Having Shawarma Like Tony Starks

When I was in Doha, Qatar, visiting the shawarma restaurant is a bliss. I'm a big fan of shawarma, yet the shawarma in Indonesia is far from similar with the shawarma in Doha. Indonesian shawarmas are lacking of meat, mostly filled with cabbages and mayonnaise, which make them pretty plain and less entertaining. On the other hand, the shawarmas that I bought in Doha had thick paratha bread, generously filled with grilled meat, covered in delicious spicy sauce, garnished with cabbages and french fries, and tasted superb. This particular post simply explains my love for shawarmas.

Shawarma guy on action 

Break time

One of the shawarma guy grilling the chicken

Look at those juicy stacks of chicken meat!

My Dad was on duty, so my Mom and I decided to visit the shawarma restaurant. When we arrived at the particular Turkish restaurant, the place was not crowded with people. The Tv was on and it was airing the soccer match between Italy and England. All eyes were on the television, including some of the staff from the restaurant. 

We ordered ourselves a plate of Chicken Shawarma and a plate of Lamb Chop. I was looking forward to have the chicken shawarma. Mom said that the lamb chop tasted superb, that is why she ordered a plate for us to share. While we waited, one of the waiter approached our table and handed us a plate of pickled vegetables and some small containers of onion puree. He didn't actually handed the appetizer though. It was more like randomly-putting-the-appetizer-followed-with-a-loud-thud kind of way. He did the same thing with the plates and the dinning tools. Maybe it's a custom in Doha that I just found out.

Pickled vegetables and onion puree

A moment later, the same waiter brought us our orders. It was the chicken shawarma. He handed the dish the same way like he handed us the appetizer and the dinning tools, with a loud thud. We ordered one portion of the chicken shawarma, but it turned out that it could probably feed four persons. There were four pairs of paratha bread covered in spicy sauce, a generous amount of grilled chicken, french fries, and vegetables.

A big plate of Chicken Shawarma

Look at those grilled chicken meat! 

This is what it looks like when the paratha are removed

The bread was thick and crispy, and it tasted delicious although it was considered plain and tasteless. The spicy sauce add some flavor to the shawarma. It tasted spicy and delicious, yet a bit funny because it left this weird spicy aftertaste in your throat. The vegetables were very refreshing and juicy. The french fries and grilled chicken were great! They were crispy and full of flavor, not to mention deliciously awesome. I can never have enough of this dish!

An orderly way to organize your very own hand-rolled shawarma

This is what rolled shawarma looks like

A mouthful of this would send you to bed of roses

Our next dish was the lamb chop. I'm not a big fan of lamb, to be honest, I'm more of a fish-chicken-beef-enthusiast. But, since I'm on my quest to feast on every food that I can find, I was looking forward to try this particular lamb chop that my Dad loves so much. The ribs were rather big and juicy, garnished with some fresh vegetables, french fries, and paratha bread. I took a bite of the ribs and it actually taste pretty nice. Lamb-lovers would totally love this dish, I can guarantee that!

A big plate of Lamb Chop

Boy, look at those juicy lam meat!

One is never enough!

A Bag of Souvenir From Dad

One day, my Dad went home after a trip to Munich. He brought an occupied paper bag with him and handed it to me. He told me to check what's inside. To my surprise, there was a palm-sized sandwich waiting to be indulged. So, I brought it to the kitchen to make some observation, accompanied with my Mom, and it turned out to be a stack of pork sandwich, complete with its' pork skin. "It's your breakfast," said Dad.

My Mom can use pork meat as big as this for three servings

Cut the meat evenly

Add some slices of meat and pork skin onto the buns

Add some french fries and potato chips to make it look fancy

Breakfast is ready. Are you ready to dig in?

Guten Appetit!

