Ah Mei Cafe

With many varieties of food and a free wifi facility (it’s a must have for a café), this is the right place for me to enjoy my life with my friends & family. Ah Mei Café is from Singapore. Best known as restaurant that serve Halal menu items and Singapore Hawkers Food which is multi-ethnic and suitable for the general public. They claimed that they serve the legendary & original Singapore taste with the best ingredients mother nature.

Kaya Toast is the most famous kind of toast in Singapore. Today, I wanna order that with a glass of Hot Milo. With half crispy texture outside (not as crispy as Yakun Kaya Toast) and the soft sweetness of kaya jam inside is become the good combination. I think the perfect time to enjoy this meal is in the morning or in the afternoon :)

The next snack I choose Curry Puff. The curry taste is not too strong, blended well with the tender chicken & potato inside. Fresh from the oven! Enjoy it while still hot.

For main dish, I order Murtabak Mutton. Price 38 K. Quite a large portion. Taste quite nice. The mutton meat is tender, sautéed w/ onion & scallion. It came with a bowl of mutton curry. Over all are tasty!

For dessert I wanna try their Rojak Special. Price 26 K. Assorted fresh fruits with boiled bean sprout and of course Cakwe! We can ask for the spiciness level of peanut sauce. Quite delicious! Better if they fried the Cakwe until it become crispy. It will be more yummy!

Then for closing: Ice Kachang. Price 22.5 K. Yeah, I really like the colorful dessert. Grass jelly, sweet corn, red bean & peanut with sarsaparilla syrup. So refreshing. If you are a dessert lover, this is the must order item on the list!

With price range between 15 k to 40 K and of course because of their good quality of food, I will come often in the next chances.  

 

Ah Mei Cafe

Puri Indah Mall GF No. 70 B-C

Jl. Puri Agung, Puri Indah

Jakarta Barat 11610

Phone: 021-5822729

Mall Taman Anggrek 2^nd Floor E 16

Jl. Letjen S Parman, Slipi

Jakarta Barat 11470

Phone: 021-56999508

Living World Alam Sutera G Floor,Unit G61-63T

Jl. Alam Sutera Boulevard Kav 21

Serpong Tangerang

Phone: 021-29239480 / 29239481

The Arcade @ Oakwood Unit L1 # 1A

Jl. Lingkar Mega Kuningan Blok E4.2 No.1

Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan

Phone: 021-29956151 / 29956152

For other locations, you can directly browse to this link http://www.ahmeicafe.com/contact-us/

Mad For Garlic

For me, garlic is one of the most important ingredient that can give savory flavor to many dishes. Today garlic is used to help prevent heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and to boost the immune system. Garlic may also help protect against cancer. So, when I saw that there’s a restaurant use the name ‘Garlic’ in it, I really feel so excited to try their dishes.

Located in the corner of West Mall of Grand Indonesia, I didn’t notice that Mad for Garlic has already existed for a long time. The place is decorated so well. Casual and very comfy with the mix of brown & red color, divided into 2 sections (nice couch & wood chair). And the unique thing I saw is they hang a bunch of garlic at the lamp as the part of its decoration. Very creative design!

As usually at my first coming, I always choose their chef’s recommendation. For pasta, I decided to order Triple Garlic Pasta. From the appearance it looks so good. A plate of spaghetti sautéed w/ red chili sauce & onion, topped with shrimps, squid and mussels. I taste its spiciness, but I don’t really like the seasoning. Not as good as its appearance. Quite disappointed for me :(

For second dish, I really set a high standard for it! Garlicholic Rice! Do you know why I set a high standard for it? Because they put a “holic” word to their dish’s name. So, it’s fit me cause I’m a garlic lover. And second reason, they set the high price to this dish, 110 K. What a high price for a plate of fried rice? The rice came in a big portion. With big shrimps on top with shredded of veggies & dry chili on it, I can’t wait to taste it. At my first bite, I didn’t feel anything. Second bite, still nothing. Third bite and so on…..nothing! Too ordinary taste for an expensive price like that. I can tell you, this is like the ordinary homemade fried rice with garlic. Honestly, I feel quite angry for that. Maybe I have too much high expectation?

