Killiney - Pluit Mas

It wasn't long ago that I tried the original Killiney Kopitiam on Killiney Rd, Singapore. If you stay around Orchard, go there at least once for breakfast. The atmosphere around isn't that comfortable, but the food is really good. On a weekday morning, you'll the see the tables full of office workers grabbing a bite and sipping warm coffee O.

I think it was only a few years ago these kopitiam franchises start penetrating to the Indonesian market. Oh well, whatever sells in Singapore doesn't mean it will sell well in Indonesia. Having a history of almost 100 years doesn't mean you'll sell well here.

Having a couple of friends living in the area of Pluit Mas, there is no way I could miss out on the not-so-recently-opened Killiney shop located near the entrance gate. The view from the outside seems like a typical neighborhood kopitiam but I was more interested in the food and coffee rather than the atmosphere. When I thought the food could at least be similar to the one I enjoyed very much in Singapore, my friend could give me a kick for introducing something not worth writing in the blog. But, but I try to be rational this time.





So we arrived at the shop around 7pm, the first floor is almost full, so we decided to go to the 2nd floor. Heck, the air-con wasn't turned on, and the windows and door were all closed, so there's a slight stuffy feeling you get when there isn't much air flowing through your head. You see, though I can understand that electricity bill isn't cheap here, but restaurants are service-operated businesses. You're not only selling your food, but service and atmosphere as well. The balcony was another option, but it's meant for smoking area. It was only after 10 minutes or so, the air on the 2nd floor started to freshen up.



What do you have to order when you mentioned kopitiam? The Teh Tarik and the Kaya Toast of course! We ordered a hot and a warm tea, and the conclusion; cold is always better. I'm not sure how it tastes like in Singapore, but the one I had here is not bad at all, wasn't very sweet like in any other kopitiam, and the milk to tea ratio is just nicely propotioned.



Then everything started spiraling down. First was the Kaya Toast. If I were to compare the original with this one, it's like comparing a 2011 Honda Jazz to an 2004 Made-in-China Chery QQ with manual transmission and no power steering (No other insult intended, but you get my point). In the Killiney Indonesia website, they boast about having their kaya jam produced daily in their shop, then having the best butter, and bread that's heavier than the ones in the market and made in their own bakery. I don't believe in any of these.

The toast served to us was so thin and crispy I thought I was only munching on the break crusts when it's supposed to be crusty on the outside and tender on the inside. The kaya jam were OK, but it's spread very thinly like as if they were margarine. So no oozing whatsoever like mentioned in the website. Of course last is the butter; no need for more complaints needed. When you realized if the bread is at the same thickness as the butter, it's no longer a toast (lost for words to describe).



The Mee Rebus we ordered was far from the original, lacks the ingredients, taste and everything else. For a dish that's been decorating the tables on Killiney Singapore, it's so disappointing how it turned out here. The noodles used was cheewy, the sauce was too watery and warm (Not hot!), and the tofu is cold.



And when we thought the next dish is hopefully better, it wasn't going to be. The 30 minutes spent waiting for the Singapore Laksa Fried Rice isn't worth it. I'd go for the Nasi Goreng TekTek across the road. It's our mistake to order such unique dish in the first place. The fried rice is seasoned with laksa sauce, so there's this soury, salty fried rice that's just off-balanced. Accompanying the fried rice are few pieces of chicken, an egg, 3 prawn cracker, and some garnish. Whoever is stationed to decorate the dish must not have a sense of aesthetics.



Though their prices are cheaper than other kopitiams, I really hope they could improve on the quality of food as well as the service.

Restaurant info;
Killiney Kopitiam - Pluit Mas Ruko Blok EE no. 11
Ph: 021 - 6681511

Prices as of 16 May 2011;
Hot Teah Tarik - 18k
Cold Teh Tarik - 20k
Kaya Toast - 16k
Mee Rebus - 28k
Laksa Fried Rice - 27k

Bangkok Jam - Emporium Pluit

It was an unusually quiet Sunday when the 7 of us decided on a last minute to have dinner somewhere near. So hopping on the car and there I realized I remembered seeing a recently opened Thai restaurant in Emporium Pluit. It has, however, been opened for a few months now and don't blame me for not going to that part of the mall often.

