I don’t really know if you guys like this… new format or not. But let me know, if you don’t. No no no… after a little bit re-thinking process, I guess it’s better to NOT to tell me when you don’t like it and tell me, if you do like it. Well, life is all about praising other people, no?
Images are taken and edited by Gimme Good Style.
Thanksgiving is quite a strange concept for Indonesians. We question everything about that holiday. What does the turkey look like? Is it good? Why do you guys hold each other’s hand before eating? Why do you serve pumpkin pies? How to make one? What is Black Friday?
Those are questions that we really want to know, and also show how annoyingly curious we are and the fact that we know close to nothing at all about Thanksgiving. I do know one thing about Thanksgiving season though: it’s the beginning of festive season in Western cultures (please correct me, if I am wrong). And, yes, we don’t really have the same holiday manners, but when it comes to festive, all I (and everyone) can think of is food. Please, don’t get mad to me for using the ‘festive season’ reason to drive all the way down to Nanny’s Pavillon and ate this superb Uncle Harold’s steak fettuccine.
It’s not turkey, but quite a close one.
I also have this feeling that this is absolutely definitely not my last festive meal. More like the appetizer. Oh, come-on! Everyone is waiting for the great Christmas Feast, right?
Images taken from Gimme Good Style
Egg benedict with smoked beef from Beatrice’s Quarter.
We were celebrating Fitry Novianty’s birthday a week ago by having brunch and a good time.
via Tumblr http://deadphotosociety.tumblr.com/post/67256274498
It’s been awhile since I posted the last Nostalgic Item Series. Correct me if I am wrong, but Nostalgic Item No.3 is my grandmother’s medical oil, right?
Ugh, I remember the smell just by writing about it.
Stop. Move on to more exciting subject.
When I was in West Kalimantan, I bought something quite simple yet reminds me of long summer nights with nothing to eat. I remember buying tons of cookies just to keep myself full (yes, I know I shouldn’t eat cookies at midnight just because I am starving.)
I didn’t eat all of them (my sister used to be a thief so…), but I still remember the taste.
Sweet, crunchy, instant.. and fulfilling.
Image taken by Gimme Good Style.
Download the full resolution here on my Tumblr site.
‘How’s your dinner?’
A man who is obviously the head chef of Negev Jakarta asked us in his happy Indonesian-English accent. Luckily for him (and unfortunately for me), I was disappointingly chewing down my pizza and could only gave him a too enthusiast nod (you can see why after reading this whole post). It was Saturday night and logically Negev should be filled with Jakarta’s socialite and cool youngsters. But that night was an exception, we freely glided around and chose our table without having to ask politely (tricky business) to the servant where can we sit or can he score us a seat at non-smoking area.
Negev is a perfect high-class restaurant when it comes to atmosphere. It is filled with artistic statues and cool lightning. You know, those kinds of lamps that don’t produce yellowish shadow across the room and ruin your photos (and make your food-photos become something similar with poo). In the middle of the room you can find giant tree-bubble-like sculpture which gives the restaurant a modern yet strange artistic vibe. I like it though, Negev is a perfect restaurant to sit around and enjoy a quality night with yourself or your friends. I know in one glance that Negev is definitely not a place to bring your kids and wife. Time for youngsters to say goodbye to family dinner I guess.
I had this strange feeling when flipping the menu though. Maybe it was because I usually don’t have dinner so late at night or the menu’s design, but I feel nothing except boredom. The name of each dish is just plain without something exciting or, at least, advertising. I usually hate dishes with strange (or too long) name, but Negev definitely changed my perception. We settled for Carne De Lux thin-crust pizza, Ice Cappucino (I felt really sleepy and alcohol was out of my league that night), Springs Baby Chicken, Strawberry Sunrise and US White Sea Bass.
While waiting for our dishes to come, the servant happily (they always look happy and calm. I don’t know why) came and gave us a complimentary (big, fat, crusty) bread and sleek plain butter. The bread was good enough for me, but the butter was really plain. I mean, plain butter is great, but I thought it could be much more delicious, if they chose salty butter.
Ice Cappuccino and Strawberry Sunrise
Silly me for not asking what kind of ingredients the Strawberry Sunrise has because it tastes awesomely fresh. Well, it was much fresher when my sister asked for extra ices. The juice is thick and strangely warm, a sign that it is fresh from the blender (not a really good drink for a hot summer night though). My Cappuccino on the other side, is really strong. It is topped with plain (again!) whipped cream and chocolate powder but even after mixing the entire whipped cream into the Cappuccino, it is still bitter and more like coffee than synthetic sweetener I used to drink. Yes, I asked for more sugar. And yes I felt bad. But at least the Cappuccino tastes much better with extra-extra-sugar. Shame on me.
Carne De Lux Thin Crust Pizza
Pizza is never a great advantage of a high-class restaurant. I know it, but I couldn’t resist the urge of ordering one after the chef put a tree sign (aka recommendation sign) right beside Carne De Lux. The menu said that it is a thin crust pizza with warm tomatoes and slices of whatever beef. Sounds good. Tastes….weak. Some restaurants want to make an elegant presentation by giving their customers an elegant tasted menus. I understand the theory and praised the act. But Carne De Lux is just weak for me. The dough is thin and quite crispy, the beef slices are unsurprisingly really thin and the tomatoes are deliciously warm and sour. But the overall taste is just not there. It was a boring eating experience and the big size is not even an advantage, more like a torture stomach-filling device.
But I found something that tastes right in this disappointing dish (and I really thanked God). The tomatoes. The chef sliced it into two complete half-round pieces and scattered them across the pizza, when I bit those tiny warm tomatoes, I was surprised with their sour juices exploding inside my mouth like a tiny nuclear bomb, and their warm skins wrapping up my tongue softly. Definitely the best tomatoes topping that I have ever had, but not that good until I classified this dish as ‘good’ more like ‘almost good’. I could have a much more decent pizza with half of the price. In short, Negev really failed me with their ‘de lux’ pizza. My opinion? Just put down the recommendation sign ASAP.
Springs Baby Chicken
After the disappointing pizza experience, the grilled chicken came and I have to admit the size is not a ‘diet people portion’. Negev surely know how to ruin your diet. The chicken looks oily and completed with fresh vegetables (you can change the veggies into mashed potatoes or creamy spinach though) and I was drooling for the chicken. When my sister finally gave me a chance to taste it I was literally jumping with excitement. One small bite and the chicken really kicked my big fat pizza’s ass. It tastes awesome! The fat is dripping from the crispy skin and slowly making it’s way to fresh warm meat. The veggies are fresh and quite moist. I didn’t taste anything unpleasant from this dish. Maybe this is what they call a ‘plate of heaven’. At this point my pizza looked nothing more than an empty beacon of hope. An expired beacon of hope.
US White Sea Bass
Remember when I told you US has everything that is good? That’s proven to be true because even their seabass is amazingly delicious. The fish is really moist and feels right from the pan which gives the hot-warm sensation in my mouth and the spice is just right. Sadly, this is all I can tell because I only tasted one small slice of it. But the side dish looks quite good, the chef sure knows how to create a beautiful, delicious and expensive dish.
I had these perceptions in my mind whenever I come in a restaurant. For example: if the atmosphere is good, the food must be bad or if the service is bad, the foods must be good and things like that. Negev puts me in this situation where my perceptions are all wrong for the first minute (good place also comes with good grilled chicken!) then out of the blue, my perception is right again (high-class restaurant never really high when it comes to pizza!). I don’t want to say that this is a perfect restaurant, some of the menus look boring and not really get on my nerve (in a good way), but I can’t deny that they have one of the best grilled dishes in town. Maybe I didn’t have a perfect night, but after seeing the bills (plus taxes!), I surely just had an overpriced night.
I am going to admit one of my many sins on the internet right now: I never like healthy foods and I get to bed around 1 in the morning (or night?). This killer combination really got me when the holiday is over and I have to get back to school. Let’s just say that my body is not ready for ‘back to school’ whatever. And finally when I laid down with nothing to do on my bed, no computer because severe headache and too cool for school to read my textbooks, I realized that I should have eat something healthier, some vitamins and forget that fried chicken is exist in this world.
The problem is…even when I am super sick, have nothing to do, really bored and have severe headache with endless coughing, I still can taste the bitterness of vegetables, super smelly broth and medicines aren’t invented for me…I am sure of it. The only near-healthy food that I like are yogurt (no plain), fruits and peanuts. I am not even sure those are healthy, but I am sure that they’re healthier than grilled cheese and fried chickens (dude…I miss fried chickens) (and good ol’ pulled fork).
Well, man gotta do what man gotta do. Or in my case, sick people gonna do what sick people forced to do. I looked up around the internet to find a decent recipe from yogurt and fruits because I just don’t want to eat them raw. It seems un-special for me. And a little bit pathetic. So, the only thing I come up with is this yogurt with toasted quinoa, nuts and fruit. The name is long enough to remember and I don’t know what quinoa is, but the picture looks beautifully healthy. Well, I guess it’s time to try the recipe then.
Taken from Simple Provisions
Wow, it’s been a long time since the last time we talked about food. I think I got caught up in the whole summer-vacation-resort-shows-menswear fashion thing. Time to get back to my real passion: pudding. Well, actually my real passions are ice creams, pizzas and burgers (Carl’s Jr rocks my world dude!!!), but puddings are fine enough. Talking about puddings….well, I thought I had tasted all kind of puddings from regular chocolate to mellon to pineapple to hawaiian fruits (tasted it somewhere when I was in Taiwan). But actually I haven’t.
Thanks (or not) to the fact that I am not American, I am not familiar with peanut butter. I mean, I have tried it once when I was really curious and I don’t really like it (WHAT?!!?). Yeah, I am not a big fan of peanut butter, it tastes very dry in my mouth and makes me crave for water and water and water. Well, pretty much the same way you (Americans) feel about Indonesian’s chili. But don’t judge me fellas, maybe peanut butter still holds a chance when it comes as…pudding. Yeah, in fact there is something called chocolate and peanut butter pudding and I am really curious to taste it. I can try to make it, even though I am not sure where can I buy a decent, appropriate and not-really-dry peanut butter….
Taken from Sips and Spoonfuls
I was glad I did spend some quality time with my sister, who is not really quality at all, because she was kind enough to pay the bills and forget to ask me to pay for my foods. Ha! I should order something more expensive. Anyway, we were strolling down the park when she suddenly craved for Nanny’s Pavillon. It is a pancake restaurant/cafe which basically focus on Italian home-cooked foods. Yeah, all those ‘family homemade cookings’ things combine with business instinct can create one of the most happening restaurant in Jakarta. Before we start this review, I have to say that I am not a big fan of pancakes or Nanny’s, but I am in objective mode here and trying my best not to be such an asshole. At least, I am trying to be an objective asshole.
Let’s start with the interior, which I love soo much because they just went through a re-construction and opened new, greener space for dining. Everything looks beautiful and fresh and very…girly. Doesn’t matter. Still quite lovely for me even though they decided to divide the restaurant into two parts and can be quite confusing for newbies. I had a great time photographing the interior until the servant (male) came up with such blank expression and asked me what I want for main dish. Okay…not the best servant in the world, but still objective mode.
I chose to settle for fried buttermilk mushroom, strawberry waffle, blueberry lemonade, mint lemonade and Hubert chicken fettucini. I know that’s too much for two persons, but…we were starving. No judgement!
Fried Buttermilk Mushroom
Do you know the term of ‘too heavy name’? It means that a person/a thing has a really good long name, but it just a small things/normal person. Nothing special about them, they just have too long names. I think the same principle goes for this food. It just a plate full of fried mushrooms. I mean, there is nothing surprising in it, even the mayo tastes normal. It was quite an appetizer, but not quite a delicious dish that will make me crave for more.
Strawberry Waffle
I don’t know about you, but I like a thin waffle better. I always order a crispy, thin waffle. And…Nanny’s Pavillon had changed me. Their home made waffle is really thick and warm, more like soft butter bread than waffle. Surprisingly, I like it! I even think that this waffle really made the whole lunch became much funner. The only disappointment is the ice cream. Man…please please please give more ice cream! At least two or three scoops!
Hubert’s Chicken Fettucini
Yeah the name sounds very country-like, but the fettucini doesn’t look country or traditional. In fact, it looks really..cheesy. Literally. Melted cheese is everywhere on the plate. You can find it inside the chicken, outside the chicken, inside the fettucini and on the top of the whole dish, making a cheesy sphere. I am a cheese person, even though I have my own limit, and I feel this is quite an entertaining dish. I found myself quite enjoying the fettucini and generous amount of cheesy chicken fillet. But maybe not the best dish for no-cheese-person.
Blueberry and Mint Lemonade
These two drinks are truly fresh and make those cheese melt away from my body to..the lower part of human’s anatomy. Anyway, I made a mistake by ordering mint lemonade because the blueberry one tastes much better. It has actual blueberries, juiced into perfect mushiness and mixed with sour lemon juice. Love it. My mint lemonade looks more like a bunch of mint leaves thrown into a glass full of lemonade. Well, still quite delicious though.
Overall, we had quite a time. But not as great/delicious as that time when we went to a ribs restaurant that cooks the best ribs in the planet (maybe Mars people eat ribs to? And they cook it better than us? Okay, imagination overloads). Good place to hang out and eat something Italian, but don’t expect marvelous and culinary-shaking (in good way) experience.
I am hungry!! Nope, I am starving!
Let’s go to London and grab a bite there. But I don’t want to eat scone or usual British foods (I know quite confusing, right? Visiting England, but don’t want to eat it’s food) (that’s me!). I have one specific restaurant in my head though, Dishoom. I heard (eh..read) it from Park and Cube, one of bloggers who don’t afraid to eat and not always talking about skinny people in skinny clothes. According to her, this Dishoom restaurant served Iranian foods, which is great because I have never tasted anything Iran before or even heard about it’s foods because people are busily talking about war war war. And oil sometimes.
What do you think Brits? Have you ever tried this restaurant? Is it good?
P.S: I have to start reviewing restaurant on my own! I know I know, I am working on it. But my back is killing me. Argh….
Taken from Park and Cube
Gimme Good Style 