Tasteritos

It took me oh so long to write about this. So anyways this here is a Filipino delicacy called kutsinta. It’s basically a brown rice cake, usually topped/covered in shredded coconut. And it’s delicious! Well, usually, kutsinta is a hit-and-miss sort of food. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bland, sometimes it plain sucks. But this one was just…I don’t know. I think this is the best kutsinta I’ve ever had.

As you can see, it’s sort of sticky. The rice cake is sweet, and coupled with the not-so-sweetness of the coconut, it’s just…perfect! They balance each other juuust right.

This kutsinta was made by my aunt. One package of the kutsinta costs P25.00 (more or less around $0.50!), and it’s so so so worth it! If you’re in Iloilo and you want to buy from her, just email us (likipediaplusz@gmail.com) for more information. She also makes other stuff but this kutsinta is extremely highly recommended.

I would like to thank my dad for the pictures. :D

Later tater!

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Hi ! This place was recommended to me by our friend Tantya, who has just recently told me that it serves a delicious, mood-changing galette dish. A galette is a buckwheat-crepe, usually served savory, instead of sweet. This particular one was from a restaurant called Kitchenette, in Plaza Indonesia (again. So many new restaurants in this place), which specializes in crepes.

I was recommended the Edouard galette: with mushrooms, salad greens, mozarella, and turkey ham as the filling, so I ordered that, whilst my aunt ordered this other galette with a sunny-side up and mini burgers on it (I forgot the name of that one). We also ordered salad as appetizers! Egg Salad (pictured on the left) and Tabbouleh with bits of couscous (right). They were okay. 

Now moving on to the galettes, I KNOW the one with the egg looks far more appetizing, but I was pleasantly surprised that my dish tasted better. By far. The Egg galette (is what we will refer to it), tasted dry and sort of bland. The Edouard, however, had the perfect amount of mushrooms and cheese, and most importantly: the sauce. I don’t know what sauce they used, it sort of tasted like mayonnaise, but not as rich. I think that in this case the sauce made all the difference. I finished the sauce about halfway-through, but I didn’t ask for some more, because I was already full anyway and didn’t end up finishing it.
 

The only thing that I sort of felt iffy about is the fact that they used buckwheat flour for the savory crepes (hence galettes); and I don’t like buckwheat flour in my pastry.I also highly recommend the Old-Fashioned Lemonade to have as a drink, it’s really good!

• Food: Better than average. The highlight of the day was the lemonade, though.
• Place: Comfortable, rustic, but really crowded. Reservations are recommended.
• Price: Rather expensive. Prepare to spend up to Rp. 150, 000 per person (or more if you order more)
• Overall: A 2.77 out of 5.

Cheerios, 
Dodilia

Dulcinea is a Manila-based, Spanish-inspired restaurant. We had just come from lunch somewhere else so we only had desserts at Dulcinea. First off, the churros.

The churros come with a chocolate dip. I liked that it was light and fluffy, but it was just a little too salty for my taste. There was also an aftertaste that I couldn’t quite make out. The chocolate dip wasn’t too sweet either, so all in all the chocolate-dipped churros were more savoury than sweet. (An order of a plate of churros is P75.00, so that’s P15.00 apiece. The dip is complimentary.)

Look at that. This is the cream puff. It looks completely delicious, doesn’t it? But this one hurt my throat. It was TOO sweet! The custard inside was delicious and possibly perfect, but together with the caramelised sugar glaze, it was just too much sweetness. I woke up with a sore throat because of this. (P32.00)

Out of the three, this was the best! This is the eclair. The chocolate was, I guess, of the dark variety, and its bittersweetness was just perfect. The custard was the same custard in the cream puff, which is good, because I love this custard. I recommend this one! (P32.00)

Later tater!

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OK! I’m finally posting again. Huff. Yeah, it’s about time. Anyways… Despite the fact that it was cloudy and it was going to rain today, it was still friggin’ hot! So what I did was buy myself some Icebreaker Scrambles! Icebreaker Scrambles can be found in SM North Edsa, Manila. Two stalls of ‘em actually. And that’s only in SM North Edsa! Anyways, there was a line in the Icebreaker Scrambles booth in the basement every time I pass it, so I lined up (I’ve always been curious…).

(Uh.. Crappy pictures ahead, featuring my thumb..)