Experimenting With Macaroon: Page Two

KueKue

Dharmawangsa Square Basement F1 No 52

Jakarta, DKI Jaya 12160

Phone: (+62) 815 922 6222

Hours:

Sunday - Thursday: 9 am - 9 pm

Friday - Saturday: 9 am - 9:30 pm

Instant Breakfast: Page Two

Knusper Crunch and Fresh Milk

Ever heard of Knusper Crunch? I didn't know this thing exists until a few weeks ago. I was at a fancy supermarket named 99 Ranch Market and I stumbled upon this particular cereal-like muesli at the breakfast section. It didn't cost much for a small pack of Knusper Crunch, and it has this appealing packaging that attracted me, so i decide to buy some. Since then, having Knusper Crunch for breakfast has been a pleasure. You can eat it with yogurt or with milk, or both if you like experimenting. I prefer to have this cereal with milk because it brings the best of this Swiss-made product. 

A glass of cereal to start the day

Daim-covered Paratha

For those who don't know what Daim is, it's a brand of chocolate that you can find in some duty free stores at airports. Each wrapping has this thin rectangular-shaped milk chocolate, with hard caramel and nuts filling inside. I love the inner part of the chocolate the most because it tasted so good! The combination of the caramel and the nuts is nice. It would be better if they add some more nuts though. 

To have this quick and tasty breakfast, just buy yourself a pack of roti paratha at your nearby supermarket and a bag of Daim chocolate. If you can't find any Daims, you can just use any chocolate bar or chocolate jam. Fry the paratha with non-stick pans until it's darkish brown in color. Follow the instruction located at the back of the paratha packaging properly! When it's done, put it on a plate, unwrap some chocolates and cover the paratha with them. Voila! your chocolate-flavored paratha is ready.

Food mash-up!

Gnocchi on a Plane

I had to fly with Garuda Indonesia from Singapore to Indonesia because the direct flight from Qatar to Indonesia with Qatar Airways was fully booked. I didn't expect to be served with food when I was onboard with Garuda Indonesia, but then the sight of the stewardesses dragging off the food cart caught me. "Free food," I said to myself. The stewardess handed the passengers cups of orange juice, followed by a tray of food.

A fresh cup of orange juice before departure

"Would you like to have rice with chicken, or pasta with beef," she asked. I decided to try the pasta because eating chicken on an airplane is not what I'm good at. I was expecting a bowl of penne, or spaghetti, covered with juicy meat sauce, what I got was a bowl of gnocchi with cube-shaped meat, and vegetables on the side of the bowl. "What is this pasta you speak of," I thought. I didn't know its' name was Gnocchi and it's a kind of pasta, so I just used the word "dough balls" when my Mom asked me what I had during the flight.

Having beef for lunch, instead of rice and chicken

Look, Gnocchi on a plane!

It turned out that the Gnocchi and the cube-shaped meat tasted delicious! I've never tasted Gnocchi before, so it was a bit odd and strange, but delicious at the same time. The meat, on the other hand, was well-cooked. They were all soft and easy to chew, not to mention coated with savory sauce that would tingle your taste bud.

Those meat tasted awesome, a bit similar to rendang but more airplane-food-like

I had a glass of guava juice and a bowl of mixed fruits for dessert. Everything was fine and organized, I enjoyed my meal and was about to dozzed off, until a rough turbulence hit the plane. I'm always terrified when turbulence occurs. I can't help but to think that the plane is going to crash and stuff. So, I tried to distract my mind by eating the mixed fruits. It didn't help quite much because I was still scared, but it tasted good and very refreshing.

A glass of guava juice to put my mind at ease during turbulance

Some fruits for dessert

Mother of Nutella

I was on my way back to Jakarta, from Qatar, and accidently stumbled upon this droppings of God. It was my first encounter with a 5kg Nutella jar. A big jar filled with endless chocolaty hazelnut goodness. It's a good think I'm not a Nutella-enthusiast, or else I would bought myself a $60 prized jar of jam. But still, seeing such enormous bread companion made me overwhelmed. I wonder what will the creator of Nutella do next. Make a 10kg Nutella jar maybe? Who knows.

A Feast at Moe's Place

A small introduction is necessary, yes?

