Paul Bakery and Patisserie

Before I start my post, let me wish you a Happy New Year 2014.. May the success and happiness be with you always ;)

now, let's get into business to the first post in 2014.. yes, it's the Paul that everyone has been talking about.. the famous French bakery with the best French breads.. then how can I resist not to come? all my life, I have believed in drinking coffee with croissants.. before we went further, a little background of Paul.. the history of Paul has been started long ago back from 1889, in Croix, Northern France.. and today, Paul has brought French breads to more than 450 stores across the globe.. quite impressive for a bakery, eh?

so, long story short, I dragged a friend to this famous patisserie on a Friday afternoon.. we were supposed to have our lunch at Paul.. the French eatery was not too crowded, but we were still in the waiting list.. luckily, not more than 15 minutes, we got our table ready.. it was a nice table for two in the corner of the busy patisserie.. we decided to have some time to go through the menu and ended up deciding to have a shared main with two desserts.. ladies preferred to have lovely desserts than savory mains.. 

for the lunch company, I picked 4 Fruit Rouges from Dammann 40k.. it's a delightful blend of four red fruits (cherry, strawberry, raspberry and red currant) combined with unsmoked black teas from Ceylon and China, bringing a fruity flavor.. it was a hearty cup of tea, I really love the smell, fruity flavor and thank God, the black tea was not bitter.. my friend picked the lemon ice tea 35k (not pictured) and commented it was just like other ordinary lemon ice tea.. 

Paul offers quite various savory selections, but we set our heart in the croque monsieur 90k, turkey ham, Emmental cheese, cream and pain de mie.. this was too delicious! I love the bread crunchy crust, combined with the melted Emmental cheese.. this was just perfect! the side salad added freshness to the whole dish.. I just love the fresh greens with balsamic vinegar dressing.. yes, a bit pricey, but I guessed it was still worth the money for once in a-while-meal..

now, the best time of the day.. it was dessert time.. for your information, other than the eatery, Paul also has a bakery at the back side of the restaurant, serving selections of beautiful French pastries and cakes.. we took a peek before ordering our desserts and basically, we wanted everything.. I mean, how can you resist ordering those pretty little cakes.. but our stomachs have limits, that we decided only to have tartelette framboises 55k and millefeuille chocolat 50k.. 

let's start with tartelette framboises.. it was sweet pie topped with creme pâtissière and fresh raspberries.. looked very beautiful that I almost have no heart to eat it.. but we just have to do what we got to do, right? the pie crust was a bit hard to be cut, so we have to break the pie.. on her first bite, my friend complained on how sour the raspberries were.. I did notice the same, but in my opinion, the sour raspberries were completing the sweet creme and pie crust, bringing a balanced, not-too-sweet bite..

next, millefeuille chocolat.. millefeuille actually means 'thousand leaves' in French.. it was Paul's famous Napoleon with chocolate creme pâtissière filling.. let me tell you, it was just PERFECT! I have never tasted anything like this before.. layers of flaky puff pastry with the most delicious chocolate custard I have ever tasted, then topped with the sweet chocolate glazing.. it's love at first bite.. I would recommend this dish to everyone, and it worth every Rupiah spent.. I was really impressed..

and here's how the plate looked after a few minutes..

as I have mentioned above, Paul has a bakery, which displayed all the good stuffs you can buy for your loved ones, or eat right away on the spot.. the pastries and cakes were just beautiful and really pleasing the eyes.. this is definitely what heaven looks like for pastries lover.. 

overall, I had a great meal there.. unfortunately, the service was poor, especially when they charged you 5%.. I got no smile or any warm greetings during our meal and if we asked for anything, they seemed really reluctant to help.. such a shame that one of the best bakery recognized in the world failed to bring the best dining experience.. but, I fell in love with their breads and pastries, that I would definitely return.. let's just hope their service improve immediately..

Paul Bakery and Patisserie
Pacific Place Mall
South Lobby Gallery Lafayette
Jl. Jend Sudirman Kav. 52-53
South Jakarta
Ph. +6221 57973464

[Revisit] Go!Curry

I was really, really impressed with their curry.. you can tell by the frequency I visit this place after my first.. it was when my brother came visiting Indonesia that I eagerly brought him here.. it's a must visit, so I said.. I'm not a really creative person and just like my previous visit, I decided -again- to share their Rogan Josh curry with cilantro butter rice and Tandoor chicken tika (Rp56,000) with my mother but this time, I chose the "very hot" level since their hot version was not really that hot for me.. despite being warned by the waiter, I still managed to stick to my choice haha.. my brother, on the other hand, decided to try their green curry, hot with yellow nut rice and zesty chicken (Rp56,000).. to accompany our meals, creme caramel tea (Rp26,000) for me and pineapple lime mojito (Rp25,000) for him..

