Blogger Sunday Brunch Gathering at GRAFFITI

Couple weeks ago I was invited to a bloggers event at Mercure Simatupang Hotel. To be honest, I'm quite surprised when I first stepped in this newly established hotel. Hip, quirky and casual but still luxurious and comfy at the same time.

The event started with tasting some mocktail at their S.L.A.M Bar & Lounge. I'm kind of like their interior, fun and quirky!

 

Greenlime

After that, the cooking demo by Mercure Hotel was presented. We've learn to make Avocado Salad and Fettuccine Carbonara. 

Avocado Salad

Fettuccine Carbonara

Then we also learn to make cocktails, one of it was Sangria Cocktail. Red wine mixed with Cointreau and fresh fruits. Refreshing !

After a fun cooking and cocktail demo, then we're heading to their restaurant, Graffiti, to complete the sunday brunch gathering. Graffiti itself have spacious and interesting interior. Just as their name, they want to bring Urban/Street art to another level. Cool right?

Grafitti made by local artist from Yogyakarta

Even though there are not many stations like the usual buffet, but you still can taste their variant of Western, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian cuisine. Most of them was in good quality, so even though there aren't many options, I believe your appetite will still be satisfied :D

Some from the appetizer station, Cold Ham, Salami and Cheese with some sliced french baguette. All was in good quality, the baguette tasted fresh too. 

They also had Grill Station. You choose the meat ( From beef or chicken, sausages to seafood ), then they will grill it for you. It was really yum! Was cooked perfectly, and the meats was really tender. The mushroom and bbq sauce also enjoyable.

And... always have room for dessert right? From Mousses to Cheesecakes, and also variant of Sorbets or Ice creams, was tasted nice! Not overly sweet and presented beautifully.

You also can enjoy their buffet for IDR 150.000++/ person. Good price right? 
Overall I had a good time at this event, it was also nice meeting other bloggers from Kopdar Jakarta Community. Thanks Mercure Jakarta Simatupang for inviting :)

Mercure Jakarta Simatupang Hotel
Jl. R.A Kartini No. 18, 
Lebak Bulus, Jakarta Selatan

Reservations : ( 021 ) 75 999 789

Facebook      : Mercure Jakarta Simatupang

Twitter          : @Mercure_Smptg

Food Tasting Invitation : White Asparagus Season at Bengawan

It's White Asparagus season! If you didn't know what's the difference between the green or white one, the difference is only by how they grew it. The green one using light / sunlight to grow, the white one was covered in soil so there's no contact with the light. It is said that the white asparagus is considered to be slightly milder in flavor and a bit more tender than the green one.

Since it's not available throughout the year, usually white asparagus can be available around April to June. Chef Lamberto Valdez Lara, the Executive Chef, told us that they flew the white asparagus from Peru all the way to Jakarta! So ..  shall we start ?



Cold Starter : White asparagus Salad, Slow Poached Yabbies, Red Peppers Coulis,Garlic Dressing - IDR 220.000. This one is quite yum. If you didn't know what Yabbies is, it's a type of crayfish. Has similar textured like shrimp. It was cooked perfectly so it gives a nice crunch to the salad. 

Hot Starter : Beef Bacon Wrapped White asparagus with Cepes, Poached Quail Egg, Black Truffle, Hollandaise Foam - IDR 235.000. The beef was very tender, and it's quite nice to mix the asparagus with quail eggs. But I think it need more of the Hollandaise though.

Soup : White Asparagus Cream Soup, Alaskan King Crab, Black Caviar - IDR 250.000. If you had asparagus, you make an Asparagus soup isn't it? :D The soup tasted very light, and the white asparagus gives a nice crunch texture to it. Chef Lamberto also told us that they're use a high grade Caviar, which is Osetra. There are 3 grades of caviar which is Sevruga ( the not so expensive and has the smallest form ) , Osetra ( medium form and more stronger flavor), Beluga ( the most expensive and also the largest). 

Main Course : I chose 200gr Wagyu Rib Eye Steak with Vegetables and Layered Potatoes in Red Wine Sauce. The meat cooked perfectly and sauce was totally yum.

The other bloggers chose Australian Wagyu Beef Fillet 180 gr served on a bed of white asparagus, Pan Fried foie Grass, Roasted Baby Potato, Port wine Jus - IDR 700.000.



And for the dessert Chef Lamberto make an interesting dish! White Asparagus Kefir Pannacotta with Ginger Compote - IDR 160.000. This is my first time having asparagus as my dessert :D Not like the usual Pannacotta that is silky and smooth, this one has textured more like pudding to me. More firm, and tasted sour. It's interesting that Chef Lamberto said he didn't use any Lime/Lemon in it, but it tasted fresh with lemony-like taste.

For the drink I chose Mixed Berry Ice Tea. Also refreshing with generous berries in it!

 Wanna know more about Bengawan Restaurant? Go check out my previous post here. Last words, Thanks Eka and Keraton at The Plaza for inviting :)

Room with a view !

Bengawan Signature Restaurant
Keraton at The Plaza
Jl. MH Thamrin Kav 15, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Phone      : ( 021 ) 50680000
Facebook : Keraton at The Plaza
Twitter      : @KeratonJakarta

Food Tasting Invitation : The Flavours of Philippines at Satoo

Couple weeks ago I was invited by Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta, to taste some of the Philippines ( or we can say Filipino ) food promotion during 15- 25th April 2013. Supported by the Philippines embassy, we also can enjoy some of their traditional dance, which is Bayanihan dance. It was a great experience for me! Since I only knew Halo- Halo ( Filipino's dessert ) ;D

BayanihanFolk Dance !

