Hurricane's Burger Bar Redefining Classic

A successful Australian eatery, Hurricane's Grill, opened its second establishment called Hurricane's Burger Bar in Noble House, Lingkar Mega Kuningan. Passing through the area, Fiona decided to stop by and get a bite of the Bondi Beach patty.

This is Fiona’s super burger adventure.

Yes, adventure. Because at this burger bar there’s something for everyone and tasting each combination is a unique experience of its own. But the first impression is all about casual dining, where you can sit comfortably with friends on large tables. Smoking section is available on the bar. The lively ambiance makes this a perfect spot to hang out with your colleague after office hours. 

Pick your favorite

Tranquility and Seminyak Dream at Clio Apartment

Fiona found Clio Apartment during her quest to find a pre-wedding spot. A recommendation from the photographer, this place is minimalist and raw but with a homey feel to it. Based only on the browsing result, 2 nights are booked. 

This is Fiona's vacation in Bali.  

Staying away from the regular hotels in busy Bali, I was glad to find this place to stay in a discreet alley in Seminyak based on a recommendation. I hop on the internet and started investigating just to find I like this place more and more with each picture. Then comes the first challenge: deciding which room to stay in? The place has 15 rooms which varies from sky lofts, regular lofts, studios and deluxe rooms. The place isn't so hard to find because it's close to Bali Deli, but the alley is rather narrow for cars to drive in. It’s roughly 25-minute drive from the airport and guests can call I for shuttle services if needed.

My first live encounter with Clio Apartment (I’ve browsed too many pictures of this cozy-looking place that I felt like I’ve known the place already) is the large doors. Right next to the large doors are simple reception desk and 2 seats. But there's a rack full of movies which attracts my eyes right away. I made a promise that I would watch them if I have time. Then I walked to my room and passed by a large well-managed garden in the center. A perfect spot for daydreaming or BBQ. I think other than the lofts and sky lofts, the rest of the rooms are on the garden floor. Follow the stepping stones to the end and walked upstairs and you'll find Loft 1. That's where I'm staying for two nights.  

 It's like Cinderella entering the prince's castle for the first time. When I opened the door to glance what’s inside the 90m2 loft, I was welcomed by a ginormous living room with large windows on the right and a big comfortable-looking sofa. The cute wooden-cut table and LCD 42" screen on the left. There's a large dining table in the middle with Haman Kardon speaker on top. Perfect for music. The kitchen is well-equipped with microwave, sink, cutlery and other dining essential tools. Well, I forgot that this place is an apartment, so of course they have everything. After passing through the sliding doors, I found bedroom and bathroom with a partition separating the two areas.  Bathroom is equipped with a large mirror, rectangular bathtub and shower. Bedroom has a comfortable bed, with makeup station and dvd player making it even dreamy. The whole loft comes up to 90m2. This is even better than what’s pictured on the web. It’s simple, spotless, and spacious. The interior definitely suits my style. So I can safely say this is the hippest apartment in Seminyak. 

The partition between bedroom and bathroom

There’s no swimming pool in this boutique enclave, which is actually a good thing because it would be against the idea of quiet and relaxing holiday stay. Clio is big on tranquility and being hassle-free, which is proven on the nights I was staying. It wasn’t as cold as I expected to be, probably because the AC isn’t too strong for room that size. But the bathroom is nice and the water doesn’t spray out beyond the partition. Taking a relaxing bath is highly recommended. This place is Zen.

But what’s a stay without going through what to eat? Breakfast is about filling in the menu and choose the delivery time and voila it arrives right when you want it. I don’t have to wake up early to fight a nice spot at the restaurant and happy to have my morning meal in private. This is heaven for those prefer staying in. 

Just out of curiosity, I ventured around the area. Apparently, the road leads to several restaurants I would love to try while in the area, Bo & Ban and the famous Eatwell. Minimarket is also close by. If you feel like going a little further away, just ask the receptionist for a taxi. 

But I don't feel the need to leave my tranquility.