Rogan Josh curry was still as good as I remembered, though I think the portion was a little bit less than my first one.. lots of herbs in it and a perfect match with their cilantro butter rice.. it's like a perfect combination for my tongue.. well, apparently, their "very hot" level was way beyond the "hot" one.. so it was really hot for me, though I was still able to finish it without tearing hahaha.. but, poorly my brother couldn't even eat more than one spoon of it haha.. it was very spicy with lots of chili and pepper, but yum yum.. my brother's green curry was even spicier.. though it was just a "hot" level, we were told that the base for green curry was green chilies, that's why there's no mild green curry.. poor little brother haha.. anyway he did manage to finish his meal but not the whole curry.. the yellow rice was very nice, fragrant and tasty.. I, personally, loved both types of curry.. 

unfortunately, I did not find my creme caramel tea too appealing.. I think I made a wrong choice of drink.. it was a glass of ice tea with milk which turned out to be a little too weird for my tongue.. my brother's choice of drink was way better than mine.. a very refreshing pineapple juice with soda and crushed mint leaves was such a treat for our tongue after our spicy meals.. I have put notes to myself to order it for my next visit..

I told my brother that Jakarta was in a red velvet and rainbow cake fever.. lucky for him, Go!Curry also serves red velvet cake (Rp45,000) which we ordered with no hesitant.. it was a three-layer home-made red velvet cake with cream cheese fillings and candied sprinkles on top.. we were told that the red color of the cake was obtained from beet as natural coloring so we need not to worry.. first bite and I'm in love.. my mom even said that it's better than Union's.. moist cake balanced with delicious cream cheese and oh those sweet sprinkles, it was such a joy for my tongue.. I love everything about this cake.. its sweetness level and cake texture definitely had won my heart..

Go!Curry
Pacific Place Mall 4th Floor
Jl. Jend Sudirman Kav 52-53
South Jakarta 12190
Ph.: 6221 5140 2750
www.go-curry.com

Canteen

it was Friday night out with my favorite girls, college friends.. we shared  almost everything for three hard college years.. the girls I am forever thankful for :) so, it has been a while since we actually met.. that's why our Friday supper was such an oasis in the middle of dessert *lebay*.. our meeting point was Canteen in Plaza Indonesia since it was within reachable distance from each of our offices..

located in the 5th floor of Plaza Indonesia, Canteen, brought by (ak.sa.ra), offers a casual eatery with wooden furniture, dimmed lights and slow music.. it was quite crowded but luckily we have made our reservation.. so there we were, five girls.. you bet we had lots of talking, sharing and laughing.. I totally had a great night.. and as usual, food were shared.. as we were quite hungry, we kinda ordered a little too much than we should have haha.. nachos (Rp40,000), beef bourguignon (Rp85,000), marinated pork ribs (Rp120,000) and lasagna bolognaise (Rp55,000).. while for drinks, each of us have a glass of lychee iced tea (Rp35,000)..

our nachos came first.. tortilla chips with melted cheese accompanied with tomato salsa and guacamole.. the nachos was crunchy and served warm.. I remembered we finished it in such a short time haha.. hungry girls.. then our beef bourguignon arrived, beef stew and sauteed mushrooms with parpadelle pasta, cheese and some veggies.. it was recommended by our waiter and not disappointing at all.. the dish was very delicious.. the broth was very tasty, the beef was very tender and I love those mushrooms.. it was a complete satisfying dish, really.. next to come was marinated pork ribs, half slab of marinated pork ribs accompanied with french fries, salad and pickles.. I love their french fries, which was home-made and fatty haha.. the pork ribs was very tender and easily separated from the bones.. lastly, we have our lasagna bolognaise.. layers of pasta and minced beef in bolognaise sauce.. the portion was huge and it was tasty as well.. I guessed it was their pasta dishes that I  love the most.. I had a great night with friends, along with a great atmosphere and service from Canteen in Plaza Indonesia..

not so long after the great dinner, my manager decided to treat me after a little help I gave him and since he was craving for Canteen, it was our lunch destination.. we actually planned to visit Plaza Indonesia's branch, but our cab driver told us the traffic in Thamrin was horrible.. so we switched our destination to Pacific Place.. Canteen in Pacific Place, unlike their Plaza Indonesia's branch, was not too spacious.. similarly, decorated in wooden furniture and located right in front of (ak.sa.ra), it was actually a really good spot to see people passing by.. *stalker mode: on*

this time we went for a main course section.. I picked crispy chicken roll ratatouille (Rp65,000) and lychee iced tea (Rp35,000).. my lunch was breaded chicken breast stuffed with mushroom on top of mashed potato served with some greens and mushroom gravy.. I really love it.. the chicken was deep fried which made it crunchy outside and tender inside.. the best part of the dish would be the mushroom stuffing.. it was very tasty and was the heart of the dish.. moreover, their mashed potato was soft and silky.. it was such a hearty lunch.. my lunch-mate picked duck confit (Rp95,000) and mineral water.. a tasty duck leg on top of mashed potato and some greens.. I did try a bite of the duck leg and it was indeed very tender and tasty.. yummy.. one minus thing I noted from Pacific Place branch was that only one waiter available to handle all the orders from customers, serving the ready meals and taking care of the bills.. there was actually another waiter, but I only saw her once serving the meals.. no wonder, it took like forever for our bill to arrive.. 

overall, I had a satisfying eating experience in Canteen.. both in their Plaza Indonesia and Pacific Place branch.. nicely decorated eatery creating a cozy ambiance, good food and most of all, great companions.. 

Canteen
Plaza Indonesia Extension 5th Flor #E02
  Jl. M Thamrin Kav 28-30
  Jakarta 10350
  Ph.: 6221 315 6537
Pacific Place 4th floor
  Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52 - 53
  Jakarta 12190

  Ph.: 6221 5797 3742

Go!Curry

Go!Curry was known for their specific menu of curry.. five different types of curry were served here.. located in a corner of Pacific Place, the place was not too big, but seems quite cozy.. wooden furniture, wall filled with cute cartoon pictures and the cute characters of Go!Curry on our table mats were some of the things I really love about this place.. moreover, the waiters and waitresses were very kind and friendly.. with the tagline of "Eat Curry, Be Happy", this eatery seems really promising..

unlike other curry eateries, there are unique steps you need to take before ordering your curry:

1. choose your curry

2. choose your spiciness

3. choose your rice (long grain rice, cilantro butter rice, aromatic yellow rice)

4. choose your topping (tandoor chicken tika, zesty cheese chicken, lamb cubes with herbs, breaded fish, chicken katsu, Australian oxtail, breaded prawns, New Zealand mussels and mixed vegetables)

it was a Saturday lunch date with my mom and we decided to share a portion of Rogan Josh curry, hot with cilantro butter rice and Tandoor chicken tika (Rp56,000).. while for drinks, we had passion lemon crush (Rp25,000) and  cranberry lime iced tea (Rp22,000).. Rogan josh curry was Go!Curry version of Kashmiri curry, which was the house special.. actually I wanted to try their very hot curry, but the waiter warned us and my mom got scared haha.. our drinks didn't take long to arrive.. and both of them was fresh and refreshing.. my passion lemon crush consisted of fresh passion fruit, lime juice and soda..  definitely a thirst quencher.. 

our curry came in a huge bowl, enough for two.. appetizing reddish curry accompanied with the savory cilantro rice.. I was actually afraid that I would not like the curry, since I was not a fan of Indian curry due to the strong taste of cardamom.. but, I was foolish to worry since I was really impressed on my first spoon.. it was very rich in taste, yet they all blend really harmoniously in my mouth.. the spiciness level was just right for me.. and the cilantro butter rice was very fragrant.. I mean, I can't even mention one flaw of this dish.. I remember that we finished our curry real fast.. 

overall, I was really satisfied with Go!Curry.. a nice atmosphere, great service, big portion, reasonable price and four-thumbs-up food.. will definitely come back for their other curries :)

Go!Curry
Pacific Place Mall 4th Floor
Jl. Jend Sudirman Kav 52-53
South Jakarta 12190

Ph.: 6221 5140 2750

www.go-curry.com

Christmas is here :)

Below is the pictures of chrismtas decorations in each corner of Jakarta I've been, through this December. Enjoy...

and the winner is.. my favourite mall.. Mall Taman Anggrek

congratulations :)

ngidam mode: on

xiao long bao

"mission accomplished: June 19, 2009

Nan Xiang Pacific Place"