Horas Medan!

For the last month, I spent my time outside of Bali. I actually went home to Jakarta and just my luck that my dad has some business travel to Medan and Palembang and I got to go with him. It’s not all in one trip, there are two trips, from Jakarta-Medan-Jakarta, and Jakarta-Palembang-Jakarta a week later. This time I’ll talk about Medan

MEDAN

I spent 3 days in Medan. Lucky me again, My brother in law lives there with his wife and daughter, so his wife, Teteh Rini, was with me showing some nice places such as Danau Toba.

Speaking of Culinary Travel, Medan has many places that you can check out. For all of you who are Muslims, you must be careful though, as there are many restaurant that sells pork and dog meat.

My first stop was Restoran Garuda. This place is like an icon of Medan. They already have many other stores in Jakarta, and almost everyone knows that they specializes in Malay Food, but that was my first time eating at Restoran Garuda in its central. The taste is pretty much the same as the ones in Jakarta, I was hoping for something more spicy, surprisingly, they’re not as spicy I thought they would be. Of course, they still serve that oversized prawn on the table, I was really tempting to eat that, but as we all know that they contain a lot of cholesterol.

The Oversized Prawn

The best thing about Garuda at this place is that they serve Martabe Juice. Martabe is an abbreviation for MARkisa Terong BElanda, which actually is a mix of Passion Fruit and some Terong Belanda (hmmm.. I wonder what that fruit called in english, but the literal translation would be Dutch Eggplant). The taste is very sweet and refreshing. Definetely something you must try when you come to Medan.

At night, we went to an area called Cemara Asri, apparently it’s a complex of Seafood Vendors. We went to a place called Marco. Seems like it’s one of the most favorite restaurants there.

Marco Seafood Restaurant

I come from Jimbaran, so I should know how good seafood is. We ordered some crabs and fish. The crabs were delicious. The spice was so much different from Jimbaran style. The taste was sweet and sour they put some fruits to cook with it, I forgot what they’re called. But the sourness of the fruits give a very tangy place to the crab. Yummy. Since I went with my dad, and he wasn’t allowed to have some crabs, so I ordered him steamed fish, and I must tell you, while in many places steamed fish has almost no taste, Marco made all the spice penetrates into the fish, and the fish was really tender….

The next day I went to Danau Toba (Lake Toba) with my sister in law, but we didn’t have the time to go across to Samosir Island. I took some pics of Danau Toba, and we had our lunch in this Muslim restaurant, but the food was REALLY spicy. It took me a while to finish the food, because I need a glass of water everytime I put a spoonful of food in my mouth. I ended up having stomach ache when I got back to Medan.

Boys at Toba Lake

We also stopped by at Pematang Siantar, where they sell something called “Roti Ganda” (Twin Bread), which actually a big loaf of bread filled with some margarine and chocolate sprinkle or kaya jam. There were so many people lining up for the bread, which I think was very cheap, it’s only Rp.7500/ loaf. Or about 80 cents US. As for the taste, it’s not what I called very delicious, but it was okay for a snack, although such a big portion for a snack too… Other than that, Pematang Siantar also has their other snack called Tang-tang, Ting-ting, Tung-Tung, Teng-Teng, Tong-Tong, A-kam, and more. They’re mostly made up of peanuts or Sesame Seeds pressed with some sugar to make candy bars. I still have no idea which one is which, since all the name only has differences in vocal letters. That night, I came back from Toba Lake, I decided to stay in the hotel and ordered a room service.

Day Three, Dad took me to go to the office in Balawan and meet the head of the office, who treated us for lunch. We went this restaurant by the river called “Marina” it’s very nice. It’s also a seafood restaurant. (Man, I should really cut down on this kind of food). The food are very fresh, as the fish comes from the local fishermen. And I’m talking about fishermen with small boats, not the ones with big boats. The interior looked a little old, as the architecture looked like one of those Rumah Panggung in Sumatera. But then again, Medan IS IN North Sumatera.

