A reprimand

I was born as a Christian. It was one of the biggest gift, because I feel like I was living in it without any compulsion. I used to hate it when I had to share my Sunday morning between movies and church, although the church has always been the winner. Then it became a habit, and at one point I felt like it was a must. Now, my very own awareness asked me to it. Sunday is not complete without those church services. Cliche? 

On my journey in my Christianity life, there were ups and downs. There were days, when I felt like He is always listening, providing, and answering. But sometimes, things did not go the way you wanted to be. It was not easy to keep in faith when the world turned you down. In those days, I blamed God, and those were not my best days. Sometimes I walked away too far, and as a caring Father, a reprimand was given.

It was 2 days ago, I was sleeping, woke up and saw the clock showed 5 am. Too early to start the day, I was intended to go back to sleep. I think I was half asleep when I heard a noisy voice. Scary voice of cracking road, when the earth started to fall apart. The world was ending, and the rapture began.

It was scary to watch those people around me were lifted to the sky. Well, not everyone. Some of us were upraised. I was afraid that I won't be one of those chosen people. Those people who did goodness in their life, the good people. And then, I was lifted. Well, half lifted.

The scene was changed, I was floating, surrounded by clouds and blue sky. I heard a voice, and I knew it was Him. It was soft and firm, and a question stabbed me,

"what have you been doing recently?"

A simple yet sharp, the reprimand was making me cry. Yes, I don't know what I have been doing. I skipped youth services, I cut my night prayer, I.., just started to stop in Him.

But He noticed my absence, reckoned to take care about it, and kept me close to Him.

I was proud, I am proud, and will always be proud, having a God who takes care His every single child, gives reprimand, and accepts us when we're about to come back.

He cares.

Commune 25 : the comfort inside.

Comfy sofas, paintings on the wall, cozy ambiance.

Those words were describing this restaurants. Located at the busy Senopati street, Commune  shared the first floor of the building with furniture showroom.

It was a Tuesday afternoon, traffic was fine, we got there on time, and they were still empty when we came in. I was hoping for an enjoyable lunch.

Combination of the furniture and paintings. a really creative one.

Carbonara was a basic kind of pasta every restaurant should have, and they said it was one of their favorite one. I chewed my first bite, and it was not something that I expected. I was looking forward to a plate of al dente spaghetti, turned out it was hard to chew.

Beautiful presentation of Dory Loronge. It was crunchy dory fillet with sweet and sour sauce, served with fresh salad. The dory was fine, but a thicker fillet would be better.

The winner of the day : Meatball sub. A submarine sandwich topped with meatballs, special sauce, and mozarella cheese. The sauce was tasted like bolognaise sauce, and the meatballs was yummy and tender. It was a big one though. Sharing this one was recommended because the sauce was quite heavy.

Anza pizza. Another recommendation from the menu. 12 slices of the pizza was worth the price. But I preferred quality rather than quantity. It was a bit bland, a bit disappointing.

Offering the good ambiance was not enough to make you come back. The place was really nice, and slight gossips would be perfect for the comfort in it. But those things coincided with great foods would be much much better.

Commune Cafe and Bistro

jl. Suryo no 25, Senopati

Jakarta Selatan

02172789913

Good for Eats (G48) : the brunch you've been looking for

Brunch : a late morning meal eaten instead of breakfast and lunch.

Exploring Jakarta for the satisfaction of brunch is not easy. Many of them are trying to offer the luxury of it, but lacking of quality of taste. Some are overpriced. Even sometimes they just mixed it randomly without knowing the original one.

The cook shop held this pop up brunch called Good for Eats (G48) at weekend on the first and the third week. Reservation is needed, especially in Sunday, which is happen to be a crowded one. Managed by 2 passionate young chefs, they try to indulge your tongue with their creation. 

Choices of menu from western (65k) to asian invasion (60k).

Turkish delight. 2 poached eggs, lamb marquez, crumbled feta, spicy tomatoes, fried garbanzos, cucumber salad, yogurt, and served with toast bread. Yes, it's all in one plate. Each of it contributes its own taste into a plate of decent meal.

