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

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