Well, I don’t know what’s going on in here, maybe I choose the wrong dishes? But as I told you before, I order their specialty! With price range between 75 K to 200 K, I don’t think they represent the quality of their dishes as high as their price. Sorry…..

Mad For Garlic

Grand Indonesia Shopping Town

West Mall – Ground Floor 20 A

Jl. MH Thamrin No.1

Jakarta 10310

Phone: 021-23581076

Bebek Tepi Sawah

Bali is the most exotic island in Indonesia. Their panorama, beaches, culture and of course their culinary always captivated my heart. I really longing for having vacation again in Bali. The crazy traffic jam & hectic working time at Jakarta sometimes make me so stress out. Periodically, I took time to get my relaxation time in a particular place. Bebek Tepi Sawah is one of that kind of place. Suddenly you were taken away from the urban city to the serenity ambience & traditionally Balinese mix w/ casual style design’s place. Located in the crowded mall doesn’t reduce their sensation.

With only 6-8 main menu option, they serve the best quality of Bali cuisine. You must try their Crispy Fried Duck. Price 90 K. With a half of crispy fried duck, steamed rice & string bean sautéed w/ coconut milk & chili and of course their fascinating 3 kind of sambal; that price is suitable with the taste. The meat is tender inside & crispy skin outside, yummy! I really adore their sambal (matah sambal, balachan sambal & slices cayenne chili sautéed w/ onion & shrimp paste).

 

For soup, they provide Sup Ikan Tampak Siring (Carp Fish Soup). Price 55 K. The soup made from water mix w/ green tomato, orange leaves, lemongrass & starfruit/belimbing wuluh). So refreshing! Delicious!

For veggies, they didn’t give us an option, there’s only one dish: Plecing Kangkung (watercress with balachan chili & fried peanuts). Price 17.5 K. This is the best Plecing Kangkung that I’ve ever taste. Fresh, tasty & healthy at the same time. Perfect match with my diet program right now ;)

Bebek Tepi Sawah

 

Living World Ground Floor

Jl. Alam Sutera Boulevard Kav. 21

Serpong Utara – Tangerang Selatan

Phone: 021-29211919

 

Jl. Raya Teges

Ubud – Bali

Phone: 0361-975656

 

Ya-Udah Bistro

Actually I’ve heard about this place for about 2 months ago. My culinary friends said that the dishes in Ya-Udah Bistro are delicious. So I decided to go dine in there last night at 9 PM. After get lost for a while, finally I’ve found it. There’s no sign board outside the restaurant, but the significant clue from my friend is enough to describe about that place: “there’s a big Japan flag on their wall!”

The parking lot is still crowded at night. But fortunately, we’ve already make the reservation. The place is divided into 2 areas, no smoking and smoking areas. We choose to sit on the open air area, even none of us are smokers.

There’s so many variation dishes in their menu, from Western, Italian even Asian cuisine. For my first visit, I rarely wanna read their menu for detail, I choose to make order based on chef’s recommendation or my friend’s suggestions. For appetizer I order Chicken Mushroom Soup. It came in quite a large bowl, enough for 2 person. I think the soup is too liquid, too many water in it. The mushroom on their soup is poorly on taste. Not creamy at all! Frankly speaking, not a good version of a cream soup :(

I also order Mix Salad w/ Italian Dressing. The dressing is sour, suitable with the fresh veggies & thin slices potato. Nothing special, taste just okay. Price range for Soup/Salad around 15 K to 35 K.

Roasted Chicken is become the ‘prima donna’ in here. We have to order at least 2 hours before our coming, because that’s the total time needed to grill the chicken. One whole big chicken on the plate, enough for 4-5 person. The seasoning is soaked in the chicken meat, very tender and of course very delicious! Mouth watering! Price 67.5 K, including side dish.

