Tio Ciu 78

my parents are food lover.. I think that explains the reason of my love for food haha.. since they were still dating, which was around like 30 years ago, they used to go to this small restaurant serving Chinese food, specifically from Teochew area.. in Indonesian terms, the term Teochew was translated to Tio Ciu, similar pronunciation, only different in spelling (CMIIW).. so after they got married and have two lovely children, the four of us became regular visitors.. even after my dad became sick, we still spent some of our Sunday lunch there..

the restaurant itself was named Tio Ciu 78, located in Mangga Besar area.. a few years ago, the restaurant had no air conditioner, rather dirty since there were lots of used tissues and thrown-away garbage on the floor, but somehow still very crowded during dining time.. now, it has evolved itself with new flooring, air conditioner and much cleaner place which makes us more comfortable while dining.. my mom still recognized the chef, whom she knew since he was still very young.. such a place full with memories for our family, indeed.. 

to be honest, our menu had not changed much since I remembered.. it's the same old menu that my father introduced to us.. as for me, I can have diet and prevent myself from eating too much rice, but here, I just lost all control haha.. all the food are my favorite..

for our appetizer, we always picked Ngo Hiang.. it's made from minced pork meat rolled in a bean-curd skin, then deep-fried, which made the bean-curd skin very crunchy.. this dish is accompanied by sweet sauce, which I had no idea of the ingredients.. it's just really delicious and appetizing.. like welcoming you to a whole different cuisine experience.. sluuurrppp...

this dish is kinda hard for me to explain.. I always called it Bun Perut Ikan (fish belly in Teochew style).. the fish belly was stir-fried along with shrimp, fish balls and pork meat.. the sauce is quite similar to cap cay sauce.. I think this one is my favorite above all.. even when my rice was finished, I just kept putting another spoon of it to my mouth haha.. 

next came Udang Cuan Cio (shrimp in Cuan Cio sauce).. to be honest, I don't even know what is cuan cio sauce.. but it tasted very savory and perfect.. shrimps cooked with sliced onions and red chili then stir-fry with the sauces.. I'm drooling and starting to feel hungry just by looking at the picture..

lastly we had Tumis Kangkung (stir-fried water spinach).. what makes it special is the red tauco used.. the water spinach was fresh and perfect, not overcooked.. so it was a bit crunchy when I ate it.. the accompanying sauce was just amazing.. I love every bit of it.. 

see? I love all the dishes.. I'm sorry for the lack of knowledge regarding teochew cuisine that I'm unable to explain further about those dishes.. bottom line, dishes shown above are all perfect for me, fitted my tongue and taste buds.. all of the menus above plus four portions of plain rice and four glasses of iced tea was priced Rp181,000.. sorry, no details per menu since the owner just looked at our orders then calculate the total bill in his calculator, mentioned to us the total price and we paid.. it's a old-fashioned Chinese family restaurant, afterall :)

Tio Ciu 78

Jl. Mangga Besar Raya No. 78 C

West Jakarta

Ph.: 6221 626-3762

Kwetiaw Sapi 28

this place was one of those restaurant I called heritage.. I've known this restaurant since I was so little.. my dad was such a big fan.. it was located in Mangga Besar area, West Jakarta.. I remember that when I was a kid, we (mom, dad, bro and me) have a routine on Saturday night to go out and eat somewhere.. this was one of the most common destination.. afterwards, we would ask dad to drive us around Jakarta, see MoNas (Jakarta's National Monument) at night.. those good old times.. anyway, last week, my mom, cousin and I went here again..

the interior has not changed much from what I remember.. still no air con and at night, they will add extra tables and chairs outside the stall.. you can see the wall was so old with the fan and chairs.. it's a heritage, I've told you :)

the special menu here is, of course, kway tiaw.. my fav menu is fried kway tiaw (Rp22,000) while my mom's fav menu is kway tiaw in thick, gravy sauce (Kwetiaw Siram - Rp22,000).. my cousin wasn't a fan of kway tiaw, so he tried something else, vermicelli with mixed meat (Bihun Kuah - Rp22,000)

Fried Kway Tiaw

Kway Tiaw in thick gravy meat sauce

Vermicelli with mixed meat 

okay, let me tell you.. this place is the best restaurant to eat fried kway tiaw in Jakarta.. I LOVE IT so much.. I don't know what ingredients they put, but the kway tiaw was cooked well, not overcooked, with generous fried beef meat.. the portion was huge but there's something that kept me going on eating, though my stomach was quite full.. I didn't try the vermicelli but the kway tiaw in thick, gravy sauce was also amazing.. the gravy was delicious and again, the meat was generous.. a nice place to remember old time food which is still as good as I remember.. 

