The Chinese National

The Chinese National (TCN) is an elegant Cantonese restaurant located on the 7th floor of the Swissôtel Jakarta PIK Avenue. The menu of the restaurant focuses on highlighting the authentic taste of Cantonese cuisine, created by its executive chef from Malaysia, Kong Fook Sin. From Peking Duck ritual, hand-pulled lamians, freshly made dim sum to tea lounge turns bar by night, The Chinese National offers a wide range of dishes cooked with fresh, high-quality ingredients as well as a wide array of drink selections.

The restaurant also has one of the most impressive interior design in Jakarta. The Chinese National’s interior was commissioned to EDG, a Singapore-based design firm who designed the space around the concept of the ‘Four Great Inventions of Ancient China’, which are the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing. Each of these inventions was then translated to four different conceptual spaces around the spacious restaurant, creating a unique dining experience for visiting patrons.

Iron Needle

Iron Needle is an interpretation of a dumpling and noodle shop that’s inspired by the iconic stacked apartments in Hong Kong and traditional Chinese tea houses.

Letterpress

Letterpress is a tea lounge by day that transforms into a bar by night which has its own hidden entrance for patrons who wish to visit the bar without walking through the restaurant.

Black Powder Red

Black Powder Red is a Sichuan restaurant inspired by the Art Deco, obvious by the use of aged materials, corrosive details, copper and metal around the space. Sichuan cuisines that use lots of chili and garlic which usually create an explosion in your mouth certainly is fitting for the gun powder concept they’re basing the space off of.

Paperduck

Paperduck is a sophisticated modern Peking duck restaurant inspired by the process of paper making. Elegant paper details, brass and marble materials were used in the design of the place, giving the space the most luxurious feel out of the four sections in the restaurant.

The Ambience

I had a chance to finally visit this place a couple of weeks ago. Prior to my visit, I’ve seen photos of the restaurant posted on social media quite a bit. But after my visit, as much as impressive the place looks on photos, being there in person was a different kind of experience. The restaurant is really well-designed with a solid concept, excellent use of space, and attention to detail. There are a couple of articles out there that talk about the concept, the thinking and design process that went into this project (you can read about them on these articles here, here, and here) and these are a very interesting read. I personally appreciate the space more after I read about the concept of the place. If you’re into interior design and architecture, I would definitely recommend you to check this place out.

The Food

Eating Chinese food has always reminds me of family meals that I had when I was a kid. My parents used to make family dinner mandatory when I was growing up. So everyday, we’d sat down together and went around the table and talked about our day while eating our dinner which usually mainly consists of Chinese cuisines. The food that I had at The Chinese National reminded me of those times. It tasted familiar and comforting yet better and elevated at the same time. There’s a certain level of finesse to the dishes that I tried that certainly made my dining experience a pleasant one.

Salted Egg Shrimp Vaname (138k) | 9/10

Let’s start with my favorite dish of the night, the salted egg shrimp vaname. The light batter coating the shrimp was crispy, giving a nice contrast to the softer texture of the shrimp. The shrimp was fresh and cooked to perfection, hitting that firm texture yet still soft and juicy. The amount of salted egg coating each piece of the shrimp was just the right amount, giving you a nice salted egg flavor while still letting the shrimp shines without being overpowered by the sauce. I ate it with hot steamy rice and they tasted so good.

Roasted Pork Belly (138k) | 8/10

The roasted pork belly came in perfect bite-size pieces. The meat is pretty lean, with layers of fat here and there. The pork skin is nice, thin and crispy. Overall, eating this felt like eating a cleaner (read: not too oily/greasy) version of roasted pork belly.

Deep Fried Chicken with Green Chili (138k) | 7.5/10

The chicken was cooked nicely with crispy skin. The highlight of this dish really is the green chili, which gave it more character to the overall dish. I don’t eat chili very much but I did try eating the chicken with and without the green chili. Eating it with the green chili definitely makes the dish taste more special. (If you just eat the fried chicken itself, it tastes good, but it’s just like any other good deep fried chicken that I’ve tasted before.)

Sautéed Mushroom Chinese Spinach (60k) | 9/10

Another dish that I thoroughly enjoyed was their sautéed mushroom Chinese spinach. The vegetables were cooked perfectly and seasoned well. The garlic gave a nice savory taste combined with the earthy tone from the mushroom. A simple dish, but the execution was really well-done.

