Caliente: Mexican Food for Everyone

Caliente means warm or hot in English. So we guess that this place offers warm foods or snacks. Few years back we saw some Tex-Mex snacks sold at some Jakarta's malls but then disappeared. We guess that Tex-Mex foods may not suitable for Indonesian generally. Before this restaurant came, we can only find the high-end places such as Chillis and Amigos for Mexican foods. So with the meaning of "Mexican Food for Everyone" is that it should be at affordable price.

 Beef Burrito

 Mexican Grill Chicken Combo

 Plain Churro Cake. The cake's shape is not like ordinary churro.

Last visited: 07/12/2013

Caliente
Lippo Mall Kemang Village 3rd Floor Unit 3
Jl. Pangeran Antasari Kav. 36
South Jakarta
T: +62 81584207043, +62 82310103173

Ayam Betutu Khas Gilimanuk

As far as we concerned, we considered that this restaurant is one the best ordinary Balinese foods in Jakarta at affordable price. Located at Jl. Wolter Monginsidi, South Jakarta, this restaurant may be easily recognised by the yellow signboard.

Before this visit, we have been at this place for several times so we now what to eat.  First is half Bebek Betutu. This was for sharing of two. Indeed, this restaurant is called Ayam Betutu but we preferred Bebek Betutu. More tasty. Ayam or Bebek Betutu is a kind of Balinese dish which rich of spices and herbs. The set of Bebek Betutu came with a small cup of soup, fried beans, sambal matah and plecing kangkung and of course one plate boiled rice.

 The second main dish is Nasi Campur Bali.

 So here our complete lunch menu that day.

On that day, we have just bought Leica C at one of the camera shops in Jakarta. So our pictures in this page all were taken with Leica C. This is really great equipment which we think is very suitable for food photography.

Last visited: 6/12/2013

Ayam Betutu Khas Gilimanuk
Jl. Wolter Monginsidi No. 63 A
Jakarta Selatan
Tel: +62 21 7233245
W: httw://betutugilimanuk.com /

Bihun Bebek 333 Roxy

When we were in Medan in the first week of December, we failed to eat the famous bihun bebek there. But fortunately when we had a meeting  in Roxy area in the second week of December we saw this place. Our meeting was at 1pm but due to heavy traffic, we have to start from 11am from our office. Reach there at 12:30 and trying to search lunch at  ITC Roxy Mas. ITC Roxy Mas is a mall which famous for electronic stuffs from handphones, cameras, laptops and other gadgets. We saw a stall  called "Bihun Bebek 333" at the fourth floor. 

According to the owner this dish is different with Medan-style bihun bebek. It is more Bangkanese style. The portion was quite big with a lot of soup. The duck meats were shredded and quite tasty.

The red vegetables on top of the dish are not chillis. They are a kind of Chinese herb.  

Visited on 5 December 2013

Bihun Bebek 333
ITC Roxy Mas, 4th Floor
Jl. KH Hasyim Ashari, Roxy
Jakarta
Tel: +62 21 268288

Kedai Tjikini

This place is one of our favourite places to visit not because of the foods but ambience. You can just sit enjoy a cup of coffee for hours and free WiFi without felt disturbed.

Located in an old building at Jalan Cikini No 17, Central Jakarta just across MentengHuis. The parking is sometimes difficult because you have to park along the street. So if you cannot get parking space, you just park your car at MentengHuis and cross the street.

The front side is non-smoking area.

Inside part is smoking area.

When talking about the foods, this cafe is just like ordinary restaurant  even though it is belong to one of the famous old restaurant group, as I was told. At that day we ordered few menus i.e. lumpia as appetizer, two main courses Nasi Rames and Lontong Capgomeh. Nasi Rames was much more better than Lontong Capgomeh.

 Nasi Rames is actually a mixed rice. Indonesian people eats white rice with variety of dishes both vegetable dishes and meat or fish dishes plus shrimp cracker.

