I want to introduce you to my two new favorite spots to eat and drink, where one serves authentic Korean food along with the whole bottled Soju and karaoke place for a night of singing with your coworkers on the weekdays, and the other one that serves booz and Chinese dumpling and baos as well as some DJ performances during the weekends to pump up that wild child side of yours.
Ladies and gentleman, I present you Chicken Phoong: Chicken and Huf and Pao Pao: Liquor Bar & Dimsum Parlour.
Pao Pao: Liquor Bar & Dimsum Parlour
Jl. Senopati, No. 16
Senopati, Jakarta Selatan
5 PM - 1 AM (opening hours may varies depends on day of visit)
I went to Pao Pao on a Saturday night with my friend, Gavin, when my craving for good bao was at its’ peak. I’ve been craving for its’ Salted Egg Bao for two weeks and my friends, who became the victims of my continuous chatter about how I want to go to Pao Pao so bad, had to have the assumption of me wanting to go to Pao Pao to get wasted.
“Why do you want to go to Pao Pao? Are you planning on getting drunk,” one asked.
“Woo girl, you tryna’ get some action in there. Nice,” one judged.
“Kin, I don’t even have money to buy food and you’re asking me to drink,” one sobbed. Who invited you on the first place anyway? I was just saying that I want to go to Pao Pao.
And, no, people. I don’t want to go to Pao Pao to drink (that particular night that is). I was craving for a good steamy bao!
I arrived at the dimsum parlour at five, approximately at the time when they were supposed to be opened. I entered the dark restaurant and was welcomed with confused gazes of the staf, who were sitting together making a circle on the back of the restaurant. “Excuse me,” I said, “it’s five. You guys are open, right?” Unashamed.
One of the staff came to me and apologized about how the restaurant was actually serving, but all the staffs were having a pre-work briefing, so they were all still on idle, meaning they can’t serve yet. “But, I’d be happy to take your order. And, you may sit as you wait. Although, we have a two hours slot policy per table that require you to finish your meal at seven because you come at five. Would that be okay,” she added. As long as I don’t get kicked out, I’m fine.
Half and hour later, our table was decorated with plates and bamboo steamer. We ordered a lot of food! Salted Egg Bao, Deep Fried Mantao with Condensed Milk, Chicken Wings, Deep Fried Spiced Chicken Roll, and our drink was Iced Coffee Late and Hot Oolong Tea. You may think that those weren’t exactly a lot, but it sure was for me and Gavin who happen to have such short intestines.
Let me start with the Salted Egg Bao. Each portion of this Chinese delicacy contains of three fluffy buns and it costed Rp39.000,00. The presentation of the bao was very plain and simple, yet it made me very curious on how they would taste like. I tried to rip one of the bao in half, so that I can take pictures of the salted egg fillings, but instead of being cut into two I accidentally poked a big hole on the center and the salted egg filling just oozed out like a molten lava cake. It shocked the heck out of me. That’s when I realized that those steamed buns were very soft and that they didn’t have this hard bao skin as they were easily crackable.
I took a big bite and, oh God, my mouth was filled with oozing sweet and creamy salted egg filling. The texture of the bao was so soft and fluffy, slightly chewing, and they were still warm which added a plus point. I love love love the salted egg filling. For me, it had a balanced sweet and savory flavor, and it didn’t make me feel like vomiting when I ate a lot of it. A bit grainy here and there, I assume it was from the salted egg itself, and it didn’t have a stinky aftertaste. Enjoyable all the way.
The fried mantao was my second favorite, first being the Salted Egg Bao. Deep fried to perfection, golden brown in color, cracked skin, and very solid outer shell yet squishy when poked with a finger. Served with a small plate of condensed milk, although I believe it doesn’t contain anything other than sugar in it, each portion of these mantao was Rp35.000,00 in price and consisted of four mini fried buns. Good deal indeed.
Mantao with condensed milk is never wrong. Sure, you can have it your way by dipping it into chilly oil and chilly flakes, but I do my mantao sweet y’all. The inner part of the mantao was pipping hot. The fluffy savory, and slightly oily, bun blended perfectly with the super sweet and thick condensed milk. It didn’t take long for me to finish one.
Gavin ordered a plate of Chicken Wings to share. I was a bit disappointed when it was served on our table. Pretty and seemed well-fried, but there weren’t any wings in it. I love chicken wings for the wing part and what was served on the table was chicken thighs. Why would Pao Pao named it Chicken Wings and not Chicken Thighs if they are going to serve chicken thighs?
Despite my disappointment, I still had a bite of the chicken thighs just to try what it tasted like. Crispy, savory, not at all oily. It had a dash of white powder on the surface of the chicken, probably the remaining flour as coating. It was served with a plate of sambal kecap, which is an Indonesian traditional condiment consisted of sweet soy sauce and slices of chilly. A very nice match. But, still a big let down.
Last, but not least, was the Deep Fried Spiced Chicken Roll. Boy, such a long title for food it should probably be a subtitle instead of a title. The whole name explained the food itself on what it made out of, so I don’t have to bust my ass stating the obvious, right?
Crispy bean curd filled with minced chicken that had the same texture as an ebi, or prawn. I was shocked at my first bite because I thought I ordered the chicken one instead of the prawn one - because Gavin is allergic to prawns and he can have a severe allergic reaction if he consume it. I munch the whole dish and didn’t taste any prawn at all, so what I thought was eating turned out wrong. Chef, you fooled me for thinking a chicken as a prawn. Kudos to you!
All of the food that we ate that night was amazing. And because our slot was almost finished, me and Gavin immediately cleansed any remaining crumbs on the table, pay for our meal, and hopped to another cafe for dessert. As it got darker and darker, Pao Pao’s signature red neon light was lit and people were starting to pack the restaurant. In hours, the bar will dominate the parlor and the people will dance their worries and heartbreak away.
