Street Food Delight by Chef Marinka at Aryaduta Hotel Jakarta

Living in Jakarta means a never ending array of delicious culinary. It’s not always the luxurious romantic kind of food, but may be your comfort food, served with an international upgrade. Skipping lunch at the office, Ruth attended an event held by Aryaduta Hotel Tugu Tani, Jakarta.

The hotel, which I passed on my way to and from work everyday, is special. It’s been a frequent reunion place with old friends and coworkers, mainly due to its location. So, walking across the lobby then up to Ambiente where the event was held gives a special memory.

Aryaduta is revamping. This month, Celebrity Chef Rinrin Marinka joined on board the kitchen team to develop new menu for the restaurant. Taking Batavian street food and twist them with Marinka style. The star of the day is Nasi Goreng Kambing (Lamb Fried Rice). “Back in college, when I crave for Indonesian food, I always cook this dish. The challenge is how to make the dish interesting and pretty without losing its authenticity.” She then proceeds to do a live cooking show with Rob Cunningham, Group Director Food & Beverage from Aryaduta Hotels Indonesia. 

Tea Heaven in Starbucks Teavana

We’re both an avid fan of coffee that we often skipped the other half of the pair. The same goes whenever we landed on our local Starbucks®. It’s always about Americano and Double Ice Shaken Espresso. Until the recent Teavana™ craze hit in. 

As a guest, Tea Specialist Ratna Somantri often encounter the apologizing host that he/she could only serve tea. She thought the apology isn’t necessary. Indonesia is one of the largest tea producing countries and has been exporting the commodity since 1800 to Europe. That’s why Starbucks® decided to give tea a go. “We try to bring interesting experience for our customers in Indonesia, who always look for new experience,” explained Sari Siswami, head of Marketing Starbucks Indonesia. 

So, here’s where Teavana ™ enters the spotlight. Starbucks Teavana Handcrafted Beverages and Starbucks Teavana Full Leaf Tea Sachet were launched in all 250 stores in Indonesia. Available in hot or cold mix, the name derived from “Tea Heaven” and arrived in pyramid bags of loose tea. The pyramid shape is crucial because it allows loose tea to expand while brewed. 

My Daily Serving of Veggies and Fruits with Cold Press

The recommended amount of fruits and veggies to be consumed everyday is five servings. At least. The blog readers probably know how Ruth doesn't get along with the two groups, skipping salads and leaving the greens for Fiona. But that doesn't mean she's not aware with the importance of fruits and veggies. So one day when Fiona offered to try Cold Press supplies, she took the challenge.

This is Ruth and her daily juices.

Veggie Rhapsody for healthy month

I'm turning 32 next week and I'm still stuck with the same problem I had when I graduated elementary school: getting enough fruits and veggies in my daily food consumption. Browsing the web, many recommend juices and not just ordinary homemade juice you make at home everyday, but the cold-pressed ones. While your traditional juicer machine creates heat which cuts down the amount of surviving nutrients made it into your glass, cold-pressed juices are different.

The bottles arrived one day and in interesting, vibrant colors. Believe it or not, I started with greens. I opened Veggie Rhapsody and took a sip. Apple, Pineapple and Spinach. Strong pineapple and a hint of spinach in my mouth. It was gone in few gulps. It tastes great! The other green-colored liquid is Tropical Green, the same apple-pineapple base with Kale instead of spinach. 

Ingredients for Veggie Rhapsody

Once I'm done with the veggies, I turned to the fruit and share it with my 9-year-old son. Watermelon Orange Twist (the twist is honey in case you're curious) is super refreshing and can be easily finished in one sitting. My son loves Beet Hunter (surprise), a great boost of vitamin A with the beet, carrot and apple inside. Beet has been dubbed as superfood. So having it in a juice adds more than just bright colors. Carrots are also great for us, who sits in front of laptop most of the time. This one has a strong carrot aftertaste. But the best of the pack is Berry Hunter. Mixing Strawberry, Watermelon and Pineapple seems like a great idea. After the fifth bottle, I realized that there's always a dominant fruit/veggie taste in each bottle. The Berry Hunter, for example has this sour strawberry flavor, which is perfect for me. I'm not a big sweet fan.

The perfect bottle to end your day, or to drink in the late afternoon before driving home is Freshen Up. Orange, Apple and Pineapple provides you with a boost of Vitamin C, a much-needed nutrition to fight the stress from a hectic working day. Looking at the benefits of the fruits and veggies, it's just easy to drink down these bottles as daily maintenance.

What's so great about these juices are you have no worries. No Preservatives, No Additives, No Colorings, No Concentrate, No Added Water, No Added Sugar. Ordering it is no hassle and you just have to wait for the juices to come. It cuts out the shopping, juicing and all the trouble you have to go through just for a glass of juice every morning. All you have to do is open your fridge, pick a Cold Press bottle of 250ml and you're all set.

