Soto Kudus Blok M

A bowl of Soto Kudus Blok M

"Tie, aku pingin makan soto enak," ucap gue tengah sedang memasukkan tangan ke dalam kantung persembahan. Entah ada angin apa, dan dari mana, mendadak gue pengen banget makan soto. Padahal, beberapa menit sebelumnya, gue sedang berkhayal menyantap makanan-makanan cantik ala tempat makan di daerah Senopati yang lagi booming. Mendadak lidah gue ngotot pingin makan sup bening yang rasanya gurih nan mantap tersebut. "Ya udah, nanti abis kebaktian, kita ke Soto Kudus Blok M," balas nyokap. Lantas, beberapa menit menjelang berakhirnya kebaktian di Gereja Kristen Indonesia, Kebayoran Baru, pikiran gue hanya, dan hanya, terfokuskan dengan bayangan kuah soto dan suwiran ayam.

Selesai kebaktian, gue dan nyokap langsung gerak cepat ke mobil - meskipun sebelumnya mampir dulu ke beberapa tukang jajanan yang udah memarkirkan gerobak dagangannya di depan pintu gereja dan membeli beberapa jajanan untuk kami cemilin dalam perjalanan menuju rumah makan Soto Kudus Blok M. Gue membeli seporsi kue bandros, sementara nyokap membeli sepuluh buah kue cucur. Iya, kami rakus. 

Ini pertama kalinya gue mengunjungi Soto Kudus Blok M setelah bertahun-tahun ngelewatin doang setiap Minggunya dalam perjalanan gue ke gereja. "Emangnya jam segini udah buka, Tie," tanya gue ke nyokap. "Soto Kudusnya udah buka dari pagi kok," balasnya, "dari jam delapan udah buka, kalau nggak salah." Memang kalau jodoh nggak kemana. 

Great lighting at Soto Kudus Blok M and it was 10 in the morning

I wonder which drinks I should have.

The list of dishes at Soto Kudus Blok M

Some kerupuk to accompany your bowl of soto with

Sesampainya di Soto Kudus Blok M, gue dan nyokap langsung menempati meja yang kosong. Untungnya, karena saat itu masih dua jam menuju jam makan siang, masih banyak meja yang kosong jadinya gue dan nyokap nggak harus rebutan kursi dengan pengunjung lainnya. Kami langsung memesan dua porsi Soto Kudus, beserta dua piring nasi, ditambah dengan segelas air putih dan segelas teh tawar. 

Sayangnya, meskipun restoran yang berlokasi di Jalan Wijaya ini udah buka dari jam delapan pagi, ada beberapa pilihan lauk pauk yang masih belum tersedia. Gue sampai dua kali mengganti pesanan gue karena keterbatasan lauk yang bisa gue pilih pagi-pagi. Jadi, ceritanya seperti ini..

"Mas, minta paru goreng ya," pesan gue kepada si Mas, yang kemudian dibalas dengan, "Maaf, Mbak, paru gorengnya masih belum dibikin." Berusaha untuk meredam emosi dan menahan nafsu untuk menggebrak meja, lantas gue memutuskan untuk memesan lauk lain, "Ya udah, kalau gitu, sate jantung aja deh, Mas." dan dibalas dengan, "Sate jantungnya juga belum ada, Mbak." Emosi jiwa dan raga, tapi sepertinya mood gue lagi agak manusiawi pagi itu, jadinya gue berserah pada Masnya dengan memesan seporsi baceman. "Oh, kalau tahu dan tempe bacem, nanti langsung disediain kok, Mbak." Dari yang tadinya nafsu untuk menggebrak meja, jadi nafsu untuk naik ke atas meja sambil lempar-lemparin kursi. 

Telur Asin, anyone?

Some otak-otak too, perhaps?

Selang sepuluh menit kemudian, Soto Kudus pesanan gue dan nyokap disajikan di meja. Selain itu, dua porsi nasi dan sepiring lauk pauk yang beraneka ragam juga menghiasi meja kami dengan cantiknya. Potongan jeruk nipis pun juga ada; karena orang waras mana yang nggak makan Soto dengan jeruk nipis?

