Seafood Feast and Foodie Meet-up at Sulawesi @ Kemang

Woohooo! My very first foodie meet-up finally happened today! I was so happy knowing I was invited to an event, where I could meet new people who shared exactly the same passion with me. Thanks to Zomato who had made this happened. It was held at Sulawesi @ Kemang, a restaurant specializing in seafood and other foods originated from Sulawesi. The owner came from Makassar and was very familiar with Sulawesi foods. Most of the ingredients, especially for the seafood and the sauces were shipped from Makassar as well. Therefore, it’s doubtless that even someone with ‘Makassar taste bud’ like me, loved all the dishes they served.

Talking about the venue, it was really spacious, even bigger than what I thought when I firstly looked at the place from outside. The restaurant itself occupied the first and the second floor. They did provide private room, dance floor, live-music corner, meeting space and family space. The corner located at the second floor besides the dance floor, was my most favorite one as it was designed to make you feel as if you were dining by the beach.

Not only had the venue, the service of this restaurant deserved thumbs up as well. All the waitresses were highly responsive and very knowledgeable about all the dishes listed on their menu. 

So now let’s go to the part you’ve been waiting for, the dishes!

Grilled Fish Cake / Otak-otak Bakar

As the appetizer, we had the well-known Otak-otak Bakar. It was so lovely with the chewy texture and strong fish taste. The best part was the sauce, which was totally different to the sauce of Jakarta’s otak-otak.

Grilled Papakulu Fish with Parape Sauce / Papakulu Bakar Parape

This fish is very well-known for its thick meat. Thus, it was perfect to be grilled. Served with Parape sauce, which was basically made of sweet soy sauce and onion, this one was surely to die for!

Grouper in Sour Soup / Kerapu Kuah Asam

This soup was exceptional as the grouper texture was so moist and the soup itself had the right sourness.

Kudu-Kudu Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce / Kudu-Kudu Asam Manis

If you were from Makassar, you surely knew this box-shaped fish. Yeah, it always created stunning presentation as its hard skin was always used as the ‘second plate’ for the fish meat due to its unique shape. In Makassar, I usually had it deep fried only without sauce. But apparently, mixing it with sweet and sour sauce was not bad at all.  

Grilled Leatherjacket Fish with Rica-rica Sauce / Sukang Bakar Rica

Don’t call a restaurant as a Sulawesi restaurant if it was unable to serve super spicy dish! This dish was the winner for the spiciest one among all dishes served today. It’s been a long time since the last time I ate such spicy and luscious sauce. Super super love this! The owner said that in order to make the sauce had that spiciness level, he had to ship the chili from Makassar. Yes, I know it. The uber little chili from Malino, a highland area near Makassar, which is indeed very famous for its spiciness.

Salted Egg Fried Shrimp / Udang Goreng Telur Asin

I usually did not like salted egg, but this one was irresistible. The prawn was so fresh and chewy, making me totally forget about that hatred.

Baby Lobster with Blackpepper Sauce / Baby Lobster Lada Hitam

Right after this dish was served on the table, all the foodies immediately screamed ‘Whoaa!’. It looked so tempting and photogenic of course :p! Most importantly, the taste was also too good to be true. Unfortunately, the size did lie as the meat was only a little.

Grilled Squid with Squid Eggs Filling / Cumi Telor Bakar

This dish was the most unique among all. I firstly thought that the egg stuffed inside the squid was chicken’s egg. Surprisingly, it’s squid eggs. This was my first time trying it and I found out that it was totally different with chicken egg but I loved it!

Crispy Fried Squid / Cumi Goreng Tepung

Who doesn’t love crispy fried squid? Especially if the texture was not hard at all, and it came with super delicious sweet sauce like this one.

Crab with Padang Sauce / Kepiting Saos Padang

Even before I described the dish, I believed you could already think about how good it was just by looking at the appearance. The giant size undoubtedly made you drool! When it came to taste, this was so so good. The crab meat was so smooth and the sauce was tasty. Call me lucky as I could get the claw part!

