Pioh Tim (Sea Turtle Soup)

My friend told me, "Make sure that you will not be late tomorrow! We have to be at 7 am sharp at this place or if not, the Pioh might already be sold out. Believe me, it's the best place in town that served Pioh." (note: Pioh means sea turtle)

Thus, this morning before 7 am, I was in the Chinatown Jakarta - also known as Glodok, to meet my friend.

My friend brought me to this small alley, then I saw a street vendor of Pioh. First, I thought we were going to buy the Pioh from this vendor but instead of ordering, my friend walked directly inside a small restaurant behind the Pioh's street vendor.

The place looks like an old school restaurant.

I heard that their ice coffee (Kopi Es) is delicious but I didn't give it a try.

There are 3 types of Pioh soup: Pioh Tim (Sea Turtle soup), Pioh Tauco (Sea turtle cooked with fermented soybean) and Pioh Obat (Sea turtle cooked with Chinese herbal medicine)

Preparing the sea turtle meat in the bowls.

Topped with generous of coriander leaves.

The soup is clear, light, briny with the nice aromatic of garlic oil. The sea turtle's meat tasted similar to tender pork and there are parts of the sea turtle that tasted like chewy jelly.

A bowl of Pioh Tim (Sea turtle soup) with a bowl of white rice and Chinese fried bread stick (cakwe/you tiao) plus chili sauce cost Rp. 42.000.

Currency: 1 USD = Rp. 8.500

Disclaimer:
The review and opinion expressed here are purely according to my personal taste. There's a possibility that the taste of the food might change later on, which could affect the review and opinion here. I also affirm that no monetary or non-monetary compensation has been received from this restaurant for writing this review.

"Picnic Day 2011" Game

Louise from Months of Edible Celebrations is inviting me again for the online picnic game :) (Note: 18th of June is the "International Picnic Day")

How to play the picnic game?

Each of the invitee food blogger need to bring food (read: recipe, picture and the post link) for the picnic according to an alphabet order from the letter A to Z (I got the letter "I"). Then, we start to recite:

"I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing..."

A-Apricot Cobbler (Mae)

B- Banana Cream Pie (Marjie)

C-Cherry Bars in a Jar (Barbara)

D- Diva Doggie Bites (Channon)

E-Emeril's Strawberry Lemonade (Pattie)

F-Fingerling Potato Salad w/ Honey-Thyme Vinaigrette (Heather)

G-Gugelhopf Twister (Kristy)

H-Honey Graham Roll-ups (Glenda)

I- Incredible "Rabbit" Pineapple Tarts/Rolls (Selby)

Enjoy the picnic!!! :)

JackRabbit, Jakarta (Food Tasting Panel)

A week ago, some food bloggers and I were invited by Goorme to try the JackRabbit's brunch. Most of people who are watching the Masterchef Indonesia, might have heard about this place; Chef Juna Rorimpandey, one of the judges in Masterchef Indonesia is the Executive chef of JackRabbit. Too bad that he couldn't attend this food tasting panel because of his hectic work.

The Bar

The interior

darkly-sophisticated with wood furniture.

High ceilings

So, how's the food tasting panel?

The food tasting panel at JackRabbit supposedly to start at 11.30 am but as predicted, it started late at 12.30 pm. First, there's an opening speech by the JackRabbit's Media Relation then we started to order the food.

It seemed for us - the hungry bloggers, the food took forever to show up on our table. At last, the food was served one hour later after we ordered. No doubt, the food was cold when it arrived on the table. No clue, why they kept the food so long before serving.

I managed to take the pictures most of the food being served but didn't get the chance to try it all and only in a very little amount.

Bread

Huevos Rancheros - Rp. 58.000

pico de gallo, avocado slices and texas baked bean

The pico de gallo was lovely but standard for the cold fried eggs.

Caviar Scrambled Egg - Rp. 68.000

garlic bread, grilled tomato, sauteed mushroom, choice of beef or pork bacon, side salad and choice of beef or pork sausage.

I like the caviar on the top of the scrambled egg. The sausage was decent but the streaky bacon was too dry and hard, the sauteed mushroom tasted bitter.

Chicken en Croute - Rp. 58.000

side salad and supreme sauce.

I didn't get the chance to try this.

Eggs Benedict / Florentine - Rp. 58.000

English muffins, gruyere cheese, smoked ham, spinach & poached eggs, grilled tomato & asparagus, side salad and sauce.

I didn't get the chance to try this.

Steak and Eggs (US Sirloin) - Rp. 158.000

grilled tomato, potato o’brien and bordelaisse sauce.

I only tried the potato which was mediocre.

Grilled quarter lemon chicken - Rp. 85.000

Barbecue sauce, side salad, potato wedges.