Ribs umami. Pieces of short ribs, fried eggplant, shitake mushroom, and poached egg on the top of warm rice served with their special sauce. The ribs was tender, the sauce was a combination of sweet and savory. I couldn't say no.

Classic benediction. A plate of beautifully cook poached egg, smoked salmon, corn fritters, guacamole, with hollandaise sauce and salad. The bread itself is quite salty. The corn fritters was salty and crunchy. tasted like a well seasoned one.

Pork belly umami. A bowl of warm rice with egg, pork belly, apple cabbage slaw, onion ring, and creamy corns served with special sauce. I personally liked the ribs one better than this one. The sauce was a bit salty compared with the ribs one. The pork belly was tender, but I was hoping for a mixture of tender pork and crunchy skin.

Twinings camomile tea. Anyway, the mineral water was for free and refillable.

 Comfortable food and good place. G48 satisfied the needs of my brunch today. Definitely will come back to try their other creation. I am recommending it to you!

Good for Eats (G48)

The Cook Shop JAPFA

jl. Hang Lekir 1 no 15

Jakarta Selatan

021 7396530

Beatrice Quarters : the lovely Beatrice

"A house in not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body." 

No, it doesn't have a fireplace, and it was not big, but the little home ambiance was quite comforting.

I've spent many afternoons in the sunny PIK. Afternoon lectures, meetings, and study group schedules forced me to try those food places. Among those restaurants Beatrice Quarters is one of my relishes. They offer affordable meal with wide varieties.

BQ was divided into indoor and outdoor area. The outdoor area is a bit hot so I sat inside.

The menu.

I ordered strawberry hot tea in pot. The pot reminds me of Mrs. Teapot and her sons. It's a chic pot paired with lovely cups. They also served the complimentary cookies and cheese stick. I think the cookies were homemade, it was an enjoyable one, anyway.

Hey there, Mr. bear!

Orange paired with passionfruit? It was perfect for escort me through the hot day. It was beautify with those yummy jelly and fresh fruits.

Chicken garlic spaghetti, with extra chilly was an opening of my dish. It was a bit bland at first, and turned into a tolerable one after a pinch of salt and pepper.

\

My favorite one! Laura toast varied in 5 toppings : mushroom, chicken, beef, meat lover, and salmon. Mine was mushroom. Apparently it was a bread toasted with tomatoes, seaweed, our choice of topping, and covered with cheese. The mushroom was a bit sweet. and it was a cheesy one!

Basically it was a plate of carbonara fettuccine with big strips of chicken katsu on it. They offered chicken and beef for the topping. Quite good.

 I've never had this kind of pizza before. So I think the pizza is their specialty. It was made of rice and the had choices for Japanese sauce or Italian sauce for the pizza. The small one was my choice  with salmon and Italian sauce on it. I love the stickiness of the rice but I could barely taste the Italian sauce.

It's Beatrice! :D

It was quite a good lunch though. They offered the affordable price, but the food was not the highlight. Well the toast might be, since I love toast bread, especially with lotsa cheese on it! 

Beatrice Quarters

Jl. Marina Rukan Crown Golf Pantai Indah Kapuk No. 26 PIK

081310118988, (021) 91270937

Carnivor PIK : let's have a (meat) feast!

Carnivore : a flesh-eating mammal of the order carnivora.

Nope, I'm not a meat lover. I prefer those delicate seafood better than the texture of the beef. Sometimes I even classify myself as a vegetarian. But when a meat specialist joined the boisterousness of food business at PIK, I was interested to give it a try.

It was Sunday afternoon, sunny day which is perfect for a family lunch. Crowded as usual, I was lucky enough to get a table for five.

The restaurant was quite spacious, divided into smoking and non-smoking area. I was eager to sit near the window, too bad it was for the smoking area.

Decorated with tons of frames, it was like entering a warm house with bricks on the wall. A nice ambiance indeed. 

I read up the menu and found the price was affordable with these kinds of food. They offered the pizza for 55k-ish, which is quite big. They claimed that their specialty was the ribs. I ordered their recommendation in full slab. 

