TGI Fridays

Hello my food blog! First post of 2014! Got to say it's been a long time since I last blogged. Again. Turns out it's not so easy keeping a blog steadily running when you're a graphic design student. I just finished my 3-month internship period on December, and somehow I was still occupied by....stuff and things.
So, a couple of weeks ago I went to Lippo Mall Kemang Village for lunch and decided to try eating TGI Fridays again after quite some years. It's just recently when TGI Fridays suddenly expanded to several places here in town, I thought they're kinda.....dead. But turns out I was wrong and the place is still alive and well!

I like the random decorations, lotsa stuff sticked together on the wall thing. It feels very american and the wooden elements make it cozy. And hey, there's a chibi Abe Lincoln! :D

Right after the menu is distributed, my eyes are quickly focused on this big headline.

So, yeah, I went for it. Beef Ribs with Jack Daniel's sauce for me. My mom ordered a Cajun Chicken Salad for appetizer so went for it as well.

It's a pretty simple salad with lettuce, boiled egg, carrot and the cajun chicken. They served it with a honey mustard dressing. The dressing is a bit strong and kinda thick. The hero would be the chicken; it's well-seasoned, and the ratio between the meat and crispy coating is nicely balanced. The coat is not overly thick, it's just enough to bring a light-crisp to it.

Aaaand the beef ribs came. It's big. The sides are french fries and onion rings as you can see. I took my knife and fork, landed it on the meat and it fell apart pretty easily. I did not expect that. I tried the meat without the sauce first; the coat of the ribs is quite crispy and it has a sweet flavor to it. The meat itself is.....beefy. I figured the sauce must be quite strong and yes it is. It's sweet and has a bit of that jack daniel's flavor. The texture reminds me of a sweet local soy sauce though, not a bad thing, just a bit unusual. I asked my mom to try the sauce and she immediately said, "VEGEMITE!". It really adds flavor to the ribs. I think this is my first time having beef ribs, and it's not that bad. Still, I'd go for pork ribs over beef ribs anytime.

For dessert, mom ordered something that she said has always been her favorite from this place; a Mocha Mud Pie. Basically this mud pie consists of layers of chocolate & mocha ice cream, with almond bits and oreo cookie chunks (and cream) on the bottom. To finish it off, they put chocolate sauce on it, why? because they can. It's yummy, the kind of dessert I would come back for.
To sum up, it's a nice diner-ish kind of restaurant, a bit pricey, but it has a safe kind of menu. The ambience is nice too, great for hanging out and watch a soccer game or something. It's that kind of get-together place.

Address:
Lippo Mall Kemang Village, Avenue of the Stars
Jl. Pangeran Antasari no. 36
South Jakarta

Price:
+/- Rp. 90.000 - Rp. 200.000 / person

Rate:
8 / 10

Djournal Coffee & Bar

Oh my gosh, it's been soooo long since my very last post here, quite frankly I miss it. Things has been quite hectic with all my campus projects and freelance works (freelance graphic design stuffs, in case you're wondering). I hardly had the time to chill, hangout with fellas and tryout new restaurants. After quite a while, I finally got the chance to go to this newly opened cafe & bar, located at Grand Indonesia Mall, DJOURNAL.

Me and some of my fellas have been waiting for this cafe to open, because it looks like it's gonna be a cool place, especially knowing that it's created by Ismaya Group, one of the coolest business groups around here. And my predictions are true, the place is super kewl.

Since I'm a design kid, I enjoyed the designs very very much. I love the "Take a Smile" concept of spreading business cards as well as the color scheme of the place. The graphics work well with the style of the place, adopting vintage classy feel and the warmth of hand-painted things. Everything is well put-together. The place oozes out hipster aura as strong as a super saiyan oozes his super aura.

Okay, enough with my design talk and let's move on to the place's tongue-pleasers. They serve coffees, teas, light bites and of course, desserts. I ordered one of the barista combos there, and they are......

Nutella + Cappuccino Barista Deal : 55k

Ta-Da! The mighty duo of Nutella Cake + Hot Cappuccino! I'm such a huge Nutella fan so I had high expectations on this one cake.

The Nutella cake is out of this world. Really. The outer layer is soft cream with soft taste and the inner layer is the "punch of sweetness" with moist and crunchy texture. The cake is a mixture of dark chocolate flavor with strong hazelnut and Nutella here and there. I completely loved it. I took each bite, pause the conversation, and go "Mmmmmh.." like really, because it's THAT good. Even my friend is amazed by my reaction towards the cake. A little taste of heaven I may say. My advice to you cake goers, TRY THIS.

I took the Cappuccino without adding sugar, I like that it balances the sweetness of the cake. Plus points for the cup color, matches Bingo really well :D
Overall, I recommend Djournal for anyone who is looking for a nice place to hangout, talk, work, or just collecting some thoughts. I will come back here for sure some time. If you see a girl with geeky glasses, a Nikon DSLR and some little toys on the table, it will probably be me.

Address:
Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, West Mall, Ground Floor
Jl. MH Thamrin 1, Jakarta

Price:
+/- Rp. 40.000 - Rp. 65.000 / person

Rate:
9 / 10