Takarajima: A budget Japanese Restaurant

It was the first time for me to take a train home from work, and amazed by the crowd by the train station in University of Indonesia. I was planning to take a cab right away when I spot this little joint. It is called Takarajima, claimed to be a cheap Japanese restaurant. From outside, I expect the food to be more like Hoka-Hoka Bento. But when I entered I was wrong.

The restaurant is quite small, with 2 tables on the terrace, and 3 tables with capacity of 4 people and 2 tables with capacity of 10 people inside. Looking at the menu, I was furious to see that they actually serve various type of fushion sushi, along with ramen, udon, and set menu of rice and meals. The price was also very reasonable. The question, as anyone would wonder, how's the taste. Since I was hungry, I decided to order a set menu of Beef Teriyaki with Rice. While I was there, it would be great to have a taste of sushi. There are 3 things that I see in a Japanese restaurant. Miso Siru or Miso Soup, Mayonnaise use for the fusion sushi, and the Salmon. So I decided to have Gunko Salmon Spicy. It is a sushi with salmon on top mixed with spicy mayonaise.

When the food arrived, I started to take a closer look. The bento might not as impressive as those you find in a fancy restaurant, but it surely complete. The beef was stir fried with slices of carrot and pepper. On top of the rice there were black sesame seed. It also have japanese salad (as I called it, since I saw it in most of Japanese restaurant) consist of carrot, cucumber, and radish, dipped in vinegar. Also they have this potato croquet. As for the salad, I think it need more vinegar. The croquet was not so bad. But, the most impressive is, the taste of the teriyaki sauce. The first time I dipped the beef slice into it and put it in my mouth, I never tought it will taste that good. The strong taste of teriyaki in a very thin sauce. It goes well with either the beef, the carrot, or the pepper.

The sushi is quite good as well. WIth it's price, I never expect a really fresh salmon to be served. When I ate it, I am not quite sure how fresh it is, but they mixed the mayo and chilli very well, that it blends perfectly with the salmon. Great taste for the price. The last, but not least, I drink the Miso Soup. Although I have those three indicators above, Miso Siru always been the best indicator in determining whether a Japanese Restaurant is worthy to dine or not, just like I usually did with Tom Yam for Thai restaurant. The Miso Siru was OK, so, it's passed the test as one of Japanese restaurant worthy to try.

As I went to the cashier, she told me that the restaurant was just opened for a month, and it's a branch from the same restaurant located in Kemang. So, if you happened to be in Margonda near to the alley that went to UI train station, please drop by.



Dining Experience:
Gunka Salmon Spicy: 7.5 out of 10
Miso Siru: 7.5 out of 10
Beef Teriyaki: 8 out of 10 (could be 9 if they add more beef and less carrot)
Service: 7 out of 10, not too quick but not too long either
Response: 8 out of 10
Price: very reasonable

Cakwe Medan: Pleasure Companion in between meals

Cakwe is widely known in chinese cuisine as a companion for rice porridge, but usually it came in small sizes (diameter of 0.5-1 inch), and cut into small pieces to be mixed with the porridge. There is also another kind of Cakwe, we called it Cakwe Medan.

There's no significant different in taste. Mostly in size and crispiness (is that the correct term for level of crispy?). Cakwe Medan can sized up to 2-2.5 inches in diameter, and length up to 15 inches. The basic ingredients are wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. The right amount of the ingredient will form a tender crust Cakwe which will crush and melt perfectly as you bite and chew it. That's how I feel about Cakwe Medan that I bought in Jalan Dharmawangsa, near to Panglima Polim and Wijaya Grand Center, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta. For me it was one of the biggest cakwe that sold on the street, with 2 inches in diameter and 13 inches in length. The crispy also stays up to 6 hours after it's been fried, while mostly it only lasts for 2 hours. Cakwe usually came with a sweet and sour sauce which lighten up the plain taste of the cakwe.



Dining Experience:
Cakwe & Sauce: 9.5 out of 10

*Great to accompany your morning or afternoon with a cup of coffee or tea
*You might want to lay it down on a bed of tissue before eat it, because it contains lots of oil

Kempi Deli: A Cozy Place to Blog...

This is my second visit to this place... The last time I was waiting for my wife to catch a birthday dinner. Now, it's a dillema between going to the Gym, or stay here spending my time blogging. At the moment, I am more on the last one...

What I like about this place, that it's setting which give the ambience of old time bakery or deli that offers bread, sandwich, sausage, etc, with additional service of serving hot and cold beverages. The interior really emphasize on calmness and welcoming atmosphere. With a strong combination of black and white for the walls and floor, the Deli's equipped with brown high-chairs with round marble tables. It has around 6 tables with total of 21 chairs. The place also equipped with free Internet and total of 3 electric plugs for the guests.

From the way it is build, the Deli seems to have more visits from people buying bread, sausages, or cheese to take home than to dine in. Although at certain hours I found the place quite full with people meetings or just killing time.

For now, having a Hot Chocolate earlier today, and also a Coffee at a meeting before, I decided to order Pepermint Tea. They are using Ronnefeldt Leaf Cup for the tea. The tea itself comes with 2 pieces of cookie. To accompany the Tea, they offered me a special package with Strawberry Mousse Cake.