When it’s time to go buying people oleh-oleh (gift), then you must visit Bika Ambon Zulaikha, and Bolu Meranti, these two are the must have items in your gift baskets. Bika Ambon is a type of cake made up of flour and som yeast, so it would give very nice texture inside, there are many kinds of it, but the most popular are pandan and cheese. Bolu meranti is a roll cake, that’s very soft, they have many different taste inside the roll, but the most favorite one is the cheesy one. They ARE very soft and yummy!

I can actually go on about Medan. As that was my first visit there.. but you just gotta go and visit this place. There are a lot more culinary places that I must visit, but I didn’t really have all the guts and time.

3 AM at Soho

It just happens that Bali’s greatest entertainments are night clubs. So, it’s only natural that every time I have a friend coming over for a holiday visit they would ask me to accompany them to go clubbing.

Party usually starts at 11 pm, this is where we usually start drinking, until about midnight, that’s when it starts.. mostly we were already a little tipsy, then started dancing out thru the night (at least that’s the plan), when usually around 2 am, we are already too drunk to move. The funny thing about it is that, they want to go back to their hotel in a sober condition. This is just a common thing that we have to go through, I have to stay sober in order to help out, although I usually bring a guy friend to drive us home.

It’s also a common thing for us to stop by at a 24 hr convenient stores to get us some coffee or something to eat to neutralize those alcohol.

When we get bored with bad coffee and microwaved food at that convenient stores, we should be thankful for Soho.

This place located at Oberoi street, along with the other great restaurants, but only this one and Circle K opens for 24 hours. Not too bad for a location, as most of the nightlife entertainment located in Legian and Seminyak, so they pretty much have a good location that’s easy to reach.

But one thing that we would recommend you to try is their chicken pot pie, it’s a healing food in the morning. The puff pastry on top is fun to pop, and the chicken pie inside is very soothing. Warm and delicious, just like mom’s.

Okay, it’s huge, comes with salad too. The price is 35K, considering all the money you’ve spent for those drink.. and makes you sick, it’s not too bad for a big bowl of delicious medicine. 

They do have many others menu at Soho, my favorite is cheese fries, and their burger. Along with that, our photographer, Rio, loves the Burrito. It’s huge! you can even share that one portion. 

give it a try at this place, it’s always good when you’re not drunk to enjoy the meal and enjoying the free wi-fi, but when you’re drunk, it’s a good place to cool yourself down before you go home and got yelled at by your partner.

Soho, Jl. Laksmana, Oberoi. 0361 737 280

Roti Canai at Bunana

 

Roti Canai and Teh Tarik, they come hand to hand… it’s like you can’t have one without another.

I work in Seminyak area, and I live in Jimbaran. So almost everyday I have to pass Jl. Kerobokan. I know about this place a long time ago, but it’s been a while that I haven’t dropped by and say hi to the dude who could make this great roti canai.

At first, I was interested by the sign, Bunana Roti Canai dan Teh Tarik. Bunana, sounds like Bu’ Nana (Mrs. Nana) .. or Banana… sounds funny…but Roti Canai is something that’s rarely found in Bali.

So there I went in, the first time with my husband, and it was raining, so we stopped by and ordered some hot teh tarik for ourselves. For a warung in Seminyak area, the price is actually affordable, it’s Rp.7500 for the normal hot teh tarik, and Rp.8500 for hot teh tarik with cinnamon or cardamon. I ‘m talking of a large glass here. They also serve the teh tarik cold, but I just find it better when it’s hot… it kinda gives a warm tingly feeling to your stomach.

The warung is not so big, there are only three tables with long wooden benches. It’s very simple and homey.. but everyone who works there are very friendly with sincere smiles, so you do feel like home.

If you look at the menu, they have an extensive kinds of roti canai, from the plain ones, to the ones with apples and cinnamon. They’re all good. People have different taste, some likes the sweet kinds, some likes the salted ones. I like both  The range of prices are Rp.6000 to Rp.12.000.