 Lontong Cap Go Meh

Last visited: 04/12/2013

Kedai Tjikini Sedap Segala Rasa
Jl. Tjikini No. 17, Menteng
Central Jakarta
Indonesia

[Culinary Travel Medan]: Afternoon Coffee at Warung Kopi Kurnia Medan

Our curiousness of another coffeeshop forced us to again visit Jl. Perdana. We saw that Warung Kopi Apek has closed but Warung Kopi Kurnia still opened. So we decided to have a final stop at Warung Kopi Kurnia. Warung Kopi Kurnia

When we entered the place, only two stalls opened. One was  roti cane/martabak and the other was Mie Rebus Perdana. Few people sit and having coffees.

We order a cup of black coffee. The style of the coffee was exactly the same as Warung Kopi Apek which we visited earlier in the morning.

 Mie Rebus was too much at that afternoon, so we decided to try sweet roti cane.  The maker of roti cane looked like Indian.

 Sweet roti cane was served hot with white sugar on top of it. This was very delicious roti cane.

Total costs for this afternoon coffee (sweet roti cane and coffee was IDR 13,000).

Visited on: 03/12/2013

Warung Kopi Kurnia
Simpang Jl. Perdana/Jl. Mesjid
Kesawan, Medan
North Sumatera

[Culinary Travel Medan] RM Tabona

Before afternoon, our works have finished. After packing our stuffs, we have spare 2-3 hours time before leaving for airport. We thought that we have to finish unfinished culinary trip. Another round of eating. Considering the traffic and sporadic rain at that time, we decided to hire "bentor" (becak motor), the most efficient means of transportation in Medan.

The first destination is Soto Kesawan at Jl. Ahmad Yani No. 116. We wanted to try Soto Udang Kesawan which is recommended by www.jenzcornder.net. Unfortunately, it has sold out.

 The only left was Martabak so we order Martabak to take away.

Across Soto Kesawan, there is a Rumah Tjong A Fie, the famous Taipan from Medan. We asked our driver to wait while we visited Rumah Tjong A Fie. It took about one and half hour to browse the house and taking pictures. The entrance fee is IDR 35,000.

The next destination was Bihun Bebek Kumango. We were told that the address was at Jl. Kumango. But when we arrived  at Jl. Kumango, we could not find the place. So we quickly decided to change the direction to RM Tabona. The driver sounds not very familiar with famous food places so we have to struggle by using Google to find the place. We were told that RM Tabona is located closed to Hermes Hotel so direct the driver to find the Hermes Hotel. Yes, we found RM Tabona.

 The place is decent. There are two parts inside and outside. We decide to sit outside while taking fresh air after the rain.

RM Tabona is recommended for its Bihun Kari (Vermicelli Curry). There are two options of curry i.e. chicken curry and beef curry. The chicken curry is made from ayam kampung.  

Because of our stomach has been full, we did not order bihun kari but just chicken curry and unsweetened ice tea.  The curry was delicious. We imagine if we ate with bihun, it would be a perfect combination.

Next time we will come back to try Bihun Kari Ayam.

Visited on: 03/12/2013

RM Tabona
Jl. Mangkubumi No. 17 (Behind Hermes Hotel)
Medan, North Sumatra

[Culinary Travel Medan]: Soto Medan at RM Sinar Pagi

It was lunch time. We did not want to miss our golden time to try truly Medanese famous food. So we said to our clients that we did not want to have lunch at hotel. Instead, we want to have lunch at Soto Medan Sinar Pagi. The clients asked us why we want to have lunch in Sinar Pagi. We told them that we love culinary experience and whenever we went to a new place, we would try local foods and Soto Medan at RM Sinar Pagi has become a legendary Medanese food which we must try. So, finally we went to RM Sinar Pagi.

RM  Sinar Pagi is located at Jl. Sei Deli Medan. It is not so far from our hotel. But due to small traffic, it took about 15-20 minutes to reach there. The place is small and decent.

What offered by this decent place is "Nasi Soto". But the soto is Soto Medan. Original Medanese food. There are three types of soto offered i.e. beef soto, chicken soto and mixed soto. Mxed soto includes jeroan . Jeroan is term of meat inside the stomach of cow. So if you do not like jeroan just order beef or chicken soto. Each type of soto served in different bowl. Small bowl is for mixed soto, while big bowl is for beef soto and big oval bowl for chicken soto.

