Omona Kawairashi-sa at Aranzi Aronzo Cafe

Moshi moshi! I don’t know why but I feel this week pass so fast and yeay, it’s weekend again! It seems like yesterday was still Monday and today’s already Saturday, which is surely a great great thing :) (I’m writing this with a very wide smile on my face). So what to try this weekend? You needn’t wait for even a second this time because I will immediately give you the answer, “Aranzi Aronzo”! I have been impatiently waiting to try this new hip café in town. It seems like so many people have posted about it and in these last five days, I could just wish that I was not stuck in the office staring at those uber cute pictures. Woohoo! Finally here I am, getting my turn to try it and make others envy :p

Aranzi Aronzo actually started from Japanese-style crafts books, introduced by the company of Mrs. Saito and Ms. Yomura. They have several adorable characters, including Panda, Kapa-chan, Kappa, Usagi, Warumono, Usotsuki, Kuma, Saru, and many more!

As you could see, this quite small venue is indeed so Kawaii! It is mainly designed with blue color, and you can find so many pictures of the cute characters decorating the whole café. The seats are not that many, but they do provide several variations for the tables, including the cage-alike ones and the kotatsu (Japanese low table) ones. I thought the service was quite amusing, since not only the waiters and waitresses were very friendly, but the one in charge for their social media was also highly responsive.

Kappa’s Green Tea Mousse (IDR 55k)

  

First cake to try was this Green Tea Mousse with Kappa face on it. As told by the waiter, this was one of their best sellers so my sister decided to pick it. Actually, the cake mainly consisted of three layers, which from top to bottom were the light green tea mousse, the thick green tea mousse, and the green tea sponge cake. Between the middle and the bottom layer, you could find Anko (sweet red bean paste). I really admired the presentation of this cake, whilst I didn’t really enjoy the taste. As it actually belonged to my sister, she was the one who should finish this huge cake. She said that luckily it was not too sweet so she was still able to eat the whole portion.

Monkey’s Caramel Banana Mousse (IDR 65k)

Mine was Banana Mousse with Saru-the-monkey’s face on it. I basically didn’t know from what ingredients the face was made, but I loved its sweet flavor and it somehow tasted like vanilla candy. Under the face you could find caramel sauce, inside the mousse there were fresh Banana and berries, and the bottom part was chocolate sponge cake. The taste was okay, but again the portion was too big to be finished by a single person. Moreover, if I might suggest, instead of making the cake in the form of mousse, I preferred it to be banana cheesecake :).

Kappa’s Japan Matcha Coffee (IDR 33k)

To be honest, I did not really fancy this drink. The coffee was quite too acid for me (some people might love acid coffee though), and I guessed the Matcha mixed in this drink was the powder one because it was not too sweet. For you who loved bitter coffee, this one might suit you. However, for a sweet enthusiast like me, a shot of sweet Matcha syrup might make this drink better.

Shiro Usa’s Raspberry Coffee (IDR 38k)

This raspberry coffee with super cute latte art was my sister’s. She enjoyed it as she said that the raspberry flavor successfully delivered a refreshing touch into this drink. She also found it unique as she had never found any similar drink before in all coffee shops we have been to.  

I personally think that Aranzi Aronzo Café already have their own uniqueness, which is the cuteness concept they offer, differentiating them from any other existing café. However, in terms of taste, they might still need much improvement. More variations of cake besides mousse and smaller portion could be taken into consideration, since people do not always share their cake with others. Ganbatte Kudasai and Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita!

ARANZI ARONZO CAFE

Address: Central Park Mall 1st Floor

Phone: (021) 2920 0489

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Delightful Brunch at Common Grounds

If Singapore has Wild Honey, Jakarta has Common Grounds! Some of you might have understood what I meant by saying this, but some might feel confused as well what their similarity is. One thing for sure, both of them are heaven for any brunch menu fanatic like me! They provide tons of distinctive dishes, which can surely give you the best dining experience for your whole day. Here, you would get a selection of brunch menu, which you would seldom find in any other similar coffee roaster.

The venue was not really that spacious, but it was comfy enough. I did love their simple yet engaging design, whose concept tried to show that they really focused on coffee. You could find various coffee-related pictures as well as tools. This place was always crowded, even since early in the morning. The service was highly satisfying as well since the waiters were very friendly and responsive.

Corned Beef and Potato Hash (IDR 75k)

Having been drowned into confusion for quite long time (read: galau), I then hardly decided to order this Corned Beef and Hash Brown (because actually I wish I could order all of the menu and my tummy could hold them all). As you could see, it was so so rich as you could find many ingredients served on the plate. The scrambled egg was so luscious and the texture was perfectly moist. The savoury sautéed mushroom smelled so good that you couldn’t wait to try it. The baby tomatoes added the freshness element to this dish. And most importantly was the mixture of corned beef, potato hash, and sautéed garlic. Together, they have successfully become the climax part of this dish. Thanks to the chef who has come up with this brilliant idea, which has certainly pampered my taste bud. Coming as the excellent complement was the toast, making this brunch menu surely become a flawless combination of various delicious elements.  