If you ordered a plain roti canai, I suggest you also order a portion of curry to go with it. There are three different kinds of curries, chicken, mutton, and vegetable. The range of prices from Rp.10.000 – Rp.12.000

Beside the roti canai, they also have Indian Martabak, it’s pretty much the same dough as roti canai but cooked with eggs and some onion, served with some curry. Started from Rp.12.000. Yummy, somehow reminds me of Martabak Har from South Sumatera, but it’s not very close just the presentation quite the same… I still prefer Martabak Har. (This one I haven’t found in Bali)

Now, Bunana Roti Canai has a more addition to their menu list, such as nasi kuning (safron rice), and more beverages such as lassie and sumatran juice (it’s a juice made up of what we call terong belanda hmm.. literally translated netherland eggplant, don’t know what its called in English, but Indonesians sure know it)

This is another surprise about this place, since this has become known to the Seminyak crowd, We had this chef of new fine dining restaurant in Jl.Petitenget (it’s the same chef who was in another fine dining fusion restaurant near by, he then decided to open his own eatery, he was also nominated by a local magazine as a superstar chef…. I’m not gonna tell names), he said that he learned to make roti canai from Bunana’s chef! can you believe that?? a superstar chef, learning to make roti canai from a chef in a warung, so… even he admits that Bunana Roti Canai is definetely a definition for Roti Canai.

Here’s a shot of Roti Canai and the girl who made us that calming teh tarik… I forced my professional photographer friend, Rio Pranoto, to take this pics, just like any other pics you see at this page

 

 

Onion that’s Delicious in Delicious Onion

There’s this one place on Jl. Basangkasa, Seminyak. Actually, it’s been there for almost a year now, since it was first open, I’ve always liked eating there. 

This place is called Delicious Onion, and they specialize in Hainam Chicken Rice. There’s a story behind me being a fan of Hainam Chicken Rice. Back when I was studying in Canada, I made friends with this Singapore family, The Ramlis. They’re very nice people and Mrs. Ramli is one good cook!  She likes to bring cakes and some fritters anytime she comes over to my place, and when I go over to their place they’d serve Singaporean food, although hainam chicken rice is claimed as Malaysian food. That’s because the Ramlis are Malay Singaporeans.

So at first, I was really amazed by the chicken taste within the rice, it was really good. So I asked Mrs. Ramli for the recipe, she told me, but I don’t know why I never made it as good as she does. She also made it with super tender poached chicken, that was really realy good!

Since then, anytime I get to eat in Malaysian or Singaporean restaurant, I will most probably order chicken rice to go with whatever I’m eating.

So yesterday, I had this very very strong craving for chicken rice. FYI, my friends are trying to keep me away from rice, because I need to lose a few pounds and (beside trying to get me up in the morning and forcing me to jog) they want me to cut off rice. Nooooooooo…. this is too cruel for me! But I didn’t care, I went to Delicious Onion, and I order their large portion of Mum’s Hainam Chicken Rice. This is the closest taste to Mrs. Ramli’s Hainam Chicken rice, actually.. it’s better! Because they have their special onion sauce and it’s just a perfect taste to accompany the rice. Oh, and the poached chicken, is super duper tender!

A large portion of Mum’s Hainam Chicken Rice complete with poached chicken and the sauce is only Rp.25,000. It’s a LARGE portion, trust me! As they said in their slogan, “A fuel for surfer”, so just imagine… (Mark, the owner, is a surfer from Malaysia. That’s why he likes lotsa carbo and protein food)

I must tell you though… the chicken rice is not something that you can eat everyday… cause it’s really fattening, duh! They cook the rice with the chicken stock, so imagine that! Although, I don’t mind eating it everyday hahaha!

Another thing I like about this place is that you feel like eating at home, the place is very cozy, and everyone knows you. Mark likes to say Hi and chat with you. That’s why you feel comfortable. His son is even better, he was on a holiday and came from Malaysia to Bali. Man, he is a good talker, he entertained the customers, he’s like 10thosand times better than his dad!! hahahah

So anyway, beside its place and its chicken rice, I also love their calamari rings!, it’s very good, they serve it with honey mustard sauce, that kinda gives the twist in taste.

