Warung Leko (Indonesian food)

Warung Leko is a chain of Indonesian food restaurants similar with Warung Tekko, previously reviewed on this blog. For me, there is no real difference between the two, but people always say one of them is there favourite, just as they would say Pepsi is better than Coke.

They specialize in Iga Bakar and Iga Penyet (Grilled ribs and Smashed ribs with spicy sauce). They have other items on the menu, all the usual Indonesian favourites, but most customers go for the ribs only.

I tried the branch in Citywalk Sudirman, which is always full, especially at lunch. I ordered the Iga Bakar, which costs around Rp30,000 with tax.

Overall: The quality of the food in Warung Leko is very ordinary, and the only benefit compared to street food is the clean, modern venue with A/C. Not recommended for a fancy dinner, but perfect for lunch.

Contact details:

Warun! g Leko P IK
Ruko Cordoba Block F-19
Pantai Indah Kapuk, North Jakarta
Phone number: +62-21 30631423 / +62 (0) 818321631

Warung Leko Citywalk Sudirman (L1)

Jl. KH Mas Mansyur No. 121Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta 10220
Phone number: +62-21 2555 8890

Warung Leko Kelapa Gading
Jl. Boulevard Barat Blok B No.9,
Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta
Phone number: +62-21 45851340

Warung Leko Grand Indonesia
West Mall Lt. 5, Jl. MH. Thamrin No.1,

Warung Leko Hayam Wuruk
Jl. Gajah Mada No.123
Phone number: +62-21 6007106

Warung Leko Puri Indah
Jl. Pesanggrahan Raya No. 168 F

Warung Leko Serpong Tangerang
Jl. Ruko Villa Melati Mas Square A 2/8
Phone number: +62-21 53151433

Restoran Keong Kee @ Jalan Barat off Imbi Road.

When we have guests from out of town, Restoran Keong Kee will be the top lunch place on our 'eating itinerary'.

After that it will follow by a tour of the many shopping malls in the Bukit Bintang area.


The food cooked by the owner cum lone chef are very consistent, fresh, tasty and affordable.


The restaurant is air conditioned and exceptionally clean.


Parking is OK.




Yin Yong (lightly fried rice vermicelli and flat rice noodle) doused with an egg gravy with choy sam, pig's intestine/liver, strips of lean pork and shrimps-Rm15/ Deep fried Yee mee filled with the above mentioned ingredients and gravy.-Rm15/ Wat Tan Hor- lightly fried flat rice noodle filled with egg and Tapioca starch reduction gravy, smooth tender beef , spring onion and young sliced ginger-Rm11/ Steamed Village chicken with knotted lily buds and wooden fungus-tender, smooth, juicy and meaty chicken meat-note the chicken essence-5 stars-Rm28/ Blanched Hong Kong Choy Sam Fah-green, leafy, sweet and not pulpy-Rm10/

Location: same row with Restoran Hee Lai Ton,

Jalan Barat,off Imbi Road,
Kuala Lumpur.

Tel:017-333-8138.

Opera Blanc Restaurant (Pacific Place)

Opera Blanc is a chic restaurant serving Italian and French food in Pacific Place. Owned by the same person behind Sopra, it offers a similar concept, with its open kitchen, elegant design, and careful service.

The prices are quite high, especially for the pizzas: On average, it will cost you Rp200,000 for one, and the most expensive, with Lobster, costs almost 1 million rupiah. A very interesting deal is to order a meter-long pizza for Rp450,000++ (50cm for Rp250,000++). It is so big that it will be enough for up to 8 persons.

I didn't try other items on the menu, but si! nce the Chef is Italian, I would advise you to stick with the Italian food.

Their pizza has a very thin crust, and it is made in front of you with fresh ingredients. It tastes authentic, but if I had to choose, I prefer the one in Luna Negra or Scusa. I shall come back to Opera Blanc soon though to try one of their more elaborate pizzas.

Here is a picture of the one we ordered (for 4 people):

50cm Pizza with Seafood and Venezia topping

Overall: Recommended if you come with a large group, then you can have one of their meter-long pizzas. Otherwise, it is overpriced. Drinks are not too expensive (if you stay away from the wine). You can enjoy them on the outside terrace, in comfortable sofas (small bintang=Rp30,000++). Concerning the atmosphere, I think the design could be improved, especially the dining room upstairs which is dull. It is crowded so far, with expats and executives working near Sudirman.

Opera Blanc Restaurant
Pacific Place
SCBD, Jl Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53
Jakarta 12190
Phone number: +62-21 5797 3815

For more information about the places to eat Italian food in Jakarta, read on this blog my review: Italian restaurants in Jakarta.

Tomato Egg Flower Soup

A Chinese meal is not complete without a soup.Most quick Chinese soups are thin and rather bland because such soups are for refreshing the palate in between mouthfuls of food, and also to moisten the throat and help glide mouthfuls of rice down the gullet. Many kids and older Chinese are not able to swallow their rice without spoonfuls of soup. When they were toddlers, my kids survived on good nutritious soups and bowls of rice.Simmered (usually 2 hours)Chinese soups are also thin but fortified with veggies, herbs, bones and meat into very nutritious and delicious soups.Such soups are drunk all through the meals with constant refills.Soups served at fancy banquet dinners on the other hand are always thickened with cornstarch to give them more body (and I suspect to cater to western palates) and are served as a one-off item at the beginning of 10-course dinners.

