Asia Restaurant at Ritz Carlton Hotel Jakarta

Hi Eaters,

Saturday and Sunday are leisure days. After a full 5 days of work from Monday til Friday, certainly Saturday and Sunday are days I long await. Days when I can do my hobby or fun things I loved to do, such as eating. Yeayy!
Around 2 weeks ago, at Saturday I got the chance to do that hobby of mine, brutally. Yes, it's a hotel buffet restaurant, which means it's all I can eat!! I always loved this kind of opportunity. And that Saturday I had the chance to be brutal at Asia Restaurant.

Located inside the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Mega Kuningan, Jakarta, this modern and elegantly decorated restaurant stood comfortly among the central of the business district and often found itself crowded at dining hours.
The ambiance was soothing and relaxing. In a full house restaurant I find myself so comfortable and still able to have a good chat with fellow foodies whom also being invited that day. The service was impeccable. The waiters were trained so well. I liked how they warmly greeted me and assisting me in every need regarding the food.

It's always a beautiful sight to see so many food in so many food stations. Seriously, if people say that mountains or oceans are their kind of favourite scenery, then mine is just the way I see at Asia Restaurant.
Hotel buffet is like a playground or an arcade, and I feel like a child being brought here to play as much as I can. Can you picture just how happy I am? LOL.
Well anyway, never judge a restaurant based on its name. It may be named Asia, but it also serves Western food, such as Italian and French cuisines respectively. Besides that, the dessert station is a heaven for sweet-tooth lovers. As you can see on the pictures above, there are just so many variants of sweet cakes, mousse, pannacotta, pastries, fruits, chocolate fountain, and ice creams to spoil you. Yes, you, sweet-tooth lovers!

My first destination, as always in any hotel buffet restaurant, is the Japanese food station. Sushis and sashimis had to go first. The sashimis here were so fresh and they offer 3 kinds of fish sashimis: salmon, tuna, and snapper. Also in the same station I found some fresh prawns and sushis. The sushis available are nigiris and sushi rolls. I don't fancy their sushi rolls that day, but the nigiris were good. 

Moving on, I tried the dimsums from the Chinese food station. But you won't only find dimsums here. There are also roasted duck, hainanese rice, and even bak kut teh. Pretty complete of what they're offering in every station. The dimsums were unexpectedly really delicious. The shiu may, ha kau were damn good! I regret that I didn't try the bak kut teh though. But if the dumplings were this impressing, I would've guess the same way goes for the bak kut teh.

The non-halal, which is my next meal, was my favourite, Pork sausages available in quite a few variants, and there is also pork ham. First, I choose which ones I want (it's still raw when it's presented at the station) then the chef will cook it and have it delivered to my table. OMG at my first bite I just completely fallen in love with these babies. So juicy and seasoned beautifully. I just want more and more.

I'm not much of a dessert lover but I have to say looking at so many variants of desserts available I was kind of curious to have a try. The blueberry crumble was terribly good, and I liked the balanced flavor of the mixed fruit cheesecake. Chocolate lovers, prepared to be spoiled by the chocolate fountain and get ready to dip those marshmallow in. If you prefer ice cream then opt for the pistachio, it's my personal favourite that day, and I believe it might be yours too!

Overall conclusion, I had an awesome time! My love for hotel buffet just got deeper knowing that I can always rely on restaurants such as Asia Restaurant to never let me down. The food was remarkable, the service was just spot on, and it was just worth the price tag.
I haven't got the official pricelists for now but I promise I will update this blog post as soon as I receive them. So stay tune, eaters!

Keep on chewing!

