NOURISH ME PROMOTION AT PURNAWARMAN RESTAURANT, HILTON BANDUNG

If you guys follow me on Instagram, you must notice that I just came back from my Bandung trip, it’s actually a media trip held by Hilton Bandung, and I went with some bloggers and media that I actually am friends with! Sometimes when it’s a short trip, it’s just nice to travel with the people you know, so you don’t waste your time getting to know people that might not leave the best impressions. In the mood to write so I guess I’ll write a little part of my experience and save the rest for the upcoming posts.

This trip is sponsored by the gorgeous Hilton Bandung, but this is not an ad and I didn’t receive any monetary compensation in return.

Hilton remains one of my most favorite hotels in Bandung and I think if we're not staying in rented villas, it’s more like “always” when I have my family trip to Bandung, it’s just because the rooms are HUGE comparing to the hotels I’ve been before, so space wise, one twin room can actually fit 4-5 people. Click HERE to read my previous Hilton trip.

This time I am going to be talking about my experience dining in Purnawarman and by the time I went there, they were having this dining program called “Nourish Me” where there will be different theme for each week, and one of it was the Indian cuisine promotion that I experienced for dinner. The previous week was Korean and currently running: Chinese until March 29th.

A little about Purnawarman: it’s Hilton Bandung’s largest restaurant accomodating (mainly) buffet (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and a la carte for the guests. For someone like me - who’s been there for let’s say 5 times – the food is generally consistent with pretty good range & variety! Having breakfast here surely doesn’t waste my calorie! OMG I will be freaking outraged if I wasted my calorie on bad food! If let’s say you have the limit of 2700 calories in a day, I am surely going to blood vomit all the bad food to retrieve my limit back! HA!

TOUR TOUR

I actually sampled the Indian cuisine (Chennai to be exact) on last year’s “HighFive Asian Culinary Summit” media trip, and that wasn’t disappointing either. Chef Daniel from Hilton Seoul actually came back (but I didn’t meet him, just saw him on the poster), alongside him, Chef Ashok Eapen from India and Chef David Du from China with their own magnificent cooking charm!

The Indian cuisine was placed on a single station and the obviously still serve the International. The chef, Ashok Eapen came from the South India so the menu was dominated with south Indian cuisine, while last year, I sampled the cuisine from the Northern part of India. The food was as delicate looking and this time came in larger range and selections, enough yakking let the photo tour ya.

Noodle station

Pasta station

Japanese station

Dessert station! *heavenly voice background*

ICE CREAM STATION brings tears

Just wet my bed!

INDIAN AISLE
You’re going to find some of Indian’s well known dishes like Semiya Pasam (vermicelli dish with milk), Kal Dosai (spongy dosa), Tomato Brasmati Rice, Pacha Sambhar (green lentil stew), Coorgi Chicken Curry, Vegetable Theeyal, Kerala Fish Mango Curry and some desserts like Coconut Semolina Balls, Stuffed Banana Fritters and many more! GEEZ I AM HUNGRY.

When I had the Indian dishes, unexpectedly, the flavor was actually very Indonesian and less contrast and intense comparing to common Indian dishes I've had before in Jakarta and the curry actually tasted "rendang" like, but it's actually my lack of knowledge after Chef Ashen told me that south Indian dishes actually has slightly different touch when it comes to the serving, food menus and intensity of the flavor and in a nutshell, almost Indonesian like! Actually it doesn't matter because it's just EQUALLY GOOD. Pairing the curry with the tomato Indian rice and papadum was just PERFECT! I just wished that they actually served the plain Brasmati rice instead of ordering the A La Carte.

Anyway, dining in Purnawarman is relatively affordable, you only need to spend IDR 230k++ for all that above <3.

Thank you Hilton Bandung for inviting me back! It was a pleasant weekend trip. XO!

For last year's trip -> HERE

Hilton Hotel Bandung

*****

Jl. HOS Cokroaminoto No. 41-43

Bandung, West Java 40171, Indonesia

022 - 8606 6888

Check in: 2 PM, Check out: 12 PM

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Map for Hilton Bandung

The Palace Tea Room, QVB, Sydney

It's an age old question: which goes first on the scone? The jam or the cream? Sure you need good lashings of both - but the order in which you dress a scone inevitably crops up at every afternoon tea. All it takes is a raised eyebrow and a pointed look to spark a heated discussion that rarely leads to people switching sides.


