Edwin Lim (IG : @edwinlim_97)

Tai Wah Noodle is a noodle shop located at PIK Area. I got a buy 1 get 1 voucher from PergiKuliner last week so I decided to give this restaurant a try. This restaurant got 1 Michelin Star in Singapore, so I expect I got a different experience when I dine here. So yes, their signature is Bak Chor Mee. The soup is different than the usual one, it has a thicker consistency and flavor like tonkotsu ramen broth. For the noodle, they use flat noodle which is more like tagliatelle. The topping consists of pork meatball, chopped meat, dried fish, wonton, and spring onion. Overall it tasted good and unique, no wonder this restaurant got 1 michelin star in Singapore. The downside is on their service, one of the waitress who served us got no idea about the voucher, also she didn't know what is Michelin star so one of her friend came to help us. Maybe they need to improve their staff about some important information about the restaurant itself.

Li Feng, a Chinese fine dining restaurant located inside Mandarin Oriental. Legend said that this restaurant has the best dimsum in the town. Before I came I've contacted their Captain Mr. Rudi Wibowo for the menus and my dining preferences. Then on saturday, I made it there.

The interior resembles a Chinese ship which has a story behind it. Mr Rudi told me that it is based on history when Chinese empire sailed to Indonesia to open a trade routes, and the ship they were using became an inspiration to create this restaurant.

The restaurants itself isn't really spacious, yet the interior has a blue and yellow dominant color which is different than usual chinese restaurant which prefer to use a red color theme. It has a blue glass ornament on the ceiling of the restaurant which resemble the wave that take on the ship. The restaurant also came out with a dimly light to give a more private and romantic ambience around it, but because I want to take a good picture I requested them to make it brighter for my table.

For lunch they provide ala carte menu and dimsum menu, this time I was going for their dimsum menu. For a fine dining restaurant, the price given isn't really that high. For me it's pretty affordable. A dimsum costs you just for 25-40k.

Here's what I ordered : 

- Shrimp Har Gau (10/10) : har gau was solid, juicy, and delicious. The shrimp and bamboo shoots filling given was generous. 

- Siu Mai with Scallops (10/10) : it's kinda rare to see a steamed dimsum siu may topped with scallops. Siumay was delicious, and the scallops on top of it was so soft, not chewy at all. and perfectly cooked. 

- Chicken Black Truffle Bun (10/10) : the white chinese bun was so soft, with a generous filling of chicken and black truffles. The black truffles was so fragrant and give a flavor kick to the bun. 

- Steamed Rice Roll with BBQ Pork (10/10) : this one was so amazing, usually steamed rice roll came out to be soft, but in here the steamed rice roll was chewy like a mochi texture but not overwhelming. The bbq pork inside was so fragrant and juicy as well. Perfect!!! 

- Xiao Long Bao Shanghainese Pork Dumpling (8/10) : this was my first time trying xiao long bao. This dumpling contains juice inside it, and when you give your first bite, it will explode and fill your mouth with the juices. But for me, the pork filling inside wasn't really fragrant and also it's too gingery for me. But it's not bad though.

- Turnip Cake with XO Sauce (8/10) : It tasted good, the turnip cake was so soft and tender. But I wish that they make the side of the turnip cake to have more crunch on it, so it will have a feel of crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. 


 - Black Swan Dumpling (10/10) : this is the signature dish in here. Legend said this dish is only available at 2 location in the world, the first one is located at Li Feng Mandarin Oriental Jakarta, and the second one is located at Jiang by Chef Fei at Mandarin Oriental GuangZhou. The dish consists of black swan shaped dumpling with a generous black pepper duck meat filled inside the dumpling. First the waiter will come to your table and bring a plate full of black swans, then he/she will pour some water to fill the holes which have some dry ices underneath. The result is an eruption of ice fog that will create an amazing view in which the swans will look like they're floating on the cloud. The dumpling was crunchy yet the blackpepper duck filling didn't taste too spicy also. It was so delicious, and I can call this dish a masterpiece. 

- Homemade baked Egg Tarts (10/10) : it came in a small bite size, but it was so fragrant yet not too sweet. So perfect for a pre dessert. 

- Blueberry Snow Skin Dumpling (10/10) : A beautiful presentation for a dessert. It was served on a wooden ancient chinese scroll plate. The texture was soft, the blueberry sauce doesn't overwhelm the flavor, and it has a cold sensation in my mouth. Amazing!

- Cooked Pu Erh Tea Lao Man Er 2015 (9/10) : A cooked Pu Erh Tea from Lao Man Er which has a earthy yet soothing taste within it. Tea cost you for 68k++. But there was a misunderstanding on the menu though, they should write that the price given for the tea is for only 1 person, The staff also didn't inform me about this information. So when I ordered this tea (I came here with my parents, so in total of 3 persons), they counted it as 3 times from the price given, so I had to paid around 250k for this tea. (TwT)

The service was very good, the waiter and waitress were so attentive towards their customer, especially Mr. Rudi Wibowo who served our table directly. Also I've got the chance to meet and took a photograph with Chef Chang See Loy who was the Executive Chef in Li Feng.

