Friday, July 24, 2015

TGI Fridays

I have deep memories with this restaurant chains. TGI Fridays was my dating place with my wife before we got married about a decade ago. Most of our important events such as birthdays and anniversary were celebrated here. We felt a loss when they decided to close their last outlet in Taman Ria Senayan. Thanks to celebrity couple BCL and Ashraf Sinclair who brought this chains back to Indonesia a few years ago in Lippo Mall Kemang. Now they have two other branches in Jakarta at Pondok Indah Mall and Lippo Mall Puri. To bring back our memories, today we visit their outlet at Lippo Mall Puri.

There was not much different in terms of decoration as compared to their old outlet. I already feel familiar with it when I walk my feet inside the restaurant. I ordered my most favorite menu which was still available now, Jack Daniel's Steak.

Jack Daniel's Steak - IDR 259K++ (Aussie's Beef, Medium Rare)

The 10 oz striploin steak was served with two choices of side dishes. Grilled with the famous Jack Daniel's whiskey. Upon serving, the servant was asking us to check whether the doneness was already correct according to our order. I'm not sure whether this was for the sake of formality, or to be true that we can refuse the dishes and ask to change to new one if the doneness was not correct. To my opinion, this was quite a risky policy to apply to Indonesian. Since I have to take picture of my dish first, I didn't want to cut the meat to check the doneness. So what did I do? I just touch the meat with my knife. The experts said that the medium rare meat will feel bouncy like we touch our cheek. Quite simple, right?

And it was confirmed that they got the doneness correct when I cut the beef. Not over or undercooked for a medium rare steak. It was just perfect. However, the beef was not too tender. Possibly because I ordered Aussie's beef. My suggestion is to go for the USDA Choice Meat for more tender option, although you have to look more deeper in your pocket for this choices. I forgot how was it like 10 years ago, but the Jack Daniel's sauce is too sweet to my liking now. The side dishes were just okay.

We were more satisfied simply because of the memories, rather than the food. I must admit that my taste and tongue has already changed. I will end this review with my photo collections of TGI Fridays all over the world. From top left clockwise : TGIF Queensbay Mall Penang, TGIF Orchard Road Singapore, TGIF Lippo Mall Puri Jakarta, and TGIF Pavilion Mall Kuala Lumpur.

TGI Fridays, in here, it's always Friday.

Food - 7/10
Cleanliness - 10/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10
Price/Value - 7/10

TGI Fridays
Lippo Mall Puri Unit UG-65
Jl. Puri Indah Blok U1
Puri Indah CBD
Jakarta 11610
+62-21-29111173
Business Hours : Mon to Sun 10am-10pm

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Waroeng Kopi

I was never aware that inside Alun-Alun Indonesia at SOGO Central park Mall, there is a nice and comfort restaurant to spend time either alone or chit chat with your friends. Until last year, when I was told by one of my friend. You can never found this restaurant if you don't pay attention carefully as the location is always around the corner. The strength of this restaurant is that they offer comfort place with nice views. As far as I know there are two Waroeng Kopi in Jakarta. One is here in Central Park which offers Tribeca Park lanscape view, and the other is inside Alun-Alun Indonesia at Seibu Grand Indonesia, which offers Bundaran HI views, also located around the corner.

Waroeng Kopi mainly serves Indonesian food, ranging from Soto Betawi, Gado-Gado, Chicken Satay, until traditional food such as Bajigur and Colenak. Even they have Holland Bitterbalen. From what I observed, the image of Waroeng Kopi for me is street food goes to mall.

Kopi Tubruk Sumatra Mandailing - IDR 22K++

Based on the name of this restaurant, of course coffee is available in their menu. They offers variety of Indonesian coffee such as Sumatra Mandailing, Toraja, Lampung, etc. In both Tubruk and Saring ways. The difference between these two is that Saring is served without coffee grounds. I ordered Sumatra Maindailing Kopi Tubruk. Appearance wise, it was really having traditional image on the glass. But for me, the coffee taste a bit sour.

For cold coffee, there are not many variety to choose, except for Ice Cappuccino and Ice Latte. They also offered decaf coffee.

Singkong Goreng Sambal Roa - IDR 25K++

This appetizer was the most favorite here. Almost every table have this appetizer in their table. Probably because to those who come here only for having snacks and chit chat, this can be the best option. The cassava was tender, served with Sambal Roa. I personally like this. But again, with this price, we can have better Singkong Goreng at street food stall with much cheaper price.

Nasi Pecak Lele - IDR 40K++

We also call this dishes Pecel Lele in street food. The fish also known as cat fish. I didn't like the taste of Pecel Lele here. The fish is to small. Although they tried to cover it with serving two fish, for me small cat fish makes the meat not tasty. The most important ingredients of Pecel Lele is the sambal or chili, which was very disappointing here. I didn't taste the chili at all, and it was more to tasteless. Pecel Lele at street food taste way better to my liking, again, with more cheaper price at average of IDR 15K.

Nasi Goreng Pete Teri Udang - IDR 40K++

The fried rice was served with crispy fried small anchovies, shrimp, and stinky beans. So far, this is the best dishes here to my liking. But the taste was at average.

Overall, this restaurant was comfort to sit in for hours and having chit chat with friends and enjoying relaxing views. Further, if during Christmas time the view to Tribeca Park was amazing with the tall giant X-Mas tree, especially at night. However, the food was terrible. If only they can improve the quality of their food, I probably would choose this restaurant in my every weekends. One other minus point is that they didn't have Wifi access. Maybe they try to avoid the long sitting people in their restaurant, but hey, you offer nice and comfort place with amazing views, why avoid people for long sit?

Happy Eid Mubarak!

Food - 5/10
Cleanliness - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 9/10
Price/Value - 4/10

Waroeng Kopi (Central Park Branch)
Alun-Alun Indonesia
SOGO Central Park Mall 2nd Floor
Jl. Letjend. S. Parman Kav 28
Jakarta Barat
+62-21-56985755
Business Hours : Mon to Sun 10am-10pm