Jason Pirelli Tandean (IG: @jasontandean)

Early dinner with my lovely sis @joshadeline and mate @chrisongkoo at @mykopio Pakuwon Mall/Supermall Pakuwon Indah, kinda miss their chicken wings and salted egg tofu, reminiscing the good (yet full of anxiety) ol' days. 

Korean and Spicy Japanese chicken wings, salted egg tofu, Grilled Saba/Mackerel on rice was the pick of the day, enough to share for 3. You might think I've ordered too much but trust me, it's not. In fact I felt like I ordered too little of their chicken wings. 

The chicken wings still taste like the way I knew them, crunchy battered skin and moist + juicy meat, although it leans toward the dry side this time, but still forgivable. Smothered in their Sweet (Honey, maybe?) Korean and Spicy Japanese (Sweet and Spicy) special sauce, it's literally finger lickin' good and won't let you stop reaching the plate for more chicken wings goodness. Worth the effort deboning and sucking on every single piece of bones. 

The salted egg tofu, sounds like a simple dish but not every restaurant can pull this off. I love the creaminess of the salted egg sauce that beautifully coat those crunchy yet airy fried tofu pieces. A must-order menu item every time I drop @mykopio a visit. 

Grilled Saba on rice, was actually good. Never been a big fan of fish myself but this one convinced me that my belief is a few percent incorrect. Grilled to perfection with crispy charred salty skin, flaky meat with well-rendered fat, combined with some sort of teriyaki sauce and caramelized onion, pieces of veggies making this dish a good option if you feel like you can't have a meal without rice, and when you want to feel less guilty with the chicken wings fiesta. Of course since the fish contains a buckload of nutrition, it could increase a tad more of your intelligence (results may vary depending on each individuals).

To some, comfort food is about those food items that could remind them of their homelands, something pleasant in the past, a short getaway from reality while filling their tummies up and balancing back all those hangriness caused by the emptiness of the tummy. What about if the Heart is the empty one? Okay that's not for today's story. 

Bakso/meatball soup, for me, is one of my comfy foods. Yeah I'm a foodie and you expect me to only have 1 kind of comfy food? Cmon mate... 

This one is Bakso Pak Djoni, located kinda hidden deep in the SOHO complex of Loop Graha Famili, I wouldn't have come across this place if it's not for @chrisongkoo , thanks bud. Was a bit skeptical when I entered the door but was left happy and satisfied with a full tummy. Who might have thought that a bowl of Bakso, another bowl of their house-made fritters and sauces, would go so well with a bottle of melon-flavoured milk from Batu, Indonesia. 

The beef balls are meaty and slightly chewy, but not over. Just the right consistency that I like. The stuffed fried tofu puff and dimsim too, was good. Chewy and meaty, a tad doughy but was okay. Some of the balls have fillings (no pun intended) such as cheese, quail egg, mushroom pieces, etc. Go for all of them, I'm telling you. Screw all the diets, calorie intakes, blah blah diet starts tomorrow. 

An extra bowl of fritters might be too much for some of you, but not for me. I love the crunch from them, and a Bakso meal without an extra portion of fritters is just not me. Pair them with a mix of ketchup, sambal, and sweet soy sauce for the ultimate flavour blast. 

The whole lot, a meal for 2, costs me around IDR 70k. I remember a portion of Special Bakso was IDR 15k. The fritters might go for IDR 500-1000 per piece, but for what it's worth, I'm glad I stumbled upon this underrated place.

The one where we had All-You-Can-Eat buffet bbq dinner at @niku.sby . I've been waiting for a while to lay my hands (chopsticks) on these bad boys. For IDR 95k (around AU$8) you get 90 minutes to fill your tummy up. Not a bad deal for me to have once in a while. 

The star of the show gotta be the sliced meats, although that's not the case for me. Meat just tastes like, well, meat. Grilled meat. You gotta play with the seasoning and all to elevate the taste of these meat cuts, as commonly practiced in AYCE restaurants everywhere. 

I like their fried shiu-mais (siomay goreng), surprisingly it doesn't taste too doughy hence you can have 2 or 3 of them without feeling to stuffy. Kimchi also saved the day, it does its job very well to cleanse your palate up after those fatty, meaty feast. Sliced garlic and onions are there to save the day, have them sauteed with your meat (no pun intended. Swear to gods), or have them raw for the crunchiness and sweetness. Add some kimchi then Wrap them in a lettuce leaf. Yum. Just yum. Binge watching that korean series about a foodie/insurance agent turns out to be useful and not just a waste of my free time. 