Positives:

It wasn’t as sweet as I thought it would be! That was a plus cos too-sweet food make me sick in a very short time, not giving me a chance to savor any at all. I ordered mine with extra milk, crispies and marshmallows because I wanted to have it in it’s best.

It really didn’t disappoint! I mean, it’s not the best, but this was still good! My choice to put the milk (which was in powder form, by the way), crispies and marshmallows as toppings definitely made it better! But what I loved most when eating it were the different textures in my mouth!

The shaved ice, though I think it’s more like milkshake, was really soft and fluffy, and as if it wasn’t… fluffy enough, I had tiny marshmallows, which complimented it even more. There were tiny bits of cracked ice in it too which, with the rice crispies cereal and the powdered milk, gave the dessert a crunchy and sorta-rough texture. I think that’s good cos a balance between rough and smooth was made and it became even more enjoyable.

Negatives:

I did say it wasn’t the best, but that’s only cos I think the milkshake-like shaved ice could’ve lasted longer before it turned into pink soup. I know it’s probably the heat, but that was too bad.

Haha. An even bigger concern for me actually, is that the people who served it served it all sticky… and I dont know about you, but, as a customer, I dont like it when my paper cup is sticky.

…That’s just.. annoying. And they didn’t even give me tissue for it..

OK! Before this review turns into a rant, I’d recommend Icebreaker Scrambles on a hot sunny day any time! And only upto Php. 25 maximum! That’s a pretty good deal, don’t you think?

Hi Taster..inos? Anyway, I visited Plaza Indonesia last night and decided to go to its ‘food court’, Food Kulture, as I was really intent on trying the new Curry House 38 booth. Curry House 38 is under the same establishment as the renowned Ramen Sanpachi 38, hence Curry House has a few Ramen choices as well.

I ordered the Beef Katsu Curry with an extra Fried Croquette (not pictured). I am a Japanese curry FREAK so I was especially excited about this. You can also decide the level of spiciness you want with the curry (1-5 levels). I went with level 2, and it proved to be just right. You can tell that the broth was not a result of store-bought curry blocks, it tasted more..home-y, with shredded chicken pieces incorporated in it (you can barely see them though, they are shredded to near oblivion). It was very delicious, and the spiciness complimented the taste very well. The beef katsu was crispy and well-seasoned, however, I think that the portion is too large, even though I ordered it in Regular, not Large. The croquette tasted nicer than the beef katsu, or maybe I just ordered too much of the katsu. Compared to places like Sushi Tei and En Dining, Curry House 38 has by far the better curry dish, but as for the katsu, nothing can compare to Katsu Sei in Grand Indonesia and Plaza Indonesia. I should try the OTHER new curry place, Mr. Curry, in Grand Indonesia. Will do, will do. 

• Food: Very delicious curry broth, but the katsu can be better.
• Place: You would NOT expect this from a food court. Very modern, yet cozy.
• Price: That whole meal, with green tea, came up to a total of Rp. 150, 000 . I’ve always noticed that Japanese curry is a bit on the expensive side.
• Overall: A 3.88 out of 5.

Cheerios,
Dodilia

So for a while now there’s been this vendor lady that roams around selling pies, and we finally decided to buy a box a few days ago. No, this isn’t a random woman who sells random pies. This is a random woman selling Nang Palang’s Pies. :)

Nang Palang’s is actually quite well-known, at least as far as I know. People drive all the way to Oton (a town here in Iloilo) just to buy their buko (coconut) pie. They have other sorts of pie, too, but I guess this one is their bestseller. I prefer Nang Palang’s over other buko pies because…it’s just better! It’s not too sweet and it has more actual coconut ‘meat’.

One box has ten pies, and the whole box costs only P120. Their store is located in Brgy. Trapiche, Oton and if you’re planning to go there, it’s easy enough to ask around for directions because Nang Palang’s is quite famous. :) If you want to call ahead, their number is (033) 336-0954.
Later tater!

I got this recipe from my sister, and I don’t where she got it from, maybe from my mom or through her own experimentation. Anyways, I decided to do this for lunch today because I felt like it. With my poor memory, I had to improvise because I could not for the life of me remember what my sister had said exactly.