I also tried their Pork Chop. Price 57 K. A huge portion for a gal like me. You can choose your side dish: the potato pack (French fries, German fried, hash brown, boiled potato, mashed potato or potato salad), steamed rice or spaghetti/fettucini. I like the German fried version. They sautéed the thin slices potato with onion, so tasty! What about the meat? Not as good as their side dish, the meat taste is so so. Because there’s a fatty part in their chop, I become squeamish. So my friend ask for Black Pepper sauce to accompany that chop. My suggestion is maybe they should marinated it first with the ‘secret’ sauce/seasoning for a few hours, then fried or grilled it. Or the best version for me is ‘Smoke’ it, it will taste so good. I’ve already try the smoke version at Glosis restaurant. Quite tasty ;)

From my friend’s plate, I taste for a bite of Chicken Butterfly Danieli. Price 45.5 K. A full chicken breast tenderly griddle fried, topped with café de Paris sauce, gratinated and you can choose your own side dish. Taste quite okay.

For pasta, I’ve tried my friend’s favorite: Aglio e Olio. Price 29.5 K. A delightful blend of lots of garlic, chili peppers and Parmigiano cheese, tossed in real virgin olive oil. You can choose the spiciness level (spicy, medium or mild). It’s taste nom…nom…! Very scrumptious! I will order a full plate of this dish next time only for myself! No sharing,haha….

I really wanna try their Grandma’s Apple Pie, but unfortunately tonight that dessert isn’t available….sad…..So I only order a scoop of Chocolate ice cream from Diamond manufacture. Price 9.5 K. It came with slices of assorted fruits.

Ya-Udah Bistro

Jl. Johar 15

Gondangdia – Menteng

Jakarta Pusat 10350

Phone: 021-3140343

Takosuki

Takosuki is located on the ‘hawker centre’ Pesanggrahan street. Takosuki specializes on serve Sukiyaki. Sukiyaki is a Japanese culinary dish which inspired from the Mongolian tradition or one pot cooking. They providing multiple soup flavors such as Spicy Miso and Ginger Chicken. Assorted veggies such as mushroom, cabbage, tofu and spinach are also boiled and served with a sesame sauce. Beside beef, for shabu shabu they also serving pork and seafood.

The place is very comfy, with Japanese-Chinese interior design style. They separate their room into 2 sections. In the first section, they provide the round table with 6 chairs. In the second section, they use couch and wood chair. Almost each table is outfitted with sukiyaki or shabu shabu pan/pot for grilled or boiled.  On my first coming, I didn’t try their Sukiyaki. On that day I really craving for Chinese dish & dim sum.

I like to eat Steamed Carp Fish. Because it’s more healthy and taste good too. It’s cooked quite good, the sauce taste savory. Not bad, but nothing special about it, because I can find exactly the same dish at another place.

For their chef recommendation, I choose Crispy Fried Chicken. I think the seasoning is not well marinated or soaked in the meat. And the topping seasoning is not good as I’ve imagined before. Too ordinary. For me the perfect combination’s seasoning with fried chicken is balachan or terasi (in Indonesia). The best crispy balachan fried chicken according to my opinion is at Seroeni Restaurant (Plaza Senayan).

For veggies I order Mushroom Vegetables. This dish is not taste fabulous, I can only say: so so….They only sautéed 3 kind of mushrooms & assorted veggies with garlic. Well, I think I can cook this kind of dish at home. Quite disappointed!

Because I still feel hungry, I order their dim sum: Siomay and Chicken Feet. Both taste quite okay. Of course for dim sum, nothing can beat the Hongkong’s dimsum. Price range between 20 K to 80 K.

Takosuki

Jl. Pesanggrahan No. 70

Puri Kembangan – Kebon Jeruk

Jakarta Barat

Phone: 021 58908122

Another Hongkong’s Street Food

Before midnight, I feel so hungry. Because I stayed at Causeway Bay area, I get around in there to get my comfort food before sleeping time. Finally I found a small place like a stall selling dumplings & soups. They only have 4 small tables and almost all have been occupied. Only the table behind kitchen that remains, so we had to join the table with other visitor.

I order a bowl of Spicy & Sour Soup. Price HKD 15 or 20 K. Quite nice! Shredded veggies & chicken topping with scallions in spicy sour soup is suitable to eat at night. The soup taste is different from Chinese restaurant at Indonesia. Taste lighter in here. Because we also order their dumplings, they gave us an extra soup. So, HKD 15 for 2 bowls of soup is very cheap!

For second dish, I order Vermicelli Soup with Meatball & Pork Intestines. Price HKD 15 or 20 K. Taste quite nice.