If you ask me will I come back to this restaurant once again. Of course I will, next time I'm going to try their main course (szechuan beef, sweet sour chicken, fried fish skin are their signature also). I am looking towards for it.

Came here yesterday when I wanted to visit Four Seasons Hotel. The restaurant itself is located alongside the alley way towards Four Seasons Hotel, you can easily spot it with their sign written Lalla on the left side of the alleyway. The restaurant itself isn't really wide but has a high ceiling with a lot of ornaments hung on the wall, while there are some trees inside the restaurant also which gives a feel of nature and contemporary arts within.

Ordered their Croquetta which is made with beef cheeks and machengo cheese served with Chipotle sauce, a sauce that tasted like spicy mayo. The croquetta is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with melted machengo cheese running through your mouth...absoulutely delicious.

For the beverage I ordered some kind of Chocolate Peanut Milkshake...I forgot the name of the drink. For this one, the peanut butter was a bit overwhelming and inside the beverages they put some sort of Top wafer and koko crunch. It tasted not bad, but not really good.

Overall Lalla is a great place for hang out with your friends while having a south american style snack and drinks.

La Pattiserie is a lounge located inside Four Seasons Hotel, you can easily spot it right beside the main lobby. The lounge isn't spacious, only can accommodate around 20 people. The interior resembles a french luxury tea room which gives a touch of feminine style with a blue and yellow pastel color.

I ordered a teapot of TWG's Earl Grey Breakfast Tea, Butter Croissant, and Chocolate Croissant with a complimentary butter and biscotti cookies. Just a perfect dishes to accompany my afternoon, with a beautiful interior and soothing music played in the background. The service was also really great and friendly.

When you come to Four Seasons Hotel, don't forget to take a picture of the La Patisserie itself and also a picture on the stair of the Hotel's Lobby, you won't regret it.

TWG Tea, a luxury tea brand from Singapore which has opened a lot of branches includes Indonesia. Ordered 1837 Green Tea and Earl Grey Ice Cream, the tea was fragrant with an aroma of fruits and flower, and also a sweet aftertaste notes. For the earl grey ice cream, it was smooth and had a strong earl grey flavor within it, also they used dark chocolate to create a sweet bitter sensation in your mouth. TWG has never disappointed me so far.

Known as the fanciest fine dining in Jakarta that specialized in Contemporary French Cuisine. Helmed by Chef Gilles Marx, AMUZ has won a lot of achievement from both local and international awards.

I've been waited and planned to dine here a long time ago, and finally I decided to visit AMUZ while celebrating my birthday also. The services was very good which the waiter and waitress greeted with a smile and they did explain the dishes served so we could understand what component does the dish had.

Ordered 2 package of 6 course degustation menu and 2 bottle of Still Water. The menu will be described below :

- Welcome bread (9/10): a warm freshly baked bread consisted of Ciabatta, Wholewheat bread, Mini baguette, and 2 slice of Sourdough bread served with cold butter and olive oil. The ciabatta was so soft that make me feels like I'm eating a chinese bun. The croissant was so crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Dipped with olive oil and spread with butter...perfect.

- Amuse Bouche Mushroom Cappuccino (9/10) : a small cup of warm mushroom soup served with cheese gougere. A light and tasty dish for elevate my appetite.

- Appetizer 1 Seared Large White Asparagus (6/10) : a combination of white asparagus, hollandaise sauce, truffle jus, and poached egg. White asparagus was sweet and delicate, with a little bitter aftertaste. But the combination doesn't really suit me. But it's still good enough.

- Appetizer 2a Freshly Shaved Black Summer Truffle (9/10) : shaved black summer truffle on the top of angel hair pasta in light cream. The cream was light enough and the truffle aroma doesn't overpowered the dish. Combined with Angel Hair Pasta, an amazing combination.

- Appetizer 2b Pan Seared Duck Liver Foie Gras (10/10) : this dish was outstanding! I've never liked Foie Gras before because of it's weird taste. But in the hand of Chef Gilles, this foie gras turned out to be a masterpiece. Foie gras combined with orange sorbet and orange skin, I doubted it for the first time, but once I tasted it, it tasted amazing. The cold orange sorbet eliminated the weird taste of foie gras, and the texture of foie gras which melts into your mouth, so perfect.

- Main Course 1 Baked Pacific Coral Grouper Fillet (9/10) : pan fried fish fillet served with lemon froth, echalote au bouillon, lemon confit vinaigrette, and sun dried tomato. Fish was so fresh and delicate, the combination with lemon sauce made it super tasty.