CHICKEN STIR FRY Difficulty: Easy Peasy | Serves up to 5 people

• 2 chicken breast fillet
• oyster sauce
• 3 small chili peppers
• 1 white/yellow onion
• ground pepper (optional)
• oil

Let’s cook!

• Cut the chicken breasts (as small as you want; I cut them into ‘bite-size’ pieces), the chili peppers and the white onion (into strips).
• Saute half of the onion strips until they caramelise. By the way, I felt like using butter instead of oil, so if you like substitute your oil with half a stick of butter. I preferred using butter because it gives the chicken a bit more flavour.
• When the onion strips have caramelised, put in the chicken breast pieces, 3 chili peppers and about 3 tbsp. of the oyster sauce. I also added a bit of pepper to give it some extra spice, but you don’t have to do this because with the chili peppers alone the stir fry is already spicy.
• When the chicken is almost cooked, put in the rest of the onion strips. I like to add the onion strips at the last minute so they’re still kind of crunchy when you eat them. If you don’t roll with crunchy onion strips and like them soggy soft, then just saute all of the onion strips at the beginning.
• You’re done!

Wow that was just ridiculously easy. Like I’ve said before, I cook by taste, so if you feel you would like more oyster sauce or pepper, then oyster sauce and pepper away!

Later tater!

P.S. It turns out, this may be a little spicy. Or a lot. :D

It’s summertime in NY. Sort of. So I’ve been trying out a lot of ice creams, gelatos, and anything else cool. BRR.

I was introduced to this ice cream by my vegetarian friend, and it’s important to mention that she’s vegetarian because… I don’t know. LOL. Anyway, I tried it and it was love at first bite! The ice cream was quite creamy, with, of course, a hint of coconut.

There are no coconut shavings or bits in the ice cream, which is okay for me. I mean, I wouldn’t mind either way. My vegetarian friend prefers it with the actual coconut in the food, but I don’t care.

What’s so special about this ice cream is that it’s organic and the taste is not too overpowering. I believe that if the flavor of the ice cream is too strong, it might as well be a gelato, because if not, then the taste would be artificial, which is not healthy. I also felt healthy eating this because it’s all non-dairy and stuff. So I didn’t feel like I was committing any crime to my body. LOL.

This dessert is such a nice way to get yourself cool in the summer, because you would wanna show off your body during the hot weather, and eating this is not going to affect your weight as much as the normal ice creams. Well, as long as you don’t have too much of it!

So, I guess that’s it. See you!

Indita

May this place be better than Shake Shack? Maybe. Maybe.

I have been to Brgr three times. My first experience was just okay; I didn’t think I was going to review it because the burger was just moderate. I guess I just ordered the wrong burger. The second time, however, was good. :D

Okay. As usual. Background.

Brgr is not just any burger bar. The cows that they use for the meat are grass-fed, so the meat’s all healthy and organic and stuff. This fact is why I got interested in the place.

The meal.

I ordered the Blue Sky Burger (yea they have those kind of names) and it’s called that way because it has blue cheese in it. Yes. BLUE CHEESE! I LOVE BLUE CHEESE! I didn’t know that there was going to be blue cheese inside, so it was a good surprise. The meat tasted really nice. And I guess you can tell the difference a little bit? It’s slightly drier than Shake Shack (only if you really pay attention, and ONLY the meat). The whole burger itself was really oily, but in a good way. As you can see from the picture, the oil was dripping quite heavily. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I just cannot seem to eat this thing neatly! So if ever you want to impress a girl or guy (a.k.a. first date), don’t come here. Unless you’re an expert in clean burger-eating.

On the sides, I had onion hay.

This was good. So it’s not onion rings because it’s thinner, and that is why I like it. I don’t like onion rings because the taste of the onion is too significant (HAHAHA I know, I know, why would I order onion rings in the first place if I don’t like the taste of onion?) but this one is fine. It’s a really good complement to any burger dish. I love this. The only bad thing is that the portion is too big, so I ended up not eating the whole thing. Which is such a waste. Well, I could have brought it home, but then it wouldn’t be as crispy. So.

Anyway, that’s it. I’m still looking for other good places to try. If you have any suggestions, just email us at likipediaplusz@gmail.com.

Indita

This is the BEST ice cream place I’ve been to in New York. OH. MY. GOD. AMAZING!

