The 'Tastiest' BBQ! isss by Phil's BBQ..

I was addicted to Food Network since I got here. Just a couple of days before I visit San Diego, there was a show where this guy visited an awesome looking place called 'Phil's BBQ' in San Diego, which sounds to me like a destiny. Ha! I got to go there. There are 2 places, Point Loma and San Marcos. I had no idea which one was it that I went to...

Today's queue as taken from their online live camera

Whichever it is, the main entrance is actually all the way round from the parking lot, because I happened to enter from the side door and got people stared at me (like, I was cutting the line? meh!). The place is a bit dim as you walk in, especially from a broad daylight. At first, you will have to go in front of the counter where there will be a hostess asking about whether you are dining in or take-out. Each will be in a separate line. You will then order at the counter, and go to whichever table you want, and the device they gave you will ring and vibrate when your order is ready for pickup at the counter. So I thought it was a bit more of a semi-restaurant.

Sushi Groove - Does it really groovy?

As a food enthusiast, I'd like to try new food while trying to be selective at the same time, since I have sensitive stomach. But, it's hard to resist cute sushi that comes with various ingredients :D Sushi Groove has 12 new menus, varies from all natural Deep Forest to all fruity Mango Megumi, I tried 8 of them.

The best that I had is of course, 'Mango Megumi'. The mango tasted fresh, although the cream cheese is too much that I can't barely taste the salmon. If you want something creamy yet fresh, this is the right choice. The second best in my opinion is 'Saboro Chicken' with cute green tobikko, that is tobikko mixed with wasabi. Don't really taste the wasabi, though, but the sweet&spicy mayo covers it all. You'll find tuna inside, ask for a fresh tuna. The third one is 'Salmon Mentai' which is salty. When some have not enough sauce, this one definitely has too many sauce that, again, I can't really taste the freshness of the salmon.

Salmon Mentai

Mango Megumi

Saboro Chicken

Pasta de Waraku - More Than Just Japanese Pasta!

Looking for pasta? Here is the place. Looking for tasty green tea ice cream? Here is the even most perfect place. Not too sweet, not too bitter, with a strong green tea flavor on top of sweet glazed baked bread, and garnished with fresh red bean, their new "Macha Hanito" is perfect! If only they could give more ice cream so that we could finish the whole bread without running out of the tasty macha, it would be awesome! :D By the way, it was soooo good, I completely forgot to take a picture for it instead there's an alternative "Mix-Fruit Hanito" if you enjoy freshness.

Ah, sorry for coming with the desert first! It was just too good too miss, hihi... I had visited Pasta de Waraku quite often in the past, especially when they first opened the store in Indonesia. As its called, they offered a wide variations of pasta, mostly spaghetti, with several options of sauces. Their specialty is 'wafu' sauce, said to be made from fish! Makes all their food is without MSG. No MSG, once again! Personally, I looove their basil sauce, which taste salty and sweet enough, yet with creamy basil tasted so delightful you wouldn't want to stop eating!

The Edge - Good Candle Light Dinner in Jakarta

It's been a while since I last write. Soooo many things to share, so little time. Last month was my anniversary with my lovely boyfriend, and it took me a whole day just to browse a perfect place for a romantic candle light dinner. At the beginning, we agree to have a dinner at Cassis, but then again it doesn't have candle light! Finally, a friend of mine suggest The Edge, where a friend of his was once had a candle light dinner.

When I called to reserve, the receptionist was very friendly and helpful. I told him that this is our first anniversary, so I want him to set us a place far from other tables. He said he will choose the best outdoor spot, with candle lights arranged like Valentine's Day and please feel free to bring my own flower or other decorations (engg... shouldn't guys be doing that? *poke my bf). Anyway, it was raining, so I was guessing that the plan has failed but it turns out to be just fine.

It was on a building, we park on the basement and went straight to the 5th floor. Stepping out from the elevator, there's a receptionist table on the right, which is empty. There two tables at the left with beautiful white sofas, and a television. Straight in front of the elevator is a door to the outside tables, where it still rains a bit. When the waiter approached us, I told him my reservations, and he apologize that he's been re-setting my table 3 times that day!! He said that he set it on the afternoon, then it rains so he had to clean it. Then the rain stops, and starts again, and again. So he let us sit on the white sofa while ordering the menu, and will set us the table outdoor near the entrance, which still has roof a bit :)

Es Teler 77 Pro and Cons ;)

Holla! Have you ever been to Es Teler 77? they proclaimed to be a fast food restaurant, although the foods they served aren't all fast food. It was established on 1982 after the founder won a contest for Es Teler (Iced mixed fruit). If you eat es teler at other restaurants, you may find it really different with the ones in Es Teler 77. Some places would mix various fruits with some kind of jelly or mostly grass jelly, and some even mixed it with syrup. Es Teler 77 keeps it simple, only with avocado and jack fruit mixed in ice with milk and liquid sugar.

Zenbu, A Calorie-Count Japanese Restaurant

Although there are many Japanese Restaurant in Jakarta, Zenbu is the only one I found so far with calories counted on each meal on their menu. I went to this place for the first time at 2006 for my friend's birthday. What I remember most about that visit is that the Green Tea Ice cream is superb... I feel like I can still taste it.. Oh, and the Tempura Ice Cream, too.. I don't have the picture because the last time I went there I was too full already to order dessert.

