Best Meals in 2013

Being someone who live to eat, and not eat to live, I eat a lot. I mean A LOT. And as much as I have always been feeling blessed and fortunate to be able to taste different kinds of food, I personally feel when you have eaten too many foods in life, your appetite sort of creates higher standards on what a great food should taste, and you will find it harder and harder to find a certain food to please your taste buds. Personally, that is what happen to me, especially the past one year. Experiencing so many food in all kinds of diners had its own disadvantage, I become pickier and hard to be satisfied when it comes to giving a real credit to great food. That is sort of the whole reason on why I decided to make this post, to thank all the kind people mentioned below who has been making the calories I gained from eating at their diners, worthwhile. 

Sumoboo! Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK)

I have been passing by the place couple of times and was not really keen on trying as I thought they serve Korean cuisine. My past experience on having Korean food at PIK wasn't really good, so I was not that interested on having another one, not until I searched #sumoboo on Instagram and found cuteness overload dessert pictures and how they are actually a dessert place with Japanese concept.

Nagi Ramen Jakarta

Oh that furious day...

Most of my Sunday has always been typical. Go to my parents' house & spend the day with them. A couple of Sundays ago, it got screwed up. I was on my way when mom's not picking up her phone. I knew that she must still in her Sunday morning ritual... Grocery shopping. Since I was on my way already, it will be a waste of time to drive back and I was not really keen on spending an hour or so at an empty house waiting them to come home, so I thought it will be a good idea to go to Kelapa Gading. It's 10am and I was at freeway, giving an approx 15 mins to reach there, I figure it would still be a good time for me to have a oneself breakfast before the place starts to piled up with people.

PAUL French Bakery & Patisserie Jakarta

People who stay in Jakarta must have been very good this year, seeing how Santa comes earlier bringing an excellent Christmas present, the first outlet of Paul Patisserie. I have been waiting for Paul to open ever since I saw the signage months ago. I even called twice to Pacific Place's information to ask if the place has open yet.

Coco Ichibanya Jakarta

I never like curry, until the day I met with Coco. 

 

Coco Ichibanya is the largest curry house originating from Japan, they have more than 1300 stores in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, USA, Taiwan and now, Indonesia. Not even sure what took them so long to finally open their first store here in Jakarta, at Grand Indonesia shopping town to be exact.

Nouvelle

Nouvelle means new in French, a recently opened bistro which offers exquisite fusion menu of French and Japanese cuisine. When I went there few days earlier on a Saturday for lunch, I was surprised to see how we were the only guests. Their location at an office building might be the reason on how quiet the business are on weekend. The staff did share with us their busiest time are during weekdays, especially on lunch time and after office hours. So if you enjoy your meal with more crowds, I do recommend you to come on weekdays instead. 

HOLDAK Crispy Chicken

The crispy chicken from Busan is in town!

I was on my way to my friend's house when I saw the banner on the opening of Holdak in front of Pluit Village. Couldn't resist the urge on making a turn into the mall, I texted my friend to tell her that I will be late for half an hour. Yes, I do admit I have a serious sickness when it comes to trying new food place. *rolling eyes*

Cassis

 

Since Ivy's life was born, I have never ever written a post while I'm traveling. In fact, I never bring my laptop overseas, until now. I am currently in Manila. Hubs is on business trip and I am tagging along. To be honest, Manila was never on my mind for traveling spot, so when Hubs told me he has to fly here for business purpose, I was not really keen on joining him, but Manila turns out to be quite fun, the food is pretty great and everything is so cheap!! I love it when travel to a place that doesn't make me frowned. But the traffic, man!

[CLOSED] Caliente PIK

Just when I was pretty much bored with the variety of F&B at PIK, Caliente comes bringing fresh air with Mexican food. The place has just opened for couple days when I went for dinner weeks ago. The concept is semi fast food where we order and pay right on the counter and the food will be delivered to our table. Nothing much to say on the interior design as they kept it quite simple, perhaps to make it align with the affordable & semi fast food concept.

