Cafe Paci, Darlinghurst... and 10 years of blogging

Ten years. That's how long I've been blogging Grab Your Fork. Things have changed so much in the world of blogging (for the first two years at least I had to swap the words "food blog" for "food website" just so people knew what I was talking about) but one thing remained the same: my love of food.

Okay I tell a lie. Even my love of food has changed. Ten years ago, nothing excited me more than

Common Grounds Jakarta

Common Grounds is a new coffee shop and eatery located in Citiwalk, sort of new but the hype of this particular place is buzzing, so I decided to my pay myself a visit to this happening place and try their famous all-day breakfast menu. Yes, you read it right! Finally another decent place serving all-day breakfast, even though I am not a big breakfast person but I start to realize how important breakfast was, my visit to Singapore in January was such an eye-opener, knowing that Singaporeans are such big breakfast people! It's amazing that almost everywhere I went to in the morning was crowded with people having breakfast, the most popular ones must be the kopitiams.

But I don't know, I am not even a morning person...so...yeah you go. I slept late okay!!! I am even typing this on 1 AM, I must admit that I need to really change my sleeping pattern because it's kinda the opposite of normal human beings, but I believe a lot of people sleep really late as well *defensive*. That's why probably the best for me is actually on-the-go breakfast.

Common Grounds interior was simple with majority white color all over the venue, but guess what, I just want to be honest here, I think Common Grounds is just a little too good to be in Citiwalk, no offense to Citiwalk, and I am not saying that Citiwalk is bad so don't assume things. I just feel like they should have their own place (more like Alfresco dining place) because I could see a huge potential of this particular coffee shop if they have their own place at a better area, decorated with their own style, but maybe a little vintage (personal wish), the same walls, probably like Hyde Kemang or Union kind of place, but let's just hope they could really have their own place in the future.

Good thing they have separated smoking areas! Salute.

When I look at the interior, I don't know why but it kinda reminds me of underground subway area, maybe it's those white brick walls, but I am referring to this in a very good way. I don't have anything bad to say about the interior, it's just proper.

Before going here, I just had a meeting with the crazy peeps from Peeta Planet, they spent the whole week here in Jakarta shooting here and there and they were just friendly, humble and I think I am going to make an independent blog post about them, but meeting them was such a joy, it's rather disappointing that I couldn't join them when they asked me to be in their show because of my bloddy schedule, last week was krayzeeh! Wishing for another collaboration in the future tho :). Anyway I was not feeling very full because I only ate very little finger food served on the meeting so I was up for something... bigger. I had the good old Cappuccino with Common Grounds Eggs Benedict.

Cappuccino
IDR 33k
I just love how well-balanced every element in this glass of cappuccino was, the natural flavor was medium-strong, it had that natural sweetness, in a way not very milky, it was just how a proper Iced Cappuccino should be. FYI they have few brewing methods: V 60, Aeropress and Chemex and they just recently released the Cold Brew creation which by the way took one week to create, the kind barista gave a little for me to try, it was mild and subtle :).

Wondering why they made such great coffees? Not until the end of my visit when the owner reached a guy who were taking pictures of the interior, I am talking about myself here, he gave me his name card and I found "Pandava" written on it, FREAKING WORRY FREE! NOW I KNOW! Pandava is like one of the best coffee shops in town, their coffees are just how you spell be-au-ti-ful!

Eggs Benedict
IDR 65k
I must say that I was quite stunned with this Eggs Benedict, short to say, it was super good! The eggs were cooked perfectly, not greasy and just...yum! The Hollandaise sauce was also pretty good and not very milky. The french fries was fried nicely, not oily, crunchy while still leaving the center to be soft. Sauteed Mushroom? CHAMPS! The lettuce was also fresh with sour sauce dressing (not sure but actually tasted like Yuzu). It was a pretty big portion for one.

Eggporn!

Generally, in a nutshell, Common Grounds is a common coffee shop but with not-so-common quality. You might call it Pandava-in-disguise, but they serve freaking great food so suck on it! How do I know? well based on some reviews from my fellow food bloggers who worships their all-day breakfast creations. This freaking worth your visit and plus, I think the prices are still reasonable, especially if you witness the portion, the food here starts from IDR 35k-75k. If you care so much about WiFi, they have a pretty fast WiFi connection, another plus point eh?

