Brunch and cup of coffee

Hello.

Let's play a guessing game about the latest addition on my favorite list.

The scent of coffee, comfortable corner, and pretty pastries.

Those things are a perfect definition for the place.

And here's another hint, they are serving an all-day-brunch!

(guess it before you reach the last paragraph! ;)

Selections of the tempting pastry. The cream cheese and peach danish are very beautiful, aren't they? The cinnamon roll and their glazed donut are simply tempting as well!

Cappuccino (27k)

A cup of perfect companion on the house. The coffee scented was really fragrant and the flavor was just right. My cappuccino was such an ease!

They had those selections of coffee. And really proud of their great quality of coffee. Located on the busy part of Plaza Senayan, their coffee is a perfect companion on the rush hour.

Sea bass provencal (83k)

A plate of generous chunk of sea bass, served with greens. The texture was nice, but the seasoning was a bit light. A pinch of salt and pepper was really helpful. The oily yellow sauce on the bottom on the plate was nice, gave a bold taste to the fish.

French toast with fruits and maple syrup (43k)

My favorite kind of brunch and I am still looking for the best french toast in town. I found their french toast was really fluffy, and surprisingly they did use baguette instead of ordinary bread. The consistency was kinda eggy-y inside, I guess it was because they did not fry the bread, they baked it. Their french toast did not have the crunchy part, but theirs was quite a pleasant one!

Yap.

Monolog Coffee was such a delight for me. The ambiance was great, the food was nice, the service was flawless., and the coffee was just perfect. I would back for sure for another great experience. (back for the pastry, too!)

Monolog Quality Coffee

Plaza Senayan

Palm Gate Entrance blok CP101 B

10270

021 5725144

Populi : Humble yet comfortable

Let me take you away for a while from the crowds in Jakarta.

Heading to the west, we're going through the busy traffic at the suburb.

Jakarta suburb is developing, really, in many things.

One of those things, is the food.

Introducing Populi, a newly born restaurant in Karawaci area. I was a complete stranger on the area, so it was a bit hard to find this one at first.

My first impression, they were trying to offer the comfy ambiance, and it worked. Wooden floor and the white brick on the wall were dominating the room. Comforting with the humble atmosphere. Unfortunately, I found those mosquitos were quite disturbing.

Fettuccine Carbonara (35k).

A plate of well-cooked spaghetti. Creamy and tasty. I liked everything served on the plate, the mixture of those things were enjoyable. I could feel the honesty from the meal.

Fish and Chips (35k) served with mashed potato and coleslaw.

I asked for mashed potato instead of the chips. Turned out I made a right decision, the mashed potato was really good. The cheese was quite dominating, and the fragrant was tempting. The fish was just okay, quite generous, too. Nothing special with the coleslow.

Lime juice

Choco Lava (25k) served with vanilla icecream and choco stick.

Tasted okay. At first I found that it was not melting inside, turned out the dig was not deep enough. 

I was enjoying every bite of the food. Populi is surely one comfort restaurant with enjoyable food and affordable price. 

Mama Goose : casual and pretty

The sun is striking, I could feel the hot air around.

I stepped in, and thanked God, it felt like stepping into a whole different world.

Beautifully design, Mama Goose was offering a casual restaurant with cozy ambiance.

Something that everyone would easily fell for.

Thought it would be an Italian lunch, turned out there was a Pop-up Brunch on the day I came. The menu greeted warmly, consisted of some brunch menus and few lunch menus.

Iced tea (15k).

Surprised with the sweet basil and lychee inside, they claimed it was their kind of iced tea. Sweet and refreshing!

Croque Mama G (65k).

Not the usual croque madam I used to enjoy, this one had those slices of ox tongue inside and fried egg on top. The salad was surely contributed the balance on the plate (the ox tongue was quite generous!) The bread itself was enjoyable, but I found the ox tongue was a bit chewy. The seasoning was good, though, I could feel the pesto was quite dominating.

Gyu Tan Don (65k).

A bowl of tempting-fragrant-meal.

The rice was generous in the bottom, the ox tongue was plenty on top, and the poached egg was peeking on the corner. Oh, and the special sauce, was really great and it was surely one thing that made this one a special meal. Again, the ox tongue was quite chewy. But the mixture of runny egg, the sauce, and the rice was something yummy!

Mama Goose Breakfast Platter (75k)

Full set breakfast meal with baked beans, hash brown, toasted bread, sausage, grilled tomato, and choices of egg. Simple on the eye, but it was surely a fulfilling breakfast. Everything was tasted okay. My favorite was the gooey baked beans and crunchy hash brown.

