Koi Restaurant & Gallery

Last night, my parents and I had dinner at this restaurant in Kemang named Koi Restaurant & Gallery. We had dinner with my Dad's friends, along with their family. The food there was great, both in presentation and taste! I heard the waitress mentioned something about the owner of the restaurant is French and the chef is Belgian. "No wonder," I said to myself. With delicious European food, comes a spine-chilling price. The price of the food varies from Rp60.000,00 to Rp150.000,00.

For starter, I had me some Grilled Brie and Smoked Beef Salad. It was Tante Poppy's appetizer, but she decided to share it with us. The lettuce was crisp and juicy, while the smoked beef and the grilled brie melted together into an epic foodart. This salad was nice, but it would be nicer if it were sandwiched between a pair of freshly toasted Seven Grain Bread.

Grilled Brie and Smoked Beef Salad

I ordered myself a glass of Strawberry Banana Smoothie, instead of the usual fat-burning low-calories Lemon Mint. Why? This is because I came to the restaurant to eat, not to jog a mile on a Treadmill. 

The Strawberry Banana Smoothie was not as milky and heavy as I thought it would be, which is a bit of a letdown. Smoothies should be heavy, thick, milky, fattening, and nauseating, but Koi's smoothie was rather icy and watery. I'm guessing that they used one ripe banana, five strawberries, two shots of fresh milk, and a bucketful of ice. Even though my cold beverage was not as milky as I hoped it would be, it was still refreshing. The strawberry dominate the flavor, while the crushed ice dominate the texture of the drink.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

I have been having the urge to have cheese sandwich these past few days and the closest thing to cheese sandwich in the restaurant's menu was a Classic Burger. It comes with your selection of cheese, such as gruyere, emmenthal, cheddar, or blue cheese, with an extra Rp5.000,00 to the price tag. I settled down for the famous Switzerland-originated cheese, the emmenthal. Emmenthal, ladies and gentleman, is the famous cheese in the cartoon series Tom & Jerry that has holes on it. 

My Classic Burger came with some french fries and crisp greens. The burger bun was chewy and brick-like on the outside. Its' outer part reminds me of the famously stiff French bread. The amount of the melted emmenthal in my Classic Burger was surprisingly ungenerous. A thick and nicely grilled beef patty was sandwiched neatly between the stiff buns. But there were also some greens and a couple slices of tomato, which I had to put aside, because what's the point of putting veggies in a burger? 

The meat patty was juicy, although not that well-done, because I noticed the inner pink color as I took a bite. The juicy meat blended well with the stiff buns, giving me the idea that my Classic Burger tasted better than Burger King's burger. I enjoyed every bite of it!

Classic Burger with Emmenthal Cheese

Homemade Belgian Fries

The word "Red Fruit Pavlova" caught my attention. I have never tried a Pavlova before, I merely see the dessert on Tv, so I decided to give it a try. 

Having Pavlova for dessert was the best idea I had for the day! A few minutes after I placed my order, a waitress came to our table and serve me the breathtaking dessert. It was big, nicely decorated, beyon tempting, and simply irresistible. The crunchy meringue was topped with a generous amount of whipped cream, Vanilla Ice Cream and Strawberry Sorbet, sliced strawberries, and strawberry sauce. 

I took a spoon and scoop the meringue, along with the decorations. I thought Pavlova would share the same texture with Macaroons, but I stand corrected. They might look alike, but Macaroons are softer and chewier, while Pavlova is crunchy and stiff. The meringue was crunchy and super sweet, but the Vanilla ice cream helped neutralizing the flavor. The dessert was beyond sweet, I adore it!

Red Fruit Pavlova

Can you resist such dessert?

Mom had a plate of Grilled Veal Tongue, which I ended up almost finishing, because she had a few drinks that made her felt full. Those soft and chewy tongue was delicious! It came with a generous amount of crisp greens and roasted potatoes with bacon bits. The sauce underneath the tongues was savory and sweet, and had a hint of curry as well.

The sight of Mom's dinner

Grilled Veal Tongue

Those were what I had for dinner at Koi Restaurant & Gallery. There were almost a dozen of us and there were other dishes that was ordered as well, such as Lasagna and Fried Calamary. All of them were delicious, we finished everything and stayed at the restaurant for hours merely to chat and catch up on things.

Fried Calamari

Beef Lasagna

Fish & Chips

Cheese Quesadilla 

Seafood Fried Rice

Dory Fish Meurniere

Grilled Beef Tenderloin

Three Kinds Melted Chocolate Cake

To have dinner at Koi Restaurant & Gallery is a must try, especially when you're dinning with your friends and family. True, the food here are a high-priced, but I see nothing wrong in enjoying yourselves once in a while!

Koi Restaurant & Gallery

Jalan Kemang Raya 72, Kemang

Jakarta 

Phone: (021) 719 5667

A Trip to Bali (Part 4)

The night before the blessings for the newborn baby, we went out for dinner. We ate at a restaurant named Centre Point, which belongs to Aunt Tami herself. The restaurant was lacking of swarms of people that night, which gave us the advantage of being served faster. I had some difficulties in choosing what I should have for dinner. I mean, just look that menu! Grilled chicken, with some vegetables on the sides; how can you not drool and distracted? 

Mom, diligently studying the menu

Yes, people, you can get yourself a delightful cup of lychee flavored tea here 

These photos belong to my parents. They took the liberty to print them out and
sent it to Aunt Tami, so that she can use it to decorate this particular restaurant.
Looks pretty awesome, huh?