Kwetiaw Sapi 28

Jl. Mangga Besar Raya No. 72

Jakarta

Ph.: 021-2373 2828 

Akiaw

had a dinner with high school friends.. di Bakso Medan 99 Akiaw, located at Mangga Besar area.. sayah pribadi blum pernah nyobain makan disini, cuma gaung enaknya makanan disini sudah terdengar di seantero pembicaraan nasional *lebay*.. nah, apa yang disajikan oleh si bakso medan 99 akiaw ini? tentunya bakso donk yaa.. tapi ada yang unik, disini kita boleh milih tipe bakso apa yang kita makan.. ada bakso urat, bakso sapi polos atau bakso ikan.. slain bakso, kita juga boleh milih toping lain termasuk daging sapi atau mau campur jeroan sapi (urat, babat dan kawan-kawan).. selain isi kuah bakso yang bisa dipilih, kita juga bebas milih pendampingnya antara mie, kwetiaw, bihun ato nasi.. bahkan bisa dicampur mie-kwetiaw, nasi-bihun.. pokonya you can eat what you want but you have to pay hahaha.. terserah situ dah mau apa yang dimakan tanpa paksaan.. nah, berdasarkan rekomendasi temen (scara blum pernah makan dan blum tau apa aja pilihannya), sayah pilih bakso urat plus daging sapi tanpa jeroan disajikan dengan mie medan.. 

menurut sayah, makanan ini ENAAAAAAKKKKK BGT.. four thumbs up... daging sapi nya dimasak lembut, ga keras, ga alot tapi ga lembek juga.. just the right taste.. and somehow,  daging sapi itu rasanya manis.. kalo bahasa kerennya, juicy kali yak? hehehe.. bakso uratnya juga empuk dan garing.. sayah kurang suka bakso yang terlalu lembek.. nah kalo yang ini, bener-bener enakk.... sluuurpppiiieee.... hao zhi sen ching ping.. mie dan bakso ini dateng bareng semangkok kecil sambel ijo (yang ga terlalu pedes, tapi ternyata aga bikin sakit perut stelahnya) plus semangkok besar daun bawang dan daun wan sui.. sayah kebetulan adalah penggemar berat si daun wan sui ini.. jadi pas lihat semangkok penuh wan sui, langsung bersukacita :D besides, slain sayah, ga ada yang suka sama daun ini, jadi ga ada saingan.. hihihi.. 

yang harus diperhatikan kalo mau makan di tempat ini adalah.. pelayannya jutekkkkkk luar biasa.. bahkan cuma mau anterin makanan ajah, kaya mau malak.. hahaha.. jadi kalo makan disini, kita ga boleh kalah galak..apalagi mereka suka salah bikin racikan.. pesennya mie-kwetiaw, yang dateng cuma kwetiaw.. pesennya bakso urat, yang dateng bakso polos.. slain itu, karena ini tempat uda lamaaaa banget.. jadinya agak jorok-jorok gitu lah.. you can not expect some clean place like expensive restaurant.. harganya? cukup mahal sih untuk ukuran makanan di pinggir jalan.. seporsi dihargai Rp29,000.- mahal kan yak? seharga bakso afung yang notabene cost-nya lebih tinggi karena bukanya di mall-mall.. 

overall, buat rasa sih ini worth every penny.. walo harus menghadapi sang pelayan jutek dan agak jorok dan agak susah cari tempat duduk pas jam makan :P I would recommend you to try this.. ohiya, selain di Mangga Besar, akiaw ini juga buka cabang di Boulevard Kelapa Gading dan MKG 5 (eat&eat food court) dimana, menurut teman sayah, pelayannya lebih manusiawi dan ramah :)

Bakso Medan 99 Akiaw
Jl. Mangga Besar Raya No. 2B

Jakarta, Indonesia 11130