Sausage (IDR 15k)

Since I often thought that having brunch menu without sausage was like having something missing on the plate, so I ordered additional sausage to get the ultimate tummy prosperity moment :p. It had chewy texture, generous size, and definitely exceptional taste.

Cafe Latte (IDR 32k)

What to have for beverage? Without no doubt, it had to be coffee as Common Grounds was famous for their coffee. The presentation was impressive as the latte art was impeccable and you could clearly see the shape drawn. When it came to taste, the appearance indeed didn’t lie. It perfectly suited my expectation with the strong scent and not too acid taste.

Though Common Ground was a coffee roaster, it did not only specialize at coffee, but also able to serve delightful dishes. There was no reason for not coming back and trying their other tempting dishes!

Taste: 9/10

Place: 8.5/10

Service: 8.5/10

Price: 8/10

Thanks for Reading! :)

COMMON GROUNDS

Address: Citywalk Sudirman GF

Phone: (021)2555 8963

Operating hours: Mon – Sun 8am – 10pm

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The Award Winning Katsu at Katsusei

Holaaa! How’s your weekend peops? I hope you and your tummy both enjoy it! My tummy has been very prosperous in these last few days. Not only because it’s weekend, but also because I had several feasts during the weekend. One of them was my friend’s birthday bash and album launching celebration, which was held in Katsusei. Katsusei has been well-known as one of the best places to have Katsu in Jakarta. Originated from Japan, which was indeed Katsu’s hometown, it’s doubtless that your tummy would have its prosperous moment here. 

  

Pork Tenderloin Katsu Nabe – Ala Carte (IDR 115k)

 

Are you a pork lover? I’m totally a big fan of it! I enjoy almost all pork-based dishes and Katsu is surely part of them. Every time I have Katsu, I always look for pork first. As I really love pork, of course I had high expectation on this Pork Tenderloin Katsu Nabe. It was basically pork tenderloin katsu, mixed together with onions and egg. Yeah, looked exactly like Katsudon. The first time it was served on the table, I was kinda surprised with the quite big portion. Please bear in mind that this was ala carte one, so there was no rice at all under the katsu and egg! I immediately took my first bite, and guess what? It was SOOO GOODDD! I directly awarded this dish as my MOST FAVORITE PORK KATSU, surpassing all other pork katsu I used to admire before trying this! The crispy skin and the tender meat were indeed an ideal blend! Combined with the onions, egg, and sauce, this was surely a bowl of excellence!   

Chicken Cheese Roll Katsu – Ala Carte (IDR 105k)

Could you guess one ingredient that almost always existed in every dish I had? If you just mentioned cheese, then you deserved my standing applause :p. Looking that there was a dish containing cheese mentioned on the menu, I doubtlessly ordered it (even when my friend asked me which one I ordered and I mentioned this Chicken Cheese Roll Katsu, she directly said “Yeah, so you!”). The presentation of the dish once again amused me. Looked so tempting! Moreover, to give my tummy additional happiness, I also ordered curry sauce to be enjoyed with this dish. Yeah, I deserved sinful pleasure on weekend :p (ok I lied this time. I often said the same thing on weekdays. So I guessed I deserve it every single day). So what do you think about the taste? I thought I did not need to give long explanation on it. You surely could imagine how wonderful the taste was. What could go wrong with flawlessly cooked chicken katsu which was mixed with generous amount of cheese and dipped into luscious curry sauce? One thing you surely had to do was just forgetting about cholesterol, fats, and calories :)

Prawn Fry – Ala Carte (IDR 155k)

Do you dare to say that you are not drooling looking at this picture? Thanks for lying if you just said yes. The perfect golden brown color as well as the huge size was surely great temptation for anyone who looked at it. Covered with bread crumbs, the prawns were so crispy at the outer part, while so chewy in the inner part. Another important thing was it was not greasy at all. One word to describe this dish was IMPRESSIVE!

Agedashi Tofu (IDR 35k)

Actually, I didn’t taste this one as it belonged to my friend. It came in quite big portion for Tofu. Looking at the appearance, I could guess that the texture was so moist. Just by looking at my friend’s expression when she was eating this dish, I could say that she enjoyed it sooo much. She even said that this side dish was indeed one of her most favorite dishes in Katsusei, and she kept promoting it to me :p. If only I still had enough space in my tummy, I surely had tried it.  

Green Tea Ice Cream (IDR 25k)

This green tea ice cream has perfectly closed my dinner. This time, one scoop was enough as I was already super duper full. The texture was light, and the sweetness level was balanced. As it was not too creamy, it was very refreshing and was surely a great choice for dessert! 

