De'Excelso

This is not something new, and I guess all of you familiar with Excelso Cafe or De' Excelso, since they have many branches spread all over malls in Jakarta.. As their name is familiar with a coffee brand, so I think this is only a coffee shop.. Well I was wrong about it, it is not just an ordinary coffee shop..

The first time I visited De' Excelso is in Plaza Indonesia with my fam, we were here just for the drinks and had some snacks..


I had this refreshing Summer Splash (37.5K), blueberry juice with blueberry sorbet.. It's perfectly cold and refreshing..


My bro love something creamy and milky, he ordered Floating Island (37.5K).. This is their signature drink, an avocado juice blended with coffee served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate shavings.. You can ask whether to put coffee or not to blend with it.. Mmm soo nice..


As for the snack, we opted Banana Wrap Cheese & Chocolate (25K), sweet crunchy fried banana topped with a lot of cheese, chocolate and condensed sweet milk..


The next visit, I was back with E.. We went to De' Excelso in Senayan City to had a dinner this time..


The place here is bigger than in Plaza Indonesia, with a separation smoking area behind the glass, nice..


Dominated with dark furniture and open kitchen concept..


E tried D'Amour (57.5K) for the drink, as I remembered it's a blend of coffee and vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream.. I don't know what makes this drink so expensive, it tasted just OK..


We had the De' Excelso Nachos (42.5K), tortilla chips covered with melted cheese, beef chili sauce, and Mexican jalapenos chili to kickstart our appetite..


I choosed Triple Decker Sandwich (50K), three layer whole wheat breads with quite a lot of smoked beef, grilled chicken, egg, veggies, and french fries on the side.. It's nice that we can choose our bread preference, it's really a filling meal..


E ordered Lemon Butter Dory (50K), pan fried dory fish served with fettuccine drizzled with lemon butter sauce.. It's tasted nice and not fishy at all, but the portion was a bit small for E..


We really had a complete dinner that nite, we finished off with Crispy Cassava with Chocolate Ice Cream (31K), fried cassava spring roll covered with cheese, chocolate, and sweet milk.. I swear I am not exaggerating here, but it was lip-smackingly good! I certainly had not expected it to be that good..

We're really really full, can't finished it all.. Overall we're satisfied enough, the foods meet our expectation and for the price is still a value for money dish.. And fortunately we got 50% disc from Standard Chatered Bank promotion, good deal yaa :).. I've been to this place for couple of times and I don't mind going back again sometimes


De' Excelso
Plaza Indonesia
Basement #61 A
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28-30
Central Jakarta
Tel. (62 21) 31927059

Senayan City
Lower Ground Floor #L-20
Jl. Asia Afrika Lot. 19
South Jakarta
Tel. (62 21) 72781187

Sinou Kaffee Hausen

After read some recommendation on magazine and several reviews on blogs about the unique interior and good foods from this place, we were curious to visit it.. Sinou Kaffee Hausen is a chic and unique cafe located in Panglima Polim area..


The place is full of vintage style furniture.. As their unique name, the place really designed in different ways from others cafe we usually visit..


With a wire fence as a separator, I felt like eating in the under-construction industrial warehouse.. A cool place to hang out, but unfortunately there are no separation for smoking and non-smoking area.. I felt suffocated with the smoke..


And this is their best spot, as stated by one of magazine that we read.. Seems like it's true, it's reserved when we arrived.. You can enjoy the atmosphere on the sidewalk in Paris here..

When it comes to the food, we tried all their best dishes, marked with two stars on the menu..


Started with a Cheese Stuffed Mushroom (27K), baked portobello mushrooms stuffed with minced beef and covered with cream cheese.. Hmm it looks yummy, and so does it tasted..


I ordered a Peach French Toast (27K), two slices of homemade toast served with peach sauce, peach cubes and vanilla ice cream.. The golden crusty toast was crispy on outside, soft and fluffy inside, it really went well with peach and ice cream.. Yummy..


As for E, he ordered a Club Sandwich (39K), the smoked beef topped with fried egg, sliced cheese, melted cheese, and lot of veggies stuffed into two thick breads served with french fries.. What a filling meal, very generous with the ingredients on it and their bread really has a nice texture, fluffy and soft..

I reckon the prices here were pretty reasonable with the taste of food being served, worth every cent.. If you are curious with this place, do drop by..



Sinou Kaffee Hausen
Jl. Panglima Polim V No. 26
South Jakarta
Tel. (62 21) 7258568

Canteen - revisit

Sunday brunch is a lovely moment for relaxing and enjoying a pleasant meal to start a lazy weekend day for us.. E took me out to have a brunch in Canteen Plaza Indonesia.. Yup, we revisit Canteen to try their brunch menus..


