Imanuel Arnold @imanuelarnold

Mampir kesini saat udah malam dan tempat mungil ini cukup mengundang dengan jendelanya yang seperti etalase toko, cahaya terang dan hangat membuat tampilan depannya cukup menarik, apalagi dengan pajangan motor antiknya. Menunya cukup beragam, mulai dari appetizer sampai nasi dan roti, bahkan indomie juga ada. Gue akhirnya pesan Roti Bakar Telur, karena gue lebih suka dadar dibanding ceplok, jadilah gue minta telurnya didadar, minumnya teh tawar aja, lagi diet ceritanya. Soal dekorasi gue cukup appreciate, lighting oke, pemilihan furnitur juga unik walaupun beberapa rak yang jadi bagian dari interior dan dipakai buat display komik agak janggal, tapi tetep fungsional dan memungkinkan kita buat cuci mata, apalagi power outlet juga tersedia memadai hampir di tiap meja. Pas pesanan datang, kesan pertamanya adalah lucu juga tampilannya, roti bakar disajikan diatas cutting board kayu dengan roti yang cukup tebal dan terseliplah telur dadar diantaranya, plus diguyur sedikit susu kental manis. Tampilannnya yang unik juga mendukung rasanya, ya roti panggang telor dadar gimana sih rasanya, pasti udah ketebak kan? Tapi penggunaan susu kental manis cukup memberikan rasa yang beda ke roti bakar yang lebih condong ke arah asin rasanya, apalagi rotinya tuh tebal dan crispy luarnya, bukan tipe roti yang tebal tapi kempes pas dipotong, style yang berbeda memang. Teman gue yang pesan roti kukusnya juga mengakui kalau rotinya enak dan lembut, sayangnya saus srikayanya masih belum bisa bikin dia berpaling dari roti kukus jakarta. Plus point buat gue adalah teh tawarnya disajikan di cangkir yang lumayan gede, puas deh gue yang doyan ngeteh ini, rasa juga balanced, gak yang kebanyakan air, tapi gak strong juga. Di sisi lain, gue berharap dekor yang cukup cozy bisa lebih dimatangkan eksekusinya, terus seiring kita ke toilet, baru berasa suasana gedung lamanya, bahkan seinget gue gak ada wastafel untuk cuci tangan. Semoga bisa lebih rapih toiletnya. Untuk layanannya juga staffnya ramah dan juga cukup membantu dalam menjelaskan menu. Boleh juga kalau sore-sore cari tempat santai di sekitaran braga.

So 91st Street is an Italian Restaurant operating as early as January 2019 on the lobby of the Akmani Hotel. The lobby exuded such a classy ambiance with spacey area and high ceiling, the bar area was nice too. Warm lighting, copper toned big liquor shelf and lighting framework blends seamlessly with the warm and earthy tone of the interior that utilizes mostly wooden elements for the interior and seating. The overall vibe is a reminiscent of 50s American Restaurant with a hint of art deco-meets-industrial modern theme.

I managed to get a taste on some of their menu, and while not all the dishes might be exactly authentic Italian, I can safely say that they were doing quite well. They offer various kind of dishes from appetizer, soup, pasta, salad, steak, to pizza and dessert. The fun part is their open kitchen where you can see yourself how your pizza is made, the baking process was a fun thing to watch.

Chicken In The Basket was our appetizer at that visit, which was basically fried chicken fillet served with french fries, it was a basic and everyone loves a good fried chicken fillet. The twist is on their Tabasco sauce, that was new to me. Looking like a salsa with olive slices, it was a new take on the standard chili/tomato sauce as the condiment. The chicken could have been well seasoned in my opinion, you know, to elevate the chicken and not fully dependant on the sauce.

Then I tried their pizzas. I got Margherita, Salami Pizza, Marinara, as well as Boscaiola. I liked the way they make their pizza: inoffensive, thin, and crunchy but not being dry, what a pleasure. Their pizzas are available in two diameter sizes: 30cm and 20cm. Made with the same base, from dough to tomato sauce, and mostly sprinkled mozzarella bits then topped off according to your order. Marinara is the first one I tried, and it was a staple, a basic pizza consisted only with tomato sauce, chopped garlic, and olive oil. It was fresh and tomato sauce being the highlight here, while the garlic was so subtle that it was present in the aroma but almost nonexistent in the taste.

