Approximately a month ago, I came to visit and dine at this still pretty new seafood restaurant in Menteng called Aroma Sedap.Aroma Sedap is located at Jalan Teuku Cik Ditiro, right across Anomali Coffee, it�s easily noticable as it�s located right at the hook and for its fancy outer package! From outside, it looks like typical Menteng expensive houses, dressed in white painting and huge �Aroma Sedap� signage.It doesn�t stop there, the interior is the mix of minimalist, industrial, and mostly simplicity. I was honestly really fond of their neat and clean design, probably one of the homiest restaurant in town, alternatively giving me the vibe of French fine dining restaurant, but as soon as you look at their menu, they�re actually focusing on Indonesian seafood menu with the emphasize on Makassar seafood cuisine!
The restaurant accomodates four VIP areas to cater events that needed more privacy and exclusivity. Two of them are located on the second level of the building, and the other is located around the main entrance, including my favorite dining area in the restaurant!
Beside the seafood, Makassar is highly known for its signature chili, the best way to have the chili is to actually mix everything in! You�ll get the beautiful flavor combination from the spicy chilli and nut!
The range of the menu here was quite various, opted for their best selling menus.
Ikan BakarWhat�s a visit to (specifically) seafood restaurant without ordering fish? Some of you might survive without fish, but certainly not me.Here, they�re giving you options on what fish suits your preference, based on my experience, the waiters will give you recommendations on what fish goes with the seasoning, or suits the type of dish, I suggest go with the flow and follow #accidentalrhyme
The fish was chunky and filled with meat, and it was just very fresh. The seasoning was a basic soysauce dressing, which was already pretty good, but certainly nothing before you have it together with the chili in my opinion, and not to mention, I really like a kick of spice to my fish.
Ikan Kudu-KuduThis fish is exclusive because it�s pretty challenging to get it delivered to Jakarta as this type of fish is available mostly in Sulawesi. Ikan Kudu-Kudu is indeed best served �fried�. So based on my experience, normally the fish would be lightly battered then cooked to perfection without making the coating dry and crispy, just until it�s golden-ish. When you have the fish without the sauce, it would be just a tad bland, the chili afterall is indeed the champ, it elevates the flavor to another scene.The texture of Kudu-Kudu fish is just like �white snapper� where the texture of the meat is soft while in the same had the right firmness.
Kangkung Cah TerasiWhat else can I say? I just can�t have Indonesian food without this.
Cumi Goreng Lada Cabai Garam (Calamari with Salt, Chili & Pepper)Another classic �not-to-miss�, crispy calamari with the good ol chili and pepper seasoning. DAYUM! The squid was just fresh and perfectly firm without being overly chewy.
Terong Goreng (Fried Eggplant)I remember how I used to really-really HATE eggplant and I think it was around two years ago that I started liking it but I can�t remember why and that�s not entirely important, but I am a freaking convert!!!My favorite eggplant dish is actually the simple one where it�s stir-fried and cooked with spicy balado sauce, here they actually serve it by frying it. I would love this one better if the eggplant was a little softer and pre-seasoned better, but the chili, yet again, came to the rescue.
Kepiting Saus Lada Hitam (Blackpepper Crab)Can I just cut everything and say that this is probably one of THE BEST crab dishes you can find in Jakarta at the freaking moment?First, I would love to actually say THANKS to them for serving real full blown crab to the table! It�s NOT one of those shitty crabs where it looks huge and chunky from the outside but as soon as you dig in there�s nothing! It�s super meaty and fresh, with rich blackpepper sauce, a bit spicy but overall pretty acceptable.Definitely my favorite dish of the dinner!
Here you can customize how heavy you want your crabs to be, but for real, just go with the default ones hopefully you won�t be disappointed.
Awesome ambiance, good service and amazing food are three Aroma Sedap�s strong points, I believe they can totally be one of the most established (rather fancy) seafood restaurants in town. Totally coming back and recommending this to you.
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Following the success of its first and pioneer outlet in Lippo Mall Kemang, W Group is expanding their business field with the opening of their newest W brand, just slightly a different concept.
W Kitchen Cafe opened a week ago in Gandaria City replacing what was a home to Lokananta. This particular outlet is slightly more spacious comparing to W Diner with a different vibe to it. If W Diner is a little more vibrant and youthful, W Kitchen Cafe seems a little more �serious� and urban, while still is perfect for young adults. I came precisely a day before its opening last week (so now it�s VERY open) and got the chance to preview some of their highlight menus hoping to win your hearts, I didn�t take any photos of the interior as it was still on construction, so let�s just focus on what I ate & drank instead. Promise you guys you�ll love them!
