Kevin L - 林勇利

Dum Dum baru saja membuka cabang baru di Mall Ciputra, tepatnya di lantai LG, sebelahnya Ms. D'Churros dan dekat dengan A&W. Saya sudah pernah nyoba yang original sebelumnya, jadi kali ini saya memesan yang Green Tea.

Seperti biasa, teh dibuat di gelas kecil menggunakan air yang sangat panas, kemudian ditambahkan susu kental manis. Satu gelas besar diisi penuh dengan es dan ketika dituang, jadilah sebuah sulap. Jumlah airnya tiba-tiba bisa memenuhi satu gelas besar itu. Ya tipikal minuman Thailand, es batunya luar binasa banyaknya. Varian green tea lumayan enak juga rasanya. Manisnya pas, rasa pahit dari green tea nya juga pas sehingga jadi seimbang. Cocok untuk melepas dahaga setelah berpanas-panas ria di luar.

Nasib banget ketinggalan bus, jadi mesti nunggu satu jam lagi untuk bus selanjutnya. Selagi menunggu, lapar turut melanda, ya sudah saya jadi mengitari Mall Ciputra untuk membasmi rasa lapar ini. Saya ke lantai paling atas, ternyata ada satu food court namanya Food Library. Konsepnya unik banget ya, banyak hiasan berupa buku-buku jadi seakan-akan berada di perpustakaan, dan tentunya banyak pilihan makanan. Setelah mengamati satu per satu, pada akhirnya memilih untuk makan bakmi karena kayaknya penyajiannya paling cepat. 

Saya memesan Bakmi Bangka, dengan harapan pakai babi, sama seperti aslinya di Bangka. Namun, ternyata hanya menggunakan ayam saja. Tipikal bakmi Bangka di Jakarta, tidak pakai babi. Porsinya oke juga, ayamnya banyak, sayurnya banyak, apalagi taugenya. Tipe mie yang digunakan berukuran kecil dan kenyal. Saya minta setengah matang pun, tetap saja kenyal. Kemudian mienya juga lengket, seperti kurang minyak atau air rebusan sudah terlalu banyak tepungnya. Soal rasanya, menurut saya biasa saja. Ayamnya tidak punya rasa yang khas, cuman rasa ayam tok saja. Bumbu di mienya juga kurang tajam. Kuahnya masih mending deh, ada rasanya. Porsinya boleh besar, tapi kalau rasanya biasa saja, tetap saja tidak memuaskan.

Negiya Donburi telah buka cabang baru di Pacific Place. Sudah mulai banyak nih cabangnya. Semoga selanjutnya buka di Tangerang ya. 

Seperti biasa, tiap kali ke Negiya itu, pasti pesannya Menya Gyutandon. Harganya kayaknya sudah naik lagi ya, jadi 94.500 rupiah (per 5 Mei 2016) untuk satu mangkuk. Ya ampun, setiap kali ke sini harganya kayaknya berubah terus. Setiap cabang sepertinya sudah memiliki standard untuk resep dan kualitas makanannya. Potongan lidah sapi tipis-tipis, kemudian teksturnya empuk dan tidak bau amis. Bumbunya meresap dengan baik ke seluruh lidah. Potongan daun bawang sama cabenya sih kayaknya lebih sedikit dari biasanya, jadi penampilannya kurang warna-warni. 

I knew Re.Juve for a quite long time, but I just never had a chance to try some. Untuk hari ini, saya beruntung banget karena sedang di mall dimana Re.Juve membuka cabangnya dan kebetulan juga lagi ada voucher dapat satu botol gratis. Yippie !!

Re.Juve ini berlandaskan konsep rejuvenation, yang dalam bahasa Indonesia memiliki arti pemulihan atau pembaharuan. Jadi dengan produk jus yang dibuat dengan menggunakan teknik cold-pressed ini, diharapkan dapat mempertahankan nutrisi dari setiap buah dan sayuran yang dipakai, sehingga berkhasiat bagi kesehatan. Banyak sekali varian yang ditawarkan, setiap botol pun punya kombinasi buah dan sayuran yang berbeda. Bagi saya yang baru pertama mau beli (tuker deng, bukan beli), tentunya sudah cukup bikin bingung.

