Churreria - Spanish Chocolateria

what is good compliment you can give yourself after a tiring week at work? for me, a cup of hot chocolate will do just fine.. it was after Sunday service that I managed to drag my mom to try Churreria.. I have always wanted to try this eatery specialized in Spanish doughnut or churro but never got the chance.. a bit late maybe, but it's better than never, right?

the menu was quite various but focused on Spanish desserts which was a good sign.. I love focused eatery.. that moment, I decided to have classic churreria (Rp30,000) while my mom opted Spanish Latte (Rp20,000) accompanied with shared churros classic (4 pieces of churros and 1 dip) (Rp28,000).. we picked the dark chocolate dip and asked for our cinnamon sugar powder sprinkles..

now, the classic churreria seemed not appetizing.. at first glance, I even thought it was just another cup of hot milo.. but once I tasted, it was really good, thick hot cocoa in a huge cup on a rainy day.. it's just heavenly.. my mom's spanish latte was another surprise.. it looked like another cup of espresso but turned out it was quite a strong cup of coffee.. it tasted really bitter, even my mom who loves bitter coffee, had to add sugar to it.. I tasted a bit and it was too strong for me.. but it was a good thing, buying a quality coffee made your money well spent.. the churros was really delicious.. it was crunchy on the outside and soft inside.. the cinnamon sugar sprinkles add a little sweetness combined with the rather bitter dark chocolate dip and it was just perfect.. I love every aspect of it and no complaints at all..

now, I may seemed exaggerating.. but the truth is I was in love with the churros.. all of our orders turned out to be satisfying with prompt service and reasonable price.. there, my current craving :D~

Churreria

Central Park, Tribeca Upper Ground #06

Jl. Let. Jend. S. Parman Kav. 28

Jakarta Barat 11470

Ph.: 6221 2920 0117

[Revisit] Kitchenette

it's been a while since I actually post something in this blog.. blame it to the mounting work loads at office and a little laziness inside haha.. I'm trully sorry, but I promised I write some more soon.. well, back to business.. a few weeks ago, I had a meeting with my old friends and we decided to have brunch at Kitchnette branch in Central Park Mall.. a quite friendly location for all of us, who mostly lives around West Jakarta area..

it was brunch time and I decided to have something light, tasty and definitely not their gallettes.. so from Uncle Raul's Spanish Tapas, I picked oven baked mushrooms with melted garlic butter (Rp39,000) accompanied by freshly squeezed strawberry juice (Rp26,000).. it didn't take long for my food to arrived.. a very appealing look of baked mushrooms drenched in creamy garlic butter sauce, topped with baguettes.. and thank God, it tasted awesome.. the garlic butter sauce was very light.. it was yummy and not overwhelming.. I also love the crunchy baguettes.. I must say it was a hearty dish, very fulfilling and definitely be on my re-order list when I came back.. my strawberry juice was served chilled and it was very sour.. quite a surprise for my empty belly.. but I did feel the spirit of their freshly squeezed term..

as full as your tummy may be, there will always be a space for some desserts.. and when my friend offered to share a portion of Kitchenette's groovy checkered cake (Rp35,000), I just couldn't resist.. it was actually another rainbow cake, which was re-arranged to a checkered form.. as expected, it tasted just like another sponge cake with bright color.. my friend felt that this was a left-over cake from the previous day.. luckily, the cream cheese saved the dish.. it was really yummy, at least some bright side..

overall, I had a hearty dish.. good friends with good food was a perfect match made in heaven.. definitely gonna put oven baked mushrooms in my re-order list when I made my next visit.. I noticed that their Central Park branch has a great decoration, which was so comfortable that I felt like I'm in my own friend's kitchen.. moreover, the service was very good and helpful :)

Kitchenette
Central Park, Tribeca G Fl Unit PAV 3 A
Jl. Let. Jend. S. Parman Kav. 28, Jakarta
Ph.: 6221 5698 8888