Gallery seating 

The popularity of afternoon teas (often

BEBEK MALIO TEBET - JAKARTA

It’s like forever since the last time I write an article about Indonesian restaurant and here I am doing one. As an avid fan of duck, it’s actually not very hard to find decent ducks in Jakarta as I rarely find bad ones here and one of them is this AMAZING duck restaurant that I went to few weeks back called Bebek Malio Tebet.

Bebek Malio is located in Tebet Timur Raya, it might not be located on the main Tebet road (Tebet Raya), but it’s actually not very far from Bloop and Endorse  (if you know them), so it’s still pretty accessible, well hello you have your Waze on the mobile phone so rest assure, plus there will be this huge “BEBEK MALIO” signboard indicating you’re on the right venue! The restaurant had this semi-open concept with lovely local and traditional look, wood material and bricks dominating the architecture, interior & furniture. Smoking area’s available on the outdoor area.

 I found the numbering VERY CUTE!

Guessed it! The menu here was dominated by duck creations and followed by chicken. I found their creations somehow different comparing to the more mainstream ones as they have “Bebek Remuk” and their signature “Special Green Curry Sauce”, and the dining sure gets even better with various side dishes that you can choose like “Crispy Mushroom", "Stir-fried Water Spinach", "Stir-fried Bean Sprouts", "Sayur Asam" and some more! The price range for the food here starts from IDR 5k-IDR 26,5k and the drinks starts from IDR 4k-IDR 20k.

Es Jeruk Kelapa Muda

IDR 12k

Refreshing beverage, perfect for the day especially when Jakarta's hot as hell! I love that it's cheap but the flavor wasn't!

Jamur Crispy

IDR 16k

Their jamur crispy (cripsy mushroom) came in BIG portion, I love the juiciness of the mushroom but I think they should work on the crispiness because it’s not quite there yet, however the light seasoning enchance the yum!

Sayur Asam

IDR 10k

Nicely executed Sayur Asam! Nicely seasoned with perfectly balanced spicy, sweet and sour.

Left: Kangkung, Right: Tumis Tauge (both IDR 12k)

Both of this was cooked and seasoned beautifully, and me also loving that smoky wok-hei aroma which simply makes everything better!

Bebek Goreng with Sambal Pencit (Mango Chili)

IDR 26,5k

The portion came with selections of white or red rice, one AMAZING duck topped with serundeng, lalapan (fresh raw veges), green curry sauce (normally sat on top of the rice but you can separate it) and served with homemade chili and sambal Pencit (mango chili). When I say amazing, I mean perfectly fried and seasoned duck with beautiful tender meat, STINK FREE (super essential when it comes to ducks) and very flavorful, the chili however was very spicy but very tasty and good, I don’t have any problem with spicy food (except sweating like mad). I think they marinated the duck on good hours in result to that. My standard was totally exceeded.

PS: there are two pictures here, the other one without the rice and the sauce.

Fried duck with crispy crumbs, lalapan, homemade chili and sambal pencit (mango chili)

Fried Chicken with Red Rice, Green Curry Sauce, Lalapan and Serundeng (IDR 24,5k)

Same with the bebek goreng (fried duck) only this is the chicken version. The chicken was also cooked and seasoned just as nice, but since I am a duck person I am rooting for that more, that was just special!

Don’t mistaken the Green Curry Sauce with the “Green Chili” even though they looked like one. HONESTLY THAT GREEN CURRY SAUCE’S AMAZING!!! It gave that touch of uniqueness and extra dayumness factor to the dish. My personal best tip would be mixing the rice with the green curry and crumbs, serundeng and have it altogether with the perfectly cooked duck! The green curry enchanced the excitement, the flavor and complement very well with everything on the plate. You can even ask more of their sauce, crumbs and serundeng!!! IDR 5k will be charged to you when you refill the chili.

Bebek Goreng Remuk

IDR 26,5k

I would recommend this if you prefer the crunchier type of duck, well actually it’s not the matter of preferring, it’s the matter of experiencing. The duck was smashed and then deep fried until it’s dry and uber crunchy! They paired with with their spicy homemade chili sauce and if you enjoy one, this was a great duet to my palate!