Mango Pomelo Sago (58k) | 7/10

For dessert, I tried the Mango Pomelo Sago. The mango was sweet, balanced with the sour note from the strawberry. A nice, refreshing dessert to end you meal.

The Experience

Service was really good. The food came in a timely manner. The waiters were friendly and attentive. Health protocol was also strictly practiced with all the waiters wearing double masks at all times. I sat at the Paperduck area which was really nice and pleasant. (If I were to nitpick) The only thing that seemed to be out of place during my visit was the music that was playing when me and my friend were there. I don’t know if it was for our benefit that they played what seems to be a top 100 viral pop songs playlist (we were the only one there when we got there, so maybe they’re trying to cater to us with the music?), but I personally think that it’d be better if the music matches the ambience of the place. Other than that, I had a really great time during my visit and definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for a good Cantonese restaurant in North Jakarta area.

 

The Chinese National

Address: Pantai Indah Kapuk St, RT.6/RW.2, Kamal Muara, Penjaringan, Jakarta, 14460, Indonesia
Telephone: +62 21 22571188
Hours: Everyday 12.00-15.00 & 18.00-22.00
Menu

Instagram: @thechinesenational

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Milou Farm House

Milou Farm House is a newly opened cafe/restaurant in South Jakarta that had its soft opening just last week. Adopting the concept of a farmhouse, the building of the place resembles one which certainly makes it stands out from its neighboring buildings.

First thing you’ll notice is the barn style structure with a big revolving door (that I’m pretty sure will be one of the main thing people share on social media) that leads to the inside of the restaurant. The first floor of the restaurant is where the salad bar, buffet stations (which will be coming soon in the upcoming weeks), and gelato bar are located. This is also where you’ll place and pay for your order before proceeding to the second floor where the seating areas are.

The second floor is divided into semi-outdoor and indoor seating area. If you want to take pictures of yourself or the food, the semi-outdoor area is definitely the better choice because of the natural lighting. But if you want to avoid the sun and prefer to be in a cooler space, definitely go for the air-conned indoor seating area.

The Food & Drinks

The whole concept of this restaurant is actually farm to table buffet where you can pick what you want to eat from a selection of dishes they’ll put on display on different stations. They also offer a wide range of a la carte menu that you can choose from. Since I came just a week after their soft opening, the buffet stations are not available just yet. So the food and drinks that I tried were from their a la carte menu.

Sunset Carnival at Malibu Beach (39,5K) | 7.5/10

For the drinks, I ordered based on the server’s (and bartender’s) recommendations after I told her that I prefer non sour drinks. The first one is the Sunset Carnival at Malibu Beach. The red color on the bottom worried me at first because I thought it’ll be sour (I usually associated red with berries flavor, which for me is sour), but it actually wasn’t. The drink was refreshing and not too sweet.

Tea Sorbet (39,5k) | 8/10

One of their signature drinks is the tea sorbet. I tried the Temple of Rose / La Vie En Rose + Black Tea + Strawberry Basil (I couldn’t remember which Rose I chose honestly but it looks like the pictures above). Again, when it arrived on the table, I was worried that it was going to be sour just because of the color. But once again I was pleasantly surprised by how light and refreshing the drink is. Nothing is overwhelmingly sour or sweet and it’s definitely a unique combination that’s perfect for a hot day.

Buffalo Chicken Wings (59,5K) | 7/10

For appetizer, I tried the Buffalo Chicken Wings that come with the sides of vegetable sticks and ranch dressing. The sauce is really bold and flavorful and covered the five pieces wings thoroughly. This is a good option if you want to order a light appetizer to share.

Spicy Chicken Burger (79,5k) | 7.5/10

Served with homemade brioche buns, glazed with spicy buffalo wings sauce and homemade coleslaw, the portion of the spicy chicken burger is definitely big. I had to eat it open faced so it could fit into my mouth. The buns were nice and soft. The chicken was cooked nicely. The breading on the chicken is crispy and definitely well seasoned. The sauce is the same sauce as the buffalo chicken wings, so maybe order a different appetizer if you’re planning to order this as your main course. The fries is well-seasoned and crispy. Overall a good chicken burger.

