Jakarta Culinary Experience

Java Jazz Festival is coming closer, its starting less than two weeks from now, this makes me very excited. Well, what excite me the most is not because the event itself, but I guess more to the fact that I’m gonna meet lots of my friend there, those who spread all over Indonesia. Another thing is because I’m gonna be able to find foods that I’m longing for: baked rice, tortellini, hot macha chocolate cake, green tea latte, baked salmon sushi, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, red mango frozen yoghurt, waffles and pancakes. Wuuaaahhh, I miss those foods so much. Not to mention about the others that I want to try..

Stay in several city for quite a long time makes me realize about one thing: no city in Indonesia can beat Jakarta in the terms of the variety of foods it offers.

Speaking about Jakarta and foods, here are the top rated restaurant in Jakarta based on the popularity taken from one of the website:

1. Sushi Tei, Plaza Indonesia
My favorite sushi restaurant, it is one of the restaurant that i frequently visit when in Jakarta. The restaurant provide a wide variety of sushi, from the original rolled sushi to fusion sushi. Not only that, it also serves other kind of Japanese food, like tempura (fried veggies, or seafood served with sauce); ramen , soba and udon (Japanese noodles), shabu-shabu, rice-based dishes and many more. There are also various kinds of drinks and desert. What I like is they have free flow of hot/cold green tea . My favorite menu are baked salmon roll and salmon salad sushi.

2. The Duck King, Plaza Semanggi
3. Tony Roma’s, Jl. Wahid Hasyim 49;
Specialized in ribs, people say it is most famous for the ribs with barbeque sauce.
4. Satoo, Hotel Shangri La
5. Syailendra, Hotel JW Marriot
(I’ve never been to these restaurant before mostly because of the very expensive prices that I couldn’t afford, so can’t really give review on them)

6.Burger King
The best burger in town among the fellow fast food competitors, though a higher price as the compensation. The whopper portion is very big for me so I usually order the singles, and of course the onion ring.

7.Ming Seafood Restaurant, Setiabudi Building
(Never try this one as well, and to be honest, not really interested on trying it..)

8. Bakmi GM
This restaurant seems to be always full at any time at any branch. If you go to PIM you’ll get what I mean, since its always crowded with lots of people queuing to be seated and enjoy the bakmi no matter what time it is, but usually it gets more crowded on meal time.

9. Pancious
Huge portion of pancakes or waffles, with a wide variety of salty and sweet topping, you name it. For a very reasonable price, this restaurant win the competition among the pancake houses. You can freely choose to have one, two, or even three stacks of pancakes or waffles, original or chocolate, or the combination of them. The restaurant also serve several kind of pasta, try the fried mushroom fettuccini. Another additional value for this restaurant is the free flow ice tea and the menu book that completed with recommendations. I love the chocolate waffles plus original pancakes with blueberry and cheese topping, so divine.

10. Java Bleu, Jl. Cikini Raya
A French restaurant that I finally tried the last time i was in Jakarta for Java Jazz Festival, i went there while waiting for my friend on their reflexology session. I ordered Baba au Rhum which was home-made bread with a very soft texture marinated in rum then served with ice cream that you can choose, at that time i wanted mine with vanilla ice cream. Another treat i gave myself at that time was Hot Chocolate, always comforting, so tasty and thick but not too sweet. For those who like chicken then you have to try the Grilled Chicken Breast, very tender and juicy, comes with a mix of salad that's not really typical with other restaurant. Now i have to agree with my friend that this restaurant is worth trying despite the pretty expensive price

11. Poke Sushi
Just another sushi outlet. Not bad but not outstanding as well..

12. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
This is one of the café in town where I and my friends sometimes hang out for talks over coffee (tea or chocolate for me)and cakes .The hot chocolate is nice, the cakes too, though for the quiche you can find a better one somewhere else with that price. For those who love tea, try the Chai Latte or Green Tea Ice Blended. For those who into coffee might wanna try caramel frappucino or the hot vanilla latte.

13. Nasi Uduk Kebon Kacang
(Such a shame for me of never been to this place while in Jakarta. People say that this is the original version of nasi uduk and simply the best one. Next time I go there I must stop by at this place)

14. Bakerzin
I’ve been to this place only twice, and as far as I remember it has a very good tiramisu and pasta. The foods are good but they come with more expensive price. The tea serving is very unique, you’ll be given the teapot and the tea leaves and the herbs or flowers. That’s from what I could vaguely remember. The hot chocolate is also very thick and yummy...