Clio Studio + Loft Apartments | Seminyak 
Jl. Raya Seminyak Gg. Mangga No. 7 
Seminyak Kuta, Bali – 80361 
Tel : +62881 755 0075 
Email : info@cliobali.com 
Web : www.cliobali.com 

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. 

Spice by Chris Salans: An Ubud Taste for Share

Ubud has never disappointed you. From art to food and the combination of two, there’s always something to discover in this part of Bali. On her recent visit, Fiona stopped by to taste another masterpiece of Chris Salans, the man behind Mozaic. A place called Spice.

Hi, this is Fiona!

Chris Salans is known for his signature cuisine which infuses local Balinese flavors with French cooking techniques. I had been eyeing on this restaurant since my last visit to Ubud, but it was full. This time I arrived with my fiance and he apparently is the perfect man to share the moment and the flavors. 

Located in the center of Ubud, this bright spot, unfortunately isn’t available for reservation, so we arrived early to choose the table we wanted to. My choice was the one by the massive glass window that allowed us to see the life of Ubud. It’s a warm-welcoming place with laidback atmosphere and delicious dishes. The chef, American-born Chris Salans is also the owner of Mozaic, which offer equally unique gastronomy experience through its ever-changing menu. But this is Spice, and we’ve yet to discover the taste.

Homemade Pasta Countdown at AW Kitchen by Akira Watanabe

Pasta party brought Fiona back to AW Kitchen by Akira Watanabe. She was there for her fiance's birthday dinner. But today is all about pasta. Please follow Fiona and her pasta-venture and be prepared to droll over the delicious dishes.

Hi, this is Fiona.

  

Let's begin with two different kinds of cold pasta served as appetizer: Tiger Prawn Capellini with Gazpacho Sauce (red) and Japanese Mushroom Capellini with Japanese Radish Sauce (green). I have an internal conflict about which one I like better. But in the end, the sourness of gazpacho sauce, played with sweet and tender shrimp and fresh summer veggies win the battle.

  

Then just like magic, plates of homemade pasta appear on the table. Fortunately it's for sharing so I can try them all. I guess this is when insanity started to surrender to taste buds.

Introducing A&W National Day Promotion

We recalled flipping through calendar, couldn't wait for the next month to come so we can redeem that free ice cream. A&W has always been a dear memory to our childhood, serving the one-of-a-kind Root Beer, curly fries invention and the golden aroma fried chicken. That's why, when invitation called, Ruth jumped out the bed early on Saturday morning and join the BFF Rooty Picnic Barrels launching party at A&W Cipete. 

It's their first time doing a promotion in August, so it was a blast of fun. Aside from the sit-down, show-and-tell launch, that morning started with brunch an array of waffle, fried chicken,fries and nuggets. And ended in a traditional independence day game, which I accidentally won. The game is pick your best friend and do the dancing while keeping the balloon between our foreheads. The best friends concept is drawn from the barrels, which contains a lunch (or dinner) for two. 

My brunch for the day. Waffle and chicken are great idea.

It was displayed up front, so I was curious what’s inside the barrels. The limited edition BFF Rooty Barrel consists of a pair of Golden Aroma Chicken, rice, potato fritters (perkedel) and regular Root Beer (starts from Rp. 69,5k). The A&W Rooty Picnic Barrel comes in different packages to choose from. If you’re like me, thinking about skipping rice, try combination 1 of 2 Golden Aroma Chicken, 1 Beef Burger, 4 Chicken Chunks, 1 rice (for your BFF) and 2 regular Root Beer (starts from Rp.79k). Guys would probably eat more than one piece of chicken, so combination 2 is perfect for the buddies and bros searching for a filling meal: 4 Golden Aroma Chicken, 4 Chicken Chunks, 2 rice and 2 regular Root Beer (starts from Rp.98k).

 

The three limited edition picnic barrels are decorated with sporty theme, showing Rooty bear playing soccer, cycling and badminton.