There are actually many things I like about this place. The large glass of cold chrysanthemum tea, the egg noodle, the onion rings, the laksa, the brownies… and many more…

The only thing I would say right now is you just have to go and visit this place. Very nice place, very friendly owner, very good food and good value.

Delicious Onion, Jl, Basangkasa (Next to Cafe Moka), Seminyak, 081337894243

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A waroeng called Batavia

Warung Batavia are located in 3 different places in Bali (as far as I know), but there’s one that I like to go to , it’s the one in Jl. Kunti, it’s close by to my office in Seminyak. At this point, many people who have eaten there would probably argue that I’m closer to Warung Batavia on Jl.Kerobokan, I know, I know… but there’s a plus point in the one in Jalan Kunti, It has parking spaces that’s all…

Still… in the first week of April, I was so eager to treat myself for a bowl of Oxtail Soup, for all of you who are raising your eyebrow in disgust right now, you better try it first. This is a very common soup for Indonesian. The Oxtail is usually cooked in pressure cooker to make it very tender, and all the juice would actually make very good, oily stock, not something completely good for those of you who are watching your calories, because apparently, oxtail meat contains a lot of fat, but you all know that everything that’s fattening is too good too be missed )

So, there I was eating a big bowl of Oxtail soup, mmm… all those chunky tender meat, the stock, the vegetables in it that absorb the stock… man, that was quite a large lunch for me.. oh, I love to eat it with rice.

First of all, you put some of those lime juice on your rice, put some chili into the soup, then…slowly… very slowly… you slurp the soup with all your heart ) okay, that was too much *chuckle*

I love Waroeng Batavia soup, but then again, this is not what I categorize as cheap lunch, it’s Rp.35.000 per portion (about US$4), and I still have to pay another Rp.5000 for the rice… and the drink which was Rp.10.000…

Quite expensive for someone with low salary like me Imagine that we have to spend Rp.50.000 per lunch… not something I would go to everyday… plus the 10% tax, and all those little condiments that goes with it, like peyek (crackers with peanuts), emping (crackers from melinjo), and the fish crackers… so that was another Rp.8000,-

That’s quite a lot for lunch, which means, my next meal must be really really cheap… hmmm….

In that Alley… Cat

I love the beginning of the month, it’s like I can forget whatever happened in a month before…
But the real reason for me loving the beginning of the month is because I get my check! woohoo!!!
So… here’s the math:

check = money = hardwork being paid = reward myself = get to eat great food = go to great places for lunch

So this time, we’ve decided to go to Alley Cat. This is not the first time we’ve been there, I’ve been there once. A little hidden hideaway restaurant, hence the name, ‘alley’… located in Pppies 2 Lane, quite a busy lane in Legian area, but if you don’t pay attention to the sign, you’ll miss this place,

The first time I went there, I had to try their “Monster Grill”, which apparently, is the smallest portion of the monster meals. It consists of 350g of tender steak, a generous portion of home made fries, and a large bowl of home made onion rings. Oh, don’t forget a large bowl of gravy to go with your steak.

Honestly, the taste of the steak is just normal. Like any other great steak place, nothing really special about it. But the portion probably is the one that almost pop your eyes out. It’s huge!! The first time I ate there, I could only finish 1/3 of the portion, and my two male buddies helped me out finished the whole thing, with so much hard work! I must say, for a Rp. 70K (about US$7.5), you get a really great deal!

There were many things that we tried after the second visit. We never really wanted to try the monster mixed grill, but a friend of mine insisted in ordering that. This meal that cost Rp.100K (US$11) comes with a total of 1.7kg meat! that include, beef, pork, chicken, sausages, and bacon… and an egg. Oh… with(again) a very large serving of fries and onion rings. If you could finish that you’ll be in their hall of fame along with all those crazy people who ‘killed’ that monster. As we expected, my friend who ordered that couldn’t finish it all by himself, and he is a large man, he had to share it with another large dude. And, again, as we expected, they both turned stupid after eating that, they were very content, and could barely move!

