FILOSOFI KOPI MELAWAI - JAKARTA

First of all, I would love to thank Dewi Lestari for creating such a nice story about coffee and Angga Susangko for creating such a nice movie. A little story to share, I was happy to be invited by them to attend the gala premiere of the movie Filosofi Kopi back in April, and overall, it was a good movie starting from the storyline, cinematography and casts. Chicco Jericho and Rio Dewanto both played Ben & Jodi very well. If you love to watch a little story about Indonesian coffee and happen to love coffee, this is a movie worth watching.

Anyway, if you’ve watched the movie, you must have noticed this vintage coffee shop used as the main setting in the movie literally called “Filosofi Kopi”, and from what I heard, and that is due to the high request, finally there’s a real physical “Filosofi Kopi” outlet that everyone can visit on Jalan Melawai VI, Little Tokyo just exactly in front of Blok M Square. It’s actually not hard to find, it’s just that Melawai area has quite a few alleys, but if you drive, it’s actually on Waze and I am here to give you that extra information and the peek of Filosofi Kopi!

The coffee shop was slightly smaller than what I initially had in mind, well that I think because Angga Sasongko shot the coffee shop on the right angle, but it was just as vintage & retro as I thought it would be. The shop itself is located on what used to be an old (and sort of abandoned) building as you can still see the non-operating second story from the outside and those (in a way) awesome crack on the old unfurnished & unpolished building, but don’t worry, the coffee shop’s actually well air-conditioned (apparently not as shabby as what YOU probably had in mind), and the venue was just designed simply but nicely, not only that, I think it’s also the people who were there when I visited having conversations with their friends, and not to mention, the good friends I was with that made the ambiance just felt right with lingering smell of the coffee.

However, at the moment, it’s not the kind of coffee shop you go to to work on your assignments or projects as they don’t have WiFi and currently, so many people are packing the coffee shop so I think your common sense would prefer not to stay there very long LOL.

The menu is still quite limited, they currently serve coffee, non-coffee drinks & snacks. For the coffee you can find some of the “commons” in Perfecto, Tiwus & Lestari blend (your choice), such as cafe latte, cappuccino, espresso, manual brewing, long black & tubruk, but if you’re an iced coffee drinker only cafe latte & cappuccino are available in iced, and also their special signature creation: Affogato Orgasm with durian ice cream (IDR 40k), my friend who came earlier ordered this and it was quite an interesting drink with medium level acidity of the espresso and bold durian flavor. The pricing for the coffee was quite affordable from IDR 20k-40k.

For the non-coffee beverages, they have chocolate latte, green tea latte, red velvet latte, ice tea, iced lemon tea and iced lychee tea, while for the snacks, they currently have waffle, french fries and fried cassava. The non-coffee beverages price range started from IDR 32k-35k (lattes), and IDR 18k-30k (iced teas) and the snacks range from IDR 18k-30k.

I had myself and iced cappuccino and it was quite good, even after I walked around shooting the place, it’s still pretty good (should’ve ordered after I finished shooting but it was packed and my friend ordered it for me), so I assume the coffee flavor was pretty strong with just the right amount of acidity. My friend, whom I met there, told me he ordered the manual brewing with Lestari grind & V60 brewing and it was pretty decent.

Overall, I was honestly glad that there’s finally a real physical “Filosofi Kopi” coffee shop & cafe and I guess since the hype of the movie is still running strong, the coffee enthusiast, the curious people and the people who are not really big on coffee but big on Instagram came to pack the place. I heard they're expanding the franchise to game series, and I wish Filosofi Kopi all the best of luck! CHEERS.

Filosofi Kopi
Jalan Melawai VI (in front of Blok M Square)
Blok M, Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta Selatan 12160
Average spending: IDR 100k for two
Dresscode: as casual as fuck
WiFi: No
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Map for Jalan Melawai 6

WILSHIRE SENOPATI - JAKARTA

HAPPY NEWS! One of favorite restaurants is now re-opening and I guess before everyone, I visited their newly located outlet above Colette & Lola in Senopati, which used to belong to YEYO. Basically when you enter the room, you’ll experience almost the exact same decor of the old Wilshire in Foundry 8, only this time in a smaller venue with more homey, simple yet industrial ambiance.

If you’re wondering why they moved to the more packed Senopati area, you know what, just rest your thoughts and I don’t feel like talking about it HAHAHA but I can assure you everything is totally fine.

 My favorite seating must be the one next to the window, I love how the window was designed to add in that more minimalist feel to the room.

 Just like the old Wilshire, the lighting’s still dimmed, yellow and quite challenging to take (even) decent pictures here.

They’re currently building the larger bar area on the third level, but currently still on progress.

Had a pretty big lunch yesterday and let’s just stop the yakking and get to the F&B!