HOT CHOCOLATE ALMONDYou know, hot chocolate can be seriously tricky, and seriously speaking, I am not easy to please and I have quite a high standard for hot chocolate drink. My champ is currently the one from Angelina, or Koko Black in Melbourne. While this wasn�t something that�s close to the two mentioned, but this is pretty enjoyable, it�s a tad watery but the combination of chocolate and almost flavor were quite there yet! If you fancy the classic, they also have the original hot chocolate.
BBQ CHICKEN WINGSTheir signature BBQ sauce was thick and generously glazed for each and every wing, hence it had this bold and rich flavor covering the beautifully deep fried wings, it was quite crispy with juicy chicken meat, and remember that chicken wings are BEST SERVED HOT!FRIED SPRING ROLLThe spring roll was simple, yet filled with generous minced chicken and vegetable topping. It�s almost like the more modern rendition of Indonesia�s local fried shrimp roll, good!
LOCO MOCOTruth be told I was a little skeptical about the Loco Moco at first. Loco Moco just never is my favorite meal as based on my earlier experience having it at other restaurants, I got the bad bad ones! I was happy to meet theirs, I even had a good feeling already when it got served to my table as it looked quite promising and tempting enough! The burger patty looked dense with the perfect brown color and smells so friggin good, and even though the egg was a little cooked (expected the runny one), it still looked good tho!
The mushroom gravy was clearly the highlight of the meal, it was beautifully seasoned with the right thickness to be served with rice. The beef patty seemed like it has a tad more flour to it, but altogether well seasoned!
CHICKEN MARYLANDFirst, I quite like the presentation, it�s a nice try to make what supposed to be a humble food looking dolled up #fancy #appreciateThe chicken was very tender, just slightly undercooked but very fresh and not something that came just from a freaking freezer I must say. The mushroom sauce was EVERYTHING! It really elevated the dish and giving a little tweak to the flavor and texture!REGAL SHAKEBOMB BOMB BOMB!!! I met the owner who happens to be very confident about his Regal Shake and now I understand his genuine confidence. The Regal Shake was indeed something that when you look at it, it�s actually uber simple, but something about the flavor and probably the measurement of each ingredient that�s perfect. It�s creamy but not too creamy, and just the right amount of sweetness for me, perfect actually.
SHAKESNow moving on to the trending ones, you know, often I find it embarrassing when some of the trend followers actually failed this fancy milkshake, but good news it�s now W Kitchen Cafe, their rendition of the good old Nutella-Ovomaltine milkshake falls pretty decent, it�s just right without the need to cross the �forced� over-creativity.Now to my favorite one among all:CEREAL MILK SOFT SERVEI had the chance to see the making of this milkshake & soft-serve from scratch, that�s why I could say that you need no worry about all that preservative shit. Their cereal milk creations are huge success! I went a little crazy over their fascinating cereal milk soft serve. Not sure whether the flavor developed from the freezing process, but the cereal milk indeed tasted twice better than the cereal milk, it�s saltier in the most delicious way with the corn flakes cereal flavor dominating the flavor! Oh here it goes, the word you hate the most: DAYUM!
Gandaria CityUG Mainstreet Unit 32Jl. Sultan Iskandar MudaKebayoran Lama, Jakarta Selatan021 - 2923 6333INSTAGRAM
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Is ice creams are so last year? I am not sure about that, to me it's more like an everlasting trend, but even though the number of ice cream shops is growing pretty rapidly, we gotta admit that the vibe wasn�t as spectacular as it was one or two years ago, simply because it's too many out there.
Lately everytime I hear a new ice cream shop opening I would go �oh okay�, where I used to �fuck yeah I am going to be the first customer and sleepover outside the store the night before�. No seriously, I am being hyperbolic right now.
To make things clear, I LOVE ice cream, and forever will. It�s just my opinion about the current ice cream trend.
Anyway, talking about food trend, I have been eyeing on the fact that sweets will always ring, but this time in forms of martabak, cakeshakes, doughnuts, assorted croissants and more. Earlier today I tried BC & Cone�s latest collaboration with Gordon doughnuts featuring the best of both brands: ice cream and doughnuts.Gordon has always been one of my favorites when it comes to assorted donuts, it�s just that I think they make beautiful donuts with generous topping and glazing, nice flavor, the right density and pretty much munch-able anytime! Basically you can opt for your favorite Gordon donuts and topped it with whatever ice cream flavor from BC & Cone you want. I had Gordon�s chocolate donut and topped with the most awesome Matcha Soy ice cream, the ice cream was just really nice with rich soy flavor dominating the matcha but in a good way.