Soft Shell Crab with Mango Sauce / Kepiting Soka Saos Mangga

The thing I really loved from soft shell crab was I could eat it with my hands stayed clean, not like the big crab one :p. I’ve never had soft shell crab with mango sauce before as I commonly had it with floss. However, this one successfully made me fell in love at the first sight. From all the dishes, this one was my most favorite and I would definitely go back for this!

Chicken Satay / Sate Ayam

Though this satay was not my favorite, but it was worth to try. The meat was tender and the peanut sauce was delightful.

Makassar Beef Soup / Coto Makassar

As I told you before, besides seafood this restaurant also served other Makassar dishes, including this most famous traditional dish of Makassar. Served with Buras (quite similar to ketupat but mixed with coconut milk), it was quite pleasant although I still preferred the one in Makassar.

Red Frice Rice with Crab / Nasi Goreng Merah Kepiting

Definitely, you would rarely find such this in Jakarta. Red fried rice was also one of the many signature dishes from Makassar. Topped with super generous amount of crab meat, the taste was certainly unquestionable.

Sulawesi Fried Noodle / Mie Goreng Sulawesi

Another Makassar’s signature dish was this fried thin noodle. The noodle was poured with the thick sauce combined with fresh seafood. I guess now people don’t have to visit Makassar to eat this dish as they could have the same taste here!

Fresh Coconut

This drink was not only able to amuse people with its beautiful presentation, but also its refreshing taste. Perfect for Jakarta’s hot weather!

Passion Fruit Juice

If I have talked much about signature foods, now I showed you the signature drink from Makassar. Yes, you could easily find passion fruit in Makassar and people really loved to bring passion fruit syrup as a gift when they visited Makassar. I really enjoyed this drink as it made me felt like I was at home. Just one thing, I thought I would be even better if it was mixed with the big pulps :)

Overall, I really really enjoyed my dining experience in Sulawesi @ Kemang. I couldn’t thank Zomato more for setting up the foodie meet up here because without this event, I believed I would never try the dishes of this restaurant. I’ve tried several Makassar seafood sold in Jakarta and always felt disappointed with them. However, this time, I was a highly satisfied customer!

Taste: 9.5/10

Place: 9/10

Service: 9.5/10

Price: 8.5/10

Thanks for Reading! :)

SULAWESI @ KEMANG

Address: Jl. Kemang Selatan Raya No. 2A

Phone: (021) 7883 3170

Operating Hours: Mon – Sun 11am – 11pm

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Wondrous Presentation at Eastern & Oriental

Reflected by its name, E&O brings out the distinctive combination between Eastern and Oriental foods. Every dishes served here are so unique that I believe it is almost impossible for you to find them in any other restaurants. Their dishes might have similar main ingredients with the ones available in other restaurants. However, the way they serve them were highly innovative and the presentation was indeed mind-blowing!

Before going to the review, I want to apologize in advance as I could not provide the pictures for all the savory dishes. I went here with my office colleagues and we were so hungry so you could guess what happened once the dishes reached the table. Besides, I was afraid everyone (including the dragons in their tummy :p) would shout at me if I asked them to wait for me taking pictures of the food.

Pad Thai with Prawns, Beansprouts, Garlic, Chives, Peanuts and Chili Tamarind (IDR 125k)

What impressed me the most from this dish was the rich combination it brought out. Though it was just pad thai, it contained so many ingredients, which were beautifully served together on the plate. Actually, the rice noodles itself just tasted so-so. However, I had to admit that the prawns were so fresh. Maybe if several years from now you asked me what I remembered from this dish, the only thing I would mention was its prawns.

Peking Duck Fried Rice with Thai Curry Powder, Cherry Tomatoes, Pineapple and Chili (IDR 95k)

Yeah, this was a plate of fried rice. However, what made it turn to be more than just something ordinary was the peking duck put on top of the rice. It was so tender that having 1 slice only was definitely not enough. The fried rice itself was quite luscious, but I didn’t find anything exceptional from it.

Roasted Thai Style Chicken with Kafir Lime Sweet Chili (IDR 110k)

This chicken was a new menu here. It was perfectly cooked and the texture was lovely. The sauce itself was nice, but I guessed it still needed improvement for better taste.  