Jazzy Dee

TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | ASK.FM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asia Restaurant at The Ritz Carlton Jakarta
The Ritz Carlton
Ph: (021) 25518888Kawasan Mega Kuningan 
Jl. Dr Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung No. 1
Kuningan, Jakarta
website: www.ritzcarlton.com

Opening hours:
Breakfast 06.00 to 10.00 Mon-Sun
Lunch 12.00 to 14.30 Mon-Sat
Dinner 18.00 to 22.00 Mon-Thu
Dinner 18.00 to 22.00 Fri-Sat

Shiraku Soba

Hi Eaters,

Say hello to another new soba restaurant that just opened its first outlet in Jakarta, to be precise in Elang Laut, Pantai Indah Kapuk.
Shiraku Soba is the name and it is in the same group as Carnivor and Cut & Grill. Yes it took a different path compared to its siblings and took Japanese food (soba, in particular) as its main course.

Occupying a 3-story shop house at the vicinity of the growing culinary area of Elang Laut, Pantai Indah Kapuk. This restaurant is located near Meaters Steak (one of my favourite restaurant) and it is easy to find since it has such a big and catchy signage.

The interior was quite modern. Being a Japanese restaurant it didn't apply much Japanese ethnical element in the restaurant. But I do love the usage of gray and chocolate colour that dominated the restaurant's ambiance. It gives an impression of industrial theme applied to the interior though in a slight way it is actually more simple and modern.
The restaurant itself was not quite big. In a 3-story shop house, it only use 2 floors as the dining area while the 3rd floor was used for the kitchen area. Probably it could hold up to 60 people max.
So enough with the introduction, let's start with the food now, shall we?

Buta Miso Soba - IDR 55.8K

Just a quick reminder: Here you can choose the noodles based on your personal preference, either soba or ramen. In my review, all of the noodles used were soba.
In the picture above is the Buta Miso Soba which is abura soba with special shoyu and miso tare, served with slices of roasted pork, soft boiled egg, chopped spring onions, dried seaweeds and sesame seeds.

Visually, the look of the dish was quite appealing. I formly asked wether the soba needed to be mixed with vinegar and chilli as in the other soba brand restaurant and they said I need not to add anything because the soba was already seasoned. But unfortunately, it was a little bland. I didn't feel the seasoning at all. So I added more soyu to give it a boost of flavors, and it helped a lot. 

The positive thing about this dish was the pork. It's so scrumptios. The egg was delicious too. I just hoped the soba could go the same way.

Chicken Teriyaki Soba - IDR 48.5K

This one is the Chicken Teriyaki Soba, which is abura soba served with special homemade teriyaki sauce, marinated chicken thigh, soft boiled egg, chopped spring onions, dried seaweed,  and sesame seeds.

The soba apparently had the same taste as the Buta Miso so I'm not going to talk about it again. While in the other hand, the chicken thigh was quite delicious. Marinated nicely and the seasoning seeped through the meat.

Tori Katsu Kare Soba - IDR 56.8K

Tori Katsu Kare Soba is abura soba served with curry sauce, deep fried marinated chicken thigh, soft boiled egg, chopped spring onions, dried seaweed, and sesame seeds. This one was nice. I always loved a nicely cooked curry and this one didn't fail me. The curry was savory and in the perfect thickness. The aroma was nice and certainly went so well with the fried chicken. 

Gyutan Don - IDR 48.5K

Gyutan Don is a bowl of rice topped with slices of ox tongue cooked with teriyaki sauce, chopped chilli chunks, sunny side up egg, chopped spring onions, dried seaweed, and sesame seeds. The interesting part about this dish is that you can ask for the rice to be replaced by fried rice.

This dish was maybe the highlight of the day. The winner. It tasted really good. I loved the juicy and succulent ox tongue which had a nice savory and spicy flavor through its seasoning. My recommendation if you should confuse on what to order.

Karaage - IDR 35.8K

Karaage is always my favourite appetiser in any Japanese restaurant. Deep fried marinated chicken thigh, served with homemade mayonnaise and lemon wedge. The chicken was nice, with crispy outer skin and juicy meat beneath it. A little bit oily, but the taste was delicious, especially of you eat it along with the mayonnaise. Yumm.