I knew I was about to leave for the real Bangkok city soon, but there is this urge for a pad thai dinner. (Bangkok food adventure will be on the blog hopefully soon). Deciding on this restaurant simple, none of my friends seem to care of what to eat, so they just jumped board the boat with me.



The traditional Thai ice tea was super super sweet. Though the taste of pandan is very apparent, too much of this drink will make you diabetic. I'm not sure, but maybe we could ask for a separate sugar next time.



We ordered a couple of entrees; Spicy Papaya Salad and Prawn Cakes. The salad was ordinary, nothing special, though there is a nice touch on the extra floss and peanuts sprinkled on top. The Prawn Cake, on the other hand, was delicious. Definitely the winner among all the other dishes, the prawn cake is skewered with a stick of lemongrass. The idea wasn't that original, but compliments go to the cake. You can really taste the tender of prawn meat, covered in crispy breadcrumbs and the sweet and sour dip make the whole dish more than your usual prawn cake. The not-so-oily after taste makes you want to munch more.





What is a trip to a Thai restaurant without ordering the pad thai? This is the one dish that makes me wanna visit the restaurant, but but but, how disappointing. Pad thai has got to be one dish that define the ability of the Thai chef, I just kept reminding myself, don't get my hopes up. None of what I imagine a REAL pad thai should taste like appear in front of me. Even before tasting it, I knew the noddles must had been overcooked, and that was the biggest mistake someone cooking a pad thai could ever make. Then I thought please at least serve something tasty, how wrong could I be. The dish was completely tasteless! Even with the dried chilly added and a splash of that lemon wedge, the dish is bland. Like as if it's cooked for someone with all the health complications. Enough with the complain, I would just sum up; prawn was hard; spring onion was RAW; and the portion would feed at most 2 babies!



Thanks to the donkey, the next dish we ordered were much better. The red curry chicken was nice, though if the spiciness level is to be increased to another level, it would be a perfect companion for my rice. First, it was very rich, the tinginess of that curry would make your tongue numb for a fraction of a second, then the distinct combination of spices and coconut milk makes the dish more complete. Inside, there were these green beans which I'm not sure what they were.



Another Thai favorite is of course the TomYum Seafood. But, in case you're wondering, let your imagination of a perfect sour and spicy soup filled with an abundant of seafood run wild. I think I cooked a better TomYum soup than the fellas in the kitchen. The TomYum they served is too light, too sour, and inside were a piece of mantis prawn, another piece of smaller prawn, 5 pieces of mushrooms, 3 pieces of fish, and that's all.



A friend wanted to order a fish and we ordered this Gourami Chilly Sauce. It was simply just deep-fried pieces of gourami fish, with traditional Thai sweet and spicy chilly sauce. I just don't get how the chefs couldn't make a simple TomYum soup or Padthai, but able to make this fish dish such a treat. The fish was lightly battered and deep-fried to a certain wellness. While the outside batter is still smoking hot and crispy, the inner flesh was soft and tender. Unlike the usual deep-fried gourami fish. Then pieces of onions and capsicum are stir-fried along with garlic, pineapple and chilly. Overall, the fish was a very nice conclusion to our dinner.



Restaurant info:

Bangkok Jam - Emporium Pluit Mall, 4th floor
Tel: 021 - 6667 6827

Prices as of 1 May 2011;

Thai Ice Tea - 16.5k
Spicy Papaya Salad - 22.5k
Prawn Cake - 38.5k
Seafood Padthai - 29.5k
Red Curry Chicken - 35k
TomYum Seafood - 42.5k
Gourami Chilly Sauce - 75k

Old Town White Coffee - Living World Alam Sutra

I've been to this new mall quite often this past weeks or so. Much of my mates have never been there and why shouldn't I be a nice fella once in a while and take them there. Anyhoo, quite a few restaurants start opening up in the mall, there's a penyet restaurant, HanGang, and a couple more coffee shops.

But out of all places, we decided on this Asian coffee shop franchise from Malaysia - Old Town White Coffee (OTWC). They claimed that they are the largest kopitiam restaurant chain in Malaysia, and looking at the list of chain on their website, no one can deny.