As you guys (probably) know, I don’t drink, but since I came with a friend who drinks like a muthafucka and since Wilshire’s highly famous for their signature cocktails, here are their recommended drinks, well I tried a bit and found them quite pleasant, even though I still don’t exactly know how to explain as I only understand “bold” and “lighter”.

Orange Is The New Black (for me the stronger one in terms of flavor)

IDR 99k

Orange, vodka, Amarertto

Lavender Field (the lighter one, more like female drink)
IDR 99k

Gin, lemon, lavender

Crispy BBQ Pulled Pork Open Faced Tacos
IDR 99k
One recommended appetizer. The tender pulled pork works well with the rich and rather bold BBQ sauce and all that served on top of crispy tacos. Flavor, texture, interesting factor...checked!

Slow Cooked 55 Degree Wagyu Bowl in Hot Stone
IDR 195k

This is the modification of their original “Slow Cooked 55 Degree Wagyu” (which originally being served with mashed potato & sauteed butter corn) and this was delish! Even though I expected more sauce or that extra kick of seasoning (in forms of sauce or butter or anything), but for some reasons, after I think about it, I choose to love the fact that the wagyu was very lightly seasoned, hence that natural & good quality of the beef speaks for itself. I was pretty satisfied with this one.

Garlic Udon with Prawn
IDR 125k

I am not a big udon guy and to be completely honest, I’ve always found udon to be extremely boring, almost like fat noodle with no appealing factor (well literally), but guess what? I must give it to this one because it was executed nicely. It’s actually pretty simple, just udon served in hot stone with basic seasoning and bold garlic flavor, but it’s just so tasty! The udon was cooked until it’s very soft & gooey, and that I think supported the concept of the dish, comparing with the firmer, harder type of udon. Another personal favorite of mine!

Urban Eggs Burrito
IDR 75k

Short to say, it was Nasi Gila in the form of burrito! I didn’t notice that (barely looked at the menu because my friend ordered everything) until I asked why the flavor really reminded me of Nasi Gila. It got that sweet, salty, savory flavor that balanced quite well altogether and wrapped in soft burrito (the burrito was not that firm solid type).

Portobello Cheese Bomb Burger
IDR 119k

This one was one of my favorite meals of the day! I don’t know how to say it but I guess I am going to say it loud and clear: THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST BURGERS I’VE TRIED IN TOWN! Imagine this, you got that perfectly cooked beef patty (with juicy fatty fat), and finally a beautifully fried portobello mushroom with melted cheese (Monterey Jack) inside. The beef patty was very tasty, it was just altogether DA YUM and beautiful, and the melted cheese just live up that extra creamy texture and the flavor! MUST ORDER!

Crispy Pork Belly with Rice
IDR 125k

First of all, this dish was pretty spicy, but I just the bold and rich sauce that works well with the juicy pork belly. I just expected the pork belly to be a little crispier than what I had.

Grilled Beef Tongue with Sous Vide Egg
IDR 155k

Personally, I found the portion a little small for the price, but to be completely honest, in terms of flavor, this was one of my most favorite of the night. I just love how the simplicity is the key when it comes to Wilshire, simple comforting meal like this one with perfect execution of the seasoning made such a beautiful (yet addicting) meal. By the way, the grilled-sauteed corn was totally yum!

Carrot Cake Pot
The carrot cake was a tad firm to my liking but still quite moist. The flavor had this beautiful balance, when most carrot cakes are pretty intense on the cinnamon, this one was a little more well balanced.

I had this chat another day with my friend, Ivy as we were wondering why despite the very rapid growth, the quality of the new F&B ventures is either so so or draw the line at good. I have always loved Wilshire, and finally...yes finally, there’s another candidate for the best meals of 2015! Just so you know, eating in Wilshire is not cheap, but I just feel like the price seems worth it with the quality that I expected. I don’t know if the menus we had were accidentally ordered that way but I think the menu tasted a little more “Asian” with all the seasoning and stuff, and also BIG on egg as almost every dish contained egg, but since their food concept is modern Californian cuisine, that would make sense, and I have zero complaint about it! May the new venue brings a whole lotta new luck. Let’s cheer for Wilshire!

Wilshire
Jalan Senopati Raya No. 64
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12120
021 - 722 8129
Opening Hours: 11 AM - 11 PM
Average spending: IDR 500k for two
Dresscode: sporty casual
WiFi: yes!
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Map for Colette & Lola (Wilshire's located on the same building)

Peranakan Place, Auburn

Relax, there’s no hydrogen cyanide left in the buah keluak seed by the time it ends up in your meal here. The seed is found inside the "football fruit" of the keluak tree native to the swamps of southeast Asia – and thanks to that volatile acid, is highly poisonous. So why is it on the menu at this Auburn eatery?


