Tony Roma's Rib - Seafood - Steak

I had dinner with friends at Tony Roma's restaurant.

The location:
Jln Jend Sudirman, Kav 11 Ground Floor, Panin Bank Centre, Jakarta.

We started with Bread and Onion Loaf (Rp. 55.000) as appetizer then followed with the Original Baby Backs for our main course (Rp. 195.000 - regular slab). All food subjects to government tax and service charge.


The food was in a big portion and absolutely delicious.. We all got so stuffed... no rooms at all for dessert.

Emping

A few months ago, I've promised to Pink Cotton that I'll blog about Emping which is an Indonesian chip/snack. For you who have never tried emping before, you will find the first taste might be a little bit bitter but after you eat some of it, you just couldn't stop to eat it :)

Emping is made from MALINJO, BLINJO, or BELINJO (Gnetum ganemon) nut.

Making emping:

Heat melinjo with sand
then flatten with crusher
dry in the sun
Fry the crackers and...
put them in a bag for sale :)

The sweet and hot emping is good for snacks and for the plain emping it would be delicious to be served on some food like Soto or Gado-gado.

Xmas pre-dinner

Soto(s)

There are so many kinds of Soto here in Indonesia. In the pics: Soto Mie, Soto Betawi and Soto Tegal.

Bumbu Desa - Bandung

Peak - Bandung

Lunch at the Peak Restaurant in Bandung.

We had calamari, fried mushroom for appetizer. The main course was Beef satay, Ox tail soup. Ox tail fried, Fish cooked with mango salad and Balinese spices.


The Peak Resort Dining. 
Komplek Girindah Desa Karyawangi Ciwaruga KM 6,8 No.388.
Bandung

Tut tut alias Escargot

I just came back from Bandung (capital of West Java). It took about 2 hours from Jakarta with the new highway (in the old days, usually it took 3.5 - 4 hours).

Tomorrow, I will blog more about the story of my trip to Bandung in "My Days" blog, so if any of you are interested to read it, just check it out there.

Anyway, during dinner tonight at a Sundanese restaurant, I had Tut tut, which is Indonesian escargot.

It was fun eating Tut Tut :)

Curry Puff

Looking for the best Curry Puff in town?

Jamu

Jamu is an Indonesian traditional herbal medicine.

There are a lot kind of jamu, i.e:
Galian singset — weight reduction
Beras kencur (from rice, sand ginger and brown sugar) — cough, fatigue
Temulawak (from curcuma) — for liver disease
Gula asem (from tamarind and brown sugar) — rich in vitamin C
Kunyit asam (from tamarind, turmeric) — for skin care

Note:
I've been wanting to take a picture of a tukang jamu for a long time because I think it's pretty interesting but these days, it's not really easy to snap them since they become rarely (the young generation tukang jamus prefer to ride a bike while selling their jamu).
Those old generation of tukang jamu, they walk around in their neighbourhoud, carry those heavy bottles of jamu on their back and try their best to sell it.
I'm so happy when I saw this tukang jamu because when I asked her whether I could take a picture of her, she was very nice and also cooperative.

Kembang Tahu

Trans:
Kembang = Flower
Tahu = Tofu

Yesterday, a tukang Kembang Tahu was passing in front of my house.

I haven't eaten it for a long time so I decided to buy a bowl.
1 bowl of Kembang Tahu is Rp. 3. 000

Soft tofu with brown sugar & ginger sauce.

Under the hot sun... A bowl of Kembang Tahu

Bakmi Siantar

In Indonesia, we have a lot kind of bakmi. Too bad, I only have these 2 pictures of Bakmi Siantar (Siantar is a small town near Medan - North Sumatra), one is the bakmi keriting (curly) and the other one is the bakmi lebar (wide noodle).

It's not "halal" because of the pork's fat and meat :)

Bakmi Keriting

Bakmi Lebar

Nasi Begana

Berbuka Puasa

This afternoon, I was invited from another division in my office to berbuka puasa (break the fast).

The food!!!

Samatta

The restaurant located near my office. I will not recommend this restaurant for the taste and price but if you like a different atmosphere, then you can try it.

Ketoprak

Last night, on my way home, I passed by this tukang ketoprak...

Usually, he always got a lot of customers but this time so empty, maybe because of the fasting month.

Ingredients:
white rice vermicelli
bean sprouts

ketupat (steam rice)
tofu
peanut sauce
chilli
garlic
brown sugar
sweet soya sauce
kerupuk (chips)

Crystal Jade Restaurant

After almost 10 years, finally, I had lunch again at this restaurant.