BBQ Beef Brisket Steak with Fusion Jimbaran Sauce (159K) | 8/10

36-hours sous vide tenderized smoky beef brisket with homemade BBQ sauce infused with rosemary and thyme, served with garlic parmesan mashed potatoes (or the option of truffle fries). This is probably my favorite menu out of all the dishes I tried. The steak is well cooked, tender and cut in a good bite size portion. The sauce is tasty and definitely unique since they made a fusion of BBQ and jimbaran sauce. The sides were also well cooked and seasoned.

Belgian Waffle (49,5K) | 7/10

Served with mix fruits, honey maple syrup, and brown sugar coconut glaze jam. The portion of the waffle is pretty generous. The waffle is not too thick and I personally think the texture of the waffle is a little bit on the softer side (I usually prefer my waffle to be a little crispy on the outside but soft on the inside).

Lastly, I also got to try some of their gelato. Milou Farm House makes their gelato in-house and they offer 24 different flavors for you to choose from. After tasting a couple of different flavors, one thing I noticed about their gelato is all of them are not too sweet, which is always a plus in my book. They taste light and fresh with the right amount of sweetness to end your meal.

Flavors that I tasted were Peanut Butter, Hokkaido Japanese Milk, Cookie Monster, and Black Charcoal. I give 7.5/10 for the Peanut Butter and Hokkaido Japanese Milk (this one is actually pretty different than any other Hokkaido Japanese Milk flavors I’ve tasted before). A 7/10 for the Cookie Monster (the blue one on the picture below) because the chunks of cookies mixed in with the gelato were a little big for my preference and so it felt a little disconnected from the flavor (almost like an ice cream with a cookie crumble topping instead of a cookie flavored ice cream if you know what I mean).

Black Charcoal (35k) | 8/10

Black charcoal was the best one out of all the flavors I tried, maybe because I like black sesame which is one of the main ingredients of the flavor. The black sesame flavor definitely came through on this one. If you like black sesame, definitely try this flavor out.

The Service

The service was good. The servers were very polite, friendly and they definitely know the menu because when asked for recommendations, they were quick to give answers. The food came out in a timely manner. They also brought out new individual plates out when they noticed our plates were already full of sauces from previous courses which was nice.

All and all, had a good time during my visit to this place. If you want to visit the place and check out their buffet, I suggest you check with the restaurant first on when they’ll have that available. But if you’re okay with just their a la carte menu, then you should be good to go anytime since they’re already open for public.

 

Milou Farm House

Address: Jl Ciranjang No 30, Kebayoran Baru, Jakart Selatan 12180, Indonesia
Telephone: +622127099488
Hours: Mon-Fri 9AM-6PM | Sat-Sun : 8AM-8PM

Instagram: @miloufarmhouse

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Penn Deli

Say hello to Penn Deli, a newly opened cafe in South Jakarta brought to you by the same team who brought you Penn Restaurant that’s located in the same building one floor above it. Penn Deli opened its door to the public just last week, offering fresh-baked pastries, sliced cakes as well as delicious sandwiches inspired by New York City’s delis. The small cafe that’s neatly decorated with hip modern artworks and wooden furnitures accommodates about 12 people or so and is a prefect place for a weekend brunch if you’re looking for a great sandwich selections.

The Ambience

I love the design of the place. My favorite part is probably their menu boards which were reminiscent of one of those broadway signs and retro movie marquees in New York. The interior feels very hip and modern yet nostalgic at the same time. The one thing about their relatively small space is that the AC was way too cold for me personally. I visited during a hot sunny day and I was freezing inside. I guess it’s a good thing if you like cooler space, but for me, the temperature could’ve been turned up a notch.

The Sandwiches

Penn Deli’s hero menu is their sandwich selections which are available in limited quantity daily and usually sold out fast. I tried two of them and I can understand why they’re proud of their sandwiches.

Broadway Sandwich (155K Full Portion/83K Half Portion) | 8.5/10

Sliced steak, grilled onions, pickled jalapeño and cheese. This was my favorite menu from my visit. The steak was tender, cooked nicely, and was cut in perfect bite size. Add that to the combination of grilled onions, cheese and the sauce, my first bite was heavenly. It was super flavorful and juicy and everything works together really well. I also really like the sauce. Not sure what it’s made out of but it tasted like barbecue sauce with an asian twist (like sweet onion teriyaki sauce maybe?). It was really good.