HOT STAR Large Fried Chicken

Hot Star large fried chicken, one of the most popular night market snack in Taiwan is finally here. After having only Shilin for years, I was ecstatic in welcoming them.

Pannacotta etc

After going strong by selling online these couple years, Pannacotta etc finally opens their first store at Pacific Place. I visited the place after a dinner at Hard Rock last week. Positioned in the corner of 4th floor across Aksara bookstore, the place is not big but good enough to fit 5-6 tables. I loved the minimalist homey design and the creative words on the packaging. With the packaging so carefully designed, they must have known how today is not only about the flavor, packaging too, is everything.

Hard Rock Cafe

The iconic guitar is back! And it's better than before!

I love their new location at Pacific Place. It's located in the side lobby with outdoor seating facing the main street of SCBD. Super nice to sit there when the weather is friendly. More or less, the inside is not so different with the former one, replica of merchandise and quotes from musician around the world. 

"I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend."

                                                          Freddie Mercury

Canton Paradise

After Paradise Dynasty, Taste Paradise and Paradise Inn, another one under Paradise group opens their first outlet in Jakarta. Managed by Boga group, Canton Paradise's presence brightens up Cantonese cuisine in town. I have always love every single restaurant from the group, both their food or design concept have always win my vote. When I went to Canton Paradise for a Saturday night family dinner, I was surprised to find their interior is not as fancy as the one look from outside, infact the only quite fancy one I can relate to is their dining utensils. 

Chung Gi Wa: My favorite Korean BBQ house

Chung Gi Wa has always been hubs and mine favorite Korean bbq. The reason why it took me so long to finally post on them is probably because I have been going to the place long before I even started the blog, and most of the time, the reviews have always been on new diners. When they recently open at Gandaria City, I figure it will be a good time to introduce my number one place for Korean food. 

Pipiltin Cocoa

Meet Pipiltin Cocoa. I actually went here on the same day when I had dinner at Wilshire which was around 3-4 months ago. I just sort of forgetting to post this one. 

Go! Go! Curry Jakarta

Japan's no.1 Katsu curry, Go! Go! Curry is finally open their first outlet in Jakarta. Their popularity in Japan is huge, featured in newspaper and TV all over Japan and have over 70 outlets including in Hong Kong, New York and now, Jakarta. They used to have branches in Spore too, but it didn't last long. I'm not pretty sure if the franchise rights expired and they have to change the name or it's an entire different company, but now Monster Curry is replacing them on the exact spots in Spore. 

TONG FU dessert house

If you are a sweet tooth who often feel guilty after having all sort of high calorie desserts, then you might be happy to meet this one. Tong Fu is a new dessert house opens at Pantai Indah Kapuk with various cold desserts made from real fruits.

Parc 19

It was so coincidental that we happen to find Parc 19 as we exit Kemang village after our brunch at Classified. I find it coincidence as I've been meaning to go there but doesn't really know the exact location. Turns out it located only a few doors away from Colony building. 

Classified

 

For me, public holiday in Jakarta has always means a day where I am forbid to stay home having home cook. I always think to not go out while the traffic is so damn good would be a waste, so usually I will always plan to go somewhere further where I rarely go on a normal day.

Kyochon

Last Sunday night, Hubs and I went to one of our friends' wedding at Pacific Place. After the party, we strolled around and I passed by Kyochon, one of the largest Korean fried chicken restaurant chain who has more than 950 outlets in South Korea itself and has expanded to US and other countries in Asia, to name few, China, Thailand, Philippine and now Indonesia. Since I seldom go to this shopping mall, I insisted on trying Kyochon that night, ignoring the fact that we were both pretty full.

Cacaote

My pictures might not do the justice, but Cacaote is definitely one of the most beautiful dining place in town. Located not too far from the famous pastry cafe, Colette & Lola, Cacaote definitely raise the bar high to others patisserie at Senopati area. The place is a big Victorian house turned into a fancy two storey restaurant. As we walked inside the white door, I was awed by the elegance of the place. It was so pretty.