Disajikan di atas piring, pilihan lauk yang beragam ini mengingatkan gue akan situasi saat gue makan di restoran Padang. Rame banget, masing-masing lauk ada satu macam; ada telur pindang, sate telur puyuh, tahu bacem dan tempe bacem, perkedel, bakwan jagung, dan telur dadar otak. Iya, otak. Otaknya digoreng bareng dengan telur.

Masih agak emosi karena paru goreng dan sate jantung pilihan gue nggak ada, akhirnya gue memutuskan untuk menyantap Soto gue dengan tambahan telur asin, tahu bacem, tempe bacem, dan kerupuk kulit. Rakus, ya? Biarin.

My Soto came with a plenty side dishes

Choose your side dish wisely!

My favorite!

Soto Kudus memiliki cara penyajian yang cukup unik, yaitu di dalam mangkuk yang tergolong kecil. Isinya pun beragam, sama seperti bagaimana soto pada umumnya; ada suwiran ayam, tauge, potongan daun bawang, taburan berambang goreng, dan irisan tomat.

Harusnya sih ya, kalau di tempat asalnya langsung, Soto Kudus itu memakai suwiran daging kerbau, bukan daging ayam ataupun daging sapi. Konon katanya, warga Muslim asal Kudus menghormati penduduk beragama Hindu yang juga berdomisili di Kudus, jadinya mereka lebih memilih untuk menggunakan daging kerbau dan bukan daging sapi. Nah, mungkin karena keterbatasan sumber daya daging kerbau di kota metropolis ini, Soto Kudus Blok M lebih memilih untuk memakai daging ayam. Lebih ke cari aman sebenarnya; karena kota metropolis mana yang akan kekurangan pasokan daging ayam?

My bowl of Soto Kudus Blok M

Soto Kudus ala Soto Kudus Blok M ini kuahnya gurih banget, agak kecut dan manis, dan bakalan lebih mantap lagi kalau ditambah dengan sari-sari jeruk nipis - sayangnya, waktu itu, gue udah terlalu nafsu untuk menyantap Soto Kudus gue sampai-sampai lupa nambahin perasan jeruk nipis. Soto ini pun memiliki tingkat umami yang cukup tinggi. Yah, setidaknya sesuai dengan selera gue. Enak banget pokoknya, nggak bohong!

Awalnya gue agak panik karena porsi nasinya lumayan banyak. Berhubung sebelum menyantap soto gue udah nyemilin kue bandros lima potong, gue khawatir nasinya bakalan nggak habis. Eh, ternyata habis juga, tuh. Bahkan Sotonya pun habis sampai tetes kuah terakhir. Memang pada dasarnya Soto Kudus Blok M itu enak banget. Gue yang setengah kenyang pun berhasil menyantap ludes porsi makanan gue. Atau, mungkin memang guenya yang rakus.

Yum!

Buat para pecinta soto, kalian wajib cobain Soto Kudus ala Soto Kudus Blok M ini. Gue sih memang bukan food expert yang udah pernah mencicipi berbagai jenis soto, sampai bisa memilah-milah soto mana yang enak dan soto mana yang palsu, tapi santapan asal Kudus yang satu ini memang benar-benar enak. Nyokap gue pun bilang begitu! Kalau nggak percaya sama gue, percaya lah sama nyokap gue. 

Gue saranin datang ke restoran ini mendekati jam makan siang, atau jam makan malam, dengan harapan lauk yang mau kalian pesan udah tersedia di dapur dan tinggal dimasak. Jadi nggak harus emosi jiwa raga dulu kayak gue. 

Soto Kudus Blok M

Jalan Wijaya I, No. 44

Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta

Opening Hours: 

Monday - Sunday: 07.30 AM - 10 PM

Contact:

(+62) 21 7280 0656

Frozen Ben: Ice Cream Wafer Stick

Frozen Ben: Ice Cream Wafer Stick

I accidentally found this gem while I was accompanying Mom and Dad looking for a pair of glasses. As they were busy trying out which glasses fit their face shape best, I strolled around the gloomy looking building to keep myself entertained. And that is when I stumbled upon this ice cream booth. 

This ice cream booth is using England as its' design concept

Frozen Ben, with a booth shaped like a double-decker bus from England, is a small soft cream booth located on the ground floor of Blok M Square. In here, you can get yourself some soft ice cream, with two choice of flavor, which are vanilla and chocolate, with wafer stick as its' cone. Pretty unique, don't you think? It shares a similar concept with an ice cream brand from Korea named Yi•Kon, where the soft cream is injected inside the stick. 