For dumplings, we bought the steam & fried version. Price HKD 20 or 25 K. With generously pork fill in, we feel so fully tummy. Satisfied!

At MTR Central Station, I found this ‘interesting’ stall. Many kinds of soups, pig/pork dishes, also they sell chicken dish. This time I tried their Marinated Pork Knuckles. Price HKD 33 or 42 K. The pork knuckles are marinated first with their special herbal sauce. After the seasoning has soaked inside, they’re ready to eat. I added it with chili. Taste very delicious!

Avenue of Stars

The Avenue of Stars is located at the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade. It was opened to the public & visitors from all over the world from 2004. This place was established to pay tribute to outstanding professionals of Hongkong’s film industry, to promote tourism industry, and to consolidate Hongkong’s position as Asia’s World City.

This place is divided into several parts, such as: glittery welcoming, milestones in the development of Hongkong cinema, hand imprint & statue of Hongkong film award.

In the evening, the weather is quite windy and that causing me of craving for snack. At the mid of the avenue’s street, I saw a stall selling Shredded Squid. Price HKD 30 or 38 K. The squid was thinly sliced, then grilled it for a few minutes. After that you put into a shredded machine. Fresh from the oven. The squid meat is tender & chewy. Quite savory!

Mongkok

Mongkok is the place where you can find any goods or food with cheap price. Its traditional markets, small shops and food stalls has become their characteristic.

There’s a few streets in Mongkok that have interesting names, such as:

–         Sai Yeung Choi Street South

A street full of shops selling consumer electronic products, cosmetics, and discount book

–         Temple Street (Men’s Street)

The area famous for the Hongkong specific goods.

–         Yuen Po Street Bird Garden

Packed with booths selling birds. The garden is open from 10 am to 6 pm.

–         Fa Yuen Street (Sneakers Street)

There’s many small retailers which sell sports equipment and clothing.

–         Flower Market Road

This street selling flower & houseplant.

–         Goldfish Street

There are dozens of shops & hawkers selling various tropical freshwater or marine fish.

–         Tile Street

More than 50 retailers selling materials for construction or renovation.

–         Photocopy Street

Having remarkable number of photocopying shops due to the number of schools in the vicinity.

–         Kwong Wa Street

It’s famous for shops selling airsoft, RC racing, modeling & other hobby’s equipment.

–         Dundas Street

This is the shopping area in eastern Mongkok. Ho King Shopping Centre, Ka Lok Shopping Arcade & Trendy Zone are major shopping centres on the street.

–         Ladies’ Street

This market specializes in women’s clothing, accessories, cosmetics and also food stalls selling noodles, seafood, and congee for mid afternoon or late night snacks.

Mongkok is the heaven of streetfood. All food seemed taste delicious, I feel like I wanna try it all. Just look what I’ve posted below. Drooling huh? Haha…..

I bought Assorted Fried Food such as eggplant, tofu, veggies fritters, etc. For 5 pieces I pay HKD 12 or 15 K.

I also choose Bean Curd w/ Spicy Peanut Sauce. Price only HKD 12 or 15 K for one portion. Very tasty! I like it!

I tried Mussels w/ Spicy Taucho Sauce. Price HKD 15 or 20 K. Scrumptious! Must try if you’re a seafood lover!

Many spots in Mongkok that you can find street musicians. From a young age to elderly, and also they sing various music genre. Very festive atmosphere!

After getting around in this place, I became so thirsty. So I tried the famous Gong Cha. I order their Ice Toffee Bubble Milk Tea. Price HKD 17 or 22 K. Well, I think it’s too milky for me. I’d rather choose the fruity flavor.

You can’t separate Chinese people from dish made from pig, haha…. We really love it. I must try their pig/pork dishes in this market. Usually they cooked & marinated it in herbal soup. They took almost all part of pig, from intestines, tripe, lung, ear, tongue, etc. Disgusting but so ‘freakin’ delicious at the same time ;p For one portion of Pig’s Soup I pay HKD 25 or 32 K.

Hui Lau Shan

Hui Lau Shan is a chain of dessert shops based in Hongkong, specializing in dessert soups called tong sui, snacks and desserts. Hui Lau Shan is known for its prominent use of mango in its entrees.