The brunch was held once in two weeks, and overall it was quite good. The restaurant itself was packed and  reservation was needed. Well, those people must be loving this pretty place. Looking forward to try their original menu, next time!

Mama Goose

Panglima Polim IX no 16

Jakarta Selatan

12160

021 7229292

Milky Way Pudding : Sweet things come easy

One of the most promising industry these days is dessert.

The sweetness, the enjoyment in every bite, the guilty pleasure after-taste are simply things people could not say no to. You could have it complicated or choose a simple one. And yeay to the easiness in life, you could have this one in a click away!

Introducing Milkyway, milky pudding in a cute little bottle. The prettiness itself was such a solace on the eye. Took a part in Jakarta Culinary Festival last week, their booth in pink was surely as sweet as the dessert they sold! The packaging of the pudding was reminding me of those milk bottle in my childhood cartoon series!

Pretty puddings of theirs. Milky caramel, milky chocolate caramel, caramel machiato, green tea, and milky strawberry. Too bad the green tea one was out of stock, I was dying to try it! Ended up with milky caramel, milky chocolate caramel, and milky strawberry. You could have it for 19k each.

One word : It was very milky! It was a bit too sweet at first, the caramel on the bottom was kind of overwhelming. Mixed it together and it would be much better. The chocolate caramel was such a lovable one, too! It had that chocolate sensation which was an excellence indeed. I prefer the milky strawberry one since it had its sour flavor, something to balance the sweetness from the milk.

And yes, they are just a click a way.  Sweet things do come easy for sure!

Milky Way Pudding

08999214497

Karokun Yakitori

Japanese food culture is such a hype in Jakarta.

You could easily find those restaurants in public places.

Nowadays this kind of industry is making such an easiness for the customer, a home-delivery service.

Karokun Yakitori is a new venture with a big taste, 2 months serving and still counting. Yeay to us,Karokun Yakitori is grilling at Jakarta Culinary Passport!

Selections of tasty Yakitori on the display. All of them was such a temptation!

Salmon skewer (20k) and shitake skewer (10k).

( Another menu was about 10-20k )

Their yakitori was served with their special sauce, which was really tasty. It was a combination of sweet and salty, and the seasoning was just perfect. Fried garlic and seaweed was served on the side and made it even better. It was my favorite one from Jakarta Culinary Passport!

They are new, but surely the taste was not an amateur. A new addiction on my list!

Karokun Yakitori

0821 2208 0378

@karokun_id

Sucree : Sweetness in a small thing.

I am a tartlet-enthusiast.

I love every kind of it, fruits or crumble, you name it.

The buttery-scented crust meets the delicate rich filling, so adorable.

Introducing Sucree, a home factory of French Patisserie, is here to indulge the needs of  this kind of dessert. The owner learnt in a pastry school and finally came back to serve us with its honesty. The good news is Sucre is taking part in Jakarta Culinary Passport which is held in Grand Indonesia, so I had a chance to try some.

Selections of mini tartlets and quiche. So pretty!

Cake in a jars and cheese cake selection. Diversion on the eye!

Decided to buy the banana crumble, tuna quiche, and chicken with mushroom quiche (8.5k each). I was looking for the fruit tartlets but unfortunately it was not available for the bazaar.

 The crumble on the top of banana tartlet was such a jolly! The buttery scent and sweetness was just right. The crust was a bit hard but it was still okay. The chicken with mushroom was rich, a real taste of chicken and mushroom inside. Too bad the crust of mine was a bit messy. The tuna quiche was flavorful, too! I warmed it in the oven for a while to make the crust softer and it worked. Two of the quiche was really rich of flavor and I was satisfied.

It could be a good partner for my afternoon tea, but I found it a bit pricey for the tiny size. I believed the natural ingredients was the major cause. Good thing came from the good source, right?

PS: buy 1 box of 10 tartlets for 80k! ;)

Sucree

www.lovesucree.com

081 231 587 888

@lovesucree

Kaihomaru : The freshness to die for!

My friend once asked me about my favorite food.

Seriously, that was one hard question!

It took me a long time to decide this or that (yes, I took that question seriously!), and finally voiced my final answer : Sushi.

It was not hard to find those Japanese restaurants with good sushi, but Jakarta's most accessible sushi chain was those kind of fusion sushi. I did not say they're not good, they served great taste with those various toppings on sushi! But if you dig up for an authenticity, Kaihomaru could be a hidden gem!