We found that the ambiance here is more comfy and relaxed in the midday than at nite.. Since we didn't enjoyed the ambiance here on our last visit, the place was so packed and all people seemed so busy.. It was not comfy at all..


My brother told me that their Spaghetti aglio olio is so nice, so E tempted to give it a try.. Spaghetti Chicken Aglio Olio (45K), sauteed spaghetti with chicken chunks and chili padi in olive oil.. Loved the simplicity of the dish and how it could end up being so delicate.. The chicken cooked nice and the spaghetti was just done so rite..


I had this Big Breakfast (65K), a complete set of eggs (scrambled, poached, or sunny side up, mine is scrambled obviously), crispy bacon, German sausage, sauteed mushroom, roasted potatoes, baked beans, and hot toasty buttered breads.. Everything was good about this, except the scrambled egg was a bit dry for my liking, and I especially like juicy sausage.. Really a fulfilling meal..

We enjoyed the brunch here and Canteen has become one of our fave brunch spot now.. hehe..


Canteen
Plaza Indonesia Extension
5th Floor #E02, E10
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav 28-30
Central Jakarta
Tel. (62 21) 3156537

Kitchenette

OK guys this is absolutely new.. Kitchenette finally opened its door recently in Plaza Indonesia, and we visited right away.. Kitchenette is a part of Ismaya Group, as you know their project always satisfy the food lovers..


Like their name Kitchenette, they designed the place resembles a homey country kitchen.. This cute little kitchenette in the corner is nice yaa..


And their actual kitchen in the middle, it's quite amusing to see the chef prepare the meals while waiting for our foods..


This concept restaurant is doing pretty well.. It's really a lovely spot to hang out..


Looks what they have here, pancake? waffle? Nooo, that's not special anymore, but here they offer something rare we can find around Jakarta.. Crepes and Galettes (a savoury crepes made from buckwheat flour).. They have various kinds of crepes and galettes, oh my God we wanted to try everything..


Surely we here to try their specialties, I ordered Edouard Galette (59K), savoury buckwheat crepe filled with sauteed mushroom, mozarella cheese, and a choice of pork or turkey ham, topped with salads mayonnaise.. I opted the turkey one.. It's thin but they put generous turkey ham and cheese on it.. Love it..



E ordered this Baked Crespelle (55K), it's a lasagna like dish, they create this lasagna using crepes instead of pasta and baked with chicken chunks with a hint of pesto sauce..


Seems like the portion is small for E, so he also ordered Spaghetti Carbonara (55K), spaghetti with bacon stirred in their special carbonara sauce.. The creamy smooth sauce all over the pasta, Mmm yummy..

When you're trying a new place, it's always good to try what's best on their menu, it'd be the safe and best bet rite? Those dishes we ordered are some of their recommended dish on menu..

Oh I love this place.. I like the ambiance and the food here, though the prices are a little on the high side, but worth it due to the excellent service and great food using quality ingredients.. We consider Kitchenette still affordable and not excessively expensive.. There are still some foods that I like to try and some coming soon menus, definitely will come back in real soon..


Kitchenette
Plaza Indonesia L1 #E16
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav 28-30
Central Jakarta

Kampus

The dinner was happen to celebrate our Valentine's day this year.. Yaa I know, I'm so late.. E brought me out for Valentine's dinner a week after the actual date, as you know that V-day and CNY fell on the same day this year.. And we celebrated the CNY first with fam on that day..

E set up our Valentine dinner @ Kampus in Menara Imperium.. He knew that I had always wanted to go to this Menara Imperium which is the only one revolving building in Jakarta.. So thanks to E, for this lovely dinner..


Checking out the decor of the place, we were stunned by the amount of care that went into the space and interior design.. It looks elegant..


The restaurant is modest and cozy with a dim lighting, it's giving a warm ambiance.. The seats are arranged to enable patrons to enjoy a panoramic view without leaving their seats.. I love this casual and comfy setting..


Not only the nice ambiance that we enjoyed here, but also this splendid view which accompany our lovely dinner..

As for the food, they serve international dishes even you also can find an Indonesian food here..


Upon the ordering we were served with their fresh baked buns with three kinds of dip.. Never judge the book by it's cover.. The buns might look plain but it's quite soft ad still warm too..


For the drink, E opted Strawberry Mermaid (35K), strawberry milkshake topped with whipped cream.. Sweet and refreshing..


We started off with Roasted Potato with Herbs (35), the potato was perfectly roasted and simply seasoned with fresh rosemary, salt, and some pepper.. The potato cubes was nice, it's crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and have the slightest hint of rosemary..