Please stay good, the only option Common Grounds should take is to be better <3.

Common Grounds Coffee Roastery

City Walk Sudirman 1st fl.

Jl. K.H. Mansyur No. 121

Jakarta Pusat 10230

021 - 2555 8963

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How Do They Make Airplane Food? Emirates Flight Catering and Emirates A380 Business Class Review

Airplane food. How do they do it? If you've ever wondered how an airline gets a meal from the kitchen and into that airplane trolley, this post has all your answers.

Preparing airplane food is no easy feat. It's a tightrope operation involving meticulous logistics on a grand scale. There's no room for error either. Every flight needs its meals on-time and delivered onto the plane before it

Flour Flour Jakarta

Another bakery is opening in our beloved J-town...ladies and gents, please welcome Flour Flour by Kenji Kawasaki!

How can I not love this town, it's like everything you've wished for is here! I am just so freakin' fortunate to be born in Jakarta *wipe tears*. Okay it starts to get a little monumental.

Located in one of the most happening shopping malls at the moment, Lotte Shopping Avenue, this bakery is highly influenced by Japanese, even the pastry chef is Kenji Kawasaki, a very talented Japanese pastry chef. A little background of Kenji, he started his career is patisserie in 2002 and starting for then, he has been the executive pastry chef for some famous Japanese brands like Ristorante Angola, ISOO and Ristorante Armani, his career was even more evolved when he was introduced to Mr. Hide Yamamoto (who is like super famous!) and was pointed to be the executive pastry chef for his restaurant in Marina Bay Sands Singapore and some others in Japan. You must be wondering where do I know so much about him well actually it's on the official website! *major meltdown* but seriously his achievements really blew me away, wait until you try the desserts!

Flour Flour Jakarta was located exactly beside...actually more like a joint with Sesto Senso restaurant by Hide Yamamoto, normally it would be a take-away service, but if you want to dine-in then you'll be seated in the Sesto Senso, the restaurant itself was quite spacious. I heard the food is good here can't wait to try 'em.

Let's do the food yakking, sure you've been waiting for this part! I ordered three desserts during my visit, the one catching your attention must be the bear macaron, it's a Chocolate Bear Macaron (IDR 28k), and then another two came along in the order: Cheese Souffle (IDR 25k) and Honey Castilla Strawberry (IDR 15k).

Chocolate Bear Macaron
IDR 28k
For something cute like this, I am willing to pay! I thought I was enough carried away by how cute this macaron is but seriously one bite and I fell in love! It was not only good looking but it tasted as nice as how it appeared! The chocolate was very rich, the texture of the macaron was perfect and I love how it wasn't crazy sweet like some I've tried before. This was just very beary good!

Chesse Souffle
IDR 25k
Okay, first of all, I just knew that souffle actually is in this form of appearance, because normally souffle is being put in a ramekin, but this one is clearly a common slice of cake. Since this was cheese, I thought I wasn't going to try it because as you know, I really-really can't eat cheese (I know, mental much) but since Aline (and yes I went with her!) convinced me this wasn't cheesy at all, I guess I had just a tiny bit... and boy she was right! It wasn't overpowering cheesy and funny thing it actually tasted more savory rather than sweet. Texture wise, beautiful.

Honey Castilla Strawberry
IDR 15k
Castilla is one of Japanese famous cakes, technically it's actually a honey sponge cake. The texture of the cake was just beautiful! and the flavor... you guessed it: AWESOME! Yes, truly, it's really-really good, the pastry cream was executed nicely (and nice here refers to awesome consistency and not cheesy). The strawberry flavor was dominating the whole cake which surely a positive thing for me. Please give this one a try when you happen to visit Flour Flour.

Both the cakes and the service were really good! I had a quick snack grab here in Flour Flour and obviously...a great time :). Flour Flour is just recommended for you sweet tooth out there!

Apparently, Japanese cakes rock!!!

Flour Flour by Kenji Kawasaki
Lotte Shopping Avenue 1st fl.
Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio Kav. 3-5
Kuningan, South Jakarta
021 - 2988 9153
Opening Hours: 10 AM - 10 PM
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Eric Kayser Jakarta

Usually I am very tardy with my blog posts but this time sure won't! I have been waiting, waiting, waiting and eventually super excited with this particular bakery that I visited this just today and couldn't wait to spread the happy news for you all!