There are various choices of wafer stick, here at Frozen Ben, and the price varies depend on the topping of the wafer stick. I have only tried two types of wafer stick, which were the Cookies & Cream and Chocolate Peanut - and at the bottom of the wafer stick is a thin layer of chocolate to prevent the soft cream from dripping all over your hand as you eat it. The wafer itself was crunchy and rather thick, while I was expecting a flaky one-layered rolled crunch. 

Both tasted delicious, but it would probably be a favorite of mine if they happen to make a Chocolate Peanut Cookies & Cream wafer stick. Am I being greedy? 

What is your favorite topping and flavor?

Can I try them all?

Your choice of wafer sticks for your ice cream

I usually favors vanilla ice cream more than chocolate ice cream, but today was an exception. I decided to mix my soft cream and have it with the Chocolate Peanut wafer stick - the soft cream is chilly and frozen enough not to melt and drip all over my hand. I love the chocolate soft cream more than the vanilla, because it had this thick and creamy chocolate flavor that reminds me of Diamond's chocolate milk. Not to mention the soft cream had a pretty balance scale of sweetness for my liking. With less than Rp20.000,00, you can definitely enjoy this frozen treats. 

I'm thinking of having Frozen Ben for breakfast. What do you think? 

In the midst of injecting soft cream into the wafer stick

Just beautiful!

Do you want some?

Frozen Ben

Blok M Square, Upper Ground Floor

Jalan Melawai Raya, Melawai

Melawai, Jakarta Selatan

Opening Hours:
Monday - Sunday: 10AM - 10 PM

Contact:
Twitter
  

JOIN: Kedai Kopi Bulungan

JOIN is the name of a coffee shop - a petite joint located at Bulungan, South Jakarta, where you can enjoy good coffee with budget-friendly price, yet high quality coffee beans. Some nights, the boys and I would just drive ourselves to the coffee shop to enjoy a sip or two of our favorite joe, and converse with endless topic like there's no tomorrow. 

Other than coffee, they also have some munchies to enjoy your beverage with. The grilled sandwich, for example, are available with various fillings such as chocolate sprinkles, cheese, Nutela, and many more. They are grilled with a sandwich toaster that would create funky pattern on the bun. The edges of the sandwich would be crusty and stiff, while the middle part would be squishy and soft. Very simple, yet deliciously enjoyable.

My chocolate sandwich

One night, the baristas were trying out their new creation named Paradise. They manually brewed their coffee beans on the spot and let their hands do the magic. I just sat there edgily, waiting for my cold beverage to be served, like a curious puppy. 

A minute later, I was served with a glass of bubbly latte. The spectrum of chocolate was mesmerizing as the color gets darker and darker from the upper part of the glass until the bottom. In the middle of the glass was a marble-like pattern created by the latte as it clashed with each other.

Paradise tasted like rainbow. There were so many flavors in one glass. I could taste the bitter coffee beans dominated the whole drink, but at the same time the sourness of the espresso hit me. There was a hint of sweetness now and then, but not that strong compared to the bitterness. Loving the bubbly and creamy texture of the drink, but the coffee was so strong I couldn't sleep the whole night and I had trouble at the ladies room in the morning. Blame me for having a weak colon.

Bubbly top

A glass of Paradise

What makes JOIN special is that even though the coffee place is very small, and located just at the corner of a sport hall, it is packed with crowds almost every night. And the people who come to the coffee shop are somewhat quirky and very artsy - very hipster like if I may say, judging from their unique ways of dressing up. 

There is no signature taste and flavor for the drinks being sold at JOIN because every barista has their own signature way of making the beverages. My favorite, and also my good pal's favorite barista, would be Brutus, a sour faced chubby guy with black wavy hair who is actually fun to talk to. Another favorite of mine was DM, a petite college guy majoring in music and art at Institut Kesenian Jakarta who plays music like non other. Too bad he resigned from the coffee shop to work towards his degree.

It has been a while since the last time I hang out at JOIN with my good pals, Galuh and Ega. I might visit the coffee shop this weekend to bring back them good old memories. What do you say, guys?

JOIN - Kedai Kopi Bulungan

Jalan Bulungan, Blok C No. 1

Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta