Bar/Coffee

Friday is my most tiring campus day, from 07.30AM 'till 07.20PM with a 4-hour break in the middle. What do I usually do to fill in the 4 hour break? Do assignments, attend meetings, and just last Friday, I tried out this new place at Senayan City called BAR/COFFEE. The place is barely visible, to be honest, it is on one of the corners of Lower Ground floor, and probably because of that, the place is still very not crowded. I came there with Bikki at around 11.30AM and we're the only customers there.

The place is not so full of light, but it's a pretty nice hangout spot, for reading books and doing assignments (and gossiping if you and your fellas are the only customers). I like the decorations, some doodle-ish illustrations on the wall, quotes, and a book cabinet with big artsy books. What I get is that the concept of the place is Jazzy New York-ish coffee bar with lots of wood material to keep it "warm". The background music is all jazzy and swing-y. "This place wakes up my inner hipster.." Bikki said, then her design assignment got more hipster, lol :D

When the waitress asked me what I want to order, it took me quite a while to decide what to order, why? Because I sort of expecting an Irish Coffee on the menu, turned out they don't have it, so I went on and ordered an Iced Hazelnut Latte. Bikki ordered something that sounds more interesting, Iced Salted Coffee.

The Iced Hazelnut Latte tastes mild and light. The Hazelnut flavor doesn't really come out, but well, I quite enjoy it. Bikki's Salted Coffee sure tastes interesting. Turns out they salted the whipped cream, and when I tried it apart from the coffee, it tastes like....butter. The coffee itself is pretty nice, not the most aromatic coffee ever, but it's okay. Combine the coffee and the whipped cream and the taste is just....unique.

We also ordered the Peanut Butter cake out of curiosity. The cake is not photogenic at all, I know. For the taste, well, if you're a big fan of old-fashioned cake, you'll love this one. It's a sponge cake coated with cream and chocolate sprinkles. The texture is nicely soft. Too bad the peanut butter flavor doesn't really come out, the most dominant flavor is the old-fashioned-sweet cream flavor. I'm preeetty sure my mom would love it. Anyway, the plate pattern looks like chinese swirls doesn't it? Doesn't really match the rest of the decorations, inner designer speaking :P Oh and in case any of you is wondering who Bikki is, her real name is Carissa Vicky, she's a campus fellow. I call her Bikki for...fun *grin*

My conclusion of this place, it's a nice place to hangout, the price is fine, the products are okay, I guess I'll come here again some time to do assignments during my 4 hour break time :)

Address:

Lower Ground Floor, Senayan City

Jl. Asia Afrika Lot 19, Jakarta Selatan

Price:

Rp30.000-Rp65.000/person

Rate:

7,7/10

The GOODS Diner

My first Jakarta restaurant review! Been wanting to review this place for a while since this is one of the current top hangout spots in Jakarta. This GOODS Diner franchise is a branch from the GOODS Dept. store, also a well-known store for today's hipster generation :9 This place is located at a building formerly known as "Bengkel", very near to Pacific Place Mall.

I like the ambient of this place, like a classic diner and LOTS of light, making it easier to take bright pictures :D So, first off I ordered an appetizer which is Squid with caper, french fries, and mayo.

The fries are nice, got the right amount of crisp and saltiness. I also enjoy the Squid, it is quite tender, not sandal-like, and nicely seasoned. The use of caper also compliments the fresh lemony taste from the extra lemon there. And lastly the mayo, well, to me, mayo can (almost) never go wrong, specially with squids, fries....and lots of other things lol :P Anyway, I came here with my campus pals, Bikki and Gabby. Trying out a new restaurant with a couple of friends is better than doing it alone since I could try more food (and split up the bill) *grin* My friend, Gabby, ordered the restaurant's signature Coffee Rubbed Burger.

This burger comes with fries and veggies (as the picture above shows). The coffee enhances the meat flavor which makes this a must try for meat lovers ( like me! yes, I'm more to carnivore :P ). The bread is a bit thicker than most burgers, the texture is okay though. This burger may be a bit pricey, but I guess it's pretty worth it. Next meal, me and Bikki's choice, the Nacho Burger!

Those who likes Nachos will surely enjoy this one. Jalapenos, melted cheese, salsa, and nacho chips are in this burger. Too bad there are no baked beans, but I think it still tastes great :D For the drink, me and Bikki ordered Bailey's Milkshake which is also this place's signature creation.

I honestly think that this milkshake is one of the best I ever had. The thickness is right and it's not over-sweet. Last but not least, we ordered a slice of Red Velvet Cake for dessert.

I know the Red Velvet cake is a bit too mainstream right now among Jakartans, but we're curious to try this restaurant's version of it, and it was really nice. Bikki even thought that this is her favorite Red Velvet cake! The moisture of the cake is just right, quite condensed and the taste is not over-sweet. The cheese cream complements the cake nicely. I would love to have another round of this cake when I need a mood booster :9 Overall, I would say this is a quite expensive place, but it's worth the visit. The ambience is really suitable for hanging and chatting around, plus the foods and drinks are quite tasty :)

Address:
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53
Fairgrounds, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan
Price:
Rp 90.000 - Rp 180.000 / person
Rate:
8,8/10