OMG I had just an amazing lunch: food's great, pricing's still affordable! I’ve been raving like crazy on this post because yup it’s that good. When it comes to raving and declaring your love for food, you don’t need to act classy! The crazier you are the more convincing your reviews are and ME NO SHADE, please come and experience yourself! I really think no one should underrate this, a little more word of mouth publication, they'll do even better!

PS: writing this post is the pain in every organ, I am dying to have one right this second!!!

Thanks for reading, great day peeps!

Bebek Malio
Jalan Tebet Timur Dalam No. 117
Tebet, Jakarta Selatan 12820
021 - 9217 0170/021 - 8378 9212
Opening Hours: 10 AM - 10 PM
Pricing: $, IDR 100k for two
Desscode: casual
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email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

Map for Bebek Malio

FEATURED POST: CELEBRATING TIM HO WAN JAKARTA // Tim Ho Wan Singapore at Plaza Singapura

POSTED ON MAY 5TH 2014

If there's an award for the tardiest food blogger then I'm going to win it! I visited Singapore back in January but I haven't blogged even half of my trip there T__T, the thing is, I travel each and every month and the events in Jakarta are literally each and every week plus advertorial posts in order to keep this blog alive, plus lack of diligence plus whatever...

Back on my visit to Singapore, I went to this over-buzzed famous restaurant which eventually seemed like a must-visit for anybody visiting Singapore. Known as the world's cheapest one Michelin star (by the Michelin Guide), this Hong Kong's franchise restaurant known as "Tim Ho Wan" was probably not your typical Chinese restaurant...or it is? Keep reading.

I heard that people would wait hours (some even waited for three freaking hours) but lucky for me since I am smart, I came just before lunch time and waited for only around 20 minutes, still, probably the longest I've waited for a table (I've always been lucky when it comes to tables and I hope I won't run out of luck please :")), I didn't take much interior shot because the place was so crowded, but what I could tell you that it was not exactly spacious (just medium).

Let's move on straight to the food! I definitely ordered some of their famous 'stars' and I intentionally put the creme de la creme of my lunch that day on the top of this post! It's the Baked Buns with BBQ Pork (S$4.5/3 pcs), the question is, is that really THAT good? And Holy Gosh Mother of Kitchen it was freaking good. It might not look super convincing from outside but it was actually really good, I love that the bun had this crunchy crispy consistency on the surface but slowly made its way to chewy. The BBQ Pork had this perfect balance of sweet and savory, pretty much like the one you had in mind right now but you can't seem to remember where it actually came from, total must try! Best served warm so don't take too long to take pics!

To be the most frank, the others were just okay, certainly not bad but I must say nothing really special. I must say the filling of the Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumpling or Siew May (S$5.5) was pretty generous and thick, the Prawn Dumpling or Hakao (S$5.5) had this silky fresh prawn filling and the Steamed Egg Cake (S$3.5) was another favorite of mine, it was soft and fluffy, almost like there's actually palm sugar in it.

Pan Fried Carrot Cake
S$4.5

Vermicelli Roll with Pig's Liver
S$3.5

Steamed Egg Cake
S$3.5

Overall I had a quite pleasant experience dining at Tim Ho Wan, but again, I must say that based on my personal experience I must say that the whole buzzing thing claiming it's the best Dim Sum restaurant might get a little overrated for me, but again and again and again, it's all about personal preference and the food here was not bad at all, and I'll come back to Tim Ho Wan whenever I am in Singapore just because it's Dim Sum (such a Dim Sum craze here) and their bloddy delicious Baked BBQ Pork Buns, but looking forward to try another Dim Sum places! If you have any recommendations, please drop your comments below :). Thanks!

As in for pricing, I must say it's still pretty affordable even though might be just a tad more expensive, but afterall, it's TIM HO WAN featuring its reputation and its good luck (did I mention "Tim Ho Wan" actually means "Add Good Luck", which you could clearly see from the queue! Money magnet LOL).

KINDLY WAITING FOR THE OPENING OF "TIM HO WAN JAKARTA" <3.

Tim Ho Wan
Plaza Singapura Level 01-29
68 Orchard Road
+65 6251 2000
Opening Hours: 10 AM - 10 PM
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Map for Plaza Singapura.