Today was a well-spent day, indeed! I went out for brunch with my friends and we ate lots of delicious dishes. We were going to crash at Hamptons Cafe in the first place, but the place was closed when we arrived, which made me feel disappointed. How could I not? I spent the night browsing through Hamptons Cafe's Facebook page to examine the menu and made a list of food that I want to eat. I was so ready to order a nice set of lunch since I hopped into the car. I didn't even had breakfast so that I would have spaces to fill in my stomach! But then the "Sorry, we're close" sign popped up. Dinkleberg. 

Thank goodness there was this restaurant named Moe's Place right beside Hamptons Cafe, so we entered the building and dominated a table for five. Moe's Place is a really nice restaurant, and it has this New-York-like atmosphere. The restaurant deserves a two thumbs up in terms of interior design.  The walls were decorated with street-photographs which took place in, probably, New York. The dinning area are divided into two sections, which are indoors and outdoors. The ceilings were decorated with hanging lamps and shelves that were used to placed empty bottles. All in all, Moe's Place is a fine and cozy restaurant for you to dine in with your friends and family. 

The choice of food were a bit limited as they mostly serve pasta and ribs. But there were also other main-courses that looked very interesting, such as a various choice of chicken platter and Moe's signature burger. We skimmed through the menu, asking each other what we would like to have. It took us about five minutes to decide what we were going to have.

Sally and Angel ordered themselves a glass of Iced Lychee Tea. It looked a bit different from what I expected it to be. Iced Lychee Tea should look refreshing and contains, at least, a couple of canned lychee, yet Sally's and Angel's looked like beers instead. Maybe Moe's idea of Iced Lychee Tea is a bit different, which is all bubbly and fizzy. On the other hand, the presentation was very nice and simple, and it looked like it would quench your thirst.  

The bubbly Lychee Iced Tea

Velly ordered herself a glass of Iced Tea. Nothing special, just your regular sweet iced tea. The presentation was very appealing as they put a leaf and ice cubes inside the drink. Again, it looked very refreshing and as if it would quench your thirst. I bet the iced tea would taste best if you drink it after you finish a jog.

Iced Tea; the quenchiest drink in the restaurant

Being different from the rest of the group, Icha ordered herself a glass of vanilla milkshake. Decorated with a stick of chocolate wafer, she drank nearly half of the glass before the food arrived, which made her pretty much stuffed. I don't usually drink milkshake because it always give me a feeling of nausea if I consumed it too much. But, I gotta say that, I look forward to order myself Icha's drink when I got the chance to visit Moe's Place someday in the future.

Icha's Vanilla Milkshake, decorated with a stick of chocolate wafer

As for me, I didn't order myself a drink. It would cost me a quarter of my allowance just to have a glass of Iced Lychee Tea, so I didn't bother to drink during brunch. 

A few minutes after our drinks arrived, the waiter came back to our table with our food that we ordered earlier. Sally had a plate of spicy chicken wings. It was nicely decorated with celery on top, and crushed spices and herbs on the sides of the plate, making the dish looked like a birthday present with confetti. 

I took a bite of the chicken wings. The meat was well-cooked. It was soft and slightly chewy, but the outer skin was a bit crunchy at some parts, making it deserves a two thumbs up. What I like the most about Sally's dish was the sauce that the chef used to coat the chicken wings. I have no idea what kind of sauce it was, but it tasted deliciously spicy and finger-licking good. I would finish the whole plate if Sally allowed me though. No, seriously.

Sally's Spicy Chicken Wings

A plate of Chicken Quesadillas was what Velly had for brunch. As I examined her dish, I found out that Chicken Quesadillas are slices of soft taco shells, or thin roti prata, filled with chicken and vegetables. You will mostly find tomatoes and paprika inside a slice of Chicken Quesadilla, usually covered with some fresh spicy sauce and mayonnaise. It tasted great as it was rich in flavor. It was sweet, spicy, sour, and very much refreshing. When you took a bite of the Chicken Quesadillas, you will definitely feels sparks of fireworks inside your mouth. The flavors would just burst and make you want to say, "LIVIN' LA VIDA LOCA!"