  

Overall, I really really enjoy my dining experience in Katsusei! Every single dish I had was beyond my expectation. Though I had to admit that their dishes were quite pricey, but once you tasted them, you would think that the price did worth the taste. So for all Katsu lovers out there, I believe you certainly don’t want to miss this restaurant :)

Taste: 9/10

Place: 8/10

Service: 9/10

Price: 8/10

Thanks for Reading! :)

KATSUSEI

Address: Plaza Indonesia L1 / Sentral Senayan 1

Phone: (021) 2992 3560 / (021) 573 1001

Operating hours: Mon – Sun 10am – 10pm

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Legendary Taste of the Legendary Burger at Hard Rock Cafe

If I have to pick one word to represent Hard Rock Cafe, it will be neither music, nor American. Instead, for me Hard Rock Cafe is togetherness. Confused enough? Just wait until you see the portion of the foods they serve, then I’m really sure you’ll totally understand what I mean.

Luckily, at my very first visit to Hard Rock Cafe, I went there with my office colleagues. If you’re the type of people who love the dining table to be ‘crowded’, you certainly know what I’m thinking about when I say that I’m lucky by going there with many people. Yes, it’s definitely because I can share the dishes and thus, I can fulfill my desire to order many of those listed on the menu.

When you’re reading Hard Rock’s menu, there will be two extremely opposing probability, which are you will be very confused, or you will feel very informed. Why? Because Hard Rock’s menu completely explains each of their dishes. So, you know every single component of the food you will enjoy.

Hard Rock Nachos (IDR 177k)

Who doesn’t love tortilla chips? As the answer might be almost none, therefore I believe everyone will fall in love with Hard Rock Nachos! If people even enjoy the naked tortilla chips, then who can resist this uber-generously topped ones? It’s just one of the richest Nachos I’ve ever had. You can clearly see in the picture that the topping was abundantly given. Monterey jack and cheddar cheese, seasoned pinto beans, chopped green onions, pico de gallo, and jalapeños; what else could you ask for? Not to forget, this heavenly taste Nachos were also completed with sour cream and fresh Hard Rock salsa sauce, both of which did taste exceptional! The pico de gallo was even mixed with dice-sliced beef, delivering you the ultimate satisfaction from a plate of appetizer.

Jumbo Combo (IDR 189k)

As neither my friends nor I have ever been to Hard Rock Café, all of us have no single idea about the portion served by Hard Rock café. At that time, we were having a late lunch and thus, we were very hungry. Thinking that appetizer commonly came in small portion, we decided to order this Jumbo Combo as well as we saw from the menu that it had highly diverse content. Combining spring rolls, hickory-smoked chicken wings, onion rings, potato skins and chicken strips; I’d rather call this jumbo combo as IMPRESSIVELY GIANT COMBO! However, as all these golden-brown deep-fried snacks looked so tempting, I couldn’t resist myself to try each of them. One more thing making this dish so special was it was served with five different sauces, allowing you to choose the one that best suited your taste bud! For me, the ones that have successfully stolen my heart were the onion rings and potato skin. They were just so so good that I couldn’t stop to have more and more of them. You might start to think whether I still had enough space in my tummy for the main course, remembering the previous Nachos I had also came in a very huge portion :p

Legendary 10oz. Burger (IDR 178k)

Finally, the most awaiting part from the dining experience in Hard Rock, the more than well-known Legendary 10oz Burger! By the time I saw it right in front of my eyes, I somehow forgot that I had already had huge portion of appetizer and I was like three-quarter full five minutes ago. Not only the legendary portion, the plentiful toppings have successfully made me drool as well. Without further due, I immediately took my first luscious bite. Guess what? I really really love every single component of this burger. The turkey bacon was well-seasoned, the onion ring was so crispy and tasty, the veggies were so fresh, and most importantly the double Cheddar cheese were simply so cheesy! The only thing I might hate from this dish was just it’s impact on the hips :p

Hot Chocolate (IDR 40k)

I would not give much comment on this hot chocolate because I was quite disappointed with it. I expected it to be thick with strong chocolate flavor. Unfortunately, it was thin and it tasted more like chocolate milk.

                                            

Strawberry Juice (IDR 35k)

Probably, ordering fruit juice was an ideal choice remembering all the dishes enjoyed in prior had doubtlessly made my colleagues and I felt like we even did not have any space at all inside our tummy. Sadly, this right choice was actually made by my friend instead of I, as she was the one ordering this drink and I only took a sip of it. It was refreshing enough and it had balanced combination of sweet and sour taste.

In a nutshell, I wouldn’t say no to next visit to Hard Rock Café. There were still many dishes on the menu I was curious to try. However, I guessed I should come with more people next time. Yeah, probably to avoid ‘Tummy Prosperity’ from shifting to ‘Tummy Explosion’. :p

Product: 8.5/10

Place: 8.5/10

Price: 7.5/10

Service: 8.5/10

Thanks for reading! :)

HARD ROCK CAFE

Address: Pacific Place GF

Phone: (021) 5797 3055 / 5797 3044

Operating hours: Sun – Thu 11am – 1am, Fri – Sat 11am – 2am

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