15. Cork & Screw, Wisma Kodel Rasuna Said
16. Pisa Café, Menteng
17. Segarra, Pantai Karnival Ancol
(Again, I have to say I’ve never been to these places as well. First because 2 out of those 3 restaurant are pretty far from where I lived while in Jakarta, as for Pisa Café even though I sometimes passed by but never really had a chance to drop by and try something. There were several times I wanted to try the place but then again its so crowded so it ended up with me trying another place)

18. Pepenero Cucina Italiana, Menara Karya
The first time I tried this place is on last year’s August for a very late lunch (nearly early supper) with several friends directly after we arrived from Surabaya. After that visit, this restaurant directly becoming my favorite Italian restaurant, a huge bunch of thanks to Joan Wicitra who recommended and introduce me to this place. It serve the most various pasta that you can hardly find somewhere else. The pasta are divine, so far I always enjoy whatever I order there, but some of them come in a very big portion like Tagliatelle alla Bolognese and Tagliolini Neri al Salmone (black pasta with salmon in cream sauce). My favorite is Tortelli in Salsa di Grana (pasta with meat, spinach and cheese stuffing in cream sauce). The pizza here is the thin-crust, it tastes very good but I somehow think that its gonna be better if they are more generous with the topping, haha. The restaurant also serve free starters and a wide variety of mocktails and other drinks.

19. Beautika, Hang Lekir 1
(Serve variety of foods from Manado. People say this is the most authentic one you can get in Jakarta so you don’t need to fly away to Manado to get the same taste. The thing is I’m not really into Manado food so I never tried this place. Maybe I should go there at least once, maybe later, I don’t know when..)

20. Gourmet Garage, Kemang Raya 68
(Another sorry I have to say for not being able to give review about this place. There was this one time on a chronicle to find nice Indian food, I and my friend Motti passed by this place. The name and restaurant architecture was actually made our curiosity awaken but then again the “highly exclusive” atmosphere we felt at that time and the “its just another western meet eastern restaurant” thoughts made us stick to our plan, Indian food. But then again probably later I should stop by to see whether what we thought at that time is true or not)


There are several restaurant that I’d like to recommend even if its not at the top 20 list. They are: Hong Kong Café for oriental and Hong Kong-style foods as well as the desert, Ya Udah Bistro for American-European foods, Amigos for Mexican foods, Ganesha Ek Sanskriti for Indian foods, Fish & Co for fish and chips and huge portion of modern seafood-based cuisine, Pan-O for various kind of pancakes and NYDC also Secret Recipe for the cakes.

Actually restaurants or cafés are not the only places you can find culinary experiences. There are a lot of street-side warung where you can find good foods and most likely with cheaper price but probably not as cozy as restaurants. I enjoy both anyway, but then again its all up to you to try anyway in exploring the rich culinary that Jakarta offers .

Writing about this makes me feel the urge to be there again and try foods and cakes and drinks at places I haven’t been to. Well, wait for me there Jakarta, I’m gonna make the best use of my time and enjoy the never ending culinary experiences that you have..

Life Is A Matter of Choice

What would you feel if one night your ex-boyfriend called you to tell that he’s going to get married by this year with a girl that his family chose for him?

Well, okay...
To be honest i didn't like to hear that.
Not because he is going to get marry, but because he's gonna marry someone who he didn't choose by himself. Well, i supposedly feel happy for him but what happen to me was different, I was unable to have that feeling. Why? Lets take a look of what he just told me:
1. he's about to marry
2. with a girl he barely know
3. by this year
4. the marriage is arranged by the family

As an ex-girlfriend and a friend I have no problem with condition number 1, but when it comes t condition number 2-4, want it or not, it worries me, a lot that I can’t feel happy for him. If only the girl is his own girlfriend or someone he choose himself and the marriage is not within this year I guess I wont feel this way. I just don’t think it suits him as a person that I know, since he always told me – even on our last talk– that there are many things he wants to pursue, higher education is on the top list and marriage will be after everything’s achieved, so it is basically not a priority for him. But then again, who am I to judge..

Now, what would you feel if after telling the whole story about his arranged wedding, the same person say that actually he still really love you?
……………
Yup, silence is my first response, and then a lot of emotions mixed into - I don’t know- nothing I guess.. I mean, what’s the point of telling me at this very moment? Its not gonna change anything right? He’ll still get married anyway, and me? I’m still the same girl trying to pursue my happiness and dreams.

That night he told me that he felt as if he was pulled into the a river and eventually just follow the stream.. I told him that at the moment he follows the river stream, that is his choice..

I’ve moved on, somehow. I chose to move on..
I’ve made my choice, and I know I didn’t and will never regret a single thing about it..

I’m not trying to be a wise person, but for me everything that happen in our life is actually the consequence of what we choose beforehand.

Because that what life is all about, choosing our own way…