So Grom is an Italian gelato bar that serves organic-based gelatos. What I love about this place is that everything is natural, so you an really taste the originality of the flavors. I have tried their almond, chocolate, hazelnut, and espresso gelatos, but the one that was most memorable was the espresso. Yes. Definitely. 

So here is the picture.

That’s the espresso gelato with cream on top. The cream is also all natural and stuff. 

The flavor.

The flavor is TO DIE FOR! Seriously, I’ve never tried an espresso gelato that actually tastes like espresso. Like, most gelatos and ice creams have artificial flavors, but since this one is very natural, the taste becomes stronger. I loved it! 

For the last 3 days, I went to this place EVERY SINGLE DAY! I think I should go here again at least once before I start my summer classes.

Okay that’s it for now.

Indita

At first I didn’t want to review this place just because it’s one of those new Jakartan places where everybody knows and has seemed to try. But the food was so good, I couldn’t resist. Bistro Baron takes place (teehee) in the midst of high-end designer boutiques in the Plaza Indonesia mall located in Central Jakarta. The way they occupy this space is interesting, because you would normally find such form of a restaurant outdoors. It’s hard to explain.. And I didn’t snap a picture of its interior, so I’ll link you to their Facebook picture, here. 

I was in a rush to get here, and in a rush to get out (my little sister was getting cranky because it was late), hence the only dish that I tried was the Duck Confit (my father and sister finished eating before I managed to get out of Jakarta’s hell traffic). I opted to have it with mashed potatoes rather than the Rosti. When doing this, BE DETERMINED. The waiter will tell you twice that changing the potato dish isn’t possible, but I love my mashed potatoes and this particular one is worth the dirty look you get from the waiter.The dish was excellent. The duck: crispy on the outside, and juicy and fatty on the inside, the sauce complements that fatti-ness well without being too overpowering, and the mashed potatoes are by far the best I have ever tried in this city. The best. I would come here again JUST for the mashed potatoes.Again, the photo did not do justice at all for this dish, because I didn’t plan on reviewing this restaurant, so I snapped a picture AFTER I gorged down half of the dish. 

It’s a new restaurant, and I guess I can excuse the somewhat incompetence of the service. Plus, in the end, I did get my mashed potatoes. I wonder how many times I’ve said ‘mashed potatoes’ in this post.The price was sort of how you expect the price to be. We ordered 4 dishes, and it came up to about Rp.680,000 : an average of …*calculating* Rp.170,000 per pax, including drinks and tax. It is expensive, but it’s a French bistro, I wouldn’t expect it to be cheap (I’ve got to try Java Bleu’s new Cikini place though, for affordable French bistro food). Mind you, the dishes we ordered were like.. roasted chicken, duck confit, striploin steak: the usuals. This one beef ribs dish reached up to Rp.925,000 a plate!

• Food: I only tried one dish, but according to that one dish, the food was excellent. The mashed potatoes is a MUST try. Please.
•  Place: The interior is cute, although somewhat stuffy. Very original, though.
• Price: As I said, about Rp.170, 000 per pax on average. Again, it depends on the dish you order.
• Overall: A good 4 out of 5, and all because of the food.

Hi guys! I’ve been away due to some..er..unfortunate circumstances, but that doesn’t mean I was being idle. :)

So last May 10th, 2010 was actually a really important day here in the Philippines. We were having what was probably one of the most controversial elections ever. Or at least to my recollection LOL. Anyways, I wasn’t able to register to vote last year (yeah, I know, I’ve been kicking myself for it), but I went and accompanied my older brother anyways. It was actually a huge sacrifice on my part (in my humble opinion :D) because it was really hot that day (like almost every day this summer), but I saw this as an opportunity to take some picture.

So when we got to the place where my brother was voting, he didn’t find his name among the list of registered voters, which, apparently, is an error that occurs a lot during elections. Some minutes wasted later (he went to the Voters’ Assistance Booth that failed to assist him in any way), we decided to leave. It so happened that neither of us had had breakfast, and city-wide famous Perri Todd’s was just across the street. So we had impromptu lunch. :)

Perri Todd’s is synonymous with “giant burgers as big as your face” (but they also serve other stuff like pasta). We decided to share one of the crazy huge burgers between us. And you know what, I ended up eating only 1/6 of the thing! (Yes, I calculated.) Here, to give you an idea of how big the burgers are, here’s a picture of two customers in the restaurant, sharing a burger as well.

