Eric @ericfoodreview

Beef Katsu Platter. First, I wanna tell you not to expect it to be served like this. If you've followed me from the beginning then you know that I wanna show you how they will serve their menu. This whole replating thing is really not my thing. But, thing happens so yeah, I didn't have the chance to take the original version. (It's not like someone forced me to do it, I forgot to take the original version and just realized afterward) 

Moving on. You can choose 3 types of beef katsu, I tried the Negi, Cheese and Garlic. The ouside batter was crunchy but not that crunchy, I'd prefer it to be a lil bit crunchier. However, that layer of meat saved the dish. Because the cut it thinly, the texture was super tender. I mean the meat alone was tender enough, but the way the cut it made it even more tender. So yeah, I have no complain. And you can mix your own dipping sauce. The original way to make the sauce is by grinding the sesame seeds then mix it with the katsu sauce. Me? I used the seed as it was, grinding it would bring the flavor and aroma but lose the crunchy texture. I'd love to bite it and let the aroma kick inside my mouth. Well, you can do what you want. 

Next, let's talk about the filling.
The Negi was... hmm... how to say it, I didn't taste the negi at all. The savoury beef covered it. Shame, if I could taste just a lil bit of earthiness from that negi, it would have amazed me so much.
The garlic was good. A bit garlicky flavor to enhance the savoury beef and giving it a bold taste. I recommend this one.
The cheese was so so. I'm not a big fan of cheese from the very start. Then, the melted cheese wasn't really 'melted'. The amount of cheese was very very little, I barely saw the melted cheese. Then, I took the photo so damn long, it's no longer melted. Yup, they have nothing to do with that one. The blame is totally on me.

Spicy Salmon Roll. Flame seared salmon, crab stick, crunchy panko (crunchy crumbs) and spicy mayonnaise. The spicy mayo was very pungent and just slightly spicy. I gotta say, not my kind of sushi. I tasted nothing but mayonnaise. I think it's overpowering the other ingredients, even the salmon. However, it's still edible but just not memorable.

Tori Kawa aka chicken skin (Appetizer). Let me tell you what's written in their book menu, "Be ready for this five-star crispy marinated chicken skin. Can you handle its perfection?". Now lemme tell you what I think. 5 star crispy? I don't think it deserves 2 star. It's just mediocre chicken skin. Lacked of crispiness and salty savoury flavor I gotta say. Not better than Wandi/Mubarok and clearly can't be compared to KFC's skin. It's not the worst chicken skin I've had but to say it as 5 star, not even close. It costs 9K++ so yeah, don't expect much. 

Piyo Piyo Menchi. Once again, let me tell you what's written in the menu, "perfectly soft-boiled egg wrappped in thin layer of seasoned minced chicken", and if you see the picture out of it, it's super tempting with the "MUST TRY" stamp. Now, here's the fact or maybe it only happened in my case, my bad luck strike again? They served me a not so round egg. It's already "MELETOT" when they served it (pardon my singlish language, I don't know how to describe it) and the melted yolk was gone. I barely saw the minced chicken. It's more like super super thin instead of thin and I couldn't taste it at all. It tasted like your daily soft boiled egg without the yolk and covered with batter. For me your specialty dish is not your forte. To be frank, that's the most anticlimatic dish I've tried. The expectation was high but the presentation and taste were meh. And the price is 25K++, really?

Manggo Rainbow Cake. It's quite good actually. It looked like it's gonna be more dense, but it's quite fluffy and light. It tasted sweet and sweet thing is not my forte. My judgement is biased. 

Matcha feat Ogura Mousse Cake. I tasted this and for me, it's okey. Just lil higher than mediocre. The matcha was quite strong but the texture was a bit dry. The mousse was so so, not really special. Well, I can't compare this one with the amausaan one. I haven't tried it yet. If you ask me, I'd say price wise, it's worth it.

Matcha Mochi Ice Cream. I was quite surprised when I tasted the matcha ice cream inside the mochi. It's rare to find a bold matcha taste in mochi ice cream. Normally it'll taste sweet but not here. I gotta say it's better this way. The mochi itself was quite chewy and sweet. Wait, not chewy, it's more like stretchy. And the bitter matcha ice cream was completely match with the sweet mochi. 

Black Sesame Mochi Ice Cream. The mochi was the same with the matcha one, but they used black sesame ice cream inside. It's little sweet but not too sweet. The taste of black sesame was super smooth and very gentle. I'm a black sesame lover (old school yes) so when I saw this on the menu, it hyped me up. Name me a good place to eat black sesame mochi ice cream, not much right? That's exactly why I'm gonna give a high rating for the dessert.

Overall, their beef katsu was quite solid. The texture was there, the flavor was there and the price is still reasonable. And most of the desserts tasted great. I'd come again if they open new branch around my home. To travel that far only for this? Sorry but I don't think it's worth it.

So many variation of soto. I tried 4 types. Soto mie, soto bogor, soto goreng and soto oseng. 

Soto Mie (30K). Huge chunks of meat, noodle, vermicelli, cabbage, risol and dumpling skin. The meat was huge but not that tender. The cabbage was fresh and still crunchy. The risol was too damn small. Like 2 or 3 small pieces. And the broth wasn't rich enough. It's quite disappointing. It's not that bad but I could easily find a better one in Jakarta. Soto Mie Bang Alex (near pelita in gang macan) tastes even better and cheaper. 

Soto Bogor (39K). The soup was yellowish with super creamy flavor from coconut milk. The meat was the same with the one they used for soto mie. The lungs was kinda smelly, it had a strong innards aftertaste. But the kikil was soft but still a little bouncy, perfect I gotta say. And they used radish in the broth, it gave a sweet flavor to the broth. 

Soto Goreng (39K). First they served me a soup bowl. I thought they seperate the fried part or whatsoever but I was wrong. The topping was already inside that broth. Let me be blunt, I tasted no difference at all. Did they screw my order and gave me 2 bowls of soto bogor? I tasted nothing fried, no crunchy texture, no nothing. 

Soto Oseng (39K). Stir-fry meat with veggies and cayenne and served with a bowl of broth. The amount of meat was disappointing and totally lacked of flavors. Gotta eat with the pickles, it's tasteless otherwise. The pickles was good btw. Once again, I could easily find a better one. Haji Mamat as example. They way they stir-fry the meat was totally different. Haji mamat one is so rich, I could taste the onion, the cayenne, the tomato from the meat itself. But here, nothing. 

Once again, we may have a different preferences. You don't have to agree with me. I just wanna tell ya what I thought about my experience there.

The place was so so, no design or ambiance at all. When I saw the menu, I thought the price was for half chicken or a pair but no it's for a piece (40K). Taste wise, it's good but not really special. The meat wasn't too dry even though it's breast not thigh. The seasoning was also quite good, not too salty, not too savoury and not too oily. But, the price doesn't make any sense. I've tasted a lot better one and it only costs me like around 20K something. I give low score because of the price alone. For me, it's totally not worth it at all.