Located at Little Tokyo in Melawai area, Kaihomaru is one of the Japanese good restaurants that you could find there.

It was crowded with Japanese expats. One sign of the authenticity. Those people just kept coming from the Japanese sliding door. I was hoping to dine with tatami, seems like they did not have one.

I found the menu was hard to understand (I did not familiar with those Japanese term, my bad) and I keep asking for the explanation with the rushing waitress.

Kaisenfutomaki (58k). It was a plate of huge rolls, with generous filling. The menu itself means all the freshness from the sea, and yes it tasted great! The salmon and tuna was served in big chunks. The squid was fresh as well. I found it funny to find it was filled with squid, but it was not fishy at all. Those goodness in a roll topped with fish roe, I found it was addicting!

Freshness on a plate! Their salmon sashimi (69.8k) was undoubtedly awesome, and the cutting was quite generous, too. You could know it was a great one by the time it was served on the table.

I called it rainbow on a plate. They called it Kaisen salad (55k). A big plate served with fresh shrimp, tuna, salmon, anchovy, and lettuce, accompanied with their special sauce. I could feel a kick of peanut from the sauce, and it was great. One of the best Japanese salad!

Agedashi tofu (32k). A bowl of golden and lustrous beautiful tofu. The tofu was very silky but it tasted just fine. The sauce was quite good.

It was a big meal but my mouth was still craving for something sweet or savory. I guess my liking was influenced with those kind of fusion sushi, although all the freshness was satisfying. Do come on Tuesday and Friday, the fish is freshly arrived. I recommend to make a reservation since it is always full house. Finding a parking a lot was such a trouble, too.

Kaihomaru

Jl. Melawai 6, no 23

Jakarta Selatan

(021) 7398741

Puyo Silky Dessert : Comfort in a bowl

Sometimes happiness comes from a really simple thing.

A simple thing with no complicity, just an honesty which is not hard to feel.

One of the simple thing could come from a bowl of dessert.

I have seen Puyo silky dessert since a few months ago and had some intentions to give it a try. Unfortunately a big batch of order was needed for the delivery service. So when Puyo took part at an event at some kind of bazaar, I was so excited to buy some! 

Their favorites are taro, peach, and bubble gum. None of them was really my liking, so I decided to try the banana,  hazelnut. and green tea.

It was silky, just like the way it was called. It was sweet and light. Milky kind of sweet that some people could really fall for. My milky banana was a bit bland on top, but sweeter on the bottom. It felt like the more you digged in, the more you could find the comfort.

My milky green tea was really pretty in green. It was really smooth that I couldn't stop to hand a spoonful to my mouth. It was easily enjoyable. And of course, I fell easily for the silky hazelnut. The flavor was just right, and tasted like a real hazelnut for me. My favorite one indeed!

Easy, light, and sweet. It was really something I looked for from a quick dessert. You could taste the sweetness for only 9k each! I just can't wait to try all of the flavors!

Puyo Silky Dessert

@puyodesserts

 081213673232

Bistro Garcon : Dessert gateaway

French is identical with their pretty food. Their passion in cooking was reflected in those variety of food. I found myself hard to find an accessible French restaurant, since most of them is located in Jakarta's hectic area. Thank God Bistro Garcon is located in Plaza Senayan!

It was catchy and spacious, they offered a pinch of modern atmosphere to stand out among those luxury restaurants. It was something that could make you sit for hours. 

Dori Fish (120k) was something I finally ended up with. The fish was very tender with a glimpse of sour flavor. I had to say the sourness was not something I expected from the meal. The crumbs on the top of the fish was not a match. The fish was served with sauteed vegetable, which was nice, and something like mashed potato, only it was rougher. I could not say it was my favorite, but it was still tolerable.

Rocher Monaco (38k). Garcon was quite famous with the beauty of their dessert. I found myself easily fascinated with those rows of French pastry. I was expecting for a-crunchy-but-not-so-crunchy-kind of crust, just the way it should be, right? Unfortunately it was a turn off, the crust was hard to cut. The chocolate was just fine, with the consistency like a mousse. 

The winner of the day. Eclair Caramel (30k). It was a pleasant feeling that finally I could taste something decent. Everything was perfect. The crust, the gooey texture of the filling, the beauty on the eye. It had all the sweetness that caramel could offer!

PS: They had green tea and cream cheese eclair, too. And some said it was amazing as well!

The dessert was such a winner, with those varieties they offered, I could really back for another pretty afternoon (with dessert)!

Bistro Garcon

Plaza Senayan level 4 no. 410

(021)57900140