But what’s A&W without its coupons? The good news arrives as we don’t have to wait for the months to change to use the coupons because now they’re available online. I think in the near future, they should start creating an app. I wouldn’t mind having Rooty Bear popping up on my screen with coupons haha. All you have to do is sign up at awrestaurants.co.id/kupondiskon and download the ones you want to use. Once you’re at the counter, show it to the cashier and enjoy the discount, explain Irvan Maulana, Head of Digital A&W Restaurant. He also assured that one coupon can be shared with your friends, so no need to worry about running out of promotion.

Sounds good, smells good and off we go. cos this National Day Promotion is only available through 31 August 2016.

A Night At Sudirman Street Bandung

Sudirman Street popped out out of nowhere when I stopped by to approach my favorite Martabak stall on Jl. Jendral Sudirman. It was back in December when the place was only opened for a few weeks. I revisited the place again a few months later, dining in inside this time.

This is Ruth’s family weekend-getaway in Bandung.

It was like a deja vu because we’re staying in the same airbnb house and went on technically the same itinerary. This time, we determined to try Sudirman Street for dinner. Parking a few minutes away from the Jl. Jendral Sudirman entrance, this food court was packed by sundown. Last time, we figured this place is only open for dinner, but Google search showed that some stalls opened for lunch as well. Bandung’s mountainous breeze makes outdoor dining possible at lunch, even without sitting inside an air-conditioned restaurant.

We finally found a table near the entrance. In between a fried meatball and noodle stalls. Settled down, I got up first and took a look around. The first thing I noticed about Sudirman Street is pork. Almost every stall serves pork, including the Pinky Porky Martabak stall on the side which use pork meat instead the usual beef. Across the street from the Martabak is a pork satay stall that gathered a lot of crowds and smoke. Looking at the satay shape, I decided to order that first.

The pork martabak has quite a line. When my brother ordered one, he was given a queue number, just like when you’re ordering bubble tea. The cooking took a while so when it’s done, we’ve tried almost half the food in Sudirman Street. We decided to have it at home, just in case somebody get a midnight craving. The martabak is delicious, a little salty and well, it has pork. Some people believes that pork in a dish changes the taste, and it really does on this particular martabak. Needless to say, the box was emptied a few minutes after we reached home.

The satay arguably was the best one I’ve ever tasted. It’s sweet to the inside, the meat is thick and grilled to the right tenderness. So this one is highly recommended for those dining at Sudirman Street. There is also a bloody drink stall next door, which sold everything from Baymax blood to Smurf blood. Those are sugary drinks with different flavors. Wasn’t my preferred thirst quenchers but these interesting drinks are well-loved by the young children.

Walk to the other end, near the Cibadak entrance and you’ll find a nicely decorated wall, perfect for photos if the place wasn’t that packed. I would recommend strolling through the alley first before placing an order. Choose wisely because you’ll be full and realize that you haven’t tried this and that. But of course, tomorrow is a new day and you can always return to try on different stalls. If you’re a pork-fan, this place is pretty much heaven.

A few tips: (1) Came early to beat the night crowd. Especially if you’re here on weekend. We arrived around 6 PM and it was packed. (2) Watch your belongings. Sudirman Street is an open food court and it’s always wise to be cautious. (3) Prepare cash. If you haven’t got any, the mini market nearby has an ATM machine. (4) Order right away after you decide. Some stalls are popular and would run out of food even before the end of the night. (5) Watch your kids if you’re dining with them. Several stalls like the satay cooked in the open, so you might want to pay more attention to your curious toddlers.

But our visit isn’t complete without a stop at the Martabak stall which started the culinary journey. My family had always ordered sweet martabak and thin crispy ones whenever we’re in Bandung. It dated back to our childhood days. The thin-crispy martabak, called Tipis Kering or Tipker, is arguably the best I’ve ever tasted and stayed true for around 20 years. So that’s why we kept on returning to this simple stall over the years. This time, the stall introduced us to a whole new dining experience called Sudirman Street.