Eating Until Die

Bengawan Solo: Authentic Indonesian with Creative Styling

An Nur Khairisa ● 4.11.14 2 komentar

Couple weeks ago, I had a chance to visit the renovated restaurant, Bengawan Solo, at Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel Jakarta. It was quite surprising since I never visited this hotel before and got a great experience to taste the dish from one of their best restaurant. Bengawan Solo is Grand Sahid Jaya’s signature restaurant, offers various Indonesian cuisine with artistic interpretation to preserve the Indonesian’s tradition.

Walking into this restaurant, I saw a great presentation of Indonesia which reflect in their influences of Solo from the Becak rickshaw bicycles carrying ‘krupuk’ to the playful Panakawan and wayang puppets. The way they serve the food also became my attention; will gonna share it one by one throughout this post. FYI, Grand Sahid claims themselves serving very authentic Indonesian foods which from taste to the presentation resembles the traditional food we had in our home or in the street foods around. I didn't expect anything from the dinner, except I got the food like my mother cooked for me or at least like the food I found around Jakarta's street area which for me more authentic. So, let’s start the dinner and proved!

The dinner was opened by choosing the drink for us (btw my hubby accompanied me that night. Super thanks hon!). Wait...wait..before we talked about the beverages, I wanna show you how I adored their cutlery, especially the plate which illustrate Panakawan, Javanese puppets which consist of the famous Semar, Petruk, Gareng and Bagong characters. And oh, also their signature snack sserved in a unique Becak rickshaw bicycle. The snacks are served different each day, that night I got cassava chips on my table.

The waitress recommended us two of their best beverages, Es Kelapa Durian and Bajigur. Look at their beautiful spoon with 'wayang' Indonesian puppets as the head. I love how refreshing the Es Kelapa Durian, the coconut taste was perfectly blended with the durian. So did the Bajigur, even though this traditional drink is bes served during cold weather, but Grand Sahid made the drink suitable for a hotel dinner.

Before proceed to the main course, we tried their appetizers, Sosis Solo. This is Indonesian traditional snacks made from rolled crepes and filled with tender mincemeat, flavoured with ginger, garlic and palm sugar. What made me amazed from their presentation was the chili spray for the salad. They even use spray bottle and spray it like a parfum to the salad. Super unexpectable idea! *ouch sorry for not taking the full photos of the spray bottle ;-)

Jumped into the main course, I had Ayam Goreng Jogja (85K) on my plate, served with sambal bajak. This typical homemaker food stole my heart for the first time. It was mommy-homemade-fried chicken! The braised chicken was perfectly wok fried, with crunchy skin, tender meat, and rich with coconut, garlic, and turmeric flavour which made it truly authentic Indonesian. Ah good job, chef!

Next was Sate Ayam Madura (95K). Char-grilled chicken skewers marinated in sweet soya and served with peanut sauce. The chicken was well-marinated and juicy. I love how well they made the peanut sauce. It's condensed enough and rich with peanut taste, similar with chicken satay I found near my neighburhood.

Tongseng Kampung Jogja (110K) became my next highlight. It's not because I love this dish, but I missed something from this Jogjakarta specialty. Yeah, sorry to say that the broth was more likely like Soto Betawi's broth. The coconut milk broth was too light, for me a 'tongseng' should be more 'heavy' with richer spices.

From the beginning of the dinner, Putri told me that she would offer me their one of signature dishes. And here it is, Nasi Goreng Bengawan Solo (95K). Putri asked me to say honest about this food since the Chef claims that this fried rice should be similar with the typical 'nasi goreng abang-abang pinggir jalan' or street food fried rice, and yeah they did a good job! Bravo Chef for brought the street food taste to your hotel. I really really love how the Chef made the wok-smell into the rice. Gosh, now I'm proud to be Indonesian, even the street food can be made high-class like this one!

Lastly, the dinner was closed with another surprise from Bengawan Solo. They offered us their signature dessert, Bengawan Solo Exotic Ice Cream. It might be a simple scoop of ice cream consists of several flavour like durian, cinnamon, lemongrass, banana, green tea, etc, but wait until you see the exotic presentation of this dessert. It served in a bowl of dry ice which releases misty smoke. Super great idea!

I didn't expect that I will had a fantastic eating experience of Indonesian food like this, but thanks so much to Bengawan Solo for making me amazed with your crafting of Indonesian food. I really really appreciate the Chef effort from making the food to searching for the traditional Indonesian cutlery and accessories. Thank you also for Putri a.k.a Miss Purple for having us. Next time who's gonna be in our gossip after Raffi and Gigi hahaha....You guys who wanna try Indonesian food in next level, should consider this restaurant in your list.