Iced Matcha Avocado - IDR 38.5K & Iced Matcha Nutella - IDR 38.5K

Drinks served in a cookie glass are nothing new. I remember I had this kind of drink around last year in a cafe in Bandung. Shiraku has 3 kinds of drinks served on a cookie glass: Iced Matcha Original (IDR 35K), Iced Matcha Avocado (IDR 38.5K) & Iced Matcha Nutella (IDR 38.5K).

The pictures above are Iced Matcha Avocado served with a cookie glass that is drizzled with white chocolate & Iced Matcha Nutella served with a cookie glass that is drizzled with chocolate.

For you who loved unique flavors then opt for the Iced Matcha Avocado to taste how matcha could blent so well with avocado. The avocado was more dominant so you'll taste more sweet fruity flavor than the actual bitter matcha. On the other hand if you're a chocolate fan then opt for Iced Matcha Nutella that has a more sweet chocolaty Nutella flavor. You can never go wrong with Nutella, right?

Choco Kakigori - IDR 45K

And then finally we had dessert. This one is the Choco Kakigori. Chocolate ice cream on top pf shaved ice drizzled with milk, and on the side there are almond nuts and Nutella bomb mochi.

This is something a chocoholic would love. But I think the shaved ice was a bit rough. If it had a more soft texture then it will be great.

Not a fan of chocolate dessert? Don't worry. You can try the other desserts available like the coffee jelly or the matcha pannacotta.

coffee jelly 

matcha pannacota

Overall conclusion, it was a decent lunch I had that day. Some of the menus, IMHO, need improvements, and some other were quite good. Japanese soba has been quite a hip lately so I reckon this restaurant holds a bright future ahead.

So I would like to thank Shiraku Soba for having me to try some of their menus. Best of luck and Godspeed!

Keep on chewing!

Jazzy Dee

TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | ASK.FM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shiraku Soba
Ruko Elang Laut blok D No.39
Ph: (021) 2986 6563, 2251 2189
Jl. Pantai Indah Selatan 1
Jakarta Utara

Arts Cafe by Raffles Hotel Jakarta

Hi Eaters.

Who doesn't love Sunday? Raise your hand, please! No one? Well, I guess everyone loves a good Sunday, particularly me. Being so busy from Monday to Friday, then Saturday and Sunday are the days I long await for every single week.
My other reason would be that on those days I can enjoy brunch with friends and family without being distracted by work.
On last Sunday, I had the pleasure of having brunch with some of my very best friends, in a very nice cafe called Arts Cafe by Raffles.

Being so strategically located in the business area of Kuningan, it's so easy to access this cafe. You can either go directly from Raffles Hotel or you can access it from Lotte Shopping Avenue. Any way you please.
We went there of course for the Sunday Brunch. It's a good time in the day between breakfast and lunch to get a nice chit chat while enjoying good food.
My first impression of this cafe was it's soooo artsy. It bears the name respectively. I really liked how they implemented fruit shapes into their lights or even other interior designs.
It's so unique, a feast to the eye and certainly comforting. 

Buffet Redesign

Expect a virtual tableau of art and cuisine, 

where the palette of sights, sounds, textures and aromas from open kitchens 

create a delightful sensory experience.

Enjoy an elegant buffet, or Continental and Asian served in chic interiors

 and a backdrop of vibrant Hendra Gunawan artwork.

A delightful twist : the day’s signature entrees are done a la minute and offered to your table.

Desserts are scrumptious and simply divine.

Open daily from breakfast until dinner

Breakfast: 6:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Lunch: 12:00 noon to 2:30 PM

Dinner: 6:00 PM to 10:30 PM

Sunday Brunch: 11:30 AM to 3:30 PM

Lunch at IDR 320,000* per person

And dinner for IDR 380,000* per person

Sunday Brunch starts from IDR 550,000* per person 

(includes complimentary juices and soft drinks)

*All prices indicated are subject to 21% government tax and service charge

Their buffet was outstanding. I always loved buffet, and if the buffet was great then I would love it instantly. And Arts Cafe's buffet was something not only to be loved, but also to be remembered.

