Saturday Practice #2 - Mom's Bday Cake

Happy birthday mom!

Hope you have a blast, and I love you! <3


xoxo Irene


Note: the triple chocolate cake from The Harvest is awesomeeeeee. I love the layer of chocolate chunks mmmm.

Ramayana, Sedap Sari, and Durian Fiesta at Rangkasbitung - Banten

A lot of hidden gems..

Rangkasbitung map (image from weather-forecast.com)

..waiting to be discovered. That's what i think about Rangkasbitung or Rangkas in short. I believe not many people know about this area, cause it's not a big, metropolis city like Jakarta, although it's actually a capital city of Lebak regency.

It's my grandpa's hometown, and I used to go there once a year to pay a visit to the cemetery (some kind of my tradition to pay a visit to great great grandparents). Rangkas is a hot city, with the average temperature of 35-38 degree Celcius, although the trees are more than trees in Jakarta. It's my first visit after I went back to Indo, and this time I won't miss a chance to highlight Rangkas' culinary spots. The only hitch was the temperature, 41 degree Celsius really makes me uncomfortable.

Ramayana

The restaurant's board

Soo it's lunch time. As I said, there are many culinary gems hidden in Rangkas. I say "Ramayana" is one of them, although apparently it's quite popular among Rangkas people.

Simple interior

It is an Indonesian-food-based restaurant, offering quite many types of Indo foods such as nasi rames, soto ayam, and oxtail soup. Everything here is simple, maybe they focus more on the food than the decor.

Menu

With 41 degree outside, I immediately craving for cold drink. I demolished almost three bottles of cold sweet ice tea. I can't understand why the grandma's okay with hot tea. It's burning outside.

Drinks

We tried few of their signature dishes, but I didn't get to try everything.

The rice

Sate ayam (chicken satay) is the uncle's choice. Tender chicken chunks drenched by thick, slightly-spicy peanut sauce. A bit of soy sauce and fried shallots make this dish even better.

Sate ayam - IDR 20,000 ($2.2)

Sate kambing (goat satay)  is another type or satay ordered. I didn't try it cause I don't like goat. Or lamb.

Sate kambing - IDR 20,000 ($2.2)

I gave soto ayam (chicken slices, tomato, potato, and melinjo chips in rich coconut-milk-based soup) a welcoming drool when it arrived to the table. They use coconut milk in the soup so it's rick. So rich it may cause heart attack soon enough. It's amazingly tasty though, the chicken slices are succulent and generously given. The melinjo chips add delicious crunch.

Soto ayam - IDR 20,000 ($2.2)

Sop buntut (oxtail soup) is grandma's choice, but I didn't try it cause I don't like oxtail. The smell's mouthwatering though.

Sop buntut sapi - IDR 20,000 ($2.2)

So I opted for nasi rames (rice with various side dishes). Really my picture cannot do this dish justice. Nor can my description. It's just so awesome. I thought it's ordinary nasi rames at first, you know, rice with rendang (slow cooked beef in traditional spices), fried vermicelli, stir fried beans, sambal goreng kentang (fried potatoes with chilli sauce), and some gravy; but I was in awe from my first mouthful. The gravy is rich and sigh-worthy. The beef is succulent, even the potatoes are tasty on its own. Everything just work out perfectly on that plate. Best nasi rames ever.

Nasi rames - IDR 15,000 ($1.7)

Ooo yeah their chilli sauce is made in hell. It's so hot it burns me inside. But I eat it anyway. Cause I am crazy for chilli.


Sedap Sari Bakery

Sedap Sari is my fav bakery in Rangkas. The place is totally humble, but the smell of freshly baked breads always wins me over. It's quite hidden, so if you're not lucky you won't find it.

They have the best banana chocolate bread ever. I don't know how they do it, but the bread stays fluffy for the next three days. And they claim no chemical substances added.

L-R: banana chocolate bread, freshly baked breads in display

Duren Jatuhan Haji Arief

The place's icon

It was my first time visiting the place. Duren Jatuhan Haji Arief (DJHA) is truly a place for durian fiesta. Maybe some people hate durian's smell or taste, but for some of us (including me) find that this king of fruit tasty, deliciously creamy, and smells so good. Some say Serang's 9the capital city of Banten provence) durians are better than monthong durians, so I can't wait to taste them.

