Rumah Makan Pondok Laguna, Jakarta Indonesia

Food in Jakarta was very tasty. It only took a 3 days stay to convert my taste buds. When I came back, everything tasted bland for weeks. Thirstily tasty. The sweet drinks almost tooth-aching, the salty dishes quadrupled dehydration speed. We were emptying bottles of drinking water like marathon runners. Lucky the toilets at the shopping malls and restaurants were clean and bright. To my utmost delight, free. Show you later, k.

I took so many pictures as we partook in many meals – big medium small. Unfortunately most are blur and needed heavy editing due to hurried snapping. Whenever I whip out my camera, Superb Host would exclaim to dining companions ‘Food critic! Food critic from M’sia!’.You say I shy or not? "((@_@))”

A quick check around and found Selba claiming that this is a favourite with expatriates.

On that Saturday night it was packed with locals too. Please proceed to salivate.

A local favourite drink, Jeruk (we know it as Mandarin Orange juice with Coconut Flesh).My favourite of the night:- Cumi-cumi Bakar ie Grilled Squid! Smothered in sticky sweet black sauce it was spoon and fork licking good. Fingers and palms if your companions allow it. How should I describe it? Springy but not chewy? Hankering for some now!

Thank you Superb Host for buying us:- (divide 3,000 to get approx. amount in RM. This meal cost RM162)

Address:-

Wishing all a jOLLy JoLLy dAy!!

Baan Nok Restaurant (Thai Market Font), Pandan Indah

The deed is done. I’ve ventured into a restaurant with no signboard. Its name only appeared in the dog-eared menu.Dragged a skeptical Phitoy upstairs. Note the stairs on the left?Inside, a bit dingy with simplistic furnishing and wall decorations that surely have seen better days. Only other table was occupied. By a rowdy bunch of manly men gulping beers by the crates. It was obvious the manly men were friends of the restaurant proprietors. After all it’s not everyday patrons and service staff get to clang mugs and get to challenge drinking speed.

Notwithstanding the boisterous scene, service was attentive and patient. The Thai ladyboss spoke rather good Cantonese with a singsong tilt. Most of the staff do too.

Fresh Coconut drink. Mine.Both of us were served free plain water infused with pandan fragrance. My guess is the water was boiled with pandan leaves.

Deepfried Shrimps in Lime Sauce. Ladyboss's recommendation. The sauce was appetising but oily. Would be better if the prawns were bigger.

Tomyum Pork Ribs. A first for both of us in having tomyum without seafood. Clear water runs deep. Clear soup burns lips. And throat. And tummy. All thumbs up!

Kailan stir fried with Salted Fish. Their version is with considerably big pieces of the salted fish. Easy to pick the pieces out if one finds them too salty but we preferred them shredded and all mixed up.

We missed desserts. Ladyboss informed that desserts are served from their shop downstairs. I think we only asked for it after 9pm so it was closed. ;-(

Bill:-

So how was this compared to this? Hmm let you know after a few more visits .. to both!

Fingers not so black after all..

I got my 10 fine fingers from mom. From my early years I have discovered that my 10 fine fingers were exemplary members of a not so anonymous Plant Killas cult. Grass turns yellow then brown once trimmed by our 10 fine fingers. Easy to care for potted cactuses known to cross our path were never spared.

Mom almost dropped her jaw when I declared I'm trying to grow a garden. That was almost a decade ago.

Up to yesterday, given, presented and bought plants can be summarised as below:-

Mom, TODAY IS A NEW DAY!

Okay, so only one plant flowered. Buy hey it has not ONE .. but TWO f l o u r w a r s!

Sceptics, never say never 'kay.

ps. Yes, an odd post for my foodblog but hey, I'm just so darn proud of myself. Mom too. Wendy Yap too. Her mom three. =D Plant was from them ;o)

Similarity among Datuk, Angel and Snacks?

Way way overdue post since this.

Allow me to do an introduction before I go further in my Jakarta posts.

We crashed at his place. We dined in style on his wallet. We spent his youth, burned his petrol, made bums dents in his bling-bling 4WD and overstressed his no-speakee-england chauffeur. He fell sick. The chauffeur. Lucky it was on the day we left. Hehe. And oh, a local Angel was roped in to make sure our trip was most informative and fun. What did he asked for in return?

Something not available in Jakarta …

A genuine SUPERB HOST itelu!

Heartiest THANK YOU, Datuk K (the lookalike wax figure in bling-bling batik of course) !

TONNES OF XIE-XIE ANGEL S!

Ok enough polishing Datuk K’s bling-bling golf bag … until our next trip. I’ll bring a suitcase of mints, k?