ASSORTED STUFFED CROISSANT...and today, Cake A Boo just launched its newest creation: assorted stuffed croissant! I must give it to either Cake A Boo, Shirokuma or Shirayuki for always setting the trend and give us something to fascinate at! Simply explained, it�s croissant with filling, only the croissant is topped with choux dough giving that extra buttery and crunch to the texture!It�s available in four flavors: chocolate, salted egg yolk (I have never been a fan of salted egg yolk on a dessert), speculoos and hojicha (BOMB).BC ConeBukit Golf Mediterania KapukRuko Crown Golf Blok BJakarta Utara 14470Opening hours: 11 AM-10 PMAverage spending for two: IDR 100k
Ruko Garden House Blok B No. 22Jl. Pantai Indah Kapuk, Jakarta Utara 14470021 - 2903 2822Opening hours: 11 AM-11 PMAverage spending for two: IDR 100k
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I have been travelling constantly over the past three weeks, hence my blog is on a pretty calm hiatus, but I am very back and I'm going to start posting more and more, anyway, another finding that I�d like to share to you! A week ago, me and my sister went to Meirton, a rather fancy (looking) Western cafe and restaurant located in T.B. Simatupang area in South Jakarta.Meirton is located in the 18 Office Park building, when you came from the main building lobby, turn right then go straight until you reach the end of the alley and an espresso machine, from outside, it indeed looked like a small coffee shop, but when you�re actually in the dining area, the minimalistly designed restaurant is actually pretty chic, homey, industrial and modern with a little bar located around the center of the restaurant. The inner part of the restaurant is a little more dim, but rest assure as they also have their al-fresco area which is such a good benefit for my photos. I found out that Meirton is the brainchild of Griya Group which also managed Neo Hotel and Seconf Street restaurant in Seminyak Bali. The al-fresco area
Quick scan at their menu and they emphasize on the Western cuisine, particularly the European cuisine with a mix of French, Italian and European Fusion. Some of their best sellers include Beef Wellington, Salisbury Steak and their very own take on Hungary Goulash soup, I might tried none of the three mentioned, but I did order some of their other signature dishes, so let�s dig in!Meirton Basil Pizza � IDR 80kThis is one of their best selling pizzas here, for the sake of my love for basil, I opted for this one. First off, texture! The crust of the pizza is uncommon, it�s not exactly thin, but it�s not fluffy and more categorized as flat, but that certainly does not mean a bad thing! This tempting looking pizza is share-able for three people, the toppings of the pizza consist of smoked beef, mushroom, bell peppers and coated with generous Mozarella cheese. It was honestly quite tasty, I expected the basil flavor rise and I got what I initially wanted.Meirton Traditional Oxtail Soup � IDR 95kTheir traditional oxtail soup can be prepared in three different ways: grilled, fried and original. Opted for the grilled one so that I can experience the �authenticity� with a twist, I think when I am excited about a place, I always try to opt for something very original or classic.To be honest, I was very skeptical about their oxtail soup, have you ever experience a moment where you ordered a food that was a total opposite to the ambiance and concept of the restaurant that you started to wonder if you did the right thing, BUT turns out, their oxtail soup was actually very tasty, and I didn�t expect the flavor to actually be �that� good (I did expect that it would be somewhere between decent or OK). The seasoning of the soup was spot on, but they did defaultly add in a little chili hence it�s just a tad spicy (but I strangely found it amusing). The oxtail chunks were generously given along with the veges.Fish and Chips � IDR 70kProbably the must tempting looking dish here, it�s hard to handle such golden crisp fish and chips sitting gracefully on your plate and not have a bite! While I expected the coating to be a little crunchier (PS I am totally Fish & Co biased when it comes to Fish and Chips), everything was pretty decent.Chocolate Lava Cake (Chocolate Volcano) � IDR 40kKeeping it classic for their dessert, their Chocolate Lava Cake wasn�t anything shabby! It was actually quite delicious with just the right cooking timing and temperature allowing the chocolate batter to ejaculate on that first scoop, and yet, what�s better to accompany a warm chocolate lava cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!Pavlova � IDR 40kI was glad for the fact that for its fancy look, the prices of the food was actually quite affordable, not exactly cheap cheap, but still very reasonable, and not to mention, good food quality & cozy ambiance. Reservation is required, but do note that they close at 8 PM daily, I wondered why it's pretty early but it's all because of the building's operational hours.
Meirton18 Office Park GFJalan T.B. Simatupang No. 18Pasar Minggu, Jakarta Selatan021 - 2278 1710Opening hours: 11 AM-8 PMAverage spending for two: IDR 300kDresscode: sporty casual
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Map for 18 Office Park