Pines Kitchen

I have passed Pines Kitchen in Central Park several times, but never had any interest in trying it.. well, to be honest, I thought it was just another Chinese restaurant.. but I changed my mind when my mom's friend  told us that Pines Kitchen is one of the best restaurant serving dim sum in Jakarta.. so curious about their unknown famous dim sum, we decided to have a try.. 

it was Sunday afternoon after church, my mom and I went for a lunch date.. the place was quite packed as we arrived, implying a good sign that this restaurant is indeed famous for their good food.. we finally got ourselves a table after waiting for around 10 minutes.. the restaurant was very busy and the narrow distance between each table made me quite uncomfortable.. but anyway, we were here for the food.. 

we actually came for their dimsum selection and ended up ordered cheong fan char siu (Rp16,800), lotus leaf rice (Rp17,800), shaomai (Rp16,800) and xiao long bao (Rp17,800).. to accompany our lunch, we added string beans a la Szechuan (S - Rp52,000) and chinese tea - jasmine (Rp26,000 per pot).. then we also added sesame seed balls (Rp15,800) for our dessert..

so is the rumor true? well, I must say that averagely the dishes were good.. I especially love the cheong fan char siu and xiao long bao from the dim sum selection.. their string beans a la Szechuan was delicious.. it was definitely one of the best string beans I have ever tasted.. they added tauco or fermented soybeans which makes the dish really unique and addictive.. the sesame seed balls was also good, the sesame paste inside was not too sweet, definitely fits my tongue :)

overall, I had a great lunch in Pines Kitchen.. great tasted food had definitely made my day.. the prices above are subject to 5% service charge and 10% tax.. but luckily, they have a 20% promotion with BCA Credit Card..

Pines Kitchen
Central Park LG 162-163
Jln. S. Parman Kav. 28
West Jakarta
Ph.:  6221 5698 5324

Calais Tea

bubble tea fever is all over Jakarta.. here and there, new stall selling bubble tea from different brands are emerging.. Calais Tea is one of the shining star among those many.. with the tagline Artisan Bubble Tea and Coffee, and bringing a whole new experience of bubble tea by bringing the popping pearls, that is bubble that will burst in your mouth.. 

I noticed that their stall in Central Park Mall is always crowded and filled with long queue, which makes me reluctant to try.. I am a practical type of people who do not enjoy queuing haha.. but last week, the stall was quite empty, so I decided to give it a try.. I decided to go with the classic honey milk tea with original small bubbles (Rp19,500) add with mango popping pearls (Rp4,000) less sugar and less ice.. a strange combination, I know.. but with so many options, I just can't decide what to choose and I was dying wanting to try their popping pearls.. so there you go.. oh, by mentioning that you have like their facebook page and follow their twitter, you will get a free up-size from regular to large.. 

so taste wise, I can't really taste the milk tea, since my tongue was busy tasting the popping mango pearls.. I do love those popping mango pearls.. sour and very refreshing.. I did make a mistake by combining it with milk tea.. my bad.. and I did not know that the milk tea was stored hot so my choice of less ice making it a strangely warm milk tea.. the taste of the tea and bubbles were actually not bad, but not outstanding.. just another ordinary bubble milk tea.. 

I guessed, I need to try other popping pearls with their fruit tea.. too bad, lately, the queue was too long that I haven't had my chance to try their other teas.. perhaps some other time..

Calais - Artisan Bubble Tea and Coffee
Central Park Lower Ground
Jl. Letjen. S. Parman Kav. 28
West Jakarta