Now I don’t have to worry about celebrating my birthday anywhere I want because my fruits and veggies servings are covered.

First Taste: Meat Lovers’ New Best Friends

Our all-time favorite pizza got a revamp! Meat Lovers, PHD’s signature product, now arrives in three sauces: Honey BBQ, Cheesy Mayo and Spicy Tomato. A tempting challenge on the classic mix. Are you up for it?

Choose your favorite sauces

The first sauce, Honey BBQ, is the best out of three. The sweetness of BBQ paired perfectly with the savory hint of the meat and cheese. This one reminds us of a burger. If you don’t want to wander too far from the Meat Lovers you know, choose this one.

The second serving, Cheesy Mayo, throws your diet plan out the window. Thick layer or cheese and fatty mayo is best for cheese lovers out there. Topped with generous meat, this one is best shared, if you are sincerely able to let one slice move from your plate. But, well, the chance is probably close to zero. Determined to cater everyone, the third one is Spicy Tomato. You’ve probably guessed that this one is dedicated to the curious adventurers out there. We expected chili flakes or a little hint of Tabasco, but this one is heavy on the tomato side. With this level of spicy, this pizza would still fit children’s tongue. Good news for family. The pizzas start from Rp75k and sauces aren't sold separately.

Cheesy Mayo - Spicy Tomato - Honey BBQ

Our Favorite Honey BBQ

Meat Lovers has always been a safe bet whether you’re a regular customer who doesn’t want to risk quality comfort and familiar taste, or a new customer who ask upon arrival on the counter: “what’s your specialty?” With the sauces, it’s like you find three new best friends, each with different personality, while still sharing the same ideology. PHD guarantees your order to arrive within 30 minutes or you would be given free pizza voucher.

Apparently the pizza also gets an upgrade. PHD now served Sausage Pastry Crust (add Rp20k to your order). Sausage wrapped in Zuppa soup’s crunchy pastry are topped with Parmesan Cheese. This fancy (but yummy) extra is available for all toppings, not just Meat Lovers, if you order regular/jumbo size. So, while you’re there, why don’t you give surprise a bite.

Pastry Crust

Perfect for friends

We’re glad to be the part of the invite sent out by PHD a while ago to taste the new generation of Meat Lovers. If you’re hungry after reading our story, please proceed to phd.co.id or call 1500-600 to order this new trio. Then tell us which side you’re on.

In Style Hong Kong Jakarta Celebrate with Walter Kei

You can always reach people's heart through food. That's why the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) invited celebrity chef Walter Kei to cook and introduce us his three signature dishes. The best one being Banana Brulee with Chinese Sticky Ball.

Chef Walter Kei's introduction

Held at Hong Kong Cafe as a part of In Style Hong Kong city wide promotion, the cooking demo (and competition) brought food bloggers together. Chef Walter Kei described Hong Kong cuisine as a mix of East and West. "Even though you know HongKong is mainly Chinese, but the food served are more of the contemporary Chinese cuisine because Hong Kong is a place that keeps moving and changing. Back in the early 90s, we're still a fishing village but in 1940s, we're already a melting pot."

The vibrant and friendly chef cooked three simple dishes: Beef Roll with Vegetables, Steamed Chicken with Chinese Mushroom and Banana Brulee with Chinese Sticky Ball. 

Beef Roll with Vegetables

"The Beef roll is inspired by Korean food and the idea of California roll. It's actually healthy because you're eating a lot of vegetables," he explained as he started making the rolls. The rolls are surprisingly easy to make with just shredded Cucumber, Carrot and Enoki Mushrooms bind together with Angus Beef Slices. The key of making this dishes is the mix of Korean chili paste, truffle oil and black pepper sauce which create an interesting and familiar Chinese flavor.

Then comes the main dish, Steamed Chicken with Chinese Mushroom, which Chef Walter described as "a simple concept with a twist." While the main ingredients are only chicken and mushroom, the list of seasonings used are far from few. Sesame Oil, Shaoxing (Chinese) wine, oyster sauce and light soy sauce are among them. "I realize Indonesian people takes food with strong flavors, but in Hong Kong, people just add a little bit of flavor. We also love steamed things."

Steamed Chicken with Chinese Mushroom

He does seem to have tons of energy and we're glad he decided to put them into cooking delicious dishes.

We figured with two healthy dishes, we can go all out for the dessert. A competition was held for the food bloggers, putting them into four different teams to create our own version of Banana brûlée. Seems easy, but there are a couple tricks to go with making the sticky ball and covering them with ground peanuts. The mochi-like peanut-butter-filled sticky balls are fun to make and is something you can easily do with your child. Just be careful with the torching. One tip from Chef Walter, if you want to have perfect caramelizing, the banana needs to be frozen for at least 24 hours. Then you can get that banana ice cream taste.