BBQ sauce with the baby back ribs, could you even say no? It was tender, with a pinch of sweetness in the sauce. It was above my expectation, to be honest. I was not expecting the ribs would be this good!

I was not in the mood for pasta, but the bacon cream pasta was quite good. It was creamy, a plate of well cooked pasta.

I was looking forward to a warm bread with strong garlic aroma in it. Apparently this one did not fulfill my expectation. It was a bit bland.

I have been in a crush with Tony Roma's onion ring, and I was anxious to give it a try. It was crunchy, well seasoned, accompanied by the dipping sauce.

I was startled by the size of the portion. They served the warm apple crumble in a pan, which is quite big. It was warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it. Quite tasty, but it was not in my favorite list of apple crumble though.

The highlight of the day was the molten chocolate cake! I'm not a big fan of chocolate but I gave it a chance to please me. It was a fine and cushy closure for my lunch.

Happy birthday to me! ;)

I had a fine lunch in a cozy restaurant with affordable price. What a Sunday!

Carnivor

The Barbeque Specialist

Rukan Crown Golf Blok D, Bukit Golf Mediternia (Pantai Indah Kapuk)

Jakarta Utara, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia

Hong Tang PIK : the sweetness you can trust.

PIK was renowned as the line of food festival which offers many kinds of food. One thing needed to fit out the parade : an enjoyable dessert. Fortunately, Hong Tang dishes up the freshness in the bowl.

Small shop with big dessert!

I've been in love with this kind of dessert since the first time I tried Meet Fresh in Sydney. It was a joyful news to hear that Hong Tang presents same kind of dessert. Could it be the next 'it' dessert in Jakarta? Well, let's see.

Hong Tang was formerly known as Sweet Poetry, located in Muara Karang. They changed the name and joined the hustle of the business in PIK.
In Chinese, Hong Tang means red sugar. Hong Tang offers bowls of oriental dessert to satisfy your tongue. I love pearl, grass jelly, red bean, and taro ball. Having all of it in my own bowl? I simply can not resist.

Tried their Mixed Pudding with pearl and red bean on it. They serves 3 kinds of pudding in it, mango, tiramisu, and chocolate. It was delicate, an ease to my mouth. The pearl was so so, I have ever tasted a better one before. The highlight in my bowl was the soup, it was sweet scented and sugary.

Another one was Grass Jelly Dessert no 28. It contains taro ball, pearl, grass jelly, and matcha ice cream. The taro ball was chewy, a good one indeed.

I'm a picky one for dessert. My tongue is uneasy to please. But I had a pleasant one today.

Hong Tang

Ruko Garden House Blok B No 18 D

Jl. Raya Pantai Indah Kapuk

Pantai Indah Kapuk

T.: (021) 98989585

La Creperie : Britanny afternoon

The long weekend consoled me with its vacancy and those old friends offered to catch up. Got myself in to the rendezvous, we arranged for an afternoon chit chat at PIK. With so many restaurants and cafes around, I  chose Le Creperie, a Brittany crepes which was newly opened few weeks ago.

Crepe is a very thin pancake made of wheat flour. It was originally came from Brittany, a region in France and apparently became a national dish in France. Crepe are usually in two types : the sweet one and the savory galettes.

It was a well decorated cafes, with boxes and anchor for the sailor theme. I feel like having an afternoon in a yacht, with a view of clear sea in its surrounding.

I personally liked the presentation of the menu.

We got ourselves a few choice of sweet crepes and galettes.

Cannes. A combination of vanilla ice cream, chocolate, and ice cream on top. It was an ordinary kind of dessert, the one you could find in a random cafe. 

Another sweet crepes with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, pear, a pinch of the whipped cream to beautify it.

 A pretty presentation of my friend's galette.

 And mine was sweet crepe with stewed apple and caramel on the top of it. No, it was not one of my favorite caramelized dessert. It was a weird combination of sweet and bitter, a failure to my tongue.

 A spacious area, a well decorated room, it was a beautiful spot to visit, but the crepe itself didn't leave any good records to me. I want something more, not just a selection of sweet sauces and canned fruits on it.

La Crêperie

Ruko Crown Golf

Pantai Indah Kapuk

0896-934-5555-4