ERIC KAYSER ARTISAN BOULANGER IS NOW OPENING IN INDONESIA!

First store in Jakarta and it's located on the third level of Plaza Senayan! Now this is happy news.

I have been expecting this to open because those fun French patisseries brought to Jakarta are such feasts for the eyes and tummies! After Paul successfully captured a lot of hearts with their filthy delicious creations, now I believe Eric Kayser will also win a lot of hearts! Well I could tell from how crowded the place was during my visit today.

The venue was not huge because half of the area was already executed for pastries (cakes) display (FYI they look very appetizing), I am such a sucker for pastries I droll over that glass display! I came here during the night and sadly some of the cakes that I initially wanted and stalked were out of stock :(. By the way, this particular Eric Kayser outlet didn't only sell pastries, it's also a restaurant, therefore they're actually "Le Restaurant Du Boulanger" which means the restaurant and Boulangerie, as for the mains, they serve French courses with decent range but I didn't try it because if you follow my Instagram, I just finished my dinner at Marutama. Freaking full man!!! But there's always rooms for desserts!

Hail the holy breads!

I ended up ordering two treats for my almost-full-tummy, they were Pistachio Eclair (IDR 45k) and Pain Au Chocolat (IDR 22k). I was expecting the Pain Au Chocolat to be way crunchier and flakier for the coating, I don't know whether it has been sitting there for hours along with the external air pressure but if this could go crunchier, I die... despite the lack of crunchiness, I must say that the inner part of the Pain Au Chocolat was pretty moist and the chocolate was superb, it was rich, on the perfect consistency and sweetness. The filling was heavenly delicious.

On the other hand, the Pistachio Eclair was already such a foodporn for the eye and it went all the way... it was just perfect for me, the consistency of the eclair was nice, it was chewy and moist and the consistency was balanced really well, FYI, I am not a big fan of hard and dry eclair pastry (coating). The green layer you see on the top had this sticky texture and pistachio aroma to it while the bomb was none other the pistachio cream! It was gloriously delicious and addicting, the cream was light in texture, but the pistachio flavor was pretty rich. I honestly have no negative comment for this particular one.

A little teaser on Instagram apparently could make a beautiful 'riot', it's exciting to see how many people were excited to go here. Service wise, the staffs were really friendly and attentive in taking orders. I remember Paul was not the most pleasant when it comes to the service but they're now improving so that's good. I just have a little suggestion that the team would want to hear, I guess it will be better if they have this more closed display for their pastries because logically I honestly think that pastries do have the urge to be soggy, especially when they have direct contact with the air from outside, so I guess if they could have a cabinet to place their pastries to prevent direct contact, that would be lovely and I believe the pastries would be even more beautiful.

Will come back for more pastries and mains, got a positive feeling that THERE WILL BE UPDATES! Telling you it ain't over!

Eric Kayser Artisan Boulanger
Plaza Senayan 3rd fl.
Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8
Senayan, Jakarta Selatan 10270
Opening Hours: 09.30 AM - 10 PM
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Swine & Co, Sydney

It takes four hours to roast a suckling pig over charcoal at Swine & Co. They churn through three to four suckling pigs each day; on Fridays they'll roast up to six. Tonight's pig? It weighs 11 kilos but they can vary in range between seven and twelve kilograms.

"Does he have a name?" I ask the chef at Swine & Co. He laughs in reply. "No, we get too many to give them names!" It's hard not to

LUC Bar and Grill Jakarta

LUC is a new restaurant and bar opening in the famous neighborhood, Wolter Monginsidi, yes around Senopati area. Senopati and around has truly been the boulevard of sinful treats because there are so many restaurants opening in area serving you almost all kinds of food you name it! It's overwhelming reminding that in a month there is at least one new restaurant opening indicating so many rich people here in Jakarta!

Okay, back to the topic, LUC is a western themed restaurant serving mostly western food but I learned that the purpose of LUC being built was actually to introduce the public the art of Whiskey! So basically LUC supposed to be known as Whiskey bar but since the owner thought it would be way cooler to have food accompanying the Whiskey (yes the PR told me) so there you go. For the food, LUC is focusing on grilled food and bar food because they're considered to support the Whiskey (more on that so keep reading).