Since I've tried My Kopi O!, might as well just try its direct competitor (More kopitiam-like reviews in the future). So how does OTWC different to others? I don't know. I've tried the OTWC during my trip to KL last year, and whoa the menu is so thick you'll think twice about stealing them. :P I think there's tens of different drink menu and you'll probably keep asking the waiter what are the differences between each one.

But the one here in Jakarta, there isn't much choices in both the drinks and food. I like to have options, and I'm not getting any in here. I think if you would bring a foreign franchise here, at least have a more variety menu. My image of last year's OTWC visit starts drifting away.



Of course when you go to this type of restaurant, the first thing you need to order is their toasts! And this is what we ordered; 1. Their original Kaya Butter Toast and 2. Thick toast with blueberry jam. My original plan was to order their special white coffee, but since it's early afternoon and I don't feel like having coffee for lunch, we ordered Warm Honey Lemon Juice.



Though we ordered the toasts early, the orders came quite late and we were already eating half-thru our mains. Now I'm not going to compare whose toast is better than whose, I'll stay as neutral as possible. The first toast - Kata Butter Toast, was just OK. The kaya spread is nicely overflowing the toasts, and the butter is still in 1 piece, not melted. My one only complain would be the size of the toasts. It's so thin that I think the butter is thicker!



The second toast menu is a much better option than the kaya. And when I meant by thick toast, it's actually really really thick! And I'm loving every part of it. The fat bread is toasted, spread margarine, and topped with blueberry jam. What makes it special is the jam. I don't know if it's home or factory made, but it's just to my liking. Some blueberry jam just can't make it because if they kept it for too long, the fruit's gonna break apart. Not this one, it's fresh and you can practically chew every piece blueberry and still juices oozing out from them.



Each of us ordered a main each. My friend ordered the Superior Nasi Lemak, and I ordered the Superior Rojak Mee. Both dished turned out to be average.

There was a confusion when one waiter brought a plate of unknown order and left it on our table for 5 minutes and later brought it back to the kitchen. Turns out they gave a wrong chicken to us. They suppose to give a piece of Rendang chicken in the dish, but they served the BBQ chicken. To me this is quite unprofessional considering they left the food in the table for 5 minutes. What if we already start eating them? Not even a sincere apology being offered. Tsk!

I have to say, the rice is fragrant. It's been a while since the last time I ate nasi lemak, and this one turns out to be quite nice indeed, though not as good as those in Singapore or Malaysia. The rice is accompanied by a piece of rendang chicken, sambal sotong, fried anchovies, nuts, and egg. All not worth talking about. Except the sambal sotong which I think was a little bit chewy.



The Rojak Mee, which I thought should come close to the original Malaysian dish, turns out to be very home-made, not very "restauran-y". The dish is served with egg noodles in the center, surrounded by pieces of fried tofu, sambal sotong, fried potatoes, bean sprout, and egg. Then topped with fried shallots and sprinkled some curry sauce. Tofu was over-fried, sotong was chewy, and the curry sauce is just bland.



Hopefully they could improve on their service, as well as the non-toasts meals and food varieties.

Restaurant info:
Old Town White Coffee
Living World Mall - Alam Sutra
Unit G19 - 19A, Alam Sutra Boulevard Kav.21
Serpong - Tangerang

Ph: 021 - 532125502
www.oldtown.co.id

Prices as of 24 April 2011
Honey Lemon Juice - 17k
Kaya Butter Toast (S) - 9k
Blueberry thick - 20k
Supreme Nasi Lemak - 38k
Supreme Rojak Mee - 30k

Lau's Kopitiam - Emporium Pluit

One lonely lonely Saturday afternoon, nothing to do, no one asked me out, asked no one out, and there we have, sitting down alone in a four-chaired-table, among other couples, families, staring at me (and probably gossiping) for taking snaps at food. Anyway, Liu's kopitiam is well-known for YaKunKaya-kindoff-toast. Of course, being a fool sometimes, I got to try other things.



For a hot Saturday afternoon, what's better than chilled ice-milk-tea with jelly (Actually there are better drinks than this). It was very diluted, but sweet, not much tea flavour. And the jelly's too soft.



For entree, I tried the Fried shrimp-roll (READ: Lumpia goreng). Honestly, it's not bad at all. The chilly sauce accompanying is a must. The skin is crispy, not too oily, and you can taste the shrimp meat. And there isn't any fishy smell like the other shrimp rolls in cheap restaurants. In the picture below, the shrimp-roll seems to be neatly arranged, it was not like that initially! I got to arrange them nicely so it will look at least presentable in the blog. Of course it was followed by stares from aunts and uncles in front.



The waitress recommended the fried flat rice noodle with beef (READ:Kwetiaw Goreng Sapi). Seriously, I had considered asking for a refund after being served this kind of flat rice noodle. It was really bad. Considering they had printed the picture in the menu, they had to at least know how to cook properly. First, it was tasteless, not even a bit of saltiness. Then the rice noodle is so so soft (in a negative way). I expected the chef's trying to save his own arse by putting more flavour in the dish after messing up in boiling the noodle, but it was really bad. Then the beef was chewy. Yes, it's chewy, obviously from being over-cooked. In a usual Chinese dish, the beef is usually deep fried, then added to the half-cooked dish, but it's unlikely like this in here. The small portion is next. I know it's not expensive and all, but the serving is a real shame.



Restaurant Info:
Lau's Kopitiam - Emporium Pluit Mall Lv.4 - 07

Prices as of 12 FEb 2011
Ice Milk Tea with Jelly - 12k
Fried Shrimp Roll - 14k
Fried Flat Noodle with Beef - 20k

Canton Bay - Puri Indah Mall

Our family was just hanging around in a mall we seldom go to a couple of weeks ago and we realized we were craving for some light simple Chinese food. And voila, here we were browsing at the Canton Bay restaurant menu and who knows it's so tempting looking at the pictures.



So without much consideration, we went in and ordered a few looking-great-in-the-menu food.

I had the most craving in porridge in ages and I HAD to order the well-recommended HongKong style porridge (with scallops) in here. It was very very hongkie, but a little too salty, though the scallops isn't as fresh, but the overall smooth texture of the over-cooked rice is pretty nice. The young ginger sprinkled on top just makes it more hongkie. Of course HongKong porridge is not complete without the deep-fried chinese doughnuts.



Then we ordered the Seafood Ifu Mie. Just like a typical ifu mie sold in school canteen, this was definitely the most disappointing menu. It was too crispy, the choice of egg noodles was too thin, and thus making the noodles just to crispy when deep-fried. The seafood and vege condiments were over-cooked and the sauce is too thick. Bad bad choice.



For the soup, we ordered the duck (I forgot the name) soup. Also, doesn't live up to the expectations. It was like eating soup cooked with left-overs from yesterday. Don't bother trying. It just wasn't our day.



Then we came across the so-tempting Beancurd hotplate Szechuan Style. Oh wow, this was very good. We opted for a change from Japanese silk tofu to just normal tofu. The mince pork (or chicken) coated in the Szechuan sauce was probably the best taste in all of the dishes.



For vege, we ordered cai miaw cooked in garlic. Surprisingly well-cooked. Not too over-done, the stem and the leaf is still crispy when you bite it, and the fried diced garlic make the dish less "vegi".



Though we ordered this last dish first, it came last. The 3 combination BBQ; BBQ Duck, Beef, and jellyfish. All I can say about the dish is, 4/10. Firstly, the jellyfish is not fresh, too spicy and too salty. The duck isn't tender as it looks, and the beef, was the worst. It's topped with some garlic-hoisin sauce and taste just as bad.



Overall, disappointing.

For more info, visit: http://cantonbay.com/index.php

Pho House - Muara Karang

It was actually my second time going to this restaurant, but the first experience was a few years ago and both the service and food were really disappointing. A few friends mentioned there were changes in the menu and renovations, so why not give it another try. There were definitely improvements on the service, and of course the food also. They vary from the original Vietnamese pho noodle, pork (or chicken) chops, broken rice, and some Thai food as well (Tomyum and padthai).