Mountain of durians in the store room

It's actually not a restaurant. They only provide some wooden seating, without actual chairs or tables. They have an enormous durian field nearby, so they can pick the fruits anytime and sell the best ones to customers. When I went to the store room to pick durians, I was greeted by the fantastic smell of durian. Tasty tasty durian smell I must add.

T-B: the place's board and pictures of durian types, opened durians in stereo foam trays

So this is how it works: you pick your durians, ranging from IDR 15,000 to 80,000 ($1.7 - 8.8), and then you can decide whether you want to eat them on the spot or bring them home. If you want to bring them home, you can also ask the crew to open the durians for you and put the flesh on stereofoam trays. I found that most families eat their durians on the place. The place's quite packed.

L-R: wood based interior, the scale

We chose one durian to be eaten on the spot, but I left for the toilet for about 5 mins. And this is what's left for me *sob*

It didn't disappoint though. It's sweet, creamy, and has a bit bitter lingering taste in the end. Just my kind of durian. It's, indeed, better than monthong durian.

Demolished

I wasn't satisfied yet so I persuade mom to buy two durians home hehee.

My precious fruit

O yeah they also have few animals on the backyard. One of them is this creepy, hyperactive squirrel which seems very willing to bite me hard anytime *shudder*

Hyperactive squirrel

I know Rangkas is still unfamiliar for most of us, but if you have a chance to visit, I say it's a great opportunity to discover its culinary gems. But yeah bring some fans or air conditioners with you or you'll melt.

P.S. Pardon the low quality photos. I think it's time to try Adobe Lightroom hmm.


Rating:

Ramayana: 5/5 (Must try)
Exceptional food, service is helpful and very friendly, OK ambiance although can be crowded during lunch time, price is affordable.

Duren Jatuhan Haji Arief: 5/5 (Must try)
Great fresh durians, price is OK, service is helpful, nice natural ambiance.










Address:

RAMAYANA RESTAURANT
Multatuli street no.71
Rangkasbitung 


SEDAP SARI BAKERY
Jl. KH Mansyur III No. 10 L
Rangkasbitung, Banten



DUREN JATUHAN HAJI ARIEF
Jln. Raya Pandeglang Km 14, Baros
Serang  

Pizza Hut, Citra 2 Complex - Jakarta

Cheese cheese cheese

BBQ chicken stuffed crust pizza

..that's what on my mind yesterday. I was craving cheese. So I took the boy with me to Pizza Hut, Citra 2 complex branch.

Ah maybe you'll find this post boring cause Pizza Hut's crazily popular, so I'll keep this one's short.

As usual we ordered the delight sensation for two (sensasi delight berdua) - IDR 45,454 ($5.05), which consists of one small pizza, one pasta, four slices of garlic bread, and two small coke.

Small Coke

I know the drink won't be enough cause the glass's so small, so I ordered a sunrise Italian soda.

Sunrise Italian soda (cream soda with mango syrup) - IDR 10,909 ($1.2)

It's surprisingly good, though it looks like thick milk mixed with mango syrup, which makes me skeptical at the first sight upon arrival. It's refreshing, not too milky and not too sweet either.

The first one to arrive was our fav appetizer, the garlic bread which was demolished in no time. I'd love the garlic butter to be thicker though.

Garlic bread

The pizza I chose is the BBQ chicken with cheese stuffed crust, which taste ordinary good but I was disappointed with the stuffed cheese cause it's too little and not melty.

And I always eat my pizza with heaps chilli sauce. I am Indonesian.

That was the first time I tried carbonara fusilli, whose cream is very smooth. I love the grated mozarella on top. Tasty tasty cheese.

Carbonara fusilli (baked fusilli with creamy cheese sauce, with slices of crab stick and fish cake)

But it's nothing compared to Roo's pepperoni cheese fusilli, which is amazingly tasty and salty. It has cheddar and mozarella, so melty cheese is aplenty on that plate. The taste is also much richer than my fusilli, and the pepperoni adds a welcome crunch. I will order that next time.

Pepperoni cheese fusilli (baked fusilli with creamy cheddar sauce and crunchy pepperoni) - IDR 31,818 ($3.5)

I reckon I'll be craving cheese again soon. Until we meet again, pepperoni cheese fusilli!