I ordered Spaghetti Aglio Olio (75K), a stir-fried spaghetti with olive oil.. I found this aglio olio pasta a bit different than I used to eat, they put a mozzarella cheese on it.. Yes, it's tasty but I still prefer the usual style of aglio olio..


E had this Pan Seared Dory (65K), a pan fried sliced dory, potatoes, and zucchinis in butter lemon sauce.. It's simple yet such a delicious fish, the fish was fresh and tastefully cooked and the sauce was a good paired with the wonderful natural flavours of the fish..

I did feel that the portions here were on the small side, it is quite a pricey dinner.. We can't complaint much since we realized we're paying part of it for the ambiance and splendid view.. But overall, we had a wonderful dinner in Kampus..


Kampus
Menara Imperium 35th Floor
Jl. Rasuna Said Kav. 1, Kuningan
Central Jakarta
Tel. (62 21) 83786008

Kafe Victoria

Here just a quick review from our simple dinner @ Kafe Victoria in Plaza Senayan..


Located in the corner of the mall, the design of the cafe tries to replicate that of a bistro in Paris, I think they quite successfully recreated that ambiance and get us attracted to visit..


Like its name, the place has a Victorian style.. The deco style included a touch of Victorian wallpaper and sofa, is an atmosphere enhancer..




Decorated with some beautiful chandeliers make this place quite fancy and a bit quite romantic for a dinner..

About the food here is nothing different like others cafe, international dish is on menu.. We opted pasta for the dinner..


I loved tuna so I ordered Tuna Chili Spaghetti (51.5K), just an ordinary aglio olio spaghetti stirred with tuna chunks and cut chili padi served with two pieces garlic breads.. Tasted OK not too oily, but the pasta was a bit soggy for me.. And please be careful with the chili hehe..


And E was craved something creamy, he had Fettucinne Alfredo (49.5K).. I'm sorry for the awful picture, the light kinda ruined it.. It's a fettuccine tossed with parmesan cheese, smoked beef, and butter, it also came with garlic breads.. Classic but it's delicate, the cheese coated in every strand pasta, E liked it..

Well, if you're looking for nice place to relax while shopping in Plaza Senayan, you should probably think of checking out this place.. Kafe Victoria offers a decent foods with a comfy ambiance to enjoy..


Kafe Victoria
Plaza Senayan 1st Fl. No. 168C, 170C, 172C
Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8
South Jakarta
Tel. (62 21) 5725108

Cork&Screw

Looking for a place where you can enjoy the view of the heart of Jakarta city? Cork&Screw will be a great choice, situated in the Plaza Indonesia facing the Bundaran HI.. Actually we've been to this place several times, but I haven't posted it on my blog yet..


The view that you can enjoy it..


The place is not really spacious, they had the elongated dining room.. It is always crowd especially in the weekend, so I suggest you to make a reservation first..


It's a simple and minimalist decor with some wine racks as a partition..


Their refreshing Lychee Ice Tea (30K), tasted just right not too sweet tho..

The food here is quite various, they had International and Asian selections..


E opted the Asian selection, Special Fried Rice (45K), a seafood fried rice laced with vegetables and topped with shrimp cracker.. Simple but it delicious with its moist, flavorful,well seasoned, and good sized portion..


And I ordered Spaghetti Tuna (60K), spaghetti with tuna chunks cooked in aglio olio style and sprinkled with fresh parsley.. It's so yummy, it had a generous tuna chunks and the pasta was cooked in a perfect texture.. For those who like tuna, this is your definitely choice..


We also tried their Phad Thai (40K) from our previous visit.. It's a Thai style stir-fried rice noodle with seafood, but for the rice noodle seems like they used usual kway teow.. But the taste hit a perfect balance between sweet and sour, the shrimp were fresh and tasty..


And last but not least here is their signature dessert and we never miss it every time we visit, a 3 Flavor Chocolate Melted Cake (35K).. It's a three flavors (dark, milk, and white) warm melted cake.. It's warm with a molten custard lava melted in our mouths, hmm such a scrumptious dessert..

Great place, good food, and nice view.. So what else? Surely you need a wine to complete your lovely dinner.. And this is it guys, the place where you can enjoy all of it.. With a great spot, Cork&Screw is really a good place to escape from the busy traffic of life and enjoying a quite dinner with friends and loved one.. And for the price for me its worth it given the quality of food and the nice ambiance they offered.. We enjoyed the dinner and the view very well here..


Cork&Screw
Plaza Indonesia 1st Fl. Unit 127A-D
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28-30
Central Jakarta
Tel. (62 21) 31996659