For the entree we ordered beef salad and prawn spring roll. The beef salad was refreshing, very different from the usual ones I had in Oz. Very thinly sliced beef with raw red onions, red chilly and a plash of vinegar. But a little too spicy for me.



We ordered the "wet" spring roll instead of the usual fried ones. Had too many oily food recently and not wanting to mess around with sore-throats during Lunar New year. Anyway, the spring rolls were just OK. Though the dipping sauce was nice, it's hoisin sauce and some crushed peanuts. The spring roll itself is served chilled and tasteless, but the sweetness of hoisin sauce and crunchiness of the peanuts give it more flavour. Fresh prawns nonetheless.



What is the point of going to a Vietnamese restaurant if you're not ordering PHO! So we ordered two portions of it. The first one is the pho special; inside were beef slices, beef balls, beef tendons, and other beef parts I can't remember of. The rice noodle is just average, but what was nice is the beef slices. Even the soup wasn't as good as I expected. It's was just beefy and tasty, but that was it, nothing special. The pho set came with a plate of raw bean sprouts, raw onions, basil leaves and a slice of lime - to add sourness. You can eat all of them raw, but I just dumped them inside the hot soup.





Prices as of 30 Jan 2011
Beef salad - 26k
Prawn springroll - 16k
Pho Special 37k
Pho (Beef slices + Beef balls) - 35k

Restaurant Info:
Pho House - Muara Karang Blok L9 no 5-6
Telp : 021 33099648

Bakmi Gajah Mada - Emporium Pluit

Went there last week for Saturday lunch after a few months absent and I promised myself not to order the same one as I usually did, the Chilly Beef noodle.

As usual, we've got to pay first, only then the order is put through to the kitchen.



For drinks we ordered some ice green tea and warm tea (since I've got a bad flu to conquer before the ultimate Chinese New Year feast the week after).



Anyway, the four of us ordered a few entrees and each ordered a noodle. Of course, we got to order the ever-famous fried dumplins. I'd say, this is probably their winning formula to grow from a small noodle shop along Gajah Mada Road to being a house-hold name in noodles in Jakarta. If one hadn't tried the "pangsit goreng", one had not had bakmi gajah mada. The sweet and sour sauce accompanying the fried dumplings, too, had not changed a bit since I first had it maybe some 20 years ago.

Now, the dumpling is not oily at all. Nor is it crunchy like the usual oil-absorbing-dumpling-skin some other shops sell. Many noodle shops / Chinese restaurants tried to copy the dumpling, but of course to no vail. They just can't make the oil go away. In the past, My brother and I had a theory they might not fry the dumpling at all, but of course, baking them would not work either. And other theory include frying them in a very very high heat for seconds, then quickly scoop them up before the oil starts to get absorbed.



We also ordered the soup dumplings, which IMO, is crap. If only the standard of the soup ones is as good as the fried ones, they'll be more successful. We tried the chicken siomay as well. Another disappointment! Tasteless, oily, and super oily.





Let's move on the main course. I ordered the broccoli beef noodle, something different than the usual. It was just OK. The sauce was too thick and the noodles was a little bit over-cooked. But the broccoli and beef were complimenting the downsides.



Then we ordered one of the new menu, Thai chicken noodle. The chicken was grilled, not too oily and crispy. The sauce accompanying was also very Thai, sweet and sour.



Of course, as usual, one of us must order the chilly beef noodle. In the end, we ordered a couple portions. Anyway, to me this is the best noodle they have. The beef is very tender and the dish was not spicy at all considering the name itself. Ever since the price of chilly hiking up since the past months or so, it seems, they also cut down the quantity used.



Prices as of 29 Jan 2011
Fried Dumpling (5 pieces) Rp10k
Soup Dumpling (5 pieces) Rp9k
Fried Chicken Siomay (2 pieces) Rp13k
Broccoli Beef Noodle 30k
Thai Chicken Noodle 22k
Chilly Beef Noodle 30k

Restaurant Info:
Bakmi Gajah Mada - Emporium Pluit Mall, Lt 2. Jakarta Utara
Phone Number: 021-6667-6399

(Go to http://www.bakmigm.com/outlets/jakarta for more info)