Tumpengan

Nasi tumpeng is traditionally served to celebrate a special occasion, like a birthday, a marriage or even success at work. Is a type of food which is made of yellow rice (nasi kuning) and is shaped like a cone. The height of the cone symbolizes the greatness of Allah or God, and the food at the base of the cone symbolize nature’s abundance. The yellow tinge in the rice symbolize wealth and high morals.

Nasi kuning is cooked in lightly seasoned coconut milk and turmeric, then shape it into a conical pyramid and place it on a bed of decorated banana leaves. Around the base of the cone, arrange various foods in neat piles: ayam goreng (fried chicken), rendang (beef stew), sambal goreng tempe or kentang (fried tempe or potato), beef abon (shredded meat that has been boiled and fried), telur dadar (shredded egg omelette), cucumber, perkedel kentang (potato cakes), sambal goreng ati ampla (chicken liver and gizzard), and sambal (chili paste).

Normally the host cuts and savors the top of nasi kuning. The touch of oil in the coconut milk gives it a glistening appearance and keeps each grain separate, while turmeric use lends the yellow color to the dish.

Nasi Tumpeng and its side dishes are symbols which have good meanings in Javanese culture.

Source: Dreamcatcher - Yahoo.

Roti Tan Ek Tjoan and Sushi Tei

No diet today, but don't worry... I ate healthy food.

This morning, I saw a tukang roti from Tan Ek Tjoan bakery (an old bakery established in 1930s) across my office. Had a chocolate peanut bread with a cup of coffee for b'fast.

For lunch.... Yay, sushi!!!
A mixed atmosphere during lunch... silence, laughs, gossips, discussions, a harsh arguement (almost got into a fight? *wink*) but then at the end of the luch, a smile on the face and a fully stomach :)

Otak-otak

A yummy snack that you can find easily on the street in Jakarta is Otak-otak (fish cake being grilled over charcoal). Mostly Otak-otak is being sold on a bicycle or motorbike. I know that Otak-otak can be also found in Malaysian and Singaporean.

The ingredients:Fish (mackerel, salmon, threadfin or barramundi)
Thick coconut milkSmall hen eggs or one duck egg
pepper, sugar and salt
Paste SpicesFresh chilies, Lemongrass, Galangal, Roasted Candlenuts, Shrimp paste, Garlic & Shallots.
Banana leaves for wrapping the fish paste.

Gado-gado

Gado-gado according to wikipedia is:
A traditional dish in Indonesian cuisine, and comprises a vegetable salad served with a peanut sauce dressing.

Ingredients:
The exact composition of the vegetable salad varies, but usually comprises some mixture of shredded or chopped green vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, watercress, and bean sprouts;
- other sliced vegetables such as carrots and cucumber;
- peas
- sliced boiled potatoes; and
- peeled and sliced boiled eggs.
With the exceptions of the eggs and the potatoes, the salad may be served raw, although optionally one may blanch some of the vegetables such as the cabbage and the cauliflower. Some cooks prefer to steam the vegetables.

Peanut sauce dressing :
The thing that distinguishes gado-gado from a plain vegetable salad is the peanut sauce dressing, which is poured on top of the vegetable salad before serving. The composition of this peanut sauce varies, as well. Some say to just use a commercial Indonesian peanut sauce or satay sauce. Others say to make the sauce oneself.
For making the sauce, the common primary ingredients are:
- ground fried peanuts with most of the oil drained off (for which some substitute peanut butter and peanut oil)
- garlic
- brown sugar
- tamarind juice

Today, I had gado-gado for lunch.... What's the main reason? It's for the sake of taking pictures, hehehe..

My Daily Lunch

Wondering what I'm having mostly during lunch?

There are a lot of restaurants or food corner that are around my office area, but sometimes I'm too lazy it's just too hot walking under the sun to get food.

Luckily, directly next to my office, there are 4 men selling food.


Yeah.. I'm aware that this is not healthy especially if you see the color of the oil.... almost black!

This one is quite a healthy food...

Most of the time, I will have this very simple nasi goreng aka fried rice :)

Some people named this noodle as bakmi tikus aka rat noodle because we don't know what kind of meat is in there. Scary, huh? hahaha....

Pistales

Banana wrapped in pastry with chocolate or cheese.

Soto Betawi

this noon, when I asked my friend who is working on the 14th floor, where is she going to have lunch, she told me that her boss and colleagues are going to try Soto Betawi which was on the newspaper. So, I joined them.