[CLOSED] Lobster Inc

Lobster Inc is another newbie at Pantai Indah Kapuk specialized in lobster with budget friendly price tags. It is so good to see more variety of cuisines besides cafe with more or less the same type of food. I have always wanted to try Loobie Lobster, the one opened by the same people behind Holycow, but the location is quite far, bummer.

Locale Diner & Bar

Seeing so many cafe & restaurants at PIK nowadays, it got me to think... how does one stand out from the rest? Well, in the case of Locale, arguably has something to do with their 24 hours concept and out of the box design. It is almost impossible to find a 24 hours diner in Jakarta which are not a fast food chains. Hence, when I heard about a new local diner opening 24hours 7 days in a week at Pantai Indah Kapuk, my level of excitement and curiosity was highly raised. 

Seorae

September has been crazy with bunch of stuffs which I couldn't really understand on how it took up so much on my time, this month will hopefully be a more relaxing one, I will be off for a two weeks trip with hubs next week. I am soooooo cannot wait to get away from all the routines. Mama needs a break!

Though with only 3 posts on September, I do have to be more attentive in doing my homework if I don't want to have more pending posts piled up in my laptop folder when I got back.  

Todai, Marina Bay Sands Singapore

Calling themselves as an upscale "all you care to eat" International seafood and sushi buffet restaurant, Todai offers lots of choices of good quality food. If you wonder where in Spore you can eat fresh snow crabs as much as you want, as much as you like, Todai is the place.

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, Maxwell Food Centre Spore

Meet Tian Tian, one of Spore's famous local hawker who won over Chef Gordon Ramsay during Singapore hawker challenge on July this year. The words of how good their Hainanese chicken rice has been around in ages, and not like they need to win over Gordon Ramsay to be popular, as the queuing line at their stalls in Maxwell food centre has been a strong proof on how they are loved by the locals and tourists. 

Baker & Cook, Singapore

Have you ever go to a place diner and then you just simply can't wait to go back?

My trips to Spore has always been about food hunting, and I have met a lot of great places which serves delicious kind of food, but neither one has made me wandering on the second visit so frequently like this one. Baker & Cook has been on my Spore food list for quite some time, but only until this trip I managed to go there with hubs for a morning breakfast.

Hotel Reviews: Marina Bay Sands Hotel Singapore

Last July, hubs and I went for an impromptu trip to Spore. Both of us were in need of a break that time and with only 1 hour 20 minutes flight, Spore always seems to be the right choice. It was actually a surprise trip from him. Hubs also the one who booked the hotel without my knowledge. If it was me, I doubt that I will book our stay at MBS. Why? Coz no matter how touristy that place is, my heart always stays in Orchard. For the convenient, the food, the shops, everything about it. But boy was I about to change my stubbornness.

Balboni Ristorante

During Lebaran holiday, my girls and I when to Balboni, an Italian restaurant located at Kota Kasablanka. The restaurant is actually located at the office building next to the shopping mall, but it can be conveniently go through from the ground level of the mall. The place itself is stunning. A wide open kitchen with bar section on the center of the room, and I liked how they combine the wooden earth color with greyish furniture for the table and chairs. There were also an open air area where white couches were placed for people to sit back and relax, it would be a great spot when the weather is friendly. 

Liberte French Brasserie

Our next foodventure of the day went to Liberte, a French patisserie inside Gallery Lafayette Pacific Place. I wasn't put much expectations on the place, to be honest. We were just happened to be at Pacific Place having an innocent window shopping when we passed by Liberte and decided to give it a try. 

Kopitiam Tan

Kopitiam Tan is the latest establishment by BIKO group, created to be a modern yet casual traditional dining & coffee shop. With the free wifi and central location in business district, it was obvious how the kopitiam is aiming for office staffs & executives to be part of their regular diners.