Margherita was no stranger as well, similar to Marinara, it consisted of essentially tomato sauce and mozzarella . It’s a staple, and you can’t go wrong with this one. I appreciate the versatility of a classic Margherita. Salami Pizza was no different, a classic that turns Margherita to a whole new thing. Smoky aroma from the salami complemented the whole pizza, crunchy yet still maintain the moisture. Boscaiola in the other hand, looks different with onion and mushroom, also apparent green leaves that supposedly arugula or rocket. The mushroom is the star here, it added depth to the taste and texture, and also added a nice touch of fragrant to the pizza.

When it comes to the pastas, King Prawn Spaghetti is a must try, grilled king prawn on top of spaghetti and said to served in bisque sauce. Well, it didn’t look like a bisque since bisque usually looked creamy though shares the same idea of strained broth of crustaceans. I love a good, savory, oily pasta, and the spaghetti pretty much accommodated the demand though the seasoning was a little weak on me. Along the nicely cooked pasta, there were the essential Carbonara Spaghetti with a nice thickness of the sauce. Carbonara was light and creamy, it goes well with the savory sliced beef salami creating this meaty and creamy combo that never fails to amuse. The last pasta, Pesto Fettuccine is fettuccine pasta drenched in pesto sauce creating the creamy green pasta with long beans and what I thought to be diced squash. It was fresh with various texture, despite the pesto could have been more bold. Anyway, pesto was an okay addition.

For desserts, My friends loved the Calzone Nutella Banana, well I’m no big fan of chocolaty dessert so it was just okay, imagine a pastry filled with grilled banana and nutella sauce. But I was much more attracted to their Pannacota and Raspberry Pannacota, Pannacota fresh with milky vanilla note and strawberry sauce and also raspberry pannacota, though some say that the sourness was overpowering the sweetness, I don’t mind at all. With seducing color and the sour yet fresh taste and jiggly texture, ah I want them all. Another favorite was also the Cream Brulee, okay the egg could be evenly mixed with the whole ingredient to create a more pleasant texture. Tastewise, it was light enough and not being too sweet, caramel sauce accentuate the creamy taste jus well.

I looked forward for a nice brunch time or afterhour hangout in this place.

Di jalan Pasir Koja yang notabene agak gersang, bertenggerlah sebuah tempat ngopi mungil di pojokan gedung hotel New Moonlight. Tempat yang spacenya terbatas dibikin cukup nyaman dengan interior industrial minimalis, dan power outletnya ada hampir di tiap tempat duduk. Dari beragam pilihan yang ditawarkan di kafe ini, beberapa menu yang sudah dicoba diantaranya adalah Vietnam Drip, Hazelnut Latte, Es Kopi Moonbucks, Brown Sugar Milk Tea. Mostly minuman disini sangatlah refreshing, tapi gue adalah orang yang kurang suka manis-manis (makanya biasanya black coffee atau teh aja pesennya), malah lebih suka yang asin-asin lidah ini.
Menurut gue dari menu-menu lucu yang gue coba, kebanyakan rasanya heavy on sugar, which is no big problem, tapi gue rasa bisa toned down sedikit. Beberapa menu yang bisa dikoreksi penggunaan gulanya seperti di Brown Sugar Milk Tea dan Hazelnut Latte. Untuk Hazelnut Latte, rasa nutty-nya memang didukung buat lebih terasa dengan adanya sensasi manis, sedangkan buat Brown Sugar Milk Tea, a tad bit too sweet buat gue, lalu milk teanya malah jadi kurang berasa. Lain halnya dengan Es Kopi Moonbucks yang jadi signature, es kopi susunya pakai gula aren, jadi kalo masih baru dibikin, di gelas keliatan tuh ada endapan gulanya di dasar gelas. Di kopi susunya malah cenderung kurang mantap, kurang di body gitu. Hal ini bisa diperbaiki dengan cukup sederhana asalkan perbandingan kopi, gula, dan susu atau krimnya bisa disesuaikan lebih lanjut. So I'll stick to brewed teas atau black coffee. Untuk Iced Americano oke kok, I mean it's iced black cofee afterall, jadi rasanya ya oke2 aja. Oiya saat main kemari, mostly kopinya terasa light, bisa jadi juga temanya lagi pakai beans yang medium light roast, jadi seperti di americano, rasanya lebih balanced. Untuk Vietnam Dripnya, mungkin kesannya watery, tapi mungkin karakter kopi yang light tersebut punya andil atas rasa yang terkesan watery. Vietnam Drip bisa jadi agak tricky, kopi yang light akan menghasilkan kesan watery dan agak asam (balik ke beans dan roastingan juga kali ya), sedangkan condensed milk yang kalaupun ditambah akan bikin rasanya kemanisan dan bisa overpowering si kopinya, so it's a nice challenge for them to work on their formula.