Dan hua tang, word for word, means egg flower soup. The flower of course refers to the delicate strands of egg that float in the soup. Dan hua tangis good for emergencies when a soup is needed on the table because very few ingredients are required. Tomatoes are the most common ingredient to add to the egg flower soup. My mom adds dried shrimps to her egg flower soups to give extra flavor.For a slightly richer and more substantial version, ground meat,jai chai(a preserved veggie) and thin glass noodles can be added too. Whichever way it's done, the important thing aboutdan hua tangis that the egg strands should be wispy and light, not clumpy and tough. To get fine wisps of egg, the beaten egg must be poured into very hot soup with one hand and stirred in a circular motion with the other handat the same time. The soup must not be boiled after the egg is added, or the egg will be hard. When your! egg str ands look like finecirrus clouds, you have mastered the making of the egg flower soup.

Do not confuse the egg flower soup with the egg drop soup. A lot of Chinese menus say egg drop soup when they mean egg flower soup. Egg drop soup, as far as I know, is a European soup.

The tangy, oil-free tomato egg flower soup counters the greasy richness of meat dishes very well.



Tomato Egg Flower Soup

3 medium-sized tomatoes, cut into thin wedges

2 eggs, beaten

1 T finely cut spring onions

4 cups chicken stock or water

1/2 cup ground meat (chicken or beef or pork, seasoned with salt & pepper)

1/2 t salt & shakes of white pepper

1 t sesame oil (optional)

2 T cornstarch mixed with 3 T water (optional)

1. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the tomatoes. If using water, add the tomatoes, bring to a boil and add the ground meat, stirring and whisking with a fork or pair of chopsticks to separate the meat so that there are no large clumps.

2. When the soup comes to a full boil again, switch off the heat and pour the beaten egg with one hand and stir the soup quickly with a fork in circles. Don't pour too quickly or large thick ribbons of egg will form. Make sure the soup is boiling hot or it'll become cloudy. You can switch off the heat in the middle of boiling but do not boil after all the egg is in.

If you want a thicker soup, add the cornstarch mixture before adding the egg, also stirring it in using a fork in circular motion. Let soup come to a full boil after adding the cornstarch water, switch off the heat and add the egg, doing the same motion as de! scribed above.

3. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the spring onions on top. Drizzle with sesame oil if using.

Wondermilk @ Citta

Concluding our Citta Mall trilogy, we sought sweet succor at Wondermilk after our back-to-back meals at Baci and Gourmandis fell far short of spectacular.

Hello Milo & Very Very Very Chocolate "cuppacakes." This is Wondermilk's second cafe, even more charming than its original outlet at Damansara Uptown, with a terrific service team that knows its food and keeps the smiles coming.

Cookies & Cream Dream, with Peanut Butter Jelly Wonder. Since these are smaller than the ones at Bisou, Cupcake Chic and other outlets, the RM4.50 cost per piece might seem steep at first. But they're much denser, fresh and superbly moist.

Rocky Road & Chocolate Cheese Surprise. The real surprise for first-timers might be that these taste less cloyingly sugary than many other cupcakes, though they remain filled with flavor.

"Foxy" Red Velvet & John "Lemon." Cute names for cute cupcakes.

S'mores. Not something we see on a menu often _ crackers sandwiched with warm chocolate & marshmallows. Messy but marvelous.

Mocha cookies. Not bad, but not the highlight of teatime here.

Toffee & macadamia-flavored milk beverages to end on a satisfying note, thankfully.

+Wondermilk Cafe,

Citta Mall, Ara Damansara.

Domaine Roux Pere et Fils Meursault Vieilles Vignes, 2009, Burgundy, France

Five Days/Five Wines: Sunday 9th July

In the great scheme of things Waitrose being out of stock of fresh Tarragon is just a minor, trivial, insignificant, unimportant inconvenience. Shame the chap waiting alongside me for the 'weekender lad' to return from a warehouse forage for said Tarragon didn't realise this. The lad returned empty handed. Swearing, stomping, moaning to anything that would listen. I heard him bellowing to his wife from the other end of the store a good ten minutes later. All that anger over tarragon. Embarrassing. No wonder I generally dislike people. I wonder what his wife is like...

It might not be quite the same but I sprinkle dried tarragon in the Sunday one-pot chicken dish. Midsomer Murders is running in the background - "oh look that's Wallingford town hall..." "oh, isn't that the road into Ewelme..." "They've used the pub in Warborough... again" - Chicken thighs, browned shallots, garlic, wine and chicken stock, tarragon and bay leaf... later, just prior to serving and pressing play on the blu-ray player, Rodda's Crme Frache is stirred through the sauce.

As for the wine, something special is called for seeing as it's a Sunday. A Meursault.