Twice-Cooked Beef Short Ribs with Sweet Fish Sauce, Cucumber and Nam Pla Prik (IDR 185k)

Sooo.. this was the award-winning savory dish! I loved every single thing about it. The beef was flawlessly cooked, making it to be super tender and juicy. Not stopping there, the sauce was also remarkable, certainly an impeccable companion to the dish!

Black Sticky Rice with Lychee, Ginger, Golden Treads and Mango Ice Cream (IDR 45k)

 

Yeay! Finally we arrived at the dessert part. Ok now I could start seeing a smile in your face as FINALLY, you could find pictures! This dessert’s presentation was beyond words. Compare it with the black sticky rice you bought from abang2 with gerobak for breakfast. Though the main dish was similar, the presentation was so different and the combination was surely poles apart. I loved the taste as it had balanced sweet level and the combination with lychee was surprisingly great. Though the mango ice cream tasted quite good, I didn’t think it suited this dish and I preferred to enjoy the two of them separately. One more thing, I didn’t say that this beat the abang2 version, especially if I considered the price :p.

Cocoa Ganache with Peanut Butter Palm Sugar Ice Cream and Honeycomb Crumble (IDR 50k)

 

I was really in love with this dessert because of 2 main reasons, I loved chocolate and I was a big big fan of peanut butter. Coming with the combination of that 2, this one was surely irresistible for me. The palm sugar ice cream itself was quite unique and the taste was not bad at all.

Mocha Cappuccino Ganache with Honeycomb and Coffee Granita (IDR 45k)

If you prefer coffee to chocolate, you might go for this instead of the previous one. However, I guessed you would find problem eating the honeycomb as it came in big piece and it was really hard to break it. I guessed it might be much better to serve it in the form of crumble like in the previous one. Personally, I loved the cocoa ganache more than this cappuccino one.

Nutella Steamed Buns with Coconut Ice Cream and Vietnamese Coffee (IDR 55k)

To be honest, I thought this dessert was quite over-priced. Yes, the Nutella steamed buns indeed tasted great because yeah, what could go wrong with Nutella. However, I didn’t think the price had to be that high. I didn’t think there’s anything special with the coconut ice cream and the coffee. However, in terms of appearance, the way it was served was marvelous.

Durian Panna Cotta with White Sticky Rice (IDR 55k)

Among all E&O’s desserts I’ve tried, this was of course the BEST and the UNBEATABLE one! Though the white sticky rice came in quite small size and you only got 2 of it, but the generous portion of the durian panna cotta itself certainly made the sticky rice problem forgettable. The texture of the panna cotta was perfectly moist and the durian flavor was so strong! A must-try for any durian lover!

Elderflower Cooler (IDR 45k)

This mocktail was indeed a perfect answer for the super hot weather of Jakarta. Combining Elderflower syrup, grapefruit, orange, ginger ale, and soda; it was surely a refreshing one!

All in all, I enjoyed my dining experience in E&O. The spacious place was really cozy for spending quite long time. For the service, the waiters/waitresses were highly responsive but it took quite long time for the chefs to prepare for your dish. Talking about taste, the dishes were great, as long as you picked ‘the right one’. However, remembering that each of their dishes was cooked uniquely, each person’s ‘right one’ might differ. So, you might try it by yourself to find your ‘right one’.

Taste: 8/10

Place: 9/10

Service: 8/10

Price: 7.5/10

Thanks for reading! :)

Eastern & Oriental

Address: Menara Rajawali 1st Floor

Phone: (021) 5761 645

Operating hours: 11am – 1am

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Sweets Frenzy at JJ Royal Bistro & Brasserie

Having been well-known for its high-quality coffee, JJ Royal doesn’t stop there. To allow the customers to be immediately served with their coffee, JJ Royal comes up with its Bistro and Brasserie. Located in two different most-hip shopping malls in town, both the outlets always have high occupancy rate. I’ve been to both and I love the bistro one, compared to the brasserie. Not only due to the more spacious place, but also because of the design that suits my preference better. However, one advantage possessed by the brasserie, which is not had by the bistro is outdoor area.

