The Comic Cafe Rises

I finally made it to Comic Cafe, yaaaaaay! My friend, Memes, told me about this funky restaurant a while ago and I have been dying to rest my butt in that place ever since. "The restaurant is very unique, it's decorated with drawings of comic characters, and the food is great, and there are comics available in that restaurant for you to read," said Memes. How can a person don't want to eat at such place?

Yesterday, I met Memes and her Mom at the Medical Checkup Center. After we took care of everything we need to do, we headed to Epicentrum Walk to have lunch at the second location of Comic Cafe. The restaurant is very noticeable, you can tell by the nicely painted MARVEL and DC Comics characters on the walls and the speech balloon with writings of "Comic Cafe" on it. When I entered the restaurant, I was mesmerized. 

The sight of the beautifully decorated Comic Cafe

The wall was filled with action figures and comic books trapped in a glass box, there were Super Saiyan and Flash hanging on the ceiling, the walls were drawn with scanned comic books, manga characters, and hands of some MARVEL characters, such as Ironman, Spiderman, and the Hulk. The restaurant is two stories high, and we had lunch at the second story. And the chairs, don't get me start on the chairs, has prints of comic on it! I spotted the one with Detective Conan manga and some other manga about baseball and tennis. Some chairs also has printed silhouette of some famous animated characters on it, like Tintin, Hello Kitty, Tom Cat, and Donald Duck. You think you have seen it all? Wait until you see the menu!

Genius idea for decoration!

The menu, ladies and gentlemen, was also made by a genius. The style of the menu is like a comic, decorated with speech balloons, superhero characters fighting against monsters, and catchy names. It's like reading an actual comic book, but without a story line and it's about food superheroes! 

Comic Cafe's epic comic book menu

After long consideration, I decided to order myself a glass of Kiwi Iced Tea same as Memes' Mom, while Memes had a glass of Orange Iced Tea. My iced tea looked pretty odd. There were green liquid at the bottom of the glass, which I assumed as Kiwi syrup. If we stir the drink, the green syrup and the brown tea will collide, then the whole drink completely changed color into dull green. My iced tea looked like a crime scene. But, it was very refreshing and sweet, and I enjoy every slice of Kiwi! 

Our sweet and refreshing iced tea

Memes' Orange Iced Tea

Ibu Tati, or Memes' Mom's, Kiwi Iced Tea

Not a pretty sight for a thirst-quenching drink

I had a hard time in choosing what to have for lunch. The food seemed very attractive and fancy, I want to eat them all! They were not that expensive either, for example you can have a big plate of Pizza for only Rp 50.000,00. The spaghetti looked very delicious, not to mention the soup and salad, the steak as well. I was flustered, it's as if defeating Loki would be much easier than choosing a dish to eat!

Memes had a plate of Spaghetti Salmon Aglio Olio and a snack platter consisted of potato balls and fried chicken pop, while her Mom had a plate of Imperial Salad. Aglio Olio. The more you say the word, the funnier and weirder it will be. Aglio Olio. Aglio Olio. Aglio Olio. I can't even pronounce it right. When my dinning partner has this particular dish during meal, I automatically go, "May I have a spoonful of you ogliaoaliolio?" I tried a swirl of Memes' Salmon Aglio Olio and it tasted good, although I can't see why can't the dish be named "Spaghetti Salmon" without the oaglioaloio.

Where's the salmon in this Aglio?

Those cheese sticks on top of the Imperial Salad looked crunchy and tasty

Can you spot which Superheroes can be found in this snack platter?

After defeating Mr. Freeze and Joker, which was an easier thing to do compared to choosing what I want to have for lunch, I finally set my eyes on a unique and awesome dish. Its' name is Dark Knight Cheese Burger, a burger unlike any other burger that you can find here in Jakarta. It lurks in the dark, waiting for the right time to ambush bad guys and send them to prison. This burger, it has a loyal butler named Alfred, who took care of it since its' parents died. I obviously can tell that you can tell that I'm rambling.

The reason why the burger I ordered is named after Batman, is because the burger is black in color. Get it? Batman is the Dark Night, and he wears black suit. The burger's name is Dark Knight Cheese Burger, and it is black in color. Get it? Get it? I expected a grayish and burnt burger, but it turned out that the buns they used were charcoal black in color. What is this sorcery? 