Selain itu ada camilan asin juga disini, ada bakso goreng yang seporsi isi 3, lumayan buat cemilan sore. Ada juga pisang molen dan juga batagor. Batagornya dipotong agak tipis dengan saus kacang, irisan tipisnya nya bikin tekstur jadi garing dan enak buat dicocol saus. Rasa batagornya juga enak, gak yang berat di tepung dan ikannya masih berasa.

So far, Moonbucks seolah lagi dalam proses ke arah yang lebih mantap meskipun akan banyak improvement yang akan dihadapi. Dan tempat ini adalah a nice addition di jalan pasir koja, memberikan warna tersendiri buat pilihan nongkrong sambil ngopi-ngopi

Ah another hip restaurant in the central of Jakarta! Hidden within the Seibu department store, Alfred sits next to Toby's Estate. Just when I think I got enough options for groovy restaurant with the basically the same offer from the menu, yet here we went.

It is a basic semi-fancy restaurant with typical one word naming, usually a name, and followed with classic-industrial fusion on the interior design that brings you the concept of 'old school is the new school'. But they did that with a bit of twist from sliding door, neon quote on the wall, and the creativity of utilizing such a small space then turned it into smoking and non smoking area, which not exactly a good idea. Their menu offers great selection though, from Brioche options (they don't call it burger here) to rice based mains. We ordered SA-C ( Sassy so the pronunciation) and Sorry,Dory into the big breakfast option. SA-C in big breakfast consisted of soft scrambled egg, avocado, mixed greens in honey lemon vinaigrette dressing, a shot of maple syrup and 3 slices of multigrain toast, also with Alfred sweet chili aioli. The same goes with Sorry, Dory just with the replacement of soft scrambled egg and avocado into pan fried dory fillet with tartar sauce.

They both were good, I liked the airy and fluffy scrambled egg combined with avocado and toast with the aioli. Alfred sweet chili aioli plays a supporting role here, the sweet, creamy, uplifting, and a subtle spiciness was pleasurable. Otherwise, it would just be a plate of salad and toast with egg. The Sorry, Dory was nice too, I always like fried dory, soft without the fishy smell, the batter made enough crunchiness outside, all paired with refreshing sweet and sour tartar sauce. Maple syrup also added complexity to the overall taste, I made sure to drizzle everything on my plate with the syrup.

In all, Alfred is a nice addition to your already convenient dining options with such a price that made me question if their price is really on par with what they deliver. Priciness aside, it worth a try for a unique dining menu experience.

I came by Dore on a Sunday afternoon for a quick bite while strolling around Plaza Indonesia. It is that cute little corner on the building's level 3, dominated with grayish white and gold color with a classy vibe, this small corner definitely will attract passerby's attention. And I found out that they have this different theme apllied in each outlet (Gallery in Plaza Indonesia, Colab in Plaza senayan, Corner in Kelapa Gading, etc.). There was only 3 or 4 seating in the outlet, so it's not the type of spot where you could have your fromage while chatting, social-laughing, and scrolling through your timeline with pals since people come and go in such a brief. For the most part, the limited seating has something to do with the idea of you being in their display as a mannequin to show people that walk by how classy their cakes are. And I must say that their fromage is a fancy take on cheesecake.

I ordered original fromage and chocolate fromage, and they both were really...exquisite. I like the original fromage best, you could see by the slice that the cake has two layers; the top layer is like the thick creamy part whereas the bottom layer is the cheese part with a more solid texture, also finished with a velvety surface. It taste slightly different from most cheesecake you might've had, the fromage was lighter in taste, fresh, creamy with a hint of milk and cheese, a slice would be an understatement.

Then we had the chocolate fromage, still in 2 layer format, only the base layer was a chocolate cheese base with velvety chocolate cake soft crumble. The chocolate tasted light and toned down with a sheer cheesiness, not being overwhelming is a great success in mixing milky cheese and chocolate.

The staff were nice and friendly, that made the overall experience a pleasure despite the limited seating. More visits on a less-crowded hours!