Yeah, that’s just one burger. So anyways, I let my brother order and he got the Regular Grilled Burger. I’m going to describe it layer by layer, starting from the bottom. Here we go! So first there was the grilled hamburger bun, then some kind of barbecue sauce that had a bit of mayonnaise on it, then the really fat burger patty (I think it’s just local beef, but I’m not really sure, though), then there was a different kind of sauce on top of the patty (this one a bit more pasty and textured), then green tomatoes and onions and finally the top bun.

What did I think of it? Honestly, I thought that it was overpriced. Yes, the burger was only P100, which is basically a bargain, but I say this because it was relatively tasteless. I gotta say, though, that the two different kinds of sauces were really delicious, so I think they should have had more sauce for more flavour. Much-needed flavour. What I really liked about Perri Todd’s though was their service. I was seriously surprised when they delivered our order under ten minutes. O_O Seriously! It was really fast. And it wasn’t just our table, too. And to think they had a lot of customers that day because of the elections. Anyways, in hindsight, I think to fully review the quality of food at Perri Todd’s, I should have ordered other food as well. But I will most definitely go back there soon. Oh, and even if I sound really not enthusiastic about Perri Todd’s, that shouldn’t hinder you from going there. The restaurant is really great and I probably just didn’t order the right thing. Not to mention, it’s only a few minutes away from my house, a great convenience. :)

Later tater!

This trip wasn’t actually planned. I was searching through the internet to look for a nice and cheap luggage and then I found a store at Lexington Avenue. My roomie was craving for something cold and sweet and so we decided to go to Serendipity. It was a Thursday afternoon, so the place wasn’t full at all! I was so happy! I mean, the fact that I only waited for 5 minutes compared to last time when I had to wait for 2 hours was… MAGICAL!

Anyway, I knew what to order and I knew that it was going to be big, so I only had it. Yes. It. The FRRROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE!

Yes. There it was. The IT thing to have in Serendipity. 

It was 8.50 a gigantic cup, and my roomie and I had one each. I had the sensation of wanting to throw up after the 8th gulp, but then I got over it. 

It was AMAZING. MAGICAL. *insert another good word here*. I mean, look at it, the chocolate was spilling over to the plate! But it was okay, cos it made it even more appetizing!

Okay… Okay… I will talk about the taste (As if you can’t imagine it yourself from looking at the pictures)… The taste was obviously chocolatey. It wasn’t literally hot and cold. It’s actually hot chocolate, blended with ice, and then with ENORMOUS amount (I know that amount is supposed to be for numbers, but I can’t think of another word) of cream. And you know how I love cream. But in case you don’t. Well. I LOVE CREAM.

So that was it. My trip to Serendipity. I hope you enjoyed it!

Indita

ps: Sorry for the bad quality pics. As I have told you before, I wasn’t planning on going here. But if I do come here again, I’ll bring my camera and replace the pics!

Pi’ Tim is an Indonesian-Chinese dish, found in Jakarta’s very own Chinatown (a.k.a. Glodok), made out of Pi’O. Or PI-O. I really have no idea how to spell it. Pi O itself is none other than tortoise, the REAL chicken of the sea. I’ve always wanted to try tortoise meat (and by ‘always’ i mean since last week) because according to what I’ve heard, tortoise meat is delicious. So I head out to Glodok at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning (to avoid the heat), sat on a chair in a Pi O vendor, and ate some Pi O. Well, some Pi Tim, that is. Pi Tim is a dish of tortoise meat soup—although it looks more like a broth— usually eaten with a bowl of rice. I ate it with porridge instead. 

The look of it was VERY discouraging: a bowl of clear soup, a shizload of parsley, an orange peel?, and gooey tortoise-y ‘meat’ (30% of the content looks like innards-slash-fatty bits). I man-ed up and tried …tortoise meat. Which tasted like chicken. And I am NOT one of those people who thinks that every single thing tastes like chicken. I am not. But this REALLY tastes like the white meat of a chicken! I tried the gooey bit, and it tasted like nothing but gooey bits. The soup, however was really delicious. I don’t know if it’s the parsley, or the orange peel, or the tortoise flavor, but it was delicious. Slightly disappointed with Pi O, I decided to try some boiled tortoise eggs. Now boiled tortoise eggs look yucky but taste really good. They taste like.. regular chicken eggs on crack. It tastes more protein-ated (?) and eggy, it has a softer texture, and it’s just… good. Very good.