Instead, we ordered appetizer. There is this one favourite appetizer, as written on the menu, the Dynamite Mozaru. It's a mixture of mozzarella cheese and their 'dynamite' sauce, baked with seafood on it. It is verrryyy tasty, but I think it's too sweet for an appetizer. Since they highlight the mozzarella cheese, I think it should have tasted cheesy instead of sweet. Real sweet, like sweet milk. So, I'm a bit disappointed with this one. There is one appetizer similar to this at Pasta de Waraku, Hotate Mentai, of course with totally different ingredients.

Favorite Goat Satay, Soup, and Curry! (Sate, Sop, dan Gulai Kambing!)

I know that many people would refer to those goat restaurants in Sabang area, or Tanah Abang and Grogol. Although they are good, but there's this one place has been my family's favorite since I was little. If other places only serves satay or soup, this place offers not only both, but also Goat Curry (which is my fav). Oh, I think they also have Goat Fried Rice ;)

The place is called Maman, with an intriguing locations since there are no restaurants around that area. In fact, Maman was located in an ex-graveyard (or beside it?) and it was quite dark at night. It's pretty easy to find actually, just across Hotel Santika at Jl. Aipda Ks Tubun, Grogol or just turn left before the traffic light in Slipi (heading south). Here is the map to Hotel Santika, with which when you found it, just go straight until you find a U-turn and you will find a white and yellow tents across the Hotel (you have to make an entrance since it was in a house's front yard area): http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=hotel+santika+petamburan&fb=1&gl=id&hq=hotel+santika+petamburan&hnear=Jakarta&cid=0,0,12548036672734219990&ei=GteuTNzjM4OmvQO784nFBg&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=5&ved=0CCcQnwIwBA

As for the food, whoa you gotta try it! Especially when it's after-rain and you're hungry, geez, it's one the best dinner you'll have ;) If you like something really tasty, you should try the Goat Curry! But you would want to eat it while it's hot, mind you. Most people loves the soup better than the curry, though. My father always orders the soup and mix the 'pickle soup' in it (worth to try, don't you think?). As for me, I always order ALL-MEAT, either it's soup or curry, since I can't eat any other parts. For those of you who are like me, well you'll still find some other parts that's not meat, but it's acceptable compared to those I've ate at Tanah Abang area.

The Satay, it was Superb!! They put the peanut sauce and sweet soy sauce at the bottom of the Satay, so when you mix it while it's hot and eat it right away, you can still smell the smoked meat sweetly combined with the sauces. The Satay meat is not smelly, unlike the ones I ate somewhere (I forgot), and tasty. I've tried some which were quite hard to swallow, but Maman's Satay is always juicy and tastes lovely when you swallow it. I would suggest you to order 10 at first, and when you want more, order some more - to keep it hot when you're eating it!

I believe Maman only opens at night, probably since 7-11. I always go there around 7.30 (dinner) or 10 (supper). The price is very affordable, only around 20.000-35.000 Rupiah ;) The was not so neat, since it was only in a tent on somebody's front, so if you really cares about being neat, prepare yourself (although I believe that the food is all hygiene). Well, go and explore it your selves....!!!

(Most pictures are from http://makanlagilagimakan.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/maman-sate-dan-sop-kambing/ - since I was too hungry to take pictures of the food :p)

Super Vegas from Vegas Hot-dog!

I'm sure that if you live in Jakarta, you've heard about Vegas Hot-dog. Although they don't have lots of branches (actually they only have one store at the moment), but their concepts and variety of sauces are the first in Indonesia. They also had the longest sausages for a hot-dog bun, that is the Super Vegas!

The Super Vegas is a 30cm long beef sausages, fried with butter and put in a bun with lettuce, onion, mustard, tomato and chili (u could separate them if u want). In addition to that, they have several sauces which you can choose and either put it above your hot-dog or put it in a sauce platter they provided. There's a Singapore sauce which was a bit sour and salty, a Brazilian sauce which was a thick sweet black pepper sauce, an Indonesian sauce which was a nutty sauce, a Thailand sauce which was a thick sweet an sour sauce, and a Kansas sauce which was a BBQ sauce. In my opinion, Singapore and Brazilian sauce is a nice try with the sausage.

My suggestion is, ask for the waiter/waitress to get yo a spoon so you can try 'em one by one. Then choose which one (or all) you'd like and put them on the sauce platter. I don't think mixing the sauces with the hot-dog would be a great idea since some are too thick and some are too watery. So, beware.. ;) Apart from the sauces, the sausages itself I must say it's pretty ordinary. Not as good as the Seven Eleven sausages (the Vegas Beef) but definitely a must-try.

Aside from Vegas Beef, they also had other sausages options which you may choose for regular or large portion. Mind you, the Super Vegas is only available in Vegas Beef. Personally, I think their Chicken Cordon Bleu Hot-dog is interesting. There are also Quarterfrank, Veal Bratwurst, French Garlic, and Chicken Quarterback.

Visit them at Urban Kitchen, Central Park (the new mall next to Mall Taman Anggrek) on the second floor. Open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. everyday. For more information and to find what promo they offer at the moment, you can call +6221 70711930 or visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jakarta-Indonesia/Vegas-Hotdog/107145646970.