Buah keluak seeds

Here's why: they first boil down the seeds before burying

DONBURI ICHIYA LIVING WORLD - ALAM SUTERA

I am still in a phase where I still can't move on from my Japan trip, and the only salvation that's possible to impose is the Japanese food in Jakarta, even though it's hard to compare with the authentic Japanese food, I still find some restaurants in Jakarta actually serve good Japanese food.

Talking about Japanese food, what are you? Are you a sushi guy? Ramen guy? Rice bowl guy? Or basically every Japanese food guy? Recently I visited the newly opened Donburi Ichiya in Living World Alam Sutera, this is their second outlet (and as this post is written) that has been operating for three weeks. If you've been to their outlet in Lippo Mall Puri then you must be familiar with their main menu: rice bowl. Besides the set menus, what I love about their system is that you can customize your rice by putting every topping, meat, condiments and sauce as much & crazy as you want. Your bowl, your way.

Comparing to the one in Lippo Mal Puri, their Living World’s outlet is slightly smaller, but in sense more homey & better fit. If you’re a first timer when it comes to Donburi Ichiya, their order system is pretty much queuing order, almost canteen style (or those like Marugame Udon, Publik Markette, etc) where you start your way from a point, order and head to the cashier to proceed with the payment (FYI they accept cash only).

Open kitchen for customers’ eyes only!

Four easy steps in ordering (or customizing) your rice bowls (donburi):
1. Choose the bowl (mini or regular)
2. Choose the donburi (they have salmon aburi don, karaage don, yakitori don & gyu don)
3. Choose the sauce (garlic butter, soy honey, regular mayo, spicy mayo, wasabi mayo &  black pepper), a charge of IDR 4,545 will be applied for extra sauce
4. Choose the toppings (melted cheese, kimchi, tamago yaki, onsen tamago & japanese curry)

They currently have twelve default menus that the customers can choose to easen up the confusing choosing (when you think everything’s too good), four options are the more simple one like Gyu Don, Yakitori Don, Aburi Salmon Don & Karaage Don, and the other eight was the more appetizing & advanced looking, btw I had four of them! Generally they were tasty and I highly recommend you to add in the garlic butter as it enhances the flavor (giving that beautiful salty & garlicky flavor) and give that extra fragrance to your dish. If you love cheese & a little texture, then adding the melted cheese and tempura crumbs are almost mandatory!

Ontama Yakitori

IDR 42.727 (regular), IDR 38.181 (small)

You’re going to see a lot of onsen tamago in this post because I personally like it when the rice gets thicker, stickier and in a sense, creamier. If you don’t really like meat with sweet character (I don’t have any problem btw), the egg could tone it down. The chicken was marinated & seasoned & cooked beautifully without leaving the consistency to be dry.

Wasabi Mayo Aburi Salmon with Onsen Tamago

IDR 50.000 (regular), IDR 45.455 (small)
This one was one of my personal favs, I found that the more salty-savory flavor of the aburi salmon blended very well with the sweet mayonaisse sauce. The salmon itself was also cooked nicely & juicy.

Ontama Gyu Don

IDR 51.818 (regular), IDR 47.273 (small)
Their Gyu Don is one of the best sellers here: simmered beef & onion on rice, and their Ontama Gyu Don was just something more special. The beef was given generously, tender, sweet and had this appetizing smokey flavor. If you love the sweeter flavored beef, then this  might win you over.

Soy Honey Karaage with Melted Cheese

IDR 42.727 (regular), IDR 38.181 (small)

Deep fried chicken thigh cuts served on rice , glazed with soy honey sauce & topped with melted cheese! I must say this one was my pick of the day, my personal favorite! Since they’re using the chicken thigh, the meat was very tender, juicy with beautiful crispy coating, and plus they’re lovely seasoned! The cheese added the texture and that extra salty flavor which works with the sweet soy honey sauce. I am totally bias. Must order.

Deep fried tempura & fish ball

Overall, my experience with Donburi Ichiya was pretty pleasant. Must admit I liked most of their food and their fast friendly service, to cut things short: it’s an affordable heartwarming delicious treat for everyone. Congrats on the new store opening!

PS: THEY’RE NOW RUNNING A CONTEST WHERE YOU CAN WIN AN iPhone 6! FOLLOW THEIR INSTAGRAM @DONBURI_ICHIYAFOR MORE DETAILS

Donburi Ichiya
Living World Mall GF
Jl. Alam Sutera Boulevard, Serpong, Tangerang Selatan
Alam Sutera, Tangerang 15325
021 - 2970 4981
Average spending: IDR 150k/two
Dresscode: casual
WiFi: No
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Map for Living World