Rating: 4/5 (Recommended)
Good pizza and pasta, very helpful service but can be over-friendly sometimes, good and cozy ambiance, price is OK.








Address:

PIZZA HUT
 
Citra Garden 2 block J2
Kalideres, West Jakarta

Han Gang Korean Restaurant, Taman Anggrek Mall - Jakarta

Lovely charred rice in a hot stone pot. Enough said right?

I love charred rice. And my mom is currently very obsessed with Korean drama so she suggested to dine at a Korean restaurant as my bday lunch. And the uncle recommend the place so we went to Taman Anggrek Mall to check out Han Gang.

Menu

Han Gang restaurant

Han Gang actually specializes in BBQ-grilled beef, but unfortunately all of the grill-tables are reserved so we just stick with other dishes. I did see people enjoying their grilled beef slices which have really really appetizing smell.

Some decorations

The interior is pretty as well, many Korean's decorations are shown. And they also have a call-button on every table so we can call the waitress easily anytime.

L: tables with grill and smoke catcher. R: interior and call-button.

Upon arriving, we were given two palates of appetizers, which all taste great, except for the original kimchi which has a distinct taste of wasabi. I hate wasabi. My fav is the clams. Taste so great with a hint of oyster sauce.

Appetizers

The clams

More appertizers

Having read the menu, my eyes landed on the word 'bibimbab'  which is a signature Korean dish, literally means 'mixed meal'. But the menu said 'rice in a hot stone pot' so that means smoky.charred.rice. O yeah.

The first dish to arrive is japchae (stir fried sweet potato noodles with shredded meat and vegetables). This is actually the best dish of the night, I love the slightly chewy but smooth noodles, and the seasoning is just perfect.

Japchae - IDR 45,000 (S) and 85,000 (R), $5 (S) and $9.4 (R)

Kimchi jjigae (spicy chilli pepper cabbage soup) arrives bubbling and tastes kinda like tom yam (Thai's sour soup) but a tad spicy, with silky smooth tofu, pickled cabbage (kimchi), and some beef slices. The freshness of this soup won me over.

Kimchi jjigae - IDR 48,000 ($5.3)

We ordered four kind of dolsot bibimbab cause we are just curious of it. My mom got the best one, dolsot yache bibimbab (rice with beef and mixed vegetables in a hot stone pot). See the sexy egg on the menu? I wished my mom would've had that, but she asked for cooked egg instead. I don't get a sexy egg photo again *sob*.

The taste is pretty good, every bibimbab is served with some kind of sauce to be mixed with the rice. The beef is tender although very few and thin. The rice is tasty though.

Dolsot yache bibimbab - IDR 39,000 ($4.3)

I actually wanna order my mom's bibimbab, but since she already ordered that one, I decided to try dolsot nakji bibimbab (rice with stir fried octopus with vegetables in a hot stone pot) for research purpose.

Dolsot nakji bibimbab - IDR 39,000 ($4.3)

I heart the smoky, charred rice. I don't really know why, but charred rice tastes better. I ended up digging for more charred rice and left the un-charred rice on top hehee. They are so crunchy and tasty and moreish.

Rice porn

The vegetables are heaps, but the octopus slices are few, although they are tender enough.

My dad chose dolsot kimchi cham chi bibimbab (rice with tuna and kimchi in hot stone pot), and he complained that the tuna is too few, he can barely taste any.

Dolsot kimchi cham chi bibimbab - IDR 39,000 ($4.3)

Mixed bibimbab

My bro had the dolsot bulgogi bibimbab (rice with pan-fried beef marinated in soy sauce in a hot stone pot), and he didn't like it. But it's just his tongue, Korean cuisine doesn't really suit him. I tried some and the beef slices are tender and perfectly marinated.

Dolsot bulgogi bibimbab - IDR 39,000 ($4.3)

Overall I had a nice lunch. Maybe some people will find the Korean cuisine unfamiliar, but it suits okay for me. Just be careful not to overeat here, or you'll leave with empty pocket.


Rating: 4/5 (Recommended)
Great Korean food (esp the jap chae), helpful service, cozy ambiance perfect for groups, price is quite pricey.









Address:

HAN GANG


Taman Anggrek Mall Lv. 4
Jl. Letjen. S. Parman Kav. 21 , Slipi
Jakarta Barat


Phone: 021 5639499