What I love the most about Aunt Tami's restaurant is the waffles. They are not like your regular waffle, circle and square in shape, because they are shaped like Mickey Mouse! Yes, I repeat, Mickey Mouse. It feels like I'm in disneyland, minus all of those people dressed up as Disney characters.

"A couple of Mickey Mouse shaped waffles, enveloped with nice and warm honey, and topped with ice cream," I sure like the sound of that. The ice cream comes in three different flavors, which are strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. I chose the strawberry flavored ice cream because, in my opinion, the waffles tasted best with one. See that burnt side of the waffles? Those are the best parts! But I didn't save them for later though, because I love eating them from the ears, followed by the whole face. Make sure you eat your waffles with a spoonful of ice cream to create sparks of flavor in your mouth. Trust me on this, this particular dessert is beyond delicious.

I felt like I'm in Disneyland!

Waffles for dinner? Yes, please!

For the main course, I ordered myself a plate of rice and some deep-fried shrimps, topped with mayonnaise and sesame seeds. It had been a while since the last time I have shrimps for dinner, it didn't take me long to devour the whole plate. The shrimps were so good, I managed to finish all of them including the tails. Yes, the tails. You know how sharp deep fried shrimp tails can be, and I gulped them all because they were THAT good. The crunchiness of the shrimps was perfect, no to mention they blended well with the mayonnaise. My main course was savory, yet sweet at the same time. 

Look at how nice the shrimps are coated with mayonnaise

You're lying if you're not tempted to have one spoonful of this sinful dish

After I finished my plate of shrimps and rice, I ordered myself a plate of Centre Point's famous burger. I pigged out. It felt like as if I got hit by one of Cupid's arrow, only this time it was Ronald McDonald's arrow. But I regret nothing. It turned out that the burger tasted splendid! 

"Burger Centre Point," was the name of the dish. A plate of burger, filled with cheese and Centre Point's homemade beef, accompanied by some french fries on the side of the plate. Yum! The beef was my favorite part of the dish, because it was cooked with some onion, which made it more savory and rich in flavor. So, I took the liberty of eating the cheese first, which tasted fine, so that I could happily savour the beef later. The french fries didn't taste like those french fries that you can get at McDonald. They reek of a genuine potato and tasted like one too. I assume that the chef made this french fries out of fresh potatoes, that they bought early in the morning. 

The buns were soft and crunchy, and a bit burnt on the sides, just like how I want it to be. After I finish the cheese, I ate the buns. Then, I moved on to the french fries, and finally I managed to eat the beef. I took my time in finishing the meat, because it tasted really good, especially with some chilly sauce. All in all, Centre Point's burger is the bomb!

Potatoes gonna potate!

Save the beef for the last!

Centre Point, despite it being a restaurant and serves mostly lunch or dinner meals, is also a nice place to hang out with some friends. Ordered yourself a glass of iced lemon tea and some mini fried dumplings, then voila! another well-spent weekend you're going to have. If you have a bad day, stop by at Centre Point and spoil yourself with their delicious waffles and refreshing drinks. I guarantee, you'll come home with a big smile on your face. Make sure you have time to visit this particular restaurant on Wednesday, because they have live music during dinner. Cool, isn't it?

Centre Point

Jl. Puputan Niti Mandala Raya

Renon, Denpasar

Bali 80235

Dinner with Friends

Last week was beyond hectic. Me and my friend, Dennis, decided to undergo medical check up at Kemayoran to know whether or not we are qualified to be flight officers. It took us a week to finish all of the necessary procedures, starting from getting your blood drawn, doing an EEG test, until measuring how good your sight is. We were physically drained. But then, one night, Dennis' Mom invited us over to their house for dinner. "We will be having Korean cuisine for dinner," said Tante Dewi. Dinner invitations have never been this good!

I do believe the appropriate term for this kind of dinner is "Luxurious Dinner"

Seasoned vegetables for those who love korean cuisine

Meet Ssam, leafs that are used to wrap rice and meat when indulging korean dishes

Pork was the main dish for dinner. Tante Dewi had prepared a portable gas stove, and a fancy frying pan, so that we can cook the meat on the table. Dennis, being as hard-working as ever, decided to take over the kitchen and prepare dinner. He took advantage of the spare time he had to fry some garlic, which later on followed by frying the sliced pork. It was amusing to listen to the funky sizzling sound that the meat made.

Dennis, in the midst of preparing the foodstuff for dinner, decided
to use the ILY hand-sign to take pictures with the sliced pork

Look who's cooking, people!

Would you like your meat cooked rare, medium, or well done?

When all of the foodstuff were cooked and prepared, we gathered in the dinning room and said our prayers. The word "Selamat makan", or "Bon appetit" literary translated, echoed around the house, followed by the endless clinks of spoons, forks, and plastic chopsticks. Continued by the sound of cold water being poured in each of our glasses. 

Dinner began smoothly. Everybody exchanged stories, starting from how both of our Dads survived their flight school graduation - which was hectic and unhygienic, because it requires all of the pupils to be dumped into a polluted river - until how the EEG tests that Dennis and I did during the day. Tante Dewi made this delicious bowl of boiled vegetables cooked with eggs, which made me regret my decision of not helping myself with a second serving. 

Dinner had never been that good. We were all full. Plus, Tante Dewi took out some grapes, ice creams, and one of Indonesia's traditional cuisine, which is the asinan. Asinan is a mixed of vegetables, poured with sweet and spicy sauce, topped with some crackers and nuts. I managed to try all of the food that decorated the elegant dinning table and I have to say that it felt nice.

A bowl of vegetables and eggs that Dennis' Mom made

Make sure to try everything provided on the table during dinner

This is how you eat dinner Korean style: use the wrapping leaf to
coat some rice, along with some meat and other vegetables