[Revisit] Sushi Tei

it's my favorite sushi place ever! the classic yet always satisfying Sushi Tei.. this post will be filled with lots of pictures as this was a combination from countless visits haha.. do enjoy :)

inari sushi (Rp8,500) - chuka kurage (Rp24,000)
sanshoku hana salmon (Rp29,000) - chuka wakame (Rp24,000)

wakame salad (Rp29,000) 

salmon crispy aburi (Rp29,000)

crispy roll (Rp24,000)

hotate misomayo (Rp29,000)

jumbo dragon roll (Rp75,000)

royal soft shell crab roll (Rp38,000)

shiratama maccha (Rp28,000)

gyu yanagawa + tuna salad crispy mentai (Rp88,000) using Disdus voucher

Sushi Tei

Senayan City Level 4 #08
Central Park Level 1 Unit 113

www.sushitei.co.id

Domino's Pizza

a few weeks ago, my bf and I went to Central Park just to look around the mall.. around 7 p.m we decided to see their fountain show located in the Tribeca Park.. it was very crowded and the show was quite entertaining.. then our stomach began to roar.. quite confused where to eat, we spotted Domino's Cafe right across the Tribeca Park..

the restaurant was decorated in festive colors with steel furniture, dominantly in red and blue with a hint of yellow.. it was quite crowded when we arrived and we're lucky to get a table on the corner.. the concept of the restaurant is a fast-food restaurant, so first, we have to place our order in the corner.. wait for our orders to be prepared and pick up our orders once our name is called.. we decided to pick Meal Deal 1 - Medium (Rp89,000), consisted of 1 Super Deluxe Pizza 10", 1 side dish and 1 liter drinks.. 

we picked American Classic Cheeseburger with Beef Lasagna and Fanta Strawberry.. the pizza consisted of beef crumble and beef rasher with onion, mustard, tomato sauce and melted mozzarella cheese.. it was really delicious, in my opinion.. it's even better than the famous Pizza Hut, again in my opinion.. the pizza crust was served warm, crunchy on the outside while soft on the inside.. the toppings were generous and perfectly combined.. there's actually an option of the pizza crust between the classic hand-tossed, crunchy thin crust or cheese edge.. a friend of mine told me that their crunchy thin crust pizza was also delicious.. then, that's the reason for me to go back..

the beef lasagna came in a really small portion.. the picture in the menu was really deceiving.. I'm disappointed.. it tasted rather sweet, which was weird for me.. too bad I didn't like it.. I should have prefer their chicken wings instead..

overall, there's a potential chance that I'm coming back for their pizza and their chicken wings.. the portion was generous, the service was very fast and the price was affordable..

Domino's Pizza

Central Park Mall

Tribeca Park, UG Floor #110

Jln. S. Parman Kav. 28

West Jakarta

Delivery: 500 366 (DOM)

Kopi Luwak

I'm such a big coffee fan.. I always find coffee as relaxing and nice :) I think my previous job as an auditor made me find coffee as an alternative to fight sleepiness since I have a long working hours.. I would like to introduce you to one of Indonesia's special coffee which is kopi luwak (civet coffee).. kopi is Indonesian language for coffee while luwak is Indonesian name for Asian Palm Civet.. 

now, civet coffee was made from coffee beans which has been digested by luwak.. confused already? haha.. so basically the civets eat coffee beans then coffee beans got passed through their digestion process and come out as part of their pup *euhh*.. turns out that civets' digestion process brings unique flavor the the coffee beans.. 

my mom is another big fan of coffee, so during our window-shopping time, we sneaked to a coffee shop called Kopi Luwak, specializing of course in kopi luwak.. since it was on Oprah Winfrey Show, people all over the world has recognized it as one of the best coffee in the world, costing almost USD85 per cup.. in Kopi Luwak, we can pick between original kopi luwak (Rp85,000 per cup) or kopi luwak gold blend (Rp19,500).. how can it be so much different in price? well, because original kopi luwak made from 100% kopi luwak and the gold blend only consisted of 5% kopi luwak.. since it was a try, my mom picked the gold blend kopi luwak.. and guess what she say? of course, it was delicious and very rich in taste..

I decided to pick something lighter.. a little more youthful haha.. it's Mocha Rhum (Rp27,500) which was a mix of mocha coffee and rhum topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.. it was delightful and nice.. I love rhum so much since it just gives the drink a very unique, likable flavor.. the coffee is also great, it smelled really nice and tasted nice as well..

to accompany our coffee time, I picked Spicy Tuna Salad (Rp26,500).. it's not a really suitable companion, eh? haha.. I just thought of picking it since I was craving for salad so much.. the salad is nice.. generous tuna which was spiced really nicely.. I love their spicy sauce :) 

overall, I had a great experience in Kopi Luwak.. nice coffee and nice food as well with affordable price.. and it's 100% Indonesian, how I love Indonesian products :)

Kopi Luwak

Central Park, LG #160 Floor

Jl. S. Parman Kav. 28

West Jakarta

Ph.: 6221 - 5698 5251

J.Co

it's a brand that everybody has been familiar with since it started opening their stores all over malls in Jakarta and has expanded their business to Singapore.. quite a proud thing for us Indonesian to export something to our neighbor country, than just keep importing foreign brands :) it's been a while since I visited J.Co.. it was back when I was still a college student and J.Co was such a hit, my friends and I used to come here once in a while to buy their donuts.. 


anyway, during our wandering around Central Park, we spotted J.Co in the main atrium.. we were not so hungry and planned not to have dinner.. but something in J.Co attracted my bf.. it was J.Co's sandwich haha.. it's called J.Club.. their sandwich is different since instead of using bread, they use their donut as the bread, filled with various toppings.. bf picked J.Club Sausage Sandwich (Rp9,500), which turned out to be quite nice haha.. the donut didn't taste sweet, instead it tasted rather salty, but still fluffy like J.Co's typical donuts.. I think it's a nice snack to have when you're not too hungry :)

as we were sitting in J.Co, my eyes got me seduced.. so I ordered a couple portion of J.Cool to share.. I noticed in their menu that they have yogurt with selection of plain, mango and berries.. I thought that mango and berries were flavored yogurt, but it turned out that it was the plain yogurt plus mango/berries jam.. kinda disappointed, but I have placed my order.. so I got JCool mango with strawberry mochi, longan and choco caviar (Rp28,000).. I love their choco caviar though it was not the perfect match to yogurt but it just tasted delicious :)

J.Co
Central Park, Ground Floor
Jl. S. Parman Kav. 28
West Jakarta
Ph.: 6221 - 5698 5056

[Revisit] Nanny's Pavilion, the Terrace

another visit made to Nanny's Pavilion.. it's always been a pleasure for me to visit this restaurant.. maybe I'm overrating it, but I just love their decoration so much.. the food is also delicious and affordable.. so on a bright sunny Saturday, bf and I went to Central Park and decide to have lunch here.. 

I was so in love with their blueberry lemonade (Rp20,000) from my previous visit that I ordered it again.. actually I tend to order something that I already fell in love with, than trying something new haha.. bf ordered blueberry milkshake (Rp22,000), for he's such a fan of milkshake.. their blueberry lemonade is as refreshing as I remember.. I don't fancy the blueberry milkshake though, it's just (IMHO) blueberry and shaken milk were not supposed to be together.. *even the small pot of flower in our table matched our drinks :D

for lunch, I decided to try their selection of waffle.. and I picked my grandma chicken pesto waffle (Rp24,000).. it's a piece of waffle topped with chicken and pesto then melted cheese.. and here I went fallen in love again haha.. thought it was only one piece of waffle, it turned out to be very fulfilling.. 

anyway, I love eating western food with additional spices, included crushed chili and tabasco sauce.. and of course a little chili sauce would be better :) it looks even more appetizing to me :D

bf was looking for more "heavy" meal so he thought about rice.. I suggested him kim's tuna with rice (Rp34,000) that I ordered previously and he obeyed haha.. when it came, he directly told me that it was such a small portion.. after his first bite, he admitted that it was delicious, though he wanted more haha..

of course, we just can't miss the dessert here.. so we ordered linda's roll pancake (Rp29,000) to share.. it consisted of rolled pancake filled with peanut butter jam and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.. are you drooling already? because it's delicious!! I LOVE IT.. I'm actually not a fan of peanut butter, but this one definitely stole my heart :)

overall, we had a happy and fulfilling dining experience here.. don't forget that the price stated does not include tax 10% and service charge 5.5%.. but I guess the meal worth every Rupiah spent, the service was excellent and the decoration was just perfect :)

Nanny's Pavilion, The Terrace

Sogo Central Park Ground Floor

Jl. Let. Jend. S. Parman Kav. 28 

West Jakarta 11470

Phone: (+62)21 569 8570 

Nanny's Pavillion, the Terrace

a few weeks ago, I had a date with my mom and we went to Central Park.. like always, we had a difficult time to decide where to eat.. anyway, we spotted this newly opened, (well, not too new anymore I think) small, garden-decorated, cozy spot inside Sogo.. turns out that it is new outlet of Nanny's Pavilion.. I have visited Nanny's Pavilion, the Living Room before and so without hesitation we went in to try other menu.. the terrace-themed Nanny's consisted of two dining area, the indoor (non-smoking) section and outdoor (smoking) section.. the outdoor area is right in front of the Tribecca Park, so it gives fresh air and good view.. the indoor area is as cozy as the outdoor area since they decorated it with a garden theme, so it feels just like sitting in a real, beautiful garden..

for the drinks, I ordered blueberry lemonade (Rp20,000) and mom ordered ice tea (Rp9,000).. the ice tea was just ordinary ice tea, no further review should be done I think.. on the other hand, the blueberry lemonade was outstanding.. it was fresh and tasted just right.. blueberry lemonade was part of the 'Fresh Blend Lemonade', a new drink menu I found here.. I think it was a mix of lemonade and fresh blueberry jam.. you can find the blueberries on the bottom of your glass.. it was so delicious that I am officially addicted to it haha.. *even while writing this post, I'm drooling and thinking when I should visit again*

off to the food.. since my mom and I were on diet, we decided to order one main course and one dessert.. my mom was such a rice-eater, so we decided to try the rice menu.. I picked Kim's Tuna with Rice (Rp34,000), a sauteed rice gratain topped with tuna, red pepper and melted mozzarella cheese.. the dish looked very simple, but it tasted great.. I don't know whether I was so hungry or I was just greedy, but the rice and the tuna and the melted mozzarella cheese was soooo good that I can't even stop my hand from scooping it and putting it to my mouth over and over again.. actually, it tasted really light and just nice.. it didn't leave any nausea feeling I used to get from eating rice + melted cheese.. I love it :)

for the dessert, we ordered Peach Pancake (Rp29,000), one piece of pancake filled with peaches served with ice cream and maple syrup.. the dish was quite popular, since I have read so may reviews about it, but haven't got the chance to try it myself.. first of all, the pancake was fluffy, nice, warm and thick.. next, the combination of pancake + peaches + vanilla ice cream + maple syrup is one GOOD thing.. the taste blend so well and once again, not giving the nausea feeling I used to get from eating too much sweets.. I think the peaches kinda balance the sweet taste I got from the maple syrup.. 

oh well, it's official that I am in love with Nanny's Pavilion.. and thank God for creating pancakes :) 

Nanny's Pavilion, The Terrace

Sogo Central Park Ground Floor

Jl. Let. Jend. S. Parman Kav. 28 

West Jakarta 11470

Phone: (+62)21 569 8570 

Hong Kong Cafe

hum.. it's been a while since my last post.. um, been quite busy since.. apalogize T.T anyway, I would like to review this new place called Hong Kong Cafe.. located in Central Park Mall, which is also quite new.. I had this lunch with my bf and we have to queue for almost half hour!!! I was so hungry back then, and my menu came the last.. so sad.. Hong Kong Cafe serves -of course- Hong Kong menus.. which was a fusion of chinese dish and Portugal dish.. every Hong Kong cafes I've known serves quite the same menu.. so here's what we had..

ice milk tea - curry chicken nissin noodle - HKC special baked rice

for drink we had Ice Milk Tea (IDR13.5) which is very delicious in my opinion.. I dunno why, but maybe because I always like milk tea.. yea, so it's not objective :P

bf had this Curry Chicken Nissin Noodle (IDR27) which noodle looks exactly like *nd*mie selerakuuu... it tasted quite okay though.. we were quite surprise to see the noodle since in the menu, it's stated that the nissin noodle won't be the same like you have ever tasted before.. well, I haven't try any nissin noodle before.. well, nevermind hihihihi.. the curry sauce is delicious.. I love it.. but then again, I love curry..