Pada akhirnya, saya memilih U.Glow, yang komposisinya adalah jeruk, nanas, dan wortel. Dari warnanya saja sudah kelihatan kalau itu pakai wortel, soalnya jingganya cerah. Untuk rasanya, saya harus akui, otentik banget rasa buahnya. Tidak berasa ada campuran gula atau pun tambahan air. Paling enak itu langsung diminum dalam keadaan dingin, jadi segarnya maksimal. Dari segala kelezatan serta khasiatnya, yang jadi masalah itu hanya satu, yaitu harganya. Satu botol bisa 40.000 rupiah ke atas. Hufftt, hidup sehat itu memang mahal ya.

Beberapa kali mau ngajak teman kantor ke sini, namun suka batal dikarenakan beberapa hal. Pada hari ini, bumi dan langit mendukung saya, jadi bisa juga mendatangi tempat ini. Lokasinya ada di kawasan Ruko Elang Laut, pinggiran PIK. Gampang ditemukan kok karena tulisan 'Meaters' nya terpampang dengan jelas. Lucunya, huruf yang digunakan itu kayak Comic Sans. Hemat resource banget ya buat desain logo. Pas masuk, yah saya mah biasanya kalo di PIK itu pintunya dibukain, disambut pelayannya, diantarkan ke meja. Ini mah pelayannya semua di belakang counter, ngeliatin kita buka pintu sendiri, cari tempat sendiri sama nge-geser meja dan kursi karena saya beramai-ramai datengnya. Tidak ada inisiatif sama sekali. Suasana tempatnya oke, dekorasinya cucok banget sama anak muda. 

Berdasarkan riset di dunia maya, pada bilang kalau harga makanan di sini terjangkau dan sepadan dengan kualitas makanannya. Dari harga yang ditulis di menu sudah jelas banget kalau tidak terlalu mahal. Yang perlu dipertanyakan sekarang adalah kualitas makanannya. Saya tanya dulu ke pelayannya, dagingnya lokal atau import. Dia jawab import, langsung saja saya pesan prime ribeye dengan tingkat kematangan medium rare (hidup daging setengah matang !!). Satu steak sudah termasuk dua sidedish. Pilihannya ada di menu, saya sih memilih french fries dan tasty rice because I am super hungry at that moment. Sausnya juga bisa pilih dari tiga : bbq, blackpepper, dan mushroom. Saya otomatis pilih mushroom karena paling ga ngerusak rasa asli steak. Untuk menu yang gampang eksekusinya, nunggu makanan datang saja lumayan lama. Ukuran steak nya standard ya, kurang lebih 200gram. Kematangan yang diberikan, yaa sangat sedikit ke rare sih tapi tidak apa-apa karena masih mudah dipotong dan empuk. Kentang gorengnya enak, garingnya pas. Tasty rice is definitely tasty. Ini mirip nasi goreng mentega gitu karena rasanya asin gurih. Saus jamurnya enak, ada potongan jamur, tapi tidak sesuai ekspektasi saya karena ngarepnya sausnya super creamy. Ahh tidak apa-apa, kan bisa minta lagi.

Menurut saya makanannya enak, tapi sayang saja pelayanannya tidak terlalu bagus. Pas lihat bon tuh, ternyata tidak ada service tax. Ini pertama kalinya saya makan di PIK dan tidak ada pajak pelayanan. Mungkin ini alasan para pelayan cuman ngetem di belakang counter :v

Abis jalan jauh, capek dan haus. Rasanya pengen minum yang segar-segar. Saya beruntung menemukan stand minuman ini di lantai LG di Mal Ciputra. 

Sejujurnya, ini baru pertama kalinya saya beli minuman di sini. Oleh karena itu, saya pesan yang tidak aneh-aneh, yaitu QQ Happy Family Milk Tea. Topping nya ada macam-macam. Ada boba, kacang merah, egg pudding, cincau, dan lychee de coco. Dari topping yang banyak itu, sekali sedot mendapatkan banyak tekstur. Tekstur lembut, chewy, dan crunchy. Milk tea nya saya minta less sugar, jadi tidak terlalu manis. Manisnya itu sudah didapatkan dari topping jadi rasanya balance. Eh iya, bagi pemegang Kompas Gramedia Value Card, bisa free upsize !!

I knew The Playroom for a quite long time and I have visited this restaurant once and I must admit, they have a nice, cozy ambiance, and the food were quite decent with reasonable price. This restaurant also have many entertainment, such as dart machines and pool table. You certainly can enjoy those while having a delightful lunch or dinner. A nice place to spend time with friends.

I would like to say thank you to one of the owners of The Playroom, Pantai Indah Kapuk, for having me in Foodies Fun & Games event. It was held on Sunday, 24th April 2016. Some of well-known foodies were invited too. The Playroom are going to introducing their best-selling new menus. That's not the only thing going to happened in the event. There were also some activities such as food taste test, food photography, and dart competition. The competition ends with a prize and it was tempting. So, yeah, without any hesitation and doubt, I joined the competition, although dart is not my area of expertise.