The Dark Knight rises!

The burger sandwiched four kinds of vegetables, two kinds of sauce, a slice of cheese, and a grilled minced meat. Lettuce, tomatoes, pickle, onion ring, mayonnaise, ketchup were in it. As manly as the burger may sound, its' physical appearance resembled Krabby Patties' Pretty Patty. 

To me, the Dark Knight Cheese Burger was not suitable to be eaten like the usual burgers that you can get at Burger King or McDonald, the one where they are squashed until they are thin enough to be gobbled down. So, I decided to dig in like a Lady, using knife and fork. The vegetables were fresh and firm, but I was not in the mood for some vegetables so I didn't eat them. 

Started off by eating the cheese, then proceed to taste the black bun. The buns were very soft and delicious, but there's a hint of flavor in it. I'm not sure what it was, but I'm guessing it was sesame seeds. The grilled beef was delicious, and sweet and savory, but it had too much fat in it. It's like 50% meat and 50% fat, you can actually taste the chewy and greasy chunks. All in all, the burger was delicious though. I give a 7 for the Dark Knight Cheese Burger.

It's a Krabby Patty, can't you tell?

Black colored inside out

The burger came with a very salty french fries

Even the hot sauce is decorated with badass female heroin!

I have to say that I enjoyed every minute of my stay at Comic Cafe! Great food, awesome decoration, nice atmosphere, and it's a fine place to visit with your fellow MARVEL enthusiast. Other than MARVEL comic book, they also have some Japanese manga and Indonesian comics too, so for those who love local comics can get a glimpse of the traditional Ramayana stories as well.

Comic Cafe
Epicentrum Walk
Kuningan, Jakarta

Sam's Strawberry Corner

Sam's Strawberry Corner

A new-comer from Bandung that sells fresh Strawberry juice and other munchies that can be consumed during Tea Time. I went to Sam's Strawberry Corner a day before my medical check up at Kemayoran. I was having a hard time in choosing what I was going to have at Sam's because they have a such mouth-watery selection of food and beverages. Brownies, Pudding, Noodles, you can find them all at this petite food corner. I decided to order myself a glass of Strawberry Lychee, along with a dessert named Strawberry Cream Cheese. I didn't know what that is, but it sounded appealing to the ear. 

Sam's mouth-watery menu

Five minutes later, our order arrived at the table. Mom had a glass of Strawberry Lychee as well, and a plate of Somay. Our neighbor, Tante Andin, who introduced us to Sam's Strawberry Corner had a bowl of Mie Yamin Manis and fresh Strawberry Juice. 

What I had during Tea Time

Sam's Strawberry Cream Cheese came out in a rather small plastic glass. It consisted of stacks of cream cheese and strawberry jam, which turned out to be Sam's homemade product. Topped with cheese cookies crumbs on top of the cream cheese, this particular dessert is beyond enjoyably sweet and savory. It's a shame that the cookie crumbs were very few.

As a person who is not too fond of fruit jam, I find Sam's homemade Strawberry Jam an exception. It's not too sweet, and not too sour. The jam went well with the cream cheese and the cookie crumbs. The cream cheese, on the other hand, was not sweet at all. It was very creamy and savory. 

Cheese cookie crumbs on top

This is what you called Sam's Strawberry Cream Cheese

A stack of Sam's Cream Cheese and Homemade Strawberry Jam 

My Strawberry Lychee was very juicy and refreshingly sweet! Nothing special about this particular drink, because it's merely a fusion juice, a combination between strawberry and lychee, but highly recommended if you happen to visit Sam's Strawberry Corner. 

Tante Andin's Fresh Strawberry Juice

Mom's Strawberry Lychee

Tante Andin's Mie Yamin looked very appealing. If only I didn't have a medical examination on the next day, I would definitely order myself a bowl just like hers. Her Mie Yamin is smothered in soy sauce, therefore it tasted sweet. It came out with a bowl of broth with babat inside, and topped with chicken flakes and spring onion. 