I tried almost everything, from sushis, sashimis, pork, beef, seafood (I am so loving their seafood!) and desserts.

They may not have a wide variant of food stations but trust me, your tummy will be full before you even try every food here. I've experienced that, LOL. So it's more than enough, I think. But if they do add more stations then it will be great!

Oysters, pasta, pork, and salmon! OMG, these are soooo delicious! I loved the pork and the salmon. So exquisite!

From the seafood station: prawns and scallop. These are also delicious!

SASHIMIS!!!!! OMG, I really love sashimis. These darlings are so fresh and yummy! I even took them several times. Like maybe 3-4 times. I can't seem to get enough of them. The baby octopus was also tasty. Oh dear, now I feel like I wanna turn back the time to that Sunday Brunch again..

Their dessert station offered a sweet tooth heaven. So many delicious cakes, pastries and bread to choose from. My dessertholic friend was like all crazy when she saw this station.

LIVE STATION

Traditional Roast Turkey with Trimmings
Chestnut Stuffing, Brussel Sprouts, Roasted Baby Carrots, Braised Leeks, Chipolatas Sausages.

Really loved this dish. Overall I think it was spot on. The seasoning, the texture, and the juiciness were just what I expected from the dish.

Baked Tenderloin Wellington
With Black Pepper Sauce and Truffle Mashed Potato

Ever since the era of Gordon Ramsay's Masterchef, Beef Wellington always bring a catchy feeling for me. Beef wrapped with puff pastry? Sounds pretty delicious for me. At Arts Cafe, the Beef Wellington is served with truffle mashed potato. No complaints about the wellington, it was so succulent, juicy and tender. The blackpepper sauce was tasty too. The mashed potato had the perfect texture, really soft. But I think it could use a bit enhancement in flavors. A bit pinch of salt maybe.

FYI, while you are having your brunch, the Chef will also be sending you some of the creations from the Show Kitchen. They are some unique dishes you won't find on the buffet, but I can tell you they are awesome!

Here are those dishes from the Show Kitchen I had that day:

1. Chouquette with Truffle Cheese
Fresh Truffle, Parmesan Cheese, Cheese Custard, Pastry Choux

2. Salmon Teriyaki
Norwegian Salmon, Teriyaki Sauce, Japanese Teriyaki Sauce

3. Vanilla Cauliflower Soup
Cauliflower, Cream, Fresh Vanilla, Vanilla Pot, Pan-Seared Cauliflower, Floret

4. Capellini Pasta Gorgonzola
Capellini Pasta, Gorgonzola Cheese, Parsley, Garlic, Anchovies, Union, Olive oil

5. Seared Scallop Freen Pea
Scallop Hokaido, Green Pea Puree, Green Pea Fondue

6. Chix-Breast Carrot Corn
Pensear Chicken-Breast, Carrot Puree, Corn Kennel

7. Foie Grass Terrine
Foie Grass, Verbena Jelly (a kind of tea leaf), Verbena Reduction, Caramel Crambel

I didn't get the chance to take snapshots of the food. It was so yummy, I kinda lost myself and just realized after that I haven't took any shots of the Show Kitchen dishes. But in case you are wondering what they looked like, you can see it on my friend's blog, right here.

And everything ended so beautifully with a cup of cappuccino.

Overall conclusion, I had a great time. The food was fantastic, the ambiance was super cozy, and the service was impeccable. Everything was just top notch. I couldn't be happier that Sunday, even the gloomy weather didn't make me feel any blue. 

So thank you Arts Cafe, and thank you Raffles Hotel Jakarta for having me. This is now listed in my most favourite hotel buffet restaurants in Jakarta. Keep up the good work!

Keep on chewing!

Jazzy Dee

TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | ASK.FM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arts Cafe by Raffles
Raffles Hotel Jakarta
Jl. Professor Doktor Satrio No.3-5
Jakarta 12940
Phone: 021-29880888
IG: @raffleshoteljakarta

Website: www.raffles.com