Overall Dining Experience:

Tea - 9 out of 10, it tastes better than other peppermint tea I ever tried in a cafe or coffeeshop (or tea shop)
Cookies: 8 out of 10, it's free, but seems like is one of the top grade cookies. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a cookie person
Strawberry Mousse Cake: 9 out of 10. Taste sooo good, with a taste of real strawberries lasts in your mouth, not just an essence.
Cleanliness: 9.5 out of 10
Waiter/Waitress: 8.5 out of 10, a bit too much for a Deli this small.
Price: a bit expensive, since it's part of Kempinsky Hotel, so it's a hotel price

Oen Pao Radio Dalam: A late night delicacy

It was a very long day for me and my wife, because both of us have to work overtime. Eventually, the timing was perfect for us to go home together, and decided to have a late dinner at Oen Pao Radio Dalam, where I knew that they open 24 hours. The time was a few minutes after 10pm.

Even before looking at the menu, I knew that I want to have some roast duck. As I opened the menu, I'd rather try the mix barbeque rice, where it contains both roast duck and roast chicken with rice. My wife ordered seafood fried rice. Along with it, we have some dim sum as well: chicken feet, mini pao with beef and cheese, and shrimp siaw may. We do know that the food tastes good there, but at that occassion, we were extremely hungry, and we know we will have even more satisfaction than usual.

The food finally arrived, the mixed barbeque doesn't seem as I expected, I mean, it's odd to see the duck and chicken meat placed on top of the rice in a plate. If they served it in a bowl that's OK. However, I didn't think much of it, as I begin my first bite of the chicken with my chopsticks, and wow... a tender roast chicken with a sweet taste of sauce penetrating my tongue... Before I dig in deeply through my plate, I had some dim sum first as starters. As the mini pao enter my mouth, I can feel the cheese and smoked beef bite blend perfectly together. The siaw may, on the other hand, it tasted much as like the one you find on the supermarket, the frozen one... I alse had a taste of my wife's fried rice, and it is so damn good. It should be my order the next time I visit. For the chicken feet, I don't bother to try because it's just not my kind of delicacy, but my wife said that the taste is good.



Dining Experience:
Mix Grill with Rice - 7.5 out of 10
Mini Pao with Smoked Beef and Cheese - 8 out of 10
Siaw May - 6 out of 10
Fried Rice - 7.5 out of 10
Cleanliness - 7 out of 10
Waiter/Waitress - 7 out of 10

The Soup Restaurant: Steam Chicken with Ginger

I discovered this small, ethnic restaurant when I was strolling along with my baby daughter, my wife and my mom at Plaza Indonesia. The unique design of an old chinese restaurant we only find in kung-fu movies really catch my attention, as a chinese cuisine lover, and chinese culture lover as well..

Looking at the menu, the waitress told us that their specialty is Steam Chicken with Ginger Sauce. The picture on the menu seems very-very interesting, so we decided to try it for real. Oh, by the way, the name of the restaurant is "The Soup Restaurant", and it's located on the 2nd floor of Plaza Indonesia.

As we entered, there were round antique chinese tables inside, with antique wooden chair in different models but in the same tone with the interior. It is hard to imagine that a place that small can have quite much big table inside. What's important for me as I traveled with my baby, is the baby chair. They have sufficient number of baby chair, and also provide melamine plate for the baby.

Once again we looked at the menu. As it's name, we figured the soup must be their specialty. But we were not a soup person, so we decide to ordered what has been advised by the waitress, Steam Chicken with Ginger Sauce, and to add, we also ordered sauteed baby pok choy with enoki mushroom, and Fried Shrimp with Wasabi sauce. As Indonesian, we're not forgetting to ordered some rice too. They served us steamed peanuts as a starter for free, the specialty of this peanut is the size, seems triple of the size of ordinary peanuts, and also it is steamed until soft and tasted sweet. Farra loves it sooo much.

As the food arrived, we were awe with the delight that the food looks exactly the same as in the pictures, and as the plate of chicken arrived at the table, I used my chopsticks right away to took a piece of the chicken, dip it in the rich ginger sauce, and took a bite.... Oh my God, it tasted very delicious. The mix of soya sauce and strong ginger give just the right taste on your tongue, and I certainly can't wait to get more of it. With rice, it surely the best companion at that time. As the baby pok choy and wasabi shrimp arrived, not that they are not good, they're very tasty all right, but I guess the sensation of the chicken kind of make them as additional meals. However, the Wasabi put on the shrimp give a sensational taste, not as strong as Wasabi you would find in most Japanese restaurant, but the blend of wasabi and mayonaise give the spicy-sweet-sour spark on the shrimp.




Dining Experience:
Steamed Chicken with Ginger Sauce - 9 out of 10
Sauteed Baby Pok Choy with enoki mushroom - 7 out of 10
Wasabi Fried Shrimp - 8 out of 10
Waiting period: no waiting period as we arrived, but there were chairs up front so I figured at some point they might have waiting lists
Cleanliness: 9 out of 10
Quickness of service: 8 out of 10, not bad for Chinese Cuisine
Waiter/Waitress: 8 out of 9, quick responds
Price: Reasonable (match between the price, the taste, and dining experience)