First time I tried their Ice Mango Jelly when I getting around at Mongkok. Long queue before my turn is come. For price about HKD 26 or 33 K, I’ve got a glass of sweet mango juice, with mango chunks & jelly. Taste very good! This is their specialty menu, you must order it!

In Causeway Bay area, I also tried Ice Mango Aloe Vera & Ice Strawberry Mango with Jelly. Both are incredible and so refreshing! I really like it!

On the other day, after I have my lunch at Delicious Kitchen, I’m craving for dessert. So I’ve stop by to dine in this place. Because mango is become their famous menu, I choose Glutinous Rice Balls in Mango Juice with Extra Mango. Price HKD 55 or 70 K, very expensive for dessert, just saying. But thank God it’s taste awesome, haha…..The same taste with the glass version, the mango juice is so sweet & a little bit sour. They give us a lot of mango chunks. The rice balls is chewy in texture and one scoop of  mango ice cream perfected all together!

For other dessert I tried Green Tea Ice Cream topped with Red Bean & Peanut. Price HKD 35 or 45 K. I thought at first this is a kind of pudding or jelly. Because we ordered based only on the picture. The menu has written in Chinese language. And the waitress can’t speak English. Huh! The green tea ice cream is too hard, it can not dug it all, and what make me so pissed off, they give us a plastic spoon. WTH! How can we able to dig it out that “stone” ice cream? We can’t wait until that ice cream is getting soften, because I’m in hurry to catch my flight on my way back to Jakarta. So we only ate the ice cream surface which covered by peanuts & the red bean’s garnish. This is ridiculous!

Hui Lau Shan

58-60 Sai Yeung Choi St, Mongkok

Phone: 2385 2256

Yee Wo St, Causeway Bay

Phone: 2972 2292

No.31 Haiphong Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui

Phone: 2730 0703

King’s Cuisine

Yum Cha is a Chinese style morning or afternoon tea, which involves drinking Chinese tea and eating dim sum dishes. Dim Sum is a varied range of small dishes which may constitute or replace breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea. Dishes are usually steamed or fried and may be savory or sweet. They include steamed buns such as char siu bao, assorted dumplings, siu mai, and rice noodle rolls, which contain a range of ingredients, including beef, chicken, pork, prawns and veggies. Typical desserts include egg tarts, sai mai lo (tapioca pudding) and mango pudding. Yum Cha restaurants usually offer plates of steamed green veggies, roasted meats, congee porridge and soups.

This morning I really wanna have Yum Cha. So I went to King’s Cuisine, located at Causeway Bay Area. The decor is in white with flower motifs, kind of romantic? This restaurant is still fairly new, so the carpets, wallpaper, and chairs are still fresh. I give two thumbs up to their bi-lingual order card. It’s really useful for the tourists who can’t speak or read in Chinese.

For Dim Sum, I order 5 different dish. Shrimp Dumplings or Har Kau is the must order. The shrimp is fat & so juicy. Incredible!

Their Siu Mai Topped with Fresh Crab Roe is also tasty. They are really generous on giving shrimps fill in.

I also tried Steamed Glutinous and Red Rice in Lotus Leaf. This is similar with Ba Chang. The glutinous rice is cooked very well, and the inside ingredients is perfectly balance in taste. I like it!

Next dish is Steamed Pork Spare Ribs w/ Bean Sauce. It’s taste so savory. I really love it! Yummy!

Many people may feel disgusted to eat this kind of food, but not me. I always order this dish every time I have my dim sum. Chicken Feet! So delicious!

I also order Steamed Rice Rolls with Barbecue Pork. The Rice Rolls is not too thick, I like it. Taste very good!

For Deep Fried section, I choose Deep Fried Sesame Ball. Crispy outside and softly sweet taste inside. Awesome! Perfection!

And last but not least, I order Deep Fried Pork Croquets. The same method like Sesame Balls, but this is the savory version.

I’m speechless. I can only say that Hongkong is the Paradise of Dim Sum. All taste so scrumptious. And for all dish I’ve ordered I only pay for HKD 150 or 190 K. I think it’s quite affordable for heaven’s taste like that!

King’s Cuisine

6/F, Windsor House, 311 Gloucester Road

Causeway Bay

Phone: 2332 9090