I had HKC Special Baked Rice (IDR39) which is baked rice with mixed seafood covered in two different sauce, creamy sauce and tomato paste sauce.. I always thought that mixing creamy and tomato paste would be really weird but this one tasted good, unexpectedly.. I prefer the tomato paste though.. since cream + baked cheese = can not eat much.. the dish is actually nice, but not outstanding which makes me think it's kinda overpriced.. and it took forever to come out.. I have to ask the waiter for several times.. well, I think because it was quite crowded that day and probably they only have one oven to bake the rice and this dish is one of the favourite here..

Overall, I think I would come back to this place only if it's not crowded.. because it definitely can ruin your mood when you have to wait for half hour to be seated and wait another half hour for your food to come to your table..

Food: 8/10

Place: 7/10

Price: 7/10

Lunch Review: May Star

For our Christmas, me and my family had our lunch in May Star in Central Park.. I've heard about this resto for quite a while and many mentioned that they provided good food.. so there we were this afternoon with a quite high expectation.. when we arrived, it's around 11.45 a.m and the place is full.. very crowded indeed, so we have to wait for about 15 minutes before we could get our seats..

the may star menu

first, we ordered the 'Buncis Ayam Cincang' IDR48.. the taste was very good actually, it's kinda sweet and makes you want to eat more and more haha.. the buncis was garing.. I love the way they cook it :) but it's kinda expensive for the small portion they provided.. I was expecting a larger portion when I looked at the price..

next, xiao long bao IDR17.8.. I've been craving for the xiao long bao for quite a while and so when I looked at the menu and found xiao long bao, I definitely say "Yes, I do" to it haha.. the taste was good, or maybe since I've been craving, it's not objective anymore hehe.. but there's one thing that's really disappoint me.. the xiao long bao was leaking before we even took it causing the soup to burst out.. urgh, I hate it.. because one of the thing I've been craving is the way to eat the xiao long bao.. anyway, fortunately the taste is very nice, that I'll forgive haha..

'Pangsit Scallop with Tobiko' for IDR17.8 tasted just okay... nothing really special.. I've tasted one similar to it in Ming Restaurant - Senayan City..

Cheong Fan Chasiew for IDR15.8 tasted really good.. I didn't expect it.. I thought the sauce will be too salty, but I was wrong.. it's sweet and very gurih.. love it so much.. moreover it was filled with minced chasiew..

'Cheong Fan Goreng Saus XO' for IDR15.8.. it's actually my mom's order.. because in the menu book, this dish looked very tempting.. however, the actual food was kinda not as we expected haha.. the taste was just okay.. it's only fried cheong fan with some chilli sauce, afterall..

we also decided to try the rice menu 'Nasi Chasiew Panggang' for IDR30.8.. the chasiew was good but overall the dish was just ordinary, nothing special.. the acar is extraordinary actually, it's kinda sweet and sour, nicely blended in your mouth haha..

last, we got 'Mie Daging Sapi Sup Shezchuan' for IDR30.8.. well, when people say "save the best for the last", I think it's applicable for this one.. this is the best.. love love love it sooooo much haha.. *drooling* the meat was very tender and the soup was excellent.. the noodle? it's the kind of thin noodle and not lembek which make me love it even more..

the service was not too good actually.. well, maybe since the resto was so crowded in the lunch time.. I have to wait for like 15 minutes to get my credit card back.. and we have to asked several times before our noodle came..

overall? gonna really come back for the noodle... FOUR THUMBS UP :)

May Star
Central Park Mall LG floor

Food: 8.5/10
Place: 7/10
Price: 7/10