Bengawan Solo Restaurant
Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel

Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 86

Jakarta 10220

Telp. +62 21 570 4444 ext 1610 – 1613

www.grandsahidjaya.com

Cuanki Serayu

An Nur Khairisa ● 1 komentar

Bandung had always be the pioneer of Indonesian traditional snacks since long ago, who doesn’t know batagor, cireng, cilok, bakso tahu, gehu, basreng, cuankie bla bla bla, you name it! I’d tried all the first mention, but the latter I’ve never try it until my hubby invited me to try the snack which name make me curious. I have no idea what actually the cuankie is and I got surprise when my hubby told me the story that cuanki is actually the abbreviation of Cari Uang Jalan Kaki (earning money by walking) since the street seller sells their food itinerant from one place to another by cart. Cuanki consists mostly of meatball & tofu or in Indonesian "bakso tahu" and fried meatball & tofu or "batagor". Being a legend in Bandung, people nowadays not saying "I wanna eat bakso tahu" rather to say "I wanna eat cuankie". And the most famous and one of cuankie pioneer is Cuanki Serayu.

I visited their shop which beyond my expectation. It just only a small and old shop...hmmmm I better called it "warung" but don't judge book by its cover, they might be old but look on the queue, full and packed! Most of the buyer brought their personal car. Seems this baby is very famous (where am I so far hahaha *blushing).

Cuanki Serayu offers us bakso tahu, bakso kuah and batagor. The famous one is bakso tahu of course. A bowl of Cuanki Serayu consists of some big meatballs, dumplings (siomay), meatballs covered with tofu and crunchy chips. The meatballs was so juicy and the tofu was so soft. The broth also savoury which made all in the bowl fantastic. I never try such good bakso tahu before. This was fantastic for me and also for only IDR12.000 per bowl!

The Batagor was also the star. Never imagine that they could have a super crunchy skin with a juicy filing. Companied by an aromatic peanut sauce, this snacks really stole my heart!

I sometimes feel pity to live in a big city like Jakarta since nobody sell this goddamn good bakso tahu with big portion with a cheap price. I must be miss Bandung when I miss this Cuanki Serayu. For you Bandung citizen, how lucky you are to have this legend snacks. So, for you who miss the legendary food in Bandung, trying this Cuanki Serayu will be your memorable street eating moment!

Cuankie Serayu

Jl. Serayu No. 2

Near to Jl. R.E Martadinata (Riau)

Bandung

Open daily from 10.00 AM to 08.00 PM

Price: All IDR12,000, half portion IDR6,000

Sop Buntut Maknyuss di Dapur Dahapati

An Nur Khairisa ● 0 komentar

Setelah sekian lama absen dari dunia blogging (maklum hamil makin gede makin kesita waktunyeee a.k.a bawaan males melanda lebih gede hihihi), sekarang saya mau nyempetin review salah satu restoran yang bikin saya ngidam abis-abisan pas pulang ke Bandung libur Lebaran lalu, namanya Dapur Dahapati. Restoran dengan menu Indonesia ini berlokasi di dua tempat, Jl. Cipaganti 146 dan Jl. Anggrek 48. Saya mampir di Jl. Anggrek karena lebih dekat dari rumah. Nuansanya sangat asri dan homey persis seperti mampir ke rumah sendiri. Area makannya cukup luas dengan beberapa set meja makan minimalis dan area taman yang asri. Sayangnya, AC-nya kurang nendang, Bandung yang siang itu panas bener-bener membuat saya kegerahan hehe...

Well, lupakan panasnya Bandung karena saya nggak sabar mau nyobain rekomendasi teman-teman food blogger pada Sop Buntut Kuah dan Goreng disini. Porsinya benar-benar juara! Pas datang aroma gurih dari rempah-rempah dan bawang goreng bercampur jeruk nipis segar langsung menyergap hidung saya. Mata saya juga terbelalak dengan potongan daging buntut yang besar dan tebal serta wortel dan kentang yang tak kalah tebal dan banyak.

Buntutnya empuk sekali disruput bersama kuah yang gurih, light dan beraroma membuat sop ini tidak langsung membuat eneg, malah nagih! Saya langsung teringat Sop Buntut Bu Ugi yang pernah saya coba di dinginnya Solo pegunungan dulu. Akh andai Bandung lagi dingin, pasti tambah nikmat nih menyeruput gurihnya kuah sop buntut Dapur Dahapati ini.

Saya juga memesan Sop Buntut Goreng yang tetap disajikan dengan kuah berisi wortel dan kentang terpisah. Meskipun buntutnya digoreng tapi rasanya malah seperti buntut dibakar. Aroma bakarannya sangat kuat. curiganya buntutnya digoreng dulu baru dibakar deh. Rasa daging buntutnya terlalu kental dengan kecap dan agak berat buat lidah saya (maklum lagi hamil jadi cepet eneg hehehe).

