Diner en Blanc Sydney 2013

Imagine a flash mob of 3,000 people, add food and drink and you'd have something very similar to Diner en Blanc. Last Saturday night, Bondi locals watched thousands of people suddenly descend on Bondi Beach, unpack chairs and tables and then dine on a three course meal as waves crashed upon the beach.

This is the second year that Diner en Blanc has taken place in Sydney but it first started in

JJ Royal Bistro Senayan City

A little teaser given by a friend who is also the head barista in the JJ Royal group: Ian Consulta, led to an inner private excitement and just today I finally got to visit JJ Royal Bistro which happens to be another venture from the coffee giant: JJ Royal, along with Gulaku (for the record they're in the same group). A little story to tell, it was such a tiring day today, I went to a famous chocolate factory out of town (not going to spoil everything until I release the post), what I thought would be a relaxing day somehow wasn't as pretty as what expected! The traffic jam was super irritating!!!

But since I am such a devoted blogger (no, actually just having the diligence at the moment), I couldn't wait to share this and actually writing this post at 2 AM! Blame my insomnia too, I should really take care of my sleeping hours :(

There's not that much significant difference with its brother JJ Royal Brasserie, only that it's located in a slightly bigger venue, inside a mall and more urban like, but if you ask me which one's better to hang out, from the moment I walked in, I knew JJ Royal Brasserie is more my kind of place, I love restaurants with great outdoor view and the feel of natural daylight :). The exact difference between the Bistro and the Brasserie is probably the mini bar in the middle and more main courses selection in JJ Royal Bistro (especially Indonesian), but don't worry, for a sweet tooth like me, the desserts are still available, there are even new creations coming!

Mango Iced Fruit Soda

IDR 35k

Refreshing sparkling beverage with great balance in sourness as well as sweetness from the half-ripe mango, don't expect this beverage to be like a sparkling water with additional mango syrup, this ain't that. This is fresher, more natural and in a way, unique. This one is recommended.

Left: Iced Lychee Tea - IDR 35k
Right: Iced Mango Tea - IDR 35k

Garang Asem
IDR 65k
I went here with two of my lovely fellow bloggers and we're craving for hot soups, but with touch of Indonesian culinary for our tummy! Yum! So we went with some of their recommended menus. This one is their Garang Asem. One thing I DO LOVE about JJ Royal restaurants is that they really do know how to cook appropriate meals, not to mention the Indonesian food. I was really fond of this one! The soup has awesome balance of the meaty flavor, sourness, a little hint of sweetness and all blended together creating this vibrant friendly flavor to the tongue. There was a little problem with the meat, it was a little hard but when we pointed this out to the manager, they're willing to change the meat and actually cut them for us. Gotta give it to the service!

Soto Pak Kumis
IDR 65k
Another decent loveable dish! One sip of the soup and I knew I couldn't stop and probably won't share any (just kidding). This is not your average soto mie, executed with fresh ingredients resulting a fresh flavor as well. This one deserves my thumbs up! Recommended!

If you like it hot, add chili to live up the flavor!

Pumpkin Ravioli
IDR 60k
The ravioli was cooked al-dente enough, the sauce was interesting: tomato puree sauce with strawberry, love the play of texture from the pine nuts. The idea of having this was to eat the whole elements together.

Winner Winner Chicken Pizza
IDR 80k
Was super fond of the perfect crispiness and the generous filling, but other than that, this pizza was not out-of-the-world good.

Some cakes rolling out of the display cabinet!

In a nutshell, I feel like I probably am falling in love with JJ Royal restaurants, it's just that the food they're having is really-really good. I have been to their restaurant several times and probably have tried 1/4 of the whole menu so far and they were all great! Points to add, the impeccable service! Frankly speaking, the price of their food is not exactly cheap, but it's still affordable and most importantly: worth it. If you haven't visit their outlets, then you should really go. You'll probably hooked on the first visit.

Cheers and happy weekend!

JJ Royal Bistro
Senayan City LG fl. Unit L-06 B1
Jalan Asia Afrika Lot 19
Jakarta Selatan 10270
021 - 2932 9262

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Ruby and Rach, Strattons Hotel, Sydney

It's easy to get in a lather about the latest Reuben to hit Sydney but what I'm much more excited about is the matzo ball soup.

You'll find it all at the recently established Ruby and Rach at Strattons Hotel, only a few steps from the corner of Liverpool and Castlereagh Streets in the CBD. It would be a stretch to call this a New York-style deli - it's more like an upmarket pub bistro - but

Kenny Rogers Roasters Jakarta Celebrates Christmas!