[CLOSED] Mee Kepang

 

The past couple months, I have heard numerous good words on this new noodle joint located at The Foundry No.8. Last Thursday, I went with bestie for a bowl of noodle breakfast. The noodle joint is very petite, not more than 6 tables. The menu was simple, consist of few type of noodles to choose. We chose to have Mee ayam bakso pangsit (37k) and mee ayam woku rica (37k). Unfortunately their fresh squeeze Jeruk Pontianak was not available, so we went with their Homemade liang teh (15k).

Salt Grill, Altitude

Among all three restaurants at Altitude, Salt Grill might stands out to be the most popular one. With the name as big as Luke Mangan, the famous Australian Chef, I suppose it is reasonable for public to be curious more on Salt compare to the other two.

I was there with my bestie last Monday for a lunch date. There were only few tables occupied by the time we arrived, a rare scene seeing how on normal days they are always fully booked. We were seated in a purple suede U-shape couch facing the breathtaking views of Jakarta's landmark. Imagine this, a good convo with your best friend while enjoying sky high dining with scrumptious food and fabulous view. Can Monday get any better?  

Enmaru, Altitude

 
For most Jakarta's residents who are not going on vacation on Lebaran holiday means only one thing to do, hopping from one mall to another. As for me, a foodie stays in Jakarta who happen to not having a vacation, it means time to clear up all the pending diners "to go" list on my smart phone's note pad.

Personally, the only thing get in the way of me trying out on new diners is mostly the hideous traffic. The road, and oh my... the so called free way is just getting worse each day, making me had to just satisfied with adding the names of new diners to my "to go" list without having the actual action to try. So, with Idul Fitri holiday comin' and I'm stuck with not going anywhere this year, what's more fun to do then hitting on the so free, so good, no traffic road, day by day, trying one by one new diners, scratch off each by each from my "to go" list.

Getting to know Food Panda: An online food ordering service

Being a foodie, one of my joyful agenda is to find a good restaurant, preferably a new one, try it and then share it with all Ivy's Life readers. However, with the traffic getting worse and worse each day, sometimes all I want to do is lay back on my couch, watching reruns of the good old "Joey Tribbiani & the gank" while accompanied by my choice of food without having the hassle of wasting at least an hour to drive back and forth to the nearest mall for some take away. Isn't just by thinking about it had somehow soothe your mind?  

How about making it possible?

Bibigo

Ever since my friend took me to a lunch at Bibigo, Nex Serangoon a while ago, I have been hooked. Their pajeon (Korean seafood pancake) was so good that it had me drooling every time I think of it. When I heard Bibigo is opening soon in Jakarta, I was more than ecstatic. Bibigo is one of the largest food chain in Korea with franchise in several countries including London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul and now, Indonesia.

[CLOSED] Pho Bar

Three days before Eid Al Fitr, I went for a quiet lunch with my mom at Pho Bar, a Vietnamese noodle bar recently opened at Fairground SCBD. The road was a joy, it took me not more than 15 minutes to drive from my mom's house at North. Isn't it nice if Jakarta's traffic remains this way?

Laduree Singapore

I have never tasted Laduree before they recently opened in Spore last April this year, yet the name has been familiar since those round colorful sweet thing become one of the phenomenon in the world of dessert. To me, personally when I think of macarons, I think of Laduree, simply because it is one of world's best known macaron. 

Tim Ho Wan, Plaza Singapura

Tim Ho Wan finally opens in Singapore with the first outlet took place at Plaza Singapura. This tremendously famous dimsum eatery franchised from Hong Kong has been well known as world's cheapest one michelin star restaurant, also been highly raved by American celebrity chef, Anthony Bourdain. 

Antoinette, Mandarin Gallery Singapore

Antoinette is a Parisian patisserie owned by Chef Pang, who is a well known pastry chef in Singapore. The patisserie has become one of the most talked about pastry shop in town. I will only do a short review as Antoinette is famous for their beautiful selections of cakes & macaroons, and we didn't try any of them. 

Hatched @Holland Village, Spore

One of my friends who stayed in Spore told me that Hatched is one of those breakfast places which less known by tourist but well known by the locals. I figured, if the place was well known by locals, it should be a good one. So the next morning, we went to Hatched for our breakfast. 

Au Chocolat, Marina Bay Sands Singapore

Last May, I went to Spore for a short break with my bestie. It had been nearly two years since our last trip together to Hong Kong back in 2011, so it was really fun to finally have another one. After checking in at York, we went to have lunch at Au Chocolat. Located at level 1 of Marina Bay Sands, Au Chocolat is a French inspired confectionery and bistro, opened by the same group behind Ku De Ta, half of the place was occupied for confectionery store filled with chocolates, candies and cakes. While the bistro have wide selections from breakfast foods, finger foods, main courses and delicious desserts.

Hotel Reviews: York Hotel Singapore

If you are looking for a hotel along Orchard, a nice one with not too shocking room rates, York Hotel might be the one. The location might not beat Mandarin, but the price surely did. The room is a bit old, but very clean and not smelly. I stayed at Mandarin before, and the room is also kinda old.

Plan B

Plan B is a Spanish restaurant located at office ruko along Permata Senayan. The owner is a Spanish chef who had worked in several Michelin star restaurants in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastian and Sevilla. He later took his cooking skill to countries in Latin America and South East Asia before deciding to open his own Spanish restaurant in Indonesia.

Hawaiian Bistro, PIK

Another eatery opens at Pantai Indah Kapuk, bringing a different atmosphere to the neighborhood with Hawaiian food concept. It located on the not so crowded part of PIK, so I didn't really take notice until one of my friends went there and shared with me how she loves the food they served. I never go to Hawaii nor know anything about Hawaiian food, hence I was very excited to have my first Hawaiian food. :)

Wilshire, The Foundry No. 8

Say Hi to Wilshire, One of the newest addition in town carrying the name same as one of the boulevard in Los Angeles. I went there last Saturday nights with my girlfriends and instantly love their concept design. The whole room surrounded with dark wood walls and furniture, the yellow lights with crystal makes the place chic and elegant, yet so pretty with a section where they put long tables with bunch of flowers on the back and pattern cushions on the couches.

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique

I have always admire TWG's concept design, whether it's the two at Marina Bay Sands or the other two at Ion Orchard. They have other branches in Spore, but the spoken malls above were the two I went to for their teas & macs. When I first saw the 'coming soon' sign in front of Sogo Plaza Senayan, I was thrilled to see how they will design it.

Odysseia

Odysseia is one of the newest addition in town located in the lobby of Pacific Place, right in the front of Galleries Lafayette. The intimate space was designed like the gardens at Versailles, a very pretty outdoor garden concept where as we walked further in, a different concept spotted on the lounge area, more modern ambiance with dimmed lights. 

Potato Head Garage

About a month ago, I went to the latest addition from Potato Head's group, a slightly upscale semi fine dining located at the ex Bengkel night club. When my friends and I stepped inside Potato Head Garage, we were awed by the beautiful classic hallway; the black & white marble floors along with the vintage candle lamps placed on the side of the alley's walls was definitely stunning. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of it.

Yeyo Lobby & Eatery

Finally! A new post in June!
The past several months weeks, I have been swamped. My big bro got married couple days ago and I was in charge as the insider "wedding organizer". As happy as I am for him, I am so freakin' glad the wedding day had passed and the days full of wedding preps are finally over. It realized me on one thing, wedding organizer is definitely not something I want to be. >.<

Colette & Lola

The first time I heard about Colette & Lola, a new cakery concept from Ismaya group was during Jakarta Culinary Festival on 2012, and ever since I have been waiting impatiently for it to open. Not because I am a sweet tooth, but more to the fact I always love almost all restaurants under Ismaya. Getting more anxious when I learned to know the pastry chef, Steve Diaz, have had a promising international pastry career in England, Lebanon, Cairo and America. So several days after the opening of Colette & Lola, I dragged hubs to accompany me there.