 The inside place was a bit hot and crowded. We order some mixed soto and beef soto.

Not until five minutes after sitting, a waiter served the soto and rice. Very fast. Along with rice, a home-made sambal kecap (soy sauce chilli) was also served. The home-made sambal kecap makes the taste of this soto become very specify and nice.

Soto Medan is closed to Soto Jakarta or Soto Betawi only that the coconut milk used is lighter than Soto Betawi and it does not use fat. What makes Soto Medan  different is that there is a taste of curry in it.

Soto Medan is best served with boiled rice. Soto Medan is served warm with potato patties (perkedel), sprinkled with shallot flakes, chopped spring onions and celery.

Mixed Soto Medan:

 Beef Soto Medan:

If you do like spicy the home-made sambal kecap is the perfect companion.

Thank you for our clients to treat us lunch at RM Sinar Pagi.

Visited on: 03/12/2013

RM Sinar Pagi 
Jl. Sei Deli (cross Jalan Gatot Subroto)
Medan, North Sumatera

[Culinary Travel Medan]: Breakfast at Warung Kopi Apek

We were told that if you went to Medan, it is not complete if you did not try Medan-style coffeeshop. Normally, these coffeeshops open early in the morning to serve coffee and breakfast. Of course, Medan-style breakfast. So, we decide to wake up early that morning (03/12/2013). It was rainy last night so the soil a bit wet. At 5:30am sharp, we have ready with our sports shoes and wears. We walked a along to the east direction of the hotel, left right to the south until reach Aston Hotel and then browsing Kesawan and finally headed back to Jalan Hindu. It took almost one hour for such short distance because we frequently stopped to take pictures. Approximately 6:30 we reach Pasar Hindu. We have read some reviews of the coffeeshops along Jalan Perdana (closed to Pasar Hindu). We noticed some recommended coffeeshops such as Warung Kopi Bahagia and Warung Kopi Kurnia. Unfortunately, they were still close at that time. The last chance was looking for Warung Kopi Apek, the other recommended coffeeshop by www.jenzcorner.net. After asking few people, finally we found the place. There is no signboard of Warung Kopi Apek. It is located in the corner of Jalan Hindu/Jalan Perdana just across LBH (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum) Medan or across Pasar Hindu. In the picture below, Warung Kopi Apek is located at the left side (corner).

When we enter the coffeeshop, our feeling was thrown away to somewhere in the old days. The place has half full. People sit, enjoy coffee or breakfast, reading newspaper or having chit chat with friends. It was Tuesday not weekend. It appears that drinking coffee in coffeeshops has been Medan culture for sometimes. Coffeeshops were not only simply place to enjoy coffee or breakfast but also part of social life in Medan.
We sit at the corner, the only left table that morning.

We first order black coffee. Evaporated milk was separated in a small cup. The coffee is "kopitiam-style". Served in small cup.  It is very hot, black, bitter and very nice.  We were told it was Sidikalang coffee.

From our table, we can see street activities. People went and back to and from Pasar Hindu.

After finishing a quarter cup coffee, we order our breakfast meal. We decide to order kaya toast and half-boiled eggs. The kaya toast was big and nice.

The half-boiled eggs were served with soy sauce, pepper and salt.

The big breakfast of Warung Kopi Apek will make your day perfect. Our big breakfast costs IDR 57,000.

Finished? Not yet !! We notice that there is a small stall outside the coffeeshop that sells something. So we approach the lady waiter and asked what sold by outside stall and if we may bring that food inside. She explained that the outside stall sold fried kwee tiaw, noodle and bee hon and pleased her customers to bring their own foods but not drink.

Unfortunately, the only left was fried bee hon. So we order one. The fried bee hoon costs IDR 10,000.

It is very tasty and very nice. Some chilli sambal was also put at the dish, so if you like spicy just mix the chilli sambal with the bee hon.

Perfect breakfast for today.

Visited on: 03/12/2013

Warung Kopi Apek
Corner of Jalan Hindu/Jalan Perdana

Kesawan, Medan
North Sumatera