Advertorial

I bet this brand needs no more introduction for it is probably one of the most famous restaurants in the whole universe! In Indonesia, Kenny Rogers Roasters already have 19 branches spread around shopping malls such as Grand Indonesia, Pondok Indah Mall, Pacific Place Mall, Mall Taman Anggrek and many more.

I was invited for lunch by this roasters giant, it was an early splendid Christmas lunch also the moment to introduce their Christmas menu. I obviously doesn't need too long to explain you guys about the meal at Kenny Rogers because I believe you guys have had this at least once in your life, if you don't, you'd probably start now and Christmas season is just the perfect time. Oh Christmas time, time to share the love <3.

They're having new beverages, another just-in-time lovely treats for Christmas!
Mambo Minty Chocolate
This beverage was such a treat, only I was expecting a bolder flavor of chocolate and something less sweet :). Other than that, it was good.

Milkshake Berrynana
From the two new beverages introduced, this one is my favorite one. This beverage is technically strawberry milkshake blended with KKR muffin. From the name itself, I was expecting a hint of banana but there was very little, more like almost none. Despite that, this drink was good and refreshing.

The meal served was their signature Pasta Meal, it's a quarter roasted chicken served with pasta (you can customize the pasta and they're served with bolognaise sauce) and side dish, here I had salad, not to mention each portion served with one muffin, your choice. Kenny Rogers Roasters is now bringing up the concept of "Healthier Alternative" menu, the pasta contains complex carbohydrate and of course, you can customize the side dish depending on your preference.

The chicken was tender, seasoned nicely and the mushroom sauce was the bomb <3.

Still remains my favorite muffin! The chocolate one is seriously good, make sure you eat it while it's fresh from the oven...hot and soft.

In order to celebrate Christmas and New Year, Kenny Rogers Roasters is also introducing the Whole Roasted Turkey menu. Each purchase of the Whole Turkey Menu already include 6 side dishes, 6 home-made muffins and all for IDR 1.5million, you can freely place your order starting now until December 16th 2013! Mark your calendars :).

For more information you can contact them on the social network address below or send your email to info@kkr.co.id

Thanks for such a lovely lunch Kenny Rogers! Your roasted chicken and muffins never fail to put a smile on my tummy!

Kenny Rogers Roasters
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Balboni Ristorante Jakarta

I've been checking out this following restaurant for a while and finally got the chance to visit it couple days ago! Balboni Ristorante is an Italian fusion restaurant that's located in Kota Kasablanka, to be "exact" it was not exactly in the mall, but at the office tower next to it, but you can easily sneak in from the mall to have the access to this restaurant.

At first, I was already impressed with the interior of the restaurant. You know how I love restaurants with major usage of earthy material (woods, cement) for the interior, and Balboni pretty much knew what I love *wink*. The interior rang vintage, earthy, a little retro but with a touch of sophistication at the certain points. You would notice an open kitchen located exactly for the consumer eyes and a nice little bar for a more casual preference.

The other nice thing about Balboni Ristorante is its outdoor seating area which features a more relaxing and convenient. There were white couches for those who want to sit back, lay down and enjoy the moment. The weather was perfect on my visit, I noticed a lot of people relaxing (also without the "formal" outfit subtext).

Lychee Iced Tea
IDR 35k
A glass of refreshing beverage on the afternoon

Deviled Chicken Pizza
IDR 75k

I feel like in this case, the picture said everything. I freaking LOVE this pizza: one creamy pizza with generous amount of mozarella, chicken cuts, crispy thin crust and balsamic salad dressing. This one is pretty impressive.

Mushroom Ravioli
IDR 105k
This one was another impressive dish, the white creamy sauce was seriously the bomb, the ravioli was cooked perfectly with pretty generous amount of mushroom puree inside that had been lightly seasoned. Also if you guys love cheese, they're also giving generous amount of grated Parmesan all over the dish.

Durian Pannacotta
IDR 45k
For dessert, I wanted something that's a little sweet, creamy and cold, and since they have Durian Pannacotta on the menu, I guessed I wanted to give this one a try. My first scoop of the Durian pannacotta and I knew exactly that this one tasted more like Durian ice cream instead of pannacotta, I was expecting that kick of "real" Durian fruit and lighter consistency. Personally, I thought it was way too milky for my taste-buds but thankfully they served this with the crumbles, chocolate crispy dried bread and Caramel sauce on the layer underneath to balance out the flavor, but I gotta have it all together on the scoop.