Velly's pinatta-like Chicken Quesadillas

Icha and Angel ordered the same main-course, which was a plate of grilled chicken enveloped with barbeque sauce, garnished with french fries and salad, and topped with celery. The chicken drumstick was rather large in size and contained lots of meat. The meat was very soft and a bit chewy, not to mention white in color and delicious. The barbeque sauce was to die for! When I tried a bite of Angel's chicken, I couldn't help but to want a bowl of rice to go with it to achieve perfection in terms of compatibility. 

The french fries were rather thick. Thicker than those skinny fast-food restaurant's french fries. I'm guessing that the french fries were coated with some kind of seasoning to make it tasted more savory and salty. The salad was very fresh, not to mention the sauce that they were using was very delicious and sweet. Shredded carrots, purple cabbage, and green cabbage were the ingredients chosen to make this lovely salad, and I enjoyed every bite of it.

Icha's and Angel's finger-licking-good Barbeque Flavored Grilled Chicken

All of my friends were having chicken for brunch, so I decided to have something different. Angel helped me to chose the meal, which was Moe's Place signature burger named Sloppy Moe's. I've heard of Sloppy Joe's a couple of time, which is ground-beef-filled burgers. The name Sloppy Joe's described the condition of the food itself - sloppy, wet, and messy - but I've read some articles on the internet saying that people LOVE Sloppy Joe's with capital L-O-V-E. So, I decided to try a plate of Sloppy Moe's, hoping that it would be worth it to spend such amount of cash for a stack of messy burger. 

Good merciful Lord, Sloppy Moe's was beyond worth it! The food looked better than I expected it to be. It was big, juicy, generously filled with shredded sweet pork topped with melted cheese, coated with some sweet mayonnaise, and garnished with salad. This is, by far, the most delicious pork burger I have ever tasted! This burger is AWESOME and EPIC! The pork tasted so sweet and delicious, not to mention crunchy and crispy. I wouldn't mind to have this burger for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of my life. The salad, contained of the same ingredients that were used in Icha's and Angel's salad, was very energizing and sweet. The melted cheese was very savory, especially those that were laminated to some of the pork. My burger also came with a handful of nachos, topped with fresh tomatoes. It was very crunchy, salty, and juicy at the same time. Good Lord, bless this food because it tasted beyond delicious. 

My superb Sloppy Moe's

Good Lord, would you just look at that delicious mouth-watery stacks of shredded pork!

Am I badass enough to join the epic series of Man Vs. Food?

The best pork burger I have ever ate so far

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, do visit Moe's Place and try their Sloppy Moe's. You will never regret it. It reeks of incredibility and awesomeness. It tasted epic. Don't be shy to take a big bite of it because the flavor will explode in your mouth. The term "Burger-gasm" suit this dish very well. Go grab yourself a plate of this delicious Sloppy Moe's and enjoy yourself, now!

Moe's Place
Jl. Benda Raya No. 1A
Kemang Selatan, Jakarta Selatan

Phone: (021) 7135 5555

Opening Hours:
10 AM - 10 PM

Another Journey With Qatar Airways

As I hopped into the aircraft, I immediately glanced through the menu. As expected from the five-star airline, Qatar Airways provided a wide selection of wonderful International cuisine. Just before the plane took off, one of the stewardess approached my Mom and I and offered us something to drink. I didn't feel well that night, due to consuming a large amount of ice cream earlier, so I asked the stewardess for some hot tea instead of my usual apple juice. A minute later, she came back, holding a tray of drinks to be served. She handed me a glass of black tea, along with a couple of butter biscuits. 

A couple of Walkers' shortbread

A cup of black tea with two spoonfuls of sugar

I wasn't going to have the late night refreshments because I was too full from the ice cream. But when I saw the menu, I changed my mind. Fried noodles with steam-fry vegetables. Salad with grilled potatoes and grilled fancy cheese which name escapes me. Ox tail soup. Chicken crepe with salad on the side of the plate. How could I resist? I decided to have something light so that I wouldn't have the urge to make all of those food that I have consumed come out. A plate of salad is more than enough, I said to myself. 

After the stewardess took note of what I would have for the late night meal, she went back to her post to get some napkins. Then, she came back to my seat, pulled out this portable table located on the side of my chair, unfolded the white napkin and covered the table with it. And then, she went back to her post, and when she came back, she brought a tray of nice white dinning set. She decorated my table very neatly.