We even have to do our own plating and here's what we came up with.

Banana brûlée

Just like how celebrations are, we end the gathering with a party. Tables are filled with familiar Chinese foods like Steamed Prawn Dumplings (Ha Kau), Steamed Chicken & Prawn Dumpling (Siew Mai), BBQ Chicken Bun (Char Siew Pao), HK Crispy Fried Carrot Cake, and Fried Chicken Orange Sauce. 

Fried Chicken Orange Sauce

Steamed Prawn Dumplings (Ha Kau)
and HK Crispy Fried Carrot Cake

We love the funny Chef Walter who described himself as a "lifestyle person" instead of just chef. The accidental chef recalled he started out with fashion before joining the culinary world. He joked how eating out is expensive so that's why he started cooking. Now, beside running a small gourmet, he went into writing, interior designing and also entrepreneurship.

Celebrating the In Style Hong Kong, which would be held on September 17 to 19 at Jakarta Convention Center, Hong Kong Cafe will serve the signature dishes of Chef Walter Kei along with other delicious food on their menu all month long in September. Check out what's happening in town at In Style Hong Kong Facebook and Twitter. Make sure you stop by and be a part of the style.

Breakfast Menu at Pepper Lunch

Once upon a time, Pepper Lunch arrived with its unique concept: food served on a hot plate (260 Degree Celcius), mixed with secret ingredients that makes food even more delicious. Recently it introduces a breakfast menu, saying "It's never too early to enjoy our hot plate."

Early Bite is the latest breakfast menu from Pepper Lunch, perfect to start your weekend. Breakfast is served every Sunday from 8-11 AM at Pepper Lunch fX, Cilandak Town Square (citos) and Kota Kasablanka.

So, what’s on your bite?

Cheesy Omelet & Sausage
Soft and cheesy omelet with extra sausage, [buncis] and corn. Served with mashed potato and gravy in a large enough size for your power breakfast.

Hamburg Steak & Sausage
One other favorite is Hamburg Steak, served with special melted butter on top. Added to the mix are sausage, [buncis], vegetables and mashed potato. Apparently this Hamburg isn’t only great for lunch and dinner but also for breakfast. Sounds like a great idea.

Pepper Lunch first opened with the concept of DIY Japanese Teppan, giving the guests a chance to cook their own food and mix the sauces according to their personal taste. Melted butter and crushed pepper soon becomes their tasty signature. Operated under Boga Group, this restaurant is using imported ingredients from Australia, Taiwan, Norwegia and USA. Today, Pepper Lunch isn’t exclusively for the Jakartans but also opens its doors to Bandung, Surabaya, Medan, Bali, Yogyakarta and Makassar
For us, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. What do you have for breakfast?

Cheesy Omelet & Sausage 

Hamburg Steak & Sausage

What's New for Lunch: Carl's Jr. Plaza Semanggi

Carl's Jr. gave a great end-of-the-year gift, opening its 9th store in Plaza Semanggi to cater office workers’ lunch need. A relief for both of us too, because Plaza Semanggi is close to our office. So this definitely can be a lunch getaway option. 

Carl's Jr arrived in Indonesia in 2010. Three years later it was acquired by Mahadaya business group and had been opening more branches. Recently, the burger chain added breakfast to its menu. The one in Plaza Semanggi is open everyday at 7AM – 11PM daily so you can stop by here for breakfast and overtime dinner.

Why we love Carl’s Jr? Well, they serve premium, made-to-order, burgers, made of 100% pure beef and cooked with Charbroiled grill method. The result is a juicy (and filling) burger.

Let’s get to the menu!

The star is Western Beef Bac Cheeseburger. Made from juicy beef burger, cheese, beef bacon and fried onion rings. When you’re in doubt, choose this!

Well, our favorite among all is Portobello Mushroom and Cheese.

For those who prefer white meat, Charbroiled Chicken Club comes with tasty and juicy chicken meat. 

A table full of juicy food

On a diet? You can still have a burger. Just ask for their “Less Carbo” option. They put lettuce instead of the bun. Or go for the Grilled Chicken Salad.

Say YES to Less Carbo

Come dessert time, pair your burger with Hand Scooped Real Ice Cream Shakes. Carls Jr never leave you thirsty with free-refill drinks of soda, ice tea and lemon tea options.

But what we’re looking forward to try is their breakfast menu: Breakfast Burger, Sunrise Croissant Egg and Cheese, Tea and Italian Premium Coffee. Anyone up for meeting us at sunrise?

Where is this?

Plaza Semanggi, Lantai Upper Ground

Jakarta
(021) 500101