After few grilling session your pan/whatever we call it, will get ugly and sticky. You can ask them to replace it and they will happily do it for you. Don't forget to thank the waiter, it's not difficult. 

They do have rice and garlic rice on the buffet, sushi rolls, fried battered dory pieces (i chose chix karaage, i prefer the chicken version), free flow iced tea, veggies, condiments, all you need to do is literally just pick your poison.

The first debut of this camera phone. Me and my big man (aka Dad) went for a quick lunch at one of the local's favourite spot. Simple dish, as it seems, yet packed with flavour and just enough to fill your tummy up for lunch. 

It's a plate of white steamed rice topped with a piece of curried tofu, beef, half of a hard-boiled egg, and soy sauce stir-fried glass noodle. We finished it in no time, so good that I forgot to snip the post-meal picture. 

I heard plenty of corporate folks, private functions of University students and those alikes ordered their lunch box for their functions. Surely with those massive, regular orders, it can't be wrong if we assume that this place is worth our visit, isn't it?

Sunday is an off day for the most of us, and it's a great excuse to go out and try some of great dishes your local restaurants, cafes, or FnB outlets might offer.

@onnihouse.sby is one of the popular, recommended spot by my fellow foodie and artsy folks. We ordered their umami potato and fries to share, apart from their signature house-brewed coffee. Food n bev apart, the interior of this place is so artsy, everyone wants to take some snips of it. I'm not one of them, so feel free to check what I'm talking about on Onni's official IG page. 

Umami potato was, well, umami. Thin n crispy pieces of crispy-fried shredded potato tossed in their special glaze, sprinkled with nori pieces and toasted sesame seeds. The fries was awesome, fried to perfection with its crispy crust and not soggy. Have it with the house-made dip, mandatory. 

The coffee for me, the classic all the time trusty iced Americano. Its bitterness was refreshing to me, and a glass of it was enough to give me the caffeine hit I like and need. Sugar syrup was served on the side, for you who might need it. I don't, I love it and everything as it is, be it bitter or sweet.

Another weekend well spent with my trusty lil sis @joshadeline . Remember a few posts back where we end up having some unpleasant meal of kwetiau capcay, bad service, overly sweet syrup drink? Finally today we had the chance to actually go to Depot Family, kudos to sis for pulling my lazy butt to have their special Hokkien Noodle (dry noodle with all of the house made toppings). Do check my Instagram @jasontandean to see more food posts.

A portion consists of a bowl of well cooked, springy thin noodles topped with varieties of fishballs, 2 prawns, minced beef+pork cooked in soy sauce, 2 fritters/fried balls and a bowl of soup + condiments on the side. 

Taste? Way better than what I had previously in that other place. This is a home-restaurant which means the owner literally converted a part of her house to accommodate dining customers. Home-made would be an appropriate statement to be used here, and I'm not exaggerating. Tastes like home and worth the effort to drive around in the housing complex in order to find this restaurant. 

Fishballs' textures are nice and chewy but not too chewy, prawns are fresh, fritters are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Add a dash of chilli sauce and pickled chilli before taking a bite in order to get the most (flavour) out of your bowl. What about the soup, you say? Well it's optional for me, most of the time I don't have it as I prefer my noodle to be dry noodle, as gorgeous as it is.

It's a bright day and it's after office dinner time for us. There's this happening Porchetta place in Loop Graha Famili and we haven't had a chance to try it, until the day finally came that we could lay our hands on these bad boys. 

Porchetta basically is roasted crispy skin pork belly, rubbed with herbs and spices (especially rosemary) and rolled into well, a roll of belly then cooked in the oven until its skin turned golden brown and crunchy (not just crispy) with juicy meat. Served kinda shredded on a sharing plate to share (or not, up to you) with 3 kind of sauces. We picked Sambal Matah, Thai Green Chilli and Crispy Chilli sauce. That's one item. 

The next one, loaded fries. Pig loaded fries. Yeah you read that right, it's so good that it became the cover photo of this dinner. Chips/fries were cooked to perfection, crispy but not greasy, and the pork pieces, well, perfect on their own. Who doesn't love crunchy and juicy bits of porks?