The event started by the dishes sent out from the kitchen that were going to be photographed. All of the foodies were enthusiastic. Some had brought their high-tech cameras, some only depends on their smartphones. Well, I equipped myself with a DSLR, so maybe I have a slight advantage to produce good quality photos. Food was sent out one by one and foodies were not only taking pictures, they also brought the food to other places to find spots with best decors and lighting. I knew it will be a quite mess. After a long, tiring photo session, we continued by tasting those new menus.

Like I said, this place were crowded by foodies. None of the foodies doesn't like to eat. When tasting session started, they began to pick up the phase and start digging in food. Some of the foods were running out before I had a chance to taste. Aww, how unfortunate. But nevertheless, I tasted most of it and there were considerable delicious dishes. These dishes stood out from the other. I probably need to list it below and describe it one by one. 

- Chicken Balinese. Seeing from its name, I was expecting a generous amount of sambal matah over the chicken. Sambal matah is one of many sambals in Indonesia, specifically from the Dewata Island, Bali. It mainly consists of chopped chilis, shallots, lime juice, and oil. It happens to be my favorite too. So I really excited when The Playroom wanted to introduce this dish. Visually, as I expected, the amount of sambal matah was plenteous, covering most of the chicken. Chicken was cooked to absolute perfection. They managed to preserve the tenderness. Still moist in the inside and beautiful caramelization on the outside. You don't need to spend calories to chew the chicken. Seasoning was superb. The sambal's tanginess was perfectly balance to the sweetness of the chicken. Perhaps it might be a little too spicy for some people. But for me and my lovely tongue, the overall taste of the dish simply spot on. A nice companion to the chicken and the rice. Highly recommended for spicy food lovers out there.

- Tom Yum Seafood Fried Rice. This one drew my attention. Possible reasons : I like fried rice, and also I like tom yum. Can you imagine how tasty will it be if both are combined into one, worth-a-try dish ? Of course you can, and me too. I tried tom yum fried rice many times in other places, but most of them were not satisfying. Lack of seasoning, improperly executed, poor quality. So I really hope they managed to deliver it nicely. They served the fried rice with seafood in it, some cucumber slices, tomatoes, and Indonesian crackers, also known as 'kerupuk'. Portion-wise, it was enough for one person. Not too many or too little. Rice texture was good. Every grain of rice did not stick to each other. It was not oily as well. Taste was great. Honestly, they could put a little bit more tom yum's famous sour taste so it's more authentic. But no problem, this one was still better than those fried rice I had before. Seafood was fresh, there was no fishy smell going around. In the end, I really enjoyed this dish. 

- Pizza Al Metro. Some of you might heard this phrase : "You can't get enough with cheese". If you do, you will probably seduced by this exquisite, good-looking, one meter long pizza. Hypothetically, originally based on my opinion, they named it 'metro' for a reason. This long pizza divided into four parts with four different flavors. Various and dense in the middle, just like a metropolitan city. Flavors were margherita, cream fungi, pepperoni, and quattro formaggi. All of them contain cheese. Of course it was, why would someone not putting cheese in pizza ? You do not call pizza when there's no cheese :P. Thickness was considerably thin, hence categorized as thin crust pizza. Not like common pizza in Indonesia, thick and sometimes difficult to chew. This one was easy and jaw-friendly. Dough was not floury, it was completely cooked thoroughly. The texture was great. Crispy at the side, crunchy in the middle. Unfortunately, the quantity of the pizza was unable to fulfill all foodies' demands because they were all very hungry (including me). So I only tried two out of four flavors before the pizza was total goner, quattro formaggi and margherita. I said to myself, always think positively. So I thought, yeah, two pieces is better than none. Margherita, which contains tomato and basil, tasted so fresh and fragrant. About the quattro formaggi, the 'four cheese' pizza, it was super-duper good !! They put a generous amount of cheese. The time you pick up the pizza, you can see cheese strings emerge. Cheesy all the way. The saltiness from cheese and tanginess from tomato sauce were balance. This is what a freshly homemade pizza should be. Absolutely remarkable.  

To be honest, all dishes are wonderful and able to deliver satisfaction. But these three that I mentioned above, personally, has the best quality. The Playroom has what it takes to be a great restaurant. Amazing foods, comfortable ambiance. Keep it up and I be the best restaurant with entertainment in Jakarta because people would love it.