SPUMANTE JAKARTA

Went to Spumante earlier today after noticing it from Ivy’s blog. Spumante is this newly opened restaurant located in Menteng and exactly beside Anomali coffee shop and not too far from Bunga Rampai.

I was quite impressed already by how they designed exterior, but not so much on the signage, I found that a little too small comparing to the ratio of the building, and God I hope that’s not the final execution. You’ll be greeted by monochrome color (from the window and wall) and the green colored door, but as once I stepped inside, I was even more impressed.

Outdoor seating

I was feeling the design, and I found that unique that they have two totally different area. The area in front felt a little more artsy, rustic with a touch of vintage and pretty, while the area at the back felt a little more industrial, minimalist and somehow kind of hipster and felt more like a coffee shop and western inspired brunch places with a lot of white. If you came (let’s say) around the moment, you’re going to notice the unfinished area separated, according to the waiter it’s going to be a playground and furniture showroom as the owner owns a furniture manufacturing business.

They're using Tanamera beans here!

The name itself actually means “Italian sparkling wine” and when I actually read the menu, the range was dominated by western cuisine, but not exactly Italian as they still have burgers and stuff, but I notice they emphasized more on the all day breakfast menu.

I was quite starving for not having any meals (I don’t do breakfast and sometimes lunch can be quite late), so I ordered each one of their appetizer, main and dessert, so basically whenever there’s a new place, I tend to go with the flow and the recommendations, so the waiter kindly recommended me to go with the Crackling Chicken (IDR 45k), Lasagna (IDR 70k) and Chocolate Lava Cake (IDR 55k). I ordered cappuccino (IDR 38k) for the drink and as I’ve mentioned above, the beans came from Tanamera, it was good coffee, but slightly different when you actually purchased it directly from Tanamera as I guess it’s brewed by different hands, but nowhere near bad.

Speaking about the waiter, I honestly like chatty waiter and I think that’s a casual kind gesture. I don’t like anything too formal and I was quite moved with the hospitality J 

The Crackling Chicken was unexpectedly very good, crispy coating with tender meat, just DAYUM, the fries however was just ok, but I still love it when I have ‘em with the chili sauce tho. Okay, I mentioned “unexpectedly” because I came with no expectation, if you read my previous posts, I told ya how disappointed I’ve been with new eateries lately and that’s why I don’t want to expect anything from new places.

The lasagna was perfectly cooked with generous amount of meat and cheese (it’s an exception) and the portion was quite safe. I didn’t have any complain to this one, but... I do have a little complain for the dessert, first of all, Chocolate Lava Cake was always the safe option because I hardly ever find a failing CLC in every restaurant and most of the times, it’s the “save me from my bad dinner” menu. It came with beautiful presentation and aroma, but as I digged in, I was slightly disappointed that it was more like a chocolate lava soup instead of the more solid one (cake), BUT I must say that flavor wise, the CLC was very good with perfectly balanced sweetness and rich chocolate flavor (tasted premium for me), it’s just that I think they should keep it in the oven and cool it down longer.

Frankly speaking, the food here surpassed my standard...and expectation (that I didn’t set before, but if I did this must be above it), they were good and honestly I’m looking forward to come back and browse more of their menu.

They currently only opens until 5 PM, but the owner – who was there when I visited – told me they have plan to actually lengthen the closing hour to 7 or 8 few months from now -, and don’t forget that THEY ONLY ACCEPT CASH AT THE MOMENT!

Last but not least, GOOD LUCK in the jungle and...

Spumante Jakarta
Jalan Teuku Cik Ditiro No. 50 (next to Anomali Coffee)
Menteng, Jakarta Pusat 10310
021 - 310 6188
Opening Hours: 8 AM - 5 PM
Pricing: $$, IDR 250k for two
Dresscode: casual
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email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

Map for Jl. Teuku Cik Ditiro, Jakarta Pusat

Golden Palace Seafood Restaurant, Cabramatta

Mud crab for $10.80 per half kilo? We couldn't get to Golden Palace fast enough. The market price for seafood changes regularly here, but as we parked in the sprawling council carpark in the middle of Cabramatta, the scrolling LED sign outside the restaurant confirmed tonight's price. We would be in for a bountiful night of seafood.


Golden Palace dining room

Golden Palace sits above an