I love this juicy and tender grilled chicken with the refreshing barbecue sauce.

Lamb Chops - Rp. 178.000

Flour tortillas, mint yogurt sauce, side salad.

The lamb chops was too well done.

Beef Chimichangga - Rp. 58.000

pico de gallo, guacamole and texas baked bean.

I didn't get the chance to try this.

Beef Wiener Schnitzel - Rp. 88.000

served with mashed potato, salad, lemon twist and veal sauce.

I like the crunchiness of the Wiener Schnitzel.

There's also Asian cuisine in the brunch menu.

Red Spicy Laksa - Rp. 63.000

Yellow noodle, hard boiled egg, prawn.

The Laksa tasted totally bland, lack of spiciness.

Currency: 1 USD = Rp. 8.600

Location:
JackRabbit Cuisine & Libations
Cyber 2 Tower.
Jl.H.R.Rasuna Said Blok X-5 no.13,
Jakarta
Tel: 290 21357

A nice friendship and a taste of Indian food

5 years ago, a girl from Mumbai, India found my blog. After being a silent reader for awhile, she started to put comments anonymously. Until a couple years later, she decided to write me an email and since then, the friendship between her and me began. Her name is Laveena and her passion of fashion can be found in her blog called Fashion Inquisitive.

A week ago, Laveena told me that she's coming to Jakarta for her vacation. I'm so happy that we're finally meeting in person, after so many years we have been keeping in touch by emails, text messages and phone calls. So, yesterday I was invited to her relative's place where she is staying. I had a chance to try Indian vegetarian dishes cooked by her auntie and also the Indian sweets and snack that she brought from India.

Aloo Tikkis (Potato Fritters with coriander)

Sindhi Curry with Lauki squash

(tomatoes, methi seeds, cumin seeds, chili, salt, etc,)

Bhindi Fry (Fried Okra)

Dessert

It's Indian sweets called Singar Ka Mithai

(flour, milk, sugar, pistachio, ghee, etc.)

Laveena bought it at "Tharu's Mukhi Bhandar" - the best place for sweets among the Sindhis in Mumbai.

Tea Time

Ginger Chai (tea, ginger, milk)

Mathi (savory Indian crackers with fenugreek/methi)

Laveena

It's so nice meeting you, Laveena! And thank you to your auntie for cooking the lovely Indian vegetarian dishes :)

Beirut Lebanon Restaurant, Jakarta

Finally, I had a chance to try Lebanese cuisine! I had spotted this Beirut Lebanon Restaurant many times and wondered how the Lebanese cuisine tasted. The result is a wonderful satisfaction! My colleagues and me really enjoyed our meals here. The strong herbs, spices and olive oil like most of the Mediterranean cuisines really dominated in the authentic Lebanese cuisine.

This Beirut Lebanon restaurant has a warm and comfy ambiance.

Although at one side of the wall, there are a lot of guns and swords hanging as a part of the decorations.

Traditional Lebanese Drinks:

Jallab (left pic) - Rp. 16.500

made from date and sugar.

Ayran/Laban (right pic) - Rp. 20.000

Yogurt mixed with cold water, sugar and salt.

Appetizer:

Samosa - Rp. 18.000

Stuffed pastry with cheese or meat.

I prefer the cheese because the meat filling is too spice for my tastebud.

Soup:

Shorbat Laham - Rp. 22.000

Clear Lamb Rib Soup.

Shorbat Dajaj - Rp. 20.500

Chicken Cream Soup.

Grill:

Mushakal Mashawi - Rp. 60.000

3 strings of Lebanese style mixed grill (beef, chicken and kebab)

served with garlic sauce, mixed salad and french fries.

Lamb Grill - Rp. 55.000

2 strings of lamb with Lebanese spices served with

garlic sauce, mixed salad and french fries.

Main Course Rice:

Riz Basmati Lahem - Rp. 55.000

Fried Basmati rice with minced meat and lamb.

Riz Basmati Samak - Rp. 50.000

Fried Basmati rice with raisins, slice of fried onion

and Red Snapper fillet.

Riz Basmati Kebuli Lahem - Rp. 55.000

Fried Basmati rice with coriander, turmeric, raisins

and lamb on the top.

All prices are subject to 10% tax and 5.5% service charge

Currency: 1 USD = Rp. 8.500

Beirut Lebanon Restaurant

Jl. H. Agus Salim No. 57

Central Jakarta

Phone: 31938147
Opening hours: 10 am - 2 am

Disclaimer:The review and opinion expressed here are purely according to my personal taste. There's a possibility that the taste of the food might change later on, which could affect the review and opinion here. I also affirm that no monetary or non-monetary compensation has been received from this restaurant for writing this review.