Tante Andin's Mie Yamin

Those are snow-like object on top the noodles are Chicken Flakes

Babat, you see, is the inner wall of cow's stomach. Pretty bizarre, huh? It is actually one of the most common 'bizarre food' in Indonesia, other than chicken intestine, chicken liver, cow tongue, and goat genital parts. "Now this is the babat I've been looking for," exclaimed Mom, "it's different from the babat I usually eat and it tasted better!" Tante Andin offered me some of her babat. I was very curious about its' taste so I accepted her offer, but I hesitated a bit because babat can increase our cholesterol. I don't usually think about those problem, but since I was going to have a medical examination, I had to think twice before I eat. Mom said that it's okay if I eat one, so I took a spoon and gulped the funny looking food. I was expecting a fat-like texture, all squishy and nauseating, but the babat turned out chewy and spongy, and it was pretty tasteless too.

They may look like sea creatures, but they are actually the inner wall of cow's stomach

No, they are not sea anemones

It looks like a hybrid of octopus, jelly fish, and anemone

Mom's Somay

Savory peanut sauce, combined with sweet soy sauce, as dipping

Sam's Strawberry Corner

Kalimalang, Duren Sawit

Behind GIANT Hypermarket, adjacent to POLSEK Duren Sawit

Jakarta Timur

My New Favorite Restaurant

My new favorite restaurant in town! Kaca Mata Restaurant has the most awesome menu so far. In this particular restaurant, you can find lots of pork and lots of century egg. What is more awesome than a restaurant that serves both pork and century egg? I was beyond excited when my Mom took me to this restaurant. I was ready to order myself a bowl of pork noodle, but when I glanced through the menu, the word "Century Egg" caught my attention. Goodbye noodle, hello black egg!

Mom's lunch, a bowl of Pork Noodle

Those roasted pork were very tempting

Savory broth, brought to you by Kaca Mata Restaurant

Second serving, maybe?

While Mom fill herself with thin and skinny noodle, I spoiled myself with a bowl of porridge. This porridge came in a beautifully drawn bowl that has a lid. I was very very excited as I opened the lid, who knows what manna from heaven could be in there? I was welcomed by a stack of Cahkwe, a deep fried rice dough which originated from China, a large amount of hot and steamy porridge, and two slices of century egg. My mind went, "YAAAAAY!!"

The porridge is very delicious and savory. My Mom said that sesame oil was probably added to the porridge because it tasted different than any other porridge I have ever tasted. The century egg, on the other hand, tasted delicious in an odd way like usual. Very acidic and vinegar-like, and the texture is very mushy yet chewable. I finished the century egg first for some reason, I'm not sure what it is. I usually save the best for the last, but this time, I want to devour it first. The Cahkwe was very crunchy and it went well with the porridge.

My lunch! 

Piles of Cahkwe ready to be indulged

Want some?

The almighty Century Egg, we meet again

The egg yolk is very black and creepy, yet it tasted awesome!

The crunchy and savory Cahkwe

"Mom, what's that over there," I asked my Mom, pointing at the dark red rope-like object hanging behind a glass. "That's what you called Casio Goreng Madu. It's crispy pork, fried with honey, and it tasted very delicious," she answered. Those Casio looked very very very tasty, so we ordered a plate and dig in. 

See those dark red object hanging behind the glass?

A close up of the Casio Goreng Madu

I took a bite of the so-called Casio Goreng Madu, and I immediately lost my sanity. "What is this why can it tasted so delicious I don't even asdfghjkl," I said to myself. I sounded crazy, I know, but wait until you take a bite of this delicious delicacy yourself. You would probably be as sane as I was. 

Casio Goreng Madu is the name of the dish. Crispy pork, bathe in honey and fried until it's crispy. It's very sweet, thanks to the honey, and I love it very very much, especially the burnt one. I have found my new favorite dish of all time, and you can find it at Kaca Mata Restaurant. Do try this dish. It's very delicious, the first bite made me feel like as if I was watching Super Junior's concert. 

Manna from Heaven 

God's epic fingers

Kaca Mata Resraurant

Grand Wijaya Centre

Jl. Wijaya II, Blok C No. 4

Jakarta Selatan, DKI Jakarta

Phone: (021) 723 5228

Risol Soub's Break-fasting Event

A friend of mine who goes by the name Memes has a big brother who opened a snack joint with his buddies named Risol Soubs. This particular snack joint is located at Tebet, and it held a break-fasting event a while ago during the Ramadan Season. Orphans, friends, and family were invited to this gathering, including me. At first, I was only going to attend the event, but then it turned out that Memes' camera's memory card malfunctioned, so I ended up being the documenter.

