taste it at all..XD Hahaha..
But the bread was sooo gooodd...
It is WOW.
My family ordered 1 more portion of it after just finishing our first piece.

So, it cost me Rp 48.000 for 1 portion of that honey bread which actually quite expensive for just a "bread", but I'll still buy it.
I'll say that this is the best dessert I'VE EVER HAD in my life. It is truly gorgeous. Even better than 10 scoops of hageen-dazs.
And for this I'll give this

9,5 out of 10!!! I would give this 10 out of 10 if the price is more reasonable..ahahaha..

Note : If you plan to have this honeybread. You'll better book for a table first and order this honeybread first while booking your table. Coz this is this restaurant's favourite and I already find that it's sold out while I wanted to order it for 3 times..T.T
But I promise you won't regret!

~Mr.Vee~

Cold Stone

I just went to Cold Stone today. It's an ice cream shop located in Kelapa Gading Mall, near The Food Hall. You can make your own creation for about Rp 25.000,00 with one topping. Then their gonna mix it into the ice cream an serve it on a waffle cone. However, you can also order their signature creation. They have a wide variety of ice cream there.


I order one medium Founder's Favorite. It's a sweet cream ice cream (weird huh?) topped with caramel, chocolate syrup, pecans, and fudge. The portion is just right with a great-crispy waffle cone. The ice cream is really creamy and rich with great amount of topping. But they never have pecans, so I have to substitute it with almonds.. (if you don't have it, then don't write it on your menu..)

And also, the waiter is not really good at mixing the ice cream. So the topping did not spread equally thorugh out my bite. It is quite expensive too. Mine cost about Rp 47.000,00. I heard it is cheaper if you have it to go. Try it out guys and see what you think...






My rating: 7.0





~Ms. Nicks~

Kalbi

Finally, I can open this blog and create my first posting..
First of all, I'm the kind of person who never measure ingredients when I cook (except when I bake) so, I'm really sorry if I don't really have the excact measurement for the recipe.. Besides, we are created with great tastebuds, use it guys..

I'm gonna post a recipe for kalbi (short ribs). It's originally a Korean dish. I first make it for my friends and since they like it so much I'm gonna share this recipe to you guys.. enjoy!


ingredients:
- 2 lbs short ribs
- 1 cup of soy sauce
- 2 korean pear, take the juice only
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated or finely chopped
- 2 tbsp. sesame oil
- 1 bundle of scallions, chopped it your way
- toasted sesame seed
- about 5 tbsp of honey (add more if you like sweet)
- 5 tbsp. sugar
- 1/4 cup of mirin (optional)

combine all the ingredients in a bowl and marinade the short ribs for about 4 hours, spare some scallions and sesame seed for garnish. if you don't have time, 2 hours should be enough. brush some oil on a nonstick pan. using medium heat, place the short ribs on the pan. when it is half cooked, brush the marinade on the kalbi and cook it again untill it browns with grill mark. take it out and garnish with some sesame seeds and scallions.

~Ms. Nicks~

Homemade Mayo

Well,if you are planning not to buy jarred food anymore..

This recipe might be suitable for you, although I also recommend it to put it in a jar!

Hahahaha...

Approx. 1 jar

Ingredients:

- 1 egg yolk

- 1/2 cup vegetable/canola oil + 1 tbsp more

- 2 big tsp french mustard

- 3/4 tsp worchestershire sauce

- 1,5 tbsp tomato ketchup (add more if needed)

- Pinch of salt and pepper

- 3/4 tsp white sugar

- Finely chopped onion

- Chopped gherkins (pickled cucumber)

- Lime juice (depends on your taste)

- Chopped parsley and basil (optional)

- Cracked cayenne pepper (optional)

Method:

-   Mix together egg yolk, mustard, worchestershire sauce, tomato ketchup, salt and pepper, and      sugar

-   Whisk it together till the color brighten a bit and become bit fluffier

-   Pour in the oil little by little while keep whisking it till the mixture become stiff and fluffy          (until this step, this already become a mayonaisse)

-    Now put in the chopped onion, chopped herbs, and the cayenne to the mixture and mix it             together

-    It's done!

Note : It might be preserve for two months (without the chopped herbs) in the refrigerator

           for aioli, just add chopped garlic and switch the vegetable oil with olive oil

~Mr.Vee~

Salmon Ikura Don at Sushi Tei

2 months ago I had a weekly dinner with my family..
As usual, we had a high tense debate just to decide where to eat until I got a revelation to go to Sushi Tei, a really well-known sushi restaurant at Jakarta.
We went to PIM II's ( Pondok Indah Mall 2) Sushi Tei, and it was full as usual there..hhh...
Luckily, we only have to wait for about 15 minutes for it.
It's a long time though when I think about it again, but nothing can resist our hunger.
So, we got seated at last and here's the new challenge, choosing the menu.
Sushi Tei has so many foods at their menu and almost all of it interested me.
But I already aim for its Salmon Ikura Don since last time I ate there coz it has a huuuuge portion of ikura there in the menu, and I'm like crazy for ikura,
so I just order it and quickly close the menu before I change my mind.

My dad ordered salmon don (chirashi sushi style, salmon sashimi above sushi rice), my mom ordered chicken teriyaki as always coz she doesn't really like any other food beside Indonesian food and chicken teriyaki is the only thing in the menu that's quite familiar for her, so she ordered that and my sister ordered chicken katsu curry rice.


So, here it comes what we order, especially my SALMON IKURA DON!
My Salmon Ikura Don was extremely excellent.
They put a big bunch of ikura there as what it looks like in the menu and the salmon slices looked quite good as well.
My first bite of the ikura was heavenly.
It was really really really good..
I can taste the juice (should I call it juice?) of the ikura when it popped up in my mouth.
Awesome. Ikura is always awesome.
The salmon is also good although I prefer Sushi Sei's salmon belly sashimi..hahaha..
I ordered the right choice, it was really an excellent menu.
My mom's chicken teriyaki was also good, well what can you say about chicken teriyaki?
My dad's salmon don taste the same with my salmon.
And my sister's curry was also quite good. But nothing beat Taichan for curry.

My salmon ikura don cost 80.000 rups.. well worthed for a treat like that..

My rating for this menu : 8.5 out of 10

Note: Ikura is salmon roe

~Mr.Vee~