Usually you don't find me snacking but over there, I spend almost RM100 in a chain snack shop, Snackzone (colourful website). Bought some for colleagues, some for family members, some for friends and some because they look interesting. The variety of snack, not strangers. Here, take a peep:-

Plenty of fried singkong aka fried cassava, a starchy root vegetable similar to potato. Taste quite similar too. Err same same but different? A quick google revealed that it’s one of the staple food in most Asean countries except Malaysia. Hmmm. I bought so many packets and procastinated the picture taking. Consequence, all finished and no picture. *sigh* If it's any consolation, see those dark brown crakers-like packs in the plastic bag carrier?

These were among the many packs in those bags. Dried preserved pineapple slices.Very sweet. I am not too sure whether they were submerged in syrup before the drying process. Maybe the sweetness is natural as my experience with fresh pineapples there was very good.

Now this I find most interesting.

(If you happen to browse through my previous post , you would have noted the sticker on the glass container. Last photo.) Most people thought it was preserved cactus and were genuinely surprised when they took a daring bite. Nutmeg ie Buah Pala in Malay. Labouriously cut, dyed, dried and liberally doused with sugar.

You get it now? The similarity is of course the high level of sweetness all around !

How did Datuk K and Angel S pamper us? Posts coming up soon .. let's hope.

For my own reference:-
Going Out Kuala Lumpur LCCT (KUL) to Jakarta (CGK)
19 Sep 2008 QZ 7605 Departs 2050 Arrives 2145 385.00 MY
Coming Back Jakarta (CGK) to Kuala Lumpur LCCT (KUL)
22 Sep 2008 AK 957 Departs 2030 Arrives 2330 485.00 MY
____________________________________________________
Total Package Price: 870.00 MYR

Auntie Margaret's Pork Roast

Hola.... Aunty Margaret's Pork Roast is now available on Fridays at Yut Kee Restaurant - No 35 Jalan Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur.

Previously, it was only available during Chinese New Year but it's now made available on Fridays. Place your orders with Aunty Margaret at 012-3733051. Here's a flash from the past, my first encounter.

Allow me to present to you, Auntie Margaret’s Pork Roast – the best I’ve tasted. Do give her a call at 012-3733051 to place your orders. Each piece weighs a hefty 2 kilograms (uncooked weight of 2.5 kilograms) and is packed with a container of applesauce, prepared with white wine, all in for RM 90 only!

I, of course, had the privilege of sampling this numerous times and I must say that it’s by far, the best I’ve ever had. The taste is absolutely superb, the texture is as good as it can get and the flavor is something you’d love to keep in your taste buds. The skin is exceptionally crunchy and should you serve this to kids, it’ll finish faster than you can say “pork roast”.

What makes it special then? Well, the meat is stuffed with apricots, sage and pistachios before it’s sent to the oven, and thanks to Aunt Margaret’s careful and consistent monitoring, the roast comes out full of flavor with an ideal texture that will find itself easily into your mouth. For the healthy weight watchers, rest assured that the roast has minimal fat.

For a limited time, a Chinese New Year pack will be available for RM 168. Worry not, the roast is still there and so is the applesauce but to make this an ideal Chinese New Year gift, the larger basket accommodates mandarin oranges, premium chocolates and a pack of Chinese tea leaves – very handful in washing away your guilt, in your tummy as well.

Seriously, this is a must buy if you're a pork lover. MY tummy rates this at 9.8/10.. a record high. So grab your phone and place your reservation.

Restoran Pee Nong, Pandan Indah Kuala Lumpur

So many claimed to have burnt and left more than their share of sticky sweat behind. How can I resist such a sauna trip. But alas, it was the sauna that resisted my visit. Restoran Baan Nok was closed. Boo-hoo-hoo.

Since both of us were all prepped for a hot affair, we did not give up easy.

After scouting out the adjacent roads, we reaped our reward:-

Tomyum Gung. We went for the GENUINE level of burn but minus the santan ie coconut milk. Whoosh. *Wipe brow*

Somtam. Shredded young papaya salad. Lucky we went for LESS than GENUINE level of burn. *wipe drips off nose*

Salt Baked Tilapia. Crushed stalks of lemongrass and knotted pandan leaves were stuffed into the stomach. Skin slathered generously with course salt, it was grilled on a BBQ pit outside the premises. Best to go with the sambal that came with it. *open up new pack of tissue paper – tree huggers, bring towel*

Grilled Lamb Chops. Drools just thinking about it. That night we shared 1 piece. Next visit, there’ll be strictly no sharing.

Phitoy had rice, greedy me ordered Pad Thai. Not authentic but good. If they add in cockles, this may get listed on the Where’s Where for CKT fans.

Pity we were too full to even share desserts.

Paid with sweaty palms (cash only):-

Map on calling card:- Phitoy, ready to do comparison at Restoran Baan Nok soon (anyone knows if it's still in business)?

Bhling ith on, exclaimed his semi-cooked tongue & lips.