A wine, retailing for twenty five quid is one that even a non-wine expert mentioned as being something a little special. Texturally interesting (tumbling fresh water gravel), herbed edges, decent length, pear and apple skins, weighty. Finesse. A lovely drop to accompany the Chicken.

My local Waitrose has been out of Vegimite for at least three weeks; now THAT is something to get steamed up about!

Domaine Roux Pere ! et Fils Meursault Vieilles Vignes, 2009, Burgundy, France [Adegga / Snooth] is another wine to be in the Bibendum Summer Sale. Normally 27.08 it will be reduced to 18.05 from the 19th July through to the 1st August.

Pad Thai (Mangga Besar)

Pad Thai is a discreet Thai restaurant in Mangga Besar. It is not a fancy venue but it looks modern and cozy, with some posters on the wall reminiscent of Thailand.

As with most restaurants in this area, the food is cheap and good-value. For a full meal with drinks, Rp50k should be enough. Pad Thai specializes in Tom Yum and Kwetiaw, with some Indonesian dishes such as Nasi Goreng.

We tried a bit of everything:

Tom Yum Seafood (Rp29,500)Nasi Goreng Ayam (Rp22,500)Pad Thai Ayam (Rp21,500)Ayam Pandan (Rp13,500)Manggo Salad

Overall: I thought the Kwetiaw was way too oily, but the rest of the food was quite good, especially the Manggo Salad and the Tom Yum. This is not an exceptional restaurant, but if you are a fan of affordable Thai food, you should give Pad Thai a try.

Opening hours:

Everyday, from 10.30am to 2.30pm and from 5pm to midnight

Pad Thai Restaurant

Tom Yum and Kwetiaw Khas Thailand
Jl. Mangga Besar 1 No. 61 D Jakarta Barat

Telephone: +62-21 9127 3883

Fax: +62-21 6231 7126
Website (with menu): http://padthairestaurant.wordpress.com/

Furama (Restaurant in Jalan Hayam Wuruk)

Furama is an affordable Chinese restaurant, specializing in Cantonese and Hakka cuisine. Established since 1978, it is very popular among the Chinese community in Jakarta. They also have a ballroom for weddings.

Furama relocated on Jalan Hayam Wuruk a few years ago, and it is now much more modern, probably a bit too much. They have large boards everywhere advertising the restaurant promotions ("all you can eat Dim Sum for Rp53,300++"), making the place look like a fast-food. I wouldn't advise coming there for an intimate dinner, in particular a date.

I visited Furama after midnight, and at that time only Bubur (rice porridge) was available. I had the Bubur Pitan, and added a plate of grilled Pork and grilled Duck. I didn't keep the bill, but I remember the total was approximately Rp100,000. Compared to another Bubur I had in Kamseng restaurant, the one in Furama tasted much better. The Duck and Pork was more average, probably because of the ingredients used.

Bubur Pitan

Overall: Furama is not a must-try restaurant, but if you live or work nearby, I would recommend it to you because it has a good value-for-money, especially for lunch. If you are enjoying Kota's nightlife, it can also be a stop on the way home as it stays open until quite late.

Opening Hours
Everyday from 11am to 2am (3am during the weekend)

Furama
Jalan Hayam Wuruk no. 45
11160 Jakarta
Phone number: +62-21 625 7272
Fax: +62-21 626 0163

Website: http://www.furama.co.id
Twitter: http://twitter.com/FuramaResto
Email: furamaresto@gmail.com or sales@furama.co.id

Lemon Anise Slush

I tend to go heavy on the lemon zest around here. Those of you who have been visiting for a while have likely noticed. Most of the time I use the corresponding lemon juice in ice water, sparkling water, or salad dressing. Nothing too exciting. But a number of you have asked if I do anything interesting with the stockpile of lemons they rightly assume I accumulate. So I thought I'd share this lemon anise slush recipe with you. Adapted from a recipe in an old issue (2004?) of Gourmet magazine, I make it on the nicest summer days here in San Francisco.

The thing that makes this special is the hint of unexpected anise flavor which pairs nicely with refreshing lemon. It's one variable I keep constant here. That said, there are a number of ways to approach this quencher. The original recipe calls for either water, or vodka (if you're not messing around) as the base. I tend to make this as a mid-day treat and find that water works great. Yogurt is an alternative if you're up for something creamier and more substantial. Or(!) a pilsner in place of the water takes its cue from a shandy, which I love. My sister makes me limoncello from her lemon tree (Heather, I'm running dangerously low!), and a small splash of that to finish things off here is lemon-kissed heaven. Optional, but if you happen to have some on hand, give it a try.

This is the sort of thing I make over and over, and tweak and make notes as I go. I have one more idea related to the anise seeds that I haven't had a chance to explore yet. I think I want to try to let the seeds sit in the 3/4 cup / 180ml vodka ahead of time (hours? overnight? couple days?). I think the seeds are alcohol-soluble, and might infuse the vodka nicely. Then proceed with the recipe as written. Don't fault me if I'm ! off the mark here :)...but let me know if you give it a try.

Continue reading Lemon Anise Slush...