Now if you ask me what the name of this particular Pi Tim vendor is, I don’t know. What I know is that it is the cleaner-looking and more popular vendor than the rest. Next stop: tortoise meat satay.

• Food: The Pi O isn’t very flavorful, but the dish itself was good.
• Place: Just how you imagine a food vendor to be. NO CATS :D (at least when we were there)
• Price: We ordered some otak otak (fish cakes) to accompany the soup. Rp. 50, 000 for 5 pieces. This is a ripoff. Otherwise, pretty reasonable. Rp. 35, 000 for a Pi Tim with rice.
• Overall: A 2.5 out of 5. I would come here again for the eggs, eaten with Pi Tim broth. 

Cheerios,

Dodilia

No, it’s not the name of a restaurant, this really is a secret dining experience that you do underground (not really, but.. figurative thoughts, people. figurative). Anyhoo, an establishment called Azanaya does this. Azanaya is comprised of two people, both with the sole purpose of bringing awareness to Indonesian food culture, through a first-hand basis. Each month, Azanaya holds a secret meeting, joining a limited amount of clients (50 people per event, max) to experience the best of authentic Indonesian food. What makes it so secret is that you don’t get notified of the venue (which ranges from art houses, to ACTUAL houses), until at least two days before the event, the “underground” part is the fact that, for newcomers like me, you don’t get to know WHO you’re dining with or even what kind of food you’re about to eat. Very exciting.

I was lucky to have booked a space before it got full, so then I got up early (12 p.m. on a Sunday? abomination) and set off to perform my task ^^ . This month’s venue was in one of the mysterious alleyways of JELAMBAR *cue alien music*, in a small warung next to a Balinese temple (or pura). Ibu Made owns, cooks, and serves this warung (almost) every Sunday, as Balinese dance and music lessons are held in the temple. What makes this event interesting and unique, is that this is not your typical Balinese cuisine (bebek betutu, babi guling, etc), but it is the cuisine of Singaraja, the northernmost area in Bali. Instead, we were served lepet (glutinous rice cakes with sweetened banana), Balinese urap (string beans with shredded coconut), rambanan (shredded chicken with five spices), baked fish with candlenut broth, and Ibu Made’s own notorious chili mixture.

Although I found the food to be quite monotonous (‘I thought Balinese food was supposed to be EXTRA spicy??’), the atmosphere and authenticity definitely make up for it. Maybe Singaraja food did not do justice for my palate, but it’s still interesting to have tasted it, and have been given the opportunity to familiarize with it. I’m not saying it’s AWFUL, it was actually good! Just not what I expected it to be. When they said ‘Live Music’ on the details description, I thought they were gonna have some dodgy local band playing soppy songs, but I then found out that the live music was *nonstop!* gamelan playing by two Balinese-dressed men! I thought that this was reason enough to make me not want to go home. The location itself was very zen, amidst the hustle and bustle of an arguably busy district. Balinese food, gamelanplaying in the background, view of a Balinese temple, and green surroundings, what more can you ask for?

I would LOVE to be able to go to another USD meeting next month (if I haven’t yet left the city T_T ). The people are very welcoming and friendly, too.

Please, if you’re not doing anything on Sunday mornings and live in the Daan Mogot or Jelambar area, give Ibu Made a visit (she doesn’t open her warung on every first Sunday, though).

Ibu Made Padma,
Jl. Indraloka Raya No. 19 (Pura Bali) Jakarta 11460
Tel : +62 21 564 8954

Food: Good, but I could do well with a wee bit more flavour :) Place: The ambience was perfect. I am, however, tremendously scared of cats (I know, how did I survive 19 years in Jakarta?) Price: I paid the Azanaya price, i.e. not directly to Ibu Made, but the price itself was fitting: Rp. 148, 000 per pax. Overall: 3.5 out of 5

Cheerios!

So why the 72? Well, Tatany72 is located on the 72nd street (sort of). Actually, Tatany72 is located on 2nd avenue, but in between 71st and 72nd street (or was it 73rd?) but kind of closer to the 72nd street. So, I guess, hence the “72”.