A moment after my table was beautifully arranged, another stewardess approached me. She was holding a basket which was covered with napkins. When she got to my seat, she unfolded the napkin and offered me some buns to go with my meal. I picked two different buns, a plain white bun and a bagel bread. As I was about to eat the bagel bread, another stewardess came to me and poured myself a glass of mineral water. How can you not feel like kings in this kind of situation?

Both bread tasted good, especially the bagel 

As I was about to bite the bagel bread, a stewardess came to where I sat and served my order. The salad looked gorgeous! It was nicely arranged, with fried potatoes on the side and grilled cheese on top of the fresh vegetables. Purple cabbages, rocket leafs, and cherry tomatoes were the ingredients chosen to make this salad. Those vegetables were fresh and juicy, especially the cherry tomatoes. The fried potatoes were crunchy, yet soft in the middle, not to mention delicious. It was as if you were indulging those German-style fried potatoes, minus the bacon. The grilled cheese was my favorite! Logically, cheese will melt if you fry it, but this one didn't. I don't know what kind of cheese that I ate, but it sure tasted delicious. No, not delicious, it tasted EPIC! At first, it tasted somewhat like chicken. Then, it started to taste like fish. A second later, you can taste butter. Then finally, the thought "Man, this is one epic cheese!" would just pop up in your mind.

Those are grilled cheese by the way, just incase if you thought that those were fish

A plate of salad for midnight snack

The sun rose and it was time for breakfast. One of the stewardess woke me up, telling me that it was time for breakfast and that she would like to know what drinks I would have for starter. I quickly glanced through the breakfast menu and decided to try out this new energizer named Peach & Strawberry Energizer. It looked pretty similar like the usual energizer, which is the Strawberry Banana Energizer. It tasted great and very milky, a bit similar to milkshake, but my love for Qatar Airways' Strawberry Banana energizer cannot be replaced.

A glass of Peach & Strawberry Energizer, yum!

I can never get tired of drinking this energy drink

The selections of bread was a bit different than the usual. They replaced mini Danish Brown and mini croissant with medium-sized croissant and a muffin. The muffin was very attractive, so I decided to try a bite. It tasted delicious, not that sweet nor that savory. It was not those kind of sweet muffins that would make your stomach feels funny in a bad way. I've never tasted Maple Bacon Cupcake, but I assume that the cupcake base will taste pretty similar to this particular savory muffin. If only I was not that full at that time, I might finish the whole muffin and asked for second serving.

Your choice of buns and toasts for starter

Savory muffin, I choose you!

Oh look, I found a treasure! Don't know what that was, but it sure tasted nice

After I'm finished with the muffin, the stewardess served me a bowl of toasted muesli with fresh milk. It was delicious, despite it tasted rather plain because I didn't add any sugar into the bowl. Other than grains and nuts, there were dried raisins, dried banana, dried peach, and dried apple. I should have add some sugar though, just for the sake of making this particular meal all flavory, but I regret nothing.

Some muesli with milk, with no sugar, to continue this awesome five-star breakfast tray

And for the finale.... WAFFLES! Who wouldn't love waffles for breakfast, especially with berries, greek yogurt, and chocolate jam? The waffles were great to be eaten along with the berries and the chocolate jam. The greek yogurt made the waffles tasted rather fresh, I assume it was because of the sourness. I tried to take a big bite of the waffle, along with all of the

Waffles! Who doesn't love waffles? I mean, come on!

Waffles with chocolate jam? Could breakfast get any better than this? 

Breakfast was awesome! Trust me on this, you will not regret traveling with Qatar Airways. The flight crew are beyond polite and nice, not to mention they always smile when they talk to us, and the surely will make you feel as if you are a royal blood. "What can I get you, madam?" and "Would you like some milk with that, sir?" will always be heard inside the aircraft as they endlessly spoil you. As expected from a five-star airline.

Don't blink....

Poof! the Chamber of Secrets are unlocked, and look, some wild mineral water appeared!