Me, of course, learning from my first experience, I ordered a monster with onion baguette, I was pretty much prepared for the worst… yes… almost a meter long baguette filled with sauteed onion, red and green pepper, and chunks of tender meat, serve with large portion of home made fries. It was enough for me to eat a quarter of the sandwich, while my partner had to finish the rest, he had to work hard for that. The baguette was kinda chewy, although the sauteed onions and the chunks of meat was really great, still too much work.
He cut his sandwich into another 3 pieces, ate another quarter, and another…. comes to the last quarter of the sandwich, he was about to die! So.. we had to give that part, to the two morons who were dying after eating the mixed monster grill. And they finished it off!
I was pondering whether their stomachs were really made up of latex…. hmmm…

So anyway…. the whole service is nice, the waitress was very keen, she kept asking us whether we were okay, and we could only answer with a nod or a head shake. It was a little slow though… but then again, you are already warned that “Good things come to those who wait, and if you want fast food, please ask direction to McDonalds”.

There are many things that we can recommend, including their curry, that comes with levels of spiciness. The hottest one would be the level where you have to ask direction to Bangli, apparently in Bangli, there’s the biggest asylum in Bali. Also, you must try their potato skin. We love it! The skin is very crispy, it comes in 3 flavours, cheesy, mexican, and vegetarian. They’re really addictive. There are other appetizer, such as deep fried camembert that you must try, and this one the pate, it’s good, but I don’t eat pork, I accidentally ate it. And once is enough for me.

Well, I had that for lunch today, at around 2 pm, now it’s 10 pm, and my stomach is still very very full…

Concluding my lunch for today…. Always come to Alley Cat when you’re really hungry, and always bring at least one friend, to help you out finish off your meal or just to carry you in case you get food stroke. It’s a good place to visit once in a while, especially while your financial situation is really good, (according to me a good affordable lunch should never cost more than 20K). Please give a tip, because if the waitress don’t get one, they’ll give sarcastic comment in Balinese or Bahasa, meaning that they don’t get lunch money, it’s a little rude. But, you can always be like us, pretending not to hear any single comment from the dam* waitress, and go home with a smiley face and overloaded stomach

Btw, here’s the picture of the onion baguette with the monster grill, notice the size comparing to my handphone?? Or you can just see that they don’t have any plate that’s long enough for the sandwich. Our photographer, Rio had to stand on his toes to take this one.

Asinan in the beginning…

It was a friend of mine who recommend a place to eat asinan. It’s an Indonesian style fruit salad, or pickled fruit salad to be precise…

You know when you have craving for something sour, sweet, spicy altogether… this is a common feeling when you’re having PMS or when you’re in your first trimester of pregnancy. At that time, I was in none of that condition, I simply was looking for Asinan. Strangely (although I should have thought about it at without being wondered), most of the people who recommend this place are ladies, actually, there wasn’t any male species who told me to go there.

I went there with a males species anyway, and of course, he showed no interest in Asinan.. hmm..

Well.. for once, I was smiling, and said.. “This is goooooodddd….” and while I was writing this I could feel all the extra saliva filling up my mouth as I recall the sourness of the young mangoes, kedondong, and pineaple, and the sweetness of bengkoang and papaya, with the syrup that was made with some vinegar, chili, and sugar. The fruits were very crunchy, and when I bite in to fried peanuts garnish… I knew that I would have some more to take away.

All the flavor together in my mouth, it was like a hell of a party, and I couldn’t control the drunkard, it was WILD.

I get to speak to the lady boss who was there, I asked her who made the Asinan, she said she’s been making it for … she couldn’t remember, but for sure, since the store was open, she’s been making that, and that was in 2000.

Btw, the place is called “Waroeng Betawi A-Hong”, located in Jl. Raya Tuban, Kuta. About 200 meters away from the Pepito traffic light going to direction of Airport. For a portion of Asinan, it’s only Rp.6000,- (about 60 cents US)

I really recommend this for those who can handle spicy food, and for those with stomach problem, don’t even think about it! Another thing is the place is not what I called hygienic, so it’s probably better to have it for takeaway and serve it in a clean bowl at your home.

Falling in food….

Love food food good food…. me love….