Saya cukup puas makan disini, dengan porsi besar dan rasa yang mantap, mengeluarkan kocek sebesar Rp59.000 per porsi rasanya nggak rugi. Berani coba? Sok mangga mampir kesini kalau lagi di Bandung. Recommended place buat lunch dan dinner bareng keluarga juga dan pastinya buat kamu penggila buntut!

Dapur Dahapati

Jl. Cipaganti No. 146
Jl. Anggrek No. 48
Bandung
Ph. (022) 7101301

Two Cents: The Brew Believer

An Nur Khairisa ● 0 komentar

Betapa terkejutnya saya saat beberapa minggu lalu mampir ke Bandung lagi sudah ada begitu banyak coffee shop menjamur selayaknya coffee shop yang berlomba-lomba tumbuh di Jakarta. Kalau boleh melihat ke belakang, menurut saya perkembangan coffee shop lebih pesat munculnya di Bandung. Coba saja tengok Selasar Sunaryo, Kopi Ireng, Rumah Kopi, Kopi Progo, NgopDul, semua coffee shop ternama di Bandung itu sudah lebih dulu ada jauh sebelum Jakarta baru-baru ini digempur serangan coffee shop. Trend minum kopi atau ngopi di kafe pun sudah sangat lama sekali saya rasakan di Bandung. Nggak heran sekarang ini tren tersebut makin gencar di Bandung melihat Jakarta pun lagi naik-naiknya menghidupkan tren ngopi di kafe lagi.

Two Cents, salah satu gerai coffe paling anyar di Jl. Cimanuk ini, begitu memahami keinginan anak muda Bandung dan anak muda Jakarta yang sering ke Bandung seperti saya hehehe akan hausnya tempat ngopi dan tempat nongkrong yang cozy. Pilihan lokasi yang teduh dengan industrial looks décoration dan beberapa vintage stuff membuat coffee shop ini terlihat sangat urban. Di beberapa dindingnya yang mayoritas terbuat dari kayu terdapat art painting yang unik-unik.

Coffee shop yang mengusung tagline Brew Believer ini menawarkan dua metode brewing, Awakening Blend dengan citarasa citrus yang ringan dilengkapi dengan floral tendency dan Bewitched Blend yang lebih bold dengan aroma chocolate dan orange. Coffee beans yang mereka pakai kebanyakan berasal dari kota-kota penghasil kopi ternama di Indonesia seperti Bali (Kintamani), Flores, dan lainnya. Selain kopi, mereka juga menyediakan aneka teh, healthy juice, milk blend dan smoothies. Don’t worry if you feel hungry, mereka juga punya sederet menu breakfast dan lunch serta snacks dan dessert yang menggiurkan.

Siang itu saya kesini memang hanya berniat duduk santai sambil ngopi bersama suami sambil menunggu hujan reda, and here’s what we ordered:

Orange Honey Latte Macchiato – 30K

Didn’t expected that orange and latte macchiato could be this perfect! Pernah nyobain minuman yang serupa di Kopi Ireng but Two cents make it better! Saya yang tidak terlalu suka dengan kopi yang bold begitu ‘terbuai’ dengan ringannya kopi ini dipadu dengan aroma dan rasa jeruk yang cukup yang kuat dan sweet after taste dari madu-nya. I really love this coffee even when I tried to ad a little of bronze sugar. It became perfect for me!

Coffee with Soda – 20K

So sad that The Booster which recommended by my fellow foodies, AnakJajan, was not available anymore. I was really curious about the combination between the coffee & beer. Later, the waiter offered me with Coffee & Soda which mostly have the same sensation with The Booster. And it’s all true! Kombinasi kopi dan soda yang seimbang membuat rasa minuman ini begitu segar dan kopinya pun tidak terlalu pahit. Nggak kebayang kalau mereka bisa combine each other perfectly. Awesome Two Cents!

Smoked Salmon Quiche – 25K

I really really love this quiche dengan teksturnya yang lembut beserta isi salmonnya yang berpadu smepurna dengan some vegetables inside dan pastinya rasa dan aroma keju yang kuat. Suami saya sampai menghabiskan quiche ini duluan sebelum saya hihihi!

Two Cents buka mulai jam 7 pagi hingga jam 11 malam di weekday dan hingga 12 malam di weekend. Buat penyuka kopi, yang penasaran sama kopi-kopi unik disini atau yang butuh tempat nongkrong yang cozy, wajib banget ngunjungin Two Cents ini. Sure will be back for their Orange Honey Latte Macchiato! I wish when I back here bisa ketemu sama Mas Adi Taroepratjeka, a coffee enthusiast and masetr yang juga supervisor disini, penasaran mau nyobain kopi buatan beliau.