Jeepney! Their traditional transport :D

 Yes, even though our country not that far away, I'm kind of wondering why we don't have many Filipino food around here. We have so many Thailand, Malaysian, Singaporean even Vietnamese food around here, but not Filipino. I'm starting to have interest in Filipino's food since I have so many Filipino's friends from Instagram. And from them, I also knew that we do have much similarity both in our languages and also our food :D

Filipino's cuisine are a mixed of  Malay, Spanish, Chinese and American as well. So sometimes the taste was quite familiar to us, but some is not. So I bet you're curious too about Filipino's food right? Shall we start? ;)

 

The dinner start with some Filipino's Appetizer. There's Silken Tofu with Prawns, Kilawing Lapu- Lapu ( Fish Salad ) , Talong at Kamatis at Itlog na Maalat Salad ( Tomato and Eggplant Salad with Salted Egg). The Silken Tofu with Prawns was really yum. It's just taste like chinese one. The Kilawing Lapu- Lapu was quite sour and chewy. The Tomato and Eggplant Salad with Salted Egg was quite strange to me. Popping flavor.


  
Then, Lumpiang Ubod ( Fresh Eggroll with Heart of Palm Filling ). The wrap was taste like crepes, the filling.. I think they use Bamboo Shoot instead the heart of palm and also shrimp. With pomelo on the side and sweet thick sauce pour on it, I don't know... I can't say I like it, but I can't say I hate it either ;p The flavor was quite strong, sweet, sour, salty. 
 
Seafood Sinigang ( Seafood Sour Soup ). Seriously, this soup can make your eyes popped! When you see it, you thought it's gonna taste like Tom Yum, but it's not! The pink soup was made from Guava ( interesting huh ), but the taste was too sour and salty in my opinion. 

  
Hinurnong Talangka ( Baked Crab ). The filling was savory.

Beef Kaldareta ( Filipino's Beef Stew ). This one is really yum! The beef is tender, sweet and savory at the same time. 

Lechon Manok ( Roasted Chicken ). Cooked perfectly!


And from the buffet, I also tasted Pork Knuckles Humba, Chicken and Pork Adobo, Beef Kare Kare ( Beef cooked in Peanuts Sauce ). All is Masarap! ( delicious )

 And for the dessert, Choux Pastry with Yam, Peanut Cake, Pandan Gelatin in Sweet Milk. All is yum! But my most fave is the Pandan Gelatin in Sweet Milk. 

 
And also, I can't miss the Halo - Halo. This one is similar to our Ice Campur , but the different is they also add corn, ube ( purple yam ), Leche Flan ( Caramel Flan ) and some ube Ice Cream. Too bad that time they're running out of the Leche Flan and Ice Cream :(

 But overall, I really having great time trying this new cuisine that I never had before. So if I go traveling to Philippines I'm not that clueless anymore ;p So thanks once again for Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta for inviting :)

Satoo Restaurant 
Shangri-La Hotel, Kota BNI
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 1, Jakarta
 Facebook : Shangri- La Hotel, Jakarta
Twitter     : @ShangriLaJKT

Food Tasting Invitation : Fook Yew

When I was 'check-in' on facebook when I came to this restaurant, my friend immediately comment 'really??'. Haha...  Despite their provocative name, I think they're really took the fun side of languages. 'Fook' is a chinese word for Fortune and 'Yew' means Friendship. A beautiful meaning behind it, wasn't it? ;)


As one of the establishment from Ismaya Group, Fook Yew's interior also please the eye. Spacious with it's indoor and semi-outdoor seating area, bold vibrant colors & vintage 'old-town' chinese decor, you can tell it's not the-usual chinese restaurant. Attention to detail.

 
Food Tasting

The food tasting starting with their signature Spicy Beef Sheng Jian Bao. Sheng Jian Bao is a typically breakfast item in Shanghai, it's actually a buns but it's pan-fried, and the filling was like a Xiao Long Bao, which has soup in it. This Spicy Beef Sheng Jian Bao from Fook Yew was tasted a bit sweet though, and there's no soup in it. The skin was quite chewy, bit similar like eating mochi. 

Chicken and Prawn Sheng Jian Bao.

Black Sesame Sheng Jian Bao. The black sesame filling taste quite nice. 

Fook Yew Fried Rice. A typical chinese fried rice ( not using the sweet soy sauce like ours ), quite enjoyable.
 
Ni Chang Sweet and Sour Chicken. This was the winning dish. A succulent chicken bits with it's sweet and sour taste. Yum!
 
Macau Fried Seafood Noodle with Egg Sauce. I always love this kind of food! Mixed texture of crunch and soup. The egg sauce was perfect!


Two Flavor Hongkong Kailan. To me, this one was quite a new way of presenting Kailan. The leaves was fried until really crisp and the stem was sauteed with garlic. I really love the savory-crispy Kailan leaves!

For the drinks, Fook Yew also concentrate in Bubble Tea. Yes, Bubble Tea phenomenon are everywhere now! This one is Kungfu Hustle and The Return of The Condor Heroes. Familiar with the name ? ;D Oh yeah, they're also serves the Alcoholic Bubble Tea one!

Last words, I really do having a great time. Thanks Fook Yew and Ismaya Group for inviting ;)

Fook Yew
Gandaria City - Mainstreet GF, Unit MG 25
Jl. Sultan Iskandar Muda 5 No. 8,
Jakarta Selatan.
Phone : ( 021 ) 29007897
Twitter : @fook_yew
Facebook : Fook Yew