When I arrived at the location, the place was jammed-pack with people. The orphans, who were the main guest of the event, were sitting at the front yard, listening to a lecture by an ustadz. I proceed to the kitchen and found Mas Dika, Memes' big bro, preparing some snacks to be given to the guests. There were lots and lots of risols, and a tray of what it seemed to be deep-fried banana coated with chocolate and powdered sugar. My hands were all fidgety, wanting to snatch one of those good-looking bananas, but then I heard Mas Dika exclaimed, "It's an inferno in here!". I wasn't sure how to respond to his shouting as he was wearing three layers of top, T-Shirt, Baju Koko, and a thick Denim Jacket, in a pipping hot kitchen. 

Don't you just want to snatch a stick or two?

The sight of Mas Dika, preparing risols for the guests

The Before and After of Risol Soubs' famous flavored risols 

Fry them until they are brownish gold in color

Trays and trays of risols

While we all wait for the Adzan to echo around the neighborhood, we played games with the orphans. The game is simple, whoever can do a task or answer a question will win a lovely Disney bag. I was planning to join the game, I mean come on who wouldn't want a Disney bag, but it turned out that the questions were addressed to the kids only. Blue blistering barnacles. 

The shy boy managed to complete the first task, which is to sing the Adzan

The excitement of wining a prize

Memes and Kak Agham, letting those two girls complete their task

"Yaaaay, I won a Minnie and Daisy bag," cheered the little girl

"Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar," said an ustadz at a mosque near our place. Everybody was excited to break their fast. Mas Dika's friends gave out snack boxes for the orphans and everybody else to enjoy. The snack box was filled with two pastries, a chocolate cake, and a cup of pudding, along with a glass of mineral water. Then, it was followed by a tall glass of fruit soup. Man, those refreshing and juicy fruit soup was awesome! I got myself a glass with endless refills.

Boxes of snacks, ready to be given away

Stack them boxes

Always say a pray first before you eat

I bet those chocolate cakes tasted superb

My share of fruit soup

Another friends of Mas Dika, ready to hand out some fruit soup

"Calm down, calm down, everybody will get some!"

As night falls, everybody took out their praying clothes and praying mats, and shalat side by sides. Soon after the praying was finished, it was time to feast. It was a very luxurious dinner, with all those rice set and side dishes. There were two big plates of rice set, or Nasi Tumpeng, decorated with a wide selection of side dishes. There were spicy potato cubes with chicken liver, chicken, fish, meat, slices of eggs, potato cakes, vegetables, crackers, and macaroni. The table was occupied with food and dinning utensil, and those who would love to eat are allowed to queue. 

The sight of the luxurious Nasi Tumpeng

The sweet and savory macaroni 

Since the kids were our first priority, we let them queue first. It was an endless line of hungry mini-mes, excited to have their plate filled with various food. The ladies who were in charge of scooping the food did their job very well as they scoop every side dishes available on the table to the kids' plates. Unfortunately, the little fellows were rather picky with their food. So, instead of accepting the luxuriously decorated plate, they choose the food that they want to have for dinner themselves, which mostly was a spoonful of rice and a piece of chicken. The food ladies were very flustered, but it was a rather funny scene to see. 

A spoonful of this and a handful of that

The kids were really happy with a plate of rice and a piece of chicken 

"But, I only want rice and chicken."

The first Nasi Tumpeng was finished!

The kids enjoyed their meal as much as I did. We had dinner together, and we chatted and made jokes. I made friends with some of the little boys, whose names unfortunately escaped me. They were really happy that they can enjoy such delicious food, even if it was just a big spoonful of rice with two types of side dishes. 

Dinner was fun!

Careful there boy, you don't want to choke yourself!

Fried chicken. Fried chicken everywhere. 

"Hey, big sis, take a picture of this," exclaimed one of the boys. I turned on my camera and fired a flash. The boy was biting his drumstick with a big smile on his face. "Big sis, take a picture of me too," shouted another one. He did the same pose as his friends, taking a big bite of the chicken, but this time with a big grin instead of a smile. They were really adorable!

I had fun with Risol Soub, and with the kids too! I will definitely come if Risol Soubs held another break-fasting event next year. 

Risol Soubs

Jl. Tebet Utara 1, No. 12

Jakarta Selatan 12820

Phone: (021) 9067 0158