Anyway, I actually have been to this restaurant three times. The first time was a few months ago (waaay before Tasteritos had started), so I didn’t write anything about the place. Second time, I took pictures, but I forgot to make the review. The third time, which was yesterday (it’s the 2nd of May here in New York), I took the trip seriously. So here goes… I ordered Katsu-Don and I got a free miso soup as the appetizer.

Here’s the miso:

The miso tasted like normal miso. Smooth and warm and nice. The Katsu DON! HAHAHAH I don’t know why I did that! I guess it’s fun to emphasize the don. *DON DON DOOON*

As you can see, the “Don” is very egg-y. This is because it’s a mixture of pork katsu and egg. I think that at first (I guess because of the egg) the food was too watery. But then after a while it grew into me. I mixed the rice and the watery part a little and then put a little bit of chili powder, and then it was fine. The pork was okay. Kind of dry. But I like it that way because the rice was already watery.

Ok here are some pics from my 2nd trip:

This is tofu. It was a a little crispy and the sauce was a little sweet. I love it! This and a small bowl of miso would probably be nice for a light breakfast in the winter.

This is the… Green beans? Yes I think so. I LOVE THIS! Every time I go to a Japanese restaurant I HAVE to order this. It’s essential. It’s like eating sushi without the sauce. As you probably know, it has salt all over the skin. Which I love to nibble on. Hmmm… I think I might buy one box of this in that store on the other side of the campus. Later.

This is the salad. It has a mixture of different types of seaweeds, and some… Yea I don’t know. I guess if you know you can see it on the picture. I’m sorry guys, I don’t know a lot of vegetable names.

So that was my trip to Tatany72. This is absolutely the go to place for lunch for the Upper East Siders in NYC, so if you happen to be in the Upper East Side, and are hungry, during lunch hour, come to this place right here!

Indita

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GUEST REVIEW

You probably want to call my visit to Lindt Café as an impulsive one. I was walking along Collins Street, kind of celebrating the one-day break from university, when I saw the tall Roman building across the road. My belly immediately led my feet. As soon as I entered the building, the cake displays behind the glass counter were enough temptations to order a far-from-diet dessert.

  

I waited on the line to get a table—I’ve been told that there is always a line for dine-in. Ten minutes passed and I was led by a waiter to a table in the corner. I opened the menu to see a range of beverages, breakfast, lunch, and ultimately, the desserts list—it rules two pages of the menu. All the names sound classic and delicious.

Not wishing to choose a wrong one, I asked the waiter’s suggestion for their favourite cake. The first cake he pointed out on the menu was:

Velour. Chocolate cheesecake created through the smooth blend of Excellence 70% & the finest cream cheese, on a freshly baked biscuit base.I was giddy to order that, until unfortunately, he said that’s the only cake they ran out of. So I went for the second cake in line: 

Celebration du Chocolat. Layers of dark chocolate cake & fine milk chocolate mousse, encased by a chocolate ganache & ribbons of dark & milk chocolate.
While waiting for my cake to arrive, the orders of the next table were already delivered to a couple. Two crisp white pots of tea on a tray, each with a tea cup next to it, and one caught my smelling sense despite of the cold I’m having. It is green tea that wafted under my nose. (Pardon the bias here—I just love green tea.) The fact that I could smell it, from my table, already tells you (green-tea lovers) how promising it is.

Then finally, my cake was served after agonizing minutes of impatience.

Honestly, the first look quite upset me. It doesn’t look anything near to appetizing. A strawberry or two at the side would have been nicer. And when it comes to food, don’t we all judge by its cover?But wait until you scoop a spoonful of it.

 

The celebrated Celebration du Chocolat

It’s am-uh-zing. The sumptuous richness of the chocolate resisted me from feeling nauseous until the last spoonful. The dark chocolate is delicately balanced with milk chocolate layers, and topped by ganache, the flavor is simply perfect. The texture is firm and smooth on the tongue, yet not too soft that it does not crumble as soon as you cut it. It is one of those cakes you can finish within minutes if you love chocolate just enough. I relished it until the last bit. And already I know what to order for my next visit.

Lindt chocolat café
271 collins street, Melbourne
www.lindt.com.au

Venisa, Guest Reviewer