Service wise, both the bistro and brasserie provide very welcoming service. Moreover, the waiters and waitresses are very friendly in providing the explanation about each of their dishes.

Carmella (IDR 40k)

 

Served in the form of dome and topped with macaron, this cake’s presentation was surely an attention-stealer. Yeah, that’s basically the reason behind why I ordered this cake besides I did love caramel. Unfortunately, I didn’t fancy the taste as much as I did to the presentation. Coming with caramel as its main ingredient, this cake was too sweet for me. I guessed this combination of caramel glaze, chocolate caramel cream, apple passion gel, and caramel brulee; might need to come up with less sugar to deliver better taste.

Prince George (IDR 39k)

This was another piece of uniqueness-on-a-plate served by JJ Royal Bistro and Brasserie. Not only having king-alike presentation, the taste of this cake also treated you as a king. It was basically a very tempting mixture of earl grey tea crème, praline chocolate sable, dulche de leche and hazelnut crisp. So if you’re a tea and chocolate lover, this cake would of course be on your wish list!

Richie Rich (IDR 49k)

What comes into your mind when you hear “Richie Rich”? Some of you might think about exactly the same thing that firstly entered my mind when I read the name of this cake. Yeah, it’s not a movie name, which you watched like more than 10 years ago. It’s JJ Royal’s rich invention made of praline, dulche de leche, hazelnut crisp, devil sponge, and choco caramel. This was nothing but the best choice for any chocolate fanatic! Almost all its elements let you enjoyed the richest ‘chocolatey’ moment ever!  

Chio (IDR 30k)

Yeay! Finally green tea cake. Oops! Sorry, it’s not. Instead, this one was the exceptional blend of pistachio white chocolate crème and almond cream, served on impressive almond dough. Though I was not a pistachio lover and I only enjoyed several desserts made of it, I was really really into this cake! The sweetness level was balanced and the dough’s texture was so moist. Though crème was one of the components in this cake, you did not need to worry if you didn’t like too creamy desserts. As the crème layer was not too thick, this would still worth to be tried by you!    

Mini White Chocolate Boston Cream (IDR 20k)

If JJ Royal used to sell big cronut only, now it came with smaller size as well. I was really happy to hear this as for me this was just the right one. To be honest, I had never been attracted to order this White Chocolate Boston Cream because I personally thought that it didn’t look appealing. Then how come I could try it? So at one of my visits to JJ Royal Bistro with my sister, both of us were craving for cronut. Called it a coincidence, they only had 2 cronuts left at that time since it’s already quite late. One of them was this flavor so we didn’t have any choice but to try it. Unexpectedly, both of us were totally wrong judging this flavor by its appearance. It turned out that we really loved it. The vanilla cream between the layers was distinctive! Combined with white chocolate, they definitely created a perfect match. Talking about the dough itself, the texture was perfect as it was neither too chewy nor too crispy.

Mini Nutty Banana (IDR 20k)

 

Yes I had to admit that the combination of hazelnut and banana was somehow too mainstream. However, who cared about being mainstream when it could pamper your taste bud and you could enjoy the flavor to its fullest :p? Yeah, as expected, nothing could go wrong when hazelnut met banana. All I could say was just delicious, delicious, and delicious.

Though my whole review talked about desserts only, actually JJ Royal Bistro and Brasserie did have lots of choices for savory dishes. They’re even famous for some of their Indonesian menu, besides the European ones. Go try it by yourself and who knows if it might turn to be one of your most favorite restaurants :)

Taste: 8.5/10

Place: 9/10

Service: 8.5/10

Price: 8/10

Thanks for reading! :)

JJ Royal Bistro

Address: Senayan City LG

Phone: (021) 2932 9262

Operating Hours: Sun – Thu 10am – 11pm, Fri – Sat 10am – 12am

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&

JJ Royal Brasserie

Address: Lotte Shopping Avenue LG

Phone: (021) 2988 8980

Operating Hours: Sun – Thu 10am – 12am, Fri – Sat 10am – 2am

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