The place was not THAT spacious but it was really comfortable, I went here during the raining hours and the ambiance was just exciting! That "blue" mood was on while the lounge music was playing smoothly. As you can see from the pictures, the interior might not be decorated with the fanciest stuff there is, it's actually very simple and minimalist but there's something about it that made me love it! You could also choose your seating between the dining tables or bar area if you're up to casual drinks.

Anyway, speaking about drinks, I learned that Whiskey is best served as what it is, no mixture (cocktail mix), except having it "Single Malt", and that's why LUC only serves pure Whiskey and you won't find such thing as Whiskey cocktail here in LUC, you could still have their signature cocktails but without Whiskey, maybe Vodka or Gin. Another good thing to point out here about LUC Whiskey, you could have it per glass, so you don't need to buy the damn expensive bottles and have it by glass as how you prefer.

Superb Whiskey collection display for everyone's eyes. Not exactly everyone but those who dine here!

The meal kicked off with the Bar food. Frankly speaking, they DO NOT serve the food like this in general serving, it's just for me that they made it in platter presentation. As you can see, this portion consist of Quesadilla, Chops (beef), onion rings, Bruschetta, Fried spring rolls and Salmon Salmon on rocket bread. My favorite one must be their onion rings and the spring rolls, they were beautifully seasoned, lovely crunchiness and generous filling for the spring rolls. The Quesadilla was near to great but I guess they should put on braver seasoning because they were sort of plain, the Bruschetta was actually good, only I guess that the tomato dressing was a little wet for the bread.

Grilled Chicken Breast Mushroom
IDR 79k
This following was sort of a success, the chicken was cooked nicely, even though honestly I was expecting the meat to be juicier, but the seasoning was great. On the other hand, the sauteed mushrooms was the friggin BOMB! The seasoning might be a little salty but I found that over-saltiness to be the main quality, guessing it came from the butter as well, you simply CAN'T have too much butter <3.

Fettuccine Aragosta with Lobster
IDR 279k
When it was served right on to the table, I simply couldn't wait to 'abuse' this, as it looked VERY TEMPTING. I knew exactly that the fettuccine was home made and I was right, there's something different with pastas you bought from the supermarkets and those you made yourself and I truly appreciate the effort. The lobster meats given to this portion was generous, the pasta was 'al-dente' and on the proper consistency but I found that the overall seasoning was not very strong and more like plain, they should increase that tomato kick or made this spicier and probably creamier as how I imagined.

Sergio's Gin
IDR 120k
The Sergio's Gin is one of LUC's signatures and surprisingly, I found this drink to be light and I could still take it, maybe it's because of the 'rocks' (for the record, I am not an avid drinker), so I guess it's certainly not bad for a first-timer and like what people said, this might be 'ladies' drink'.

Frozen Blue Margarita
IDR 120k
Another LUC's signatures, what's unique about the frozen margarita series in LUC is that there will be jelly on the bottom and it's set to be the exact flavor of the frozen margarita you ordered. This one was another light one, the alcohol was not very strong, and surprisingly, for someone like me, I was expecting it to be bolder, sweeter and tastier. It had that little lychee flavor to it even though not very significant.

In case you're wondering, the jelly's flavor was lychee.

By the way, they're having the HAPPY HOUR promotion from Monday to Friday, 4 - 8 PM BUY 2 GET 1 FREE WHISKEY, and every Wednesday from 6 PM-drop, BUY 1 GET 1 FREE!

The food may not be out of the world good, but when you go here, you are not only paying for the food, but the ambiance as well, well the ambiance was pretty nice and proper enough as your weekend destination with your buddies or simply having lunch time here :). Pricing wise, pretty much affordable, well don't look at that lobster course tag, it's friggin lobster for its own sake, other than that, quick browsing on the menu, the pricing was still okay.

LUC Bar and Grill
Jl. Wolter Monginsidi No. 33
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan
021 - 720 6366/6370
Opening Hours:
Mon - Thu, Sun: 10.30 AM - 12 AM
Fri - Sat: 10.30 AM - 1 AM
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