Charm Thai, New York

I didn’t expect to write on this, because it was only a delivery food, but it turned out to be really good!

I was craving for some good duck. Not just any duck. GOOD duck. And what better place to find the good duck than a Thai restaurant? Since I was too lazy to go to an actual restaurant (and the thought of eating there alone), I decided to get a Thai delivery. I didn’t expect it to be good, but I thought whatever, I’m hungry and damn it I want duck!

I looked up Thai delivery at Google Maps and found one called Charm Thai, just two blocks away from my apartment. Then I thought, prospect’s good, because close proximity means faster delivery and more freshly-out-of-the-pan meal. So I called. And had the food. And it was good.

I had Duck Panang Curry and Thai Iced Tea.

In details, the duck was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, which was perfect! It had vegetables, as shown in the picture, but not as much as I expected. The curry sauce was watery enough. I like it mixed with rice.

I love Thai Iced Teas! It’s one of the best drinks in the world, I swear! This one tasted like a typical Thai Iced Tea, but since it was a Thai Iced Tea, it was wonderful. I should have ordered more……… :(

Indita

31 July 1 Permalink

Table8, Mulia Hotel, Jakarta

Table8 has been recently regarded as one of the best Chinese restaurants in Jakarta, what with it being located in one of the most prestigious hotels, and its impeccable interior decoration. It’s probably the most beautifully decorated restaurant in Jakarta, alongside with its French counterpart, Orient8, also in Mulia Hotel (I assume that 8 would be the hotel’s lucky fengshui number?). I have been wanting to visit this restaurant for a long time, I’ve read about it in magazines, heard people talking about it. But in reality: the food’s just not that good. Seriously. It’s a combination of Szechuan and Cantonese dishes, with little ‘twists’ here and there (i.e. the peking duck served with slices of peach, chilled crudités-styled vegetables, etc.) 

Now I’m all for fusion-ized cooking, I’m not one of those people who are like “ooh they shouldn’t do weird stuff to good food” *coughMOMcough*, but they might want to rethink doing it to chinese food, which is arguably the best kind of food there is (anyone?). The duck, however, was really. I mean, it was fatty (which most roasted duck dishes in Jakarta lack), crispy, juicy. Wow. But then again the duck itself isn’t worth the whole.. other dishes you have to go through (it was a buffet, I HAD to try everything. cmon). The other dishes were just. meh. I DID hear that they change their buffet menu every day, so was I really that  unlucky to have gone there in a bad day? I somehow doubt it. 

• Food: You can honestly find better chinese food in Jakarta. hint - Crystal Jade Palace in Grand Indonesia. 
• Place: I felt like walking into a Chinese palace. Ok exaggeration but srsly byootiful. 
• Price: The price was VERY reasonable. Rp. 168, 000 per pax for a buffet in a five-star hotel. I must warn you of the taxation system in this country. gah. 
• Overall: I would give it a 2 out of 5. One point for the roasted duck, and another for the interior.  

Cheerios, 

Dodilia

P.S. Oh gosh pictures. I really wanted people to focus on the review rather than the pictures so.. (a.k.a I was too embarrassed to take pictures cos the waiter’s all foux-y and stare-y)

5 July 3 Permalink

Bistro Baron, Jakarta

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.

10 June 1 Permalink

Singapore Food Venture! Vol I

So I was in Singapore a few days ago with the sole purpose of FOOD VENTURE-ing in my mind (sort of). The first place I tried was in the new ION mall located in Orchard Rd. This was not really a restaurant, more like a food court, or as they call it, Food Opera, located on the lowest floor of the mall. Here, you can have various hawker-style local foods without actually going to hawker food stalls. Convenient. I ordered the Singaporean Laksa, thick rice noodles drenched in a light curry broth, served with all kinds of seafood. It cost me 5 Singaporean $$ and was the BEST laksa ever! Granted, I haven’t really tasted that much laksa in my life, but I don’t really have to in order to know that it’s good :D If ever you go to Singapore, I highly recommend having a taste of the Singaporean Laksa. If you wanna have an authentic, street-food laksa though, go to Newton’s Circus at night, where they serve many local foods.

Next up is a restaurant I stumbled upon by accident, cos we (my family and I) were hungry and all the other restaurants around were full (it was dinnertime). It was again in ION mall, this time on the topmost floor (oh if you happen to be there, also check out their bookstore Prologue, lots of book choices, without the dizzyingly complicated structure of Takashimaya’s Kinokuya). A restaurant called Nautilus Project. The place was actually really COOL (slightly fouxy though), you could sort of see the outside of the mall… ok it’s REALLY hard to explain, just check it out. They serve seafood primarily, but I didn’t order the dish with seafood in it. I ordered the potato gnocchi with oxtail meat and the meat was so delicious! It was so fatty that I can just poke it and it breaks. DROOOOOOOL.

Another delicious dish was the Duck Thai Curry. The curry itself is similar to the Indonesian gulai, just more runny, and added with lychee fruits, so slightly sweet. The duck was very tender and they served it with steamed rice. All in all, I give it a good 4/5 stars. whee.

Cheerios,
Dodilia

3 June Permalink