I gotta confess something, I was experimenting with this dish. I noticed there was a rock salt in the grinder and I mixed the (certain amount of) salt with the (certain amount of) pannacotta on my spoon that I scooped (because at first I had this imagination that the taste would be dreamy) and guess what, for me, after putting in the salt, the flavor turned out to be wonderful. A little could save a lot :).

They're having an on-going promotion at the moment, simply follow Balboni Ristorante on Twitter and you'll get one chocolate praline made with love.

In a nutshell, despite the Durian Pannacotta, the courses served in Balboni were really good! The ambiance of the restaurant was nice, the service was also good (staffs were friendly and interactive). Pricing? relatively affordable for what they're offering to the costumers. There will be a second (and on) visit!

Balboni Ristorante
Kota Kasablanka, Tower A Lobby
Jalan Casablanca 88
Jakarta Selatan
021 - 2956 8712
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Featured in The Jakarta Globe (November 23rd 2013)

Right after being featured in this month's issue of Bakery Magazine, I got featured in another major newspaper in Jakarta, The Jakarta Globe! I was so honored and happy and just... I don't know to describe it *wipe tears*.

[click to enlarge]

This blog is indeed a huge blessing for my life. Thanks for those who are reading this blog and keep on giving me feedback and comments because you guys are the reason I have to keep on being low profile and not going too overwhelmed :"). Sincere love goes out to you all!

Dream BIG, dream FIERCE and stay HUNGRY!

Regards,


Yours truly

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Sydney Food Bloggers Christmas Picnic 2013

What makes people happy? Giant sheets of pork crackling! It was the Sydney Food Bloggers Christmas Picnic on the weekend, organised by Chocolatesuze and I, now in its 5th year.

After sending out 300 invitations, we had 100+ rsvps. Everything was set until Mother Nature decided to start raining 2.5 hours before our event. There was thunder. There was lightning. There was even a threat of

Featured in Bakery Magazine

Thanks a bunch Bakery Magazine for featuring me on this month's issue! This certainly made my day!!! I literally couldn't stop smiling while reading the article :)).

And for you guys... Dream BIG, dream FIERCE and stay HUNGRY!

Regards,

Yours truly

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Pannacotta Etc Pacific Place

Pannacotta etc was probably one of many successful entrepreneur stories, it was more well known as small home-online business which then grew to this pannacotta giant brand that captivates a lot of its costumers. Along with its success, it's now having its first official flagship outlet in Pacific Place Mall Jakarta! Even though they have a store now, that doesn't mean that they're leaving their root of success: online shopping. They still receive orders via email and phone and deliver the pannacotta straight to your cribs!

The outlet is located on the 4th floor of Pacific Place Mall Jakarta just accross Starbucks and Aksara. It's not physically big but it offers this simple yet still having that hip and chill feeling to it, the outlet probably fits around 25-30 people maximum.

Beside the main courses (read: pannacota), they also offer you selections of their signature Panini sandwiches and freshly made beverages. During my visit, I ordered their two recommended pannacottas: Baileys and Mixed Berries. The pannacottas are sold for the same price: 30k each.

Baileys Pannacotta
IDR 30k

I pretty much fond of this one. If you're expecting the pannacotta to be soft and smooth, well it's indeed soft and smooth, but it has a thicker and gelatinous consistency than the other pannacottas I've had before in life. You'll notice a quite strong hint of milk and vanilla in the pannacotta and for someone who's not really a big fan of dairy products like me, it was not overpowerering my tastebud :).

Mixed Berries Pannacotta

IDR 30k

Still the same pannacotta base (and applies to all), the mixed berries sauce was sweet and fruity, however, it tasted more like raisin sauce with runny consistency instead of the majority of berry flavor I had imagined in my head (was expecting it to be more like the mixture of rasp and blackberry and jam-like consistency), and it'd be even better for my liking if it's a little more sour.

Iced Lemon Tea

IDR 32k

Refreshing iced lemon tea with lemon slices in the beverage. Decent sourness!

It was a nice visit to Pannacotta etc, I will surely coming back for more pannacottas, probably going to try out their Butterscotch and Chocolate! Frankly speaking, I thought it's going to be bigger in portion because it's sort of pricy for that size, but other than that, the flavor was decent :). Gotta try them guys!

Pannacotta Etc 
4th fl. Pacific Place Mall Jakarta
Jalan Jendral Sudirman No. 52-53
Jakarta Selatan 12190
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