Pao Pao is, and will always be, my favorite dimsum parlour. Its’ Salted Egg Bao deserves a standing ovation for its’ balance of flavor and great bao texture. Those buns that I ate at home can go screw themselves.
Chicken Phong: Chicken and Huf
Ruko Wijaya Grand Center Lt. 2
Jl. Dharmawangsa VI, Blok F No. 41-48
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan
5 PM - 1 AM (opening hours may varies depends on day of visit)
The next day, I went to Phong with my cousins, Nuning and Adji, and his girlfriend, Nadja. Nadja was actually the one who mentioned Chicken Phong and how she was craving for the fried chickens. At the same time, me and Nuning were craving for some good chicken wings as well. So, we all decided to head out for dinner at Chicken Phong, then after that we get Nadja, who slept over at my house the night before, back home.
Located at Ruko Wijaya Grand Center, the same block with Kaca Mata Restaurant and Nasi Campur Kenanga, Chicken Phong was at the inner part of the block and its’ surrounding was as dark as a stray alley. I wouldn’t go there if it weren’t for Nadja’s recommendation of good chicken. The plate looked like one of those bad places where you can get kidnapped and raped by a drunk ahjussi (the Korean term for Indonesia’s oom-oom). This is me being honest from the bottom of my heart.
A building with a simple door, with a modest plank nailed just on top of the door’s upper border, was there. We got in and was welcomed with a staff sitting on this counter at the corner of the small room. “Four persons,” I said. Which was replied with a, “Please proceed to our second floor.” On my left was a big fridge filled with bottles of various kinds of beers. I took the stairs that leaded me to the second floor, and it was very disturbing as the walls surrounding the stairs had this red splurge pattern on it. “It’s like a murder scene in here,” said Nuning.
As we arrived on the second floor, there was a big fridge filled with beers again on our left just before the entrance door to a dark room with very little light in it. It was, in fact, the dining area. It has this karaoke place vibe to it, with all the blue, red, and green light surrounding the dark room. There were nobody there that greeted us, or leaded us to our table, so we sat ourselves on the chair that was close to the Tv. Trot music (a specific genre of Korean music, similar to a dangdut in our country) was played and boomed through out the entire room.
A minute later, a waiter came to our table and handed us the menu. Chicken, chicken, chicken, tteokbokki, chicken, vegetable, chicken, soju, and more chicken. That was the whole menu.
We settled with two plates of half a chicken, one was the Hot Spicy Seasoning Chicken and the other one was the Hot Spicy Chicken. I also ordered a plate of Toppoki to share and Adji got us beer for drink, which had a buy 3 get 1 promo at that time.
The Toppoki, or tteok-bokki, came first after around 15 minutes of waiting. It was the most beautiful tteokI have ever seen (I once ate this plater of tteok at a cheap Korean restaurant named Mujigae and it tasted awful), the gochujang sauce was flooding the plate, drowning all the dishes used on that plate. There were plenty of lettuce, leek, tteok (rice cake), odeng (fish cake), and eggs, enough as the appetizer for the four of us.
Mid eating, our first set of chicken came. It was the Hot Spicy Seasoning Chicken. Nothing extravagant, only a pile of deep-fried chicken overflowing with dark red seasoning sauce that looked totally tantalizing and made me drool as I see them being served on my table. There were wings and chest parts, which are my favorite part of a chicken, and I immediately tagged them to be devoured. They were still super hot as they just got out from the wok, but I took one of the wings I had tagged nonetheless.
I tore the wing just to release the hot steam that was trapped inside the juicy meat. I wait a minute before I bite into it so that I won’t burn myself.
By the grace of God, this chicken is amazing. It’s the best deep fried Korean chicken I have ever had. Despite the fact that those deep fried chicken, that was battered in flour mixture before being fried, was glazed with thick and spicy seasoned sauce, the skin was still crispy as a motherfvcker. They were not soggy at all! I was so happy to be able to enjoy such delicious and crispy goodness. I didn’t talk, nor engage in most of the conversations the others were making, while I ate as I was THAT busy savoring the amazing chicken wings.
A minute later, came the Hot Spicy Chicken Wings that were golden in color. It was served with some salad on the side, consisted of shredded carrot, shredded cucumber, and slices of lettuce, along with some mayonnaise and ketchup. Most of the parts served were wings and I couldn’t be happier.
After I finished with my seasoned glazed wings, I decided to try the other chicken dish. I took the medium sized one, tear it into two, and waited for it to cool down a bit. Then, munch~
Very crispy skin, yet tender meat. A wave of savory and umami smacked me in the cheek and I was lost for words. The chicken wings were so damned good I bullshit you not! This is the best one, yet! Eating this particular wing made me let out a series of crunch and crisps and splash (the splash being my saliva dripped mid munching). I like this one better than the previous one.
Okay, compared to the Hot Spicy Seasoning Chicken Wings, the Hot Spicy Chicken Wings didn’t have that much seasoning on it, but it was full of its’ own flavor of umami. I love this one better because they were dry and clean. The chicken wings that I had before had too much sauce glaze on it, which is great for some people, but not for me who don’t like slobbery food. They both tasted great, but I love this one more. My trick was to dip the Hot Spicy Chicken Wings into the Toppoki’s gochujang sauce. Instant flavor level up!
The four of us finished the whole plate clean. We stayed at the restaurant for another half an hour, waiting for the food to go down so that we won’t be trippy on our way to the car. All in all, we spent around Rp500,000,00 for dinner. Not bad at all.
P.S. All photos were taken by an application named Huji (effortless retro on the go). And, one more plus point is that both of these restaurants allow smokers to smoke indoor, yaay!
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