- Main Course 2 Grilled Black Angus Grain Fed Beef Sirloin (7/10) : grilled black angus sirloin served with mashed potato, spring vegetable, and bordelaise sauce. The meat is a little bit chewy as it is a black angus. Mashed potato and bordelaise sauce tasted good, but the spring vegetable is lacking of flavor and it got a little cut of radish on it which I don't really like.

- Pre Dessert Yoghurt Cream (9/10) : a frozen yoghurt served with clotted cream, strawberry coulis, and fresh strawberry. A light dessert to clean my palette, a very good combination of sour from yoghurt and sweet from cream.

- Dessert 1 Classic Valrhona Chocolate Souffle (9/10) : a warm chocolate souffle with 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream. Souffle was so soft and delicious at the same time. Beautiful.

- Dessert 2 Light Coconut Cream Mousse (10/10) : the best presentation so far, served with mango jelly, mango salsa, and tuile. This dessert was probably the best I've tasted so far. It was so soft and creamy with mango and coconut flavor, with a crunch of crispy tuile on top of it. So good, so beautiful, so perfect.

- Complimentary Birthday Cake : since I was on birthday I was given a complimentary chocolate birthday cake from AMUZ. But since I'd been so full, I decided to take it home. But I sill haven't got my time to try it, so it is still kept inside the fridge now.

Overall it was an amazing experience. The food was outstanding, the service was great, and finally I could meet Chef Gilles himself. He is so kind and allowed me to take a picture with him and gave his autograph to me. Wow I was so happy that night. I definitely will come again to AMUZ to try the other signature dishes by Chef Gilles especially the Grilled Wagyu Tenderloin 9+ in Cabernet Barrel Oak Fog.

I got an invitation from Raffles Hotel Jakarta to try their Turkish Feast that is avaiable throughout Ramadhan month. The highlight of this event is "The Bridge Over the Bosphorus", an arrangement of turkish dishes special created by Chef Ismail and Chef Bayram from Swissotel Bosphorus. The turkish dishes are widely prepared from appetizer, main course, live station, and desserts.

Beside the Turkish dishes, they also provide International Cuisine such as Indonesian (soto ayam, nasi goreng, kerupuk), Japananese (sushi, sashimi, shrimp, mussel), and Western cuisine (cakes, viennoiserie, bread, desserts). They also serve some of the dishes special prepared from the kitchen like fish and any other. Also for the beverage they also provides mineral water, turkish herbal tea, apple juice, and ice tea.

Middle Eastern Cuisine is a new flavor to my tastebud. All of them tasted new and unfamiliar for me because the use of spices, herbs, pistacchios, dates, etc. Some of the dishes tasted really good like Lamb Kofta, Baklava, Muhalabia, Tulumba, Sekerpare, etc. While some of them doesn't really suit my taste either because of too bland, weird taste, or unfamiliar flavor like Hummus, Turkish Herbal Tea, Bibes Dolma, Muhammara, etc. But it's a good start to explore more about Middle Eastern Cuisine especially Turkish Cuisine.

Benedict is said to have the best Egg's Benedict in Jakarta. Came here a couple weeks ago since I am a big fan of Eggs Benedict. Tried to order a plate of Classic Benedict (85k) and also Pork Belly Benedict (90k). The Classic Benedict came with 2 Eggs Benedict consisted of English Muffin, Ham, Poached Eggs, and Classic Hollandaise Sauce also served with fried potato as a side. It tasted really good, the combination made it perfect and the potato was also really really good for me. The Pork Belly Benedict came with a more unique way, the patty itself was made using a deep fried mac n cheese, also it came with pork belly, bacon, and also Green Hollandaise Sauce. I can reccomend this if you're a fan of Benedict, it has a stronger flavour rather than the classic one, and also if you like pork belly you're gonna love this (but since I dislike pork belly, I just gave it a few bites), but the only downside is the bacon was too salty for me maybe because it was a cured bacon. Overall had a good experience at @benedictjakarta, will come here again if I'm craving for another Eggs Benedict.

Chazuke is a comfort dish that is popular in Japan itself. In Jakarta, maybe most people still don't know what chazuke is. Chazuke is a rice dish poured with a hot umami soup, with some condiments like meat, seaweed, spring onion, onion, etc. I came here yesterday since I am curious what it tastes like, came here around midday and the place was clean and have some sort of Japanese ambience, pretty comfortable,

I looked at their menu, most of them are about the chazuke itself. Rather than being confused, I decided to order the 3 tasting portion of Chazuke consist of beef, chicken, and unagi. Served with a hot umami dashi soup which is belly warming and all of them tasted so good for me, the flavor is so Japanese that you feel that you're in a traditional Japanese home with a comfort food. Will come here again to try the other menu.