The Park Ave Sandwich (95K Full Portion/53K Half Portion) | 7/10

Grilled chicken, pesto, tomato and cheese. Overall, this was also good. The pesto really was the main hero of the dish. The juicy tomato gave it a fresh note to the bite so that the pesto is no too overwhelming. Took off points because the chicken is a little dry for my taste. But overall, a solid sandwich.

Strawberry Danish (25k)

S’mores Cake (65K)

Butter cake, cracker, chocolate ganache, and marshmallow meringue. The portion of their sliced cake is pretty big. It’s probably good for 2-3 people to be honest. The s’mores cake is a little too sweet for my taste, but it might be perfect if you’re having it with a coffee.

 

Penn Deli

Address: Jl. Wolter Monginsidi No.25, Jakarta Selatan, DKI Jakarta 12180, Indonesia
Telephone: +6282299996366
Hours: Weekdays 09:00 am - 09:00 pm | Sat & Sun 08:00 am - 09:00 pm

Instagram: @penndeli

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Jakarta Vlog 01 - Monsieur Spoon PIK & ABC Cooking Studio PIK Avenue Mall

It’s been a while since my last time vlogging in Jakarta. But on this day, I was going to hang out with my friend, Winda, and we had a couple of things we’re going to do so I thought it’d be fun to vlog the day. So this was my first attempt after a long while to vlog/blog again.

The day started kind of early for me. I was suppose to meet her at 10.30 but ended up running about fifteen minutes late because I couldn’t fall asleep and ended up falling asleep at 4.30 am the night before (or I should say early that morning). I’m one of those people who usually get anxious the night before if I have to wake up early the next day (and since I’m a night owl and definitely not a morning person, my definition of early is any time before 10 am). On my bed in the dark, I’d be thinking, if I fall asleep now, I’ll get 8 hours of sleep. And then an hour pass and I’d go if I fall asleep now, I’ll get 7 hours of sleep. And then another hour passed and the cycle would continue for another four to five hours until I finally fall asleep. I wish I could not be like this.

But anyways, I finally made it to her place thirteen minutes late and immediately headed to our brunch. Winda and I have been hanging out quite a bit these past couple of months and we usually carpool together and take turns driving on our outings since we live pretty close from each other. On this day, she’s driving and I was in charge of the playlist. As soon as I connected my phone to her car stereo, she said, “You know I’ve been listening to Joji’s new song a lot these past few days.”

“Yeah? Which one?” I asked since I don’t really follow Joji’s songs.

“Glimpse of Us. It’s such a great song. I’ve been listening to it on repeat these day.” She said enthusiastically.

“Never heard of that song. Want me to play it now?” I offered while typing out the song title on the search bar of my Spotify app.

“Yes please!”

So there I was, starting my day listening to a sad love song on a sunny late morning. Granted the song is great and everything, but it’s the type of song that made me want to crawl back under my covers and go back to sleep instead of jump out off the bed and start my day.

After the song was finished, I commented, “Joji’s songs are a bit sad. I don’t think it’s the type of song that can hype you up to start the day.”

“But his songs are not trashy sad songs though.” Winda argued.

I laughed at her comment. “You mean it’s more like poetic sadness than trashy sadness?”

“Yes! But still elegant at the same time and not one of those stupid sad songs.” She added.

We then get into a little bit of discussion about her favorite Joji’s songs, which are now ‘Glimpse of Us’ and ‘Slow Dancing in the Dark’, which I haven’t heard before either. So we listened to that one and of course it also follows the same poetic sadness theme that we were talking about. Between the two, I personally like ‘Glimpse of Us’ more.

The drive to our brunch place was about 40 minutes so after we finished talking about Joji, we ended up discussing about a couple of different topics surrounding graphic design and Jakarta’s creative industry. Portfolio class, importance of presentation, people’s appreciation and willingness to pay for art and design, growth in Jakarta’s creative industry, curating clients, these are some of the things we talked about during our car ride (watch in on the vlog) to pass the time.

And before we know it, we finally arrived at Urban Farm PIK where the restaurant we want to have brunch at, Monsieur Spoon PIK, is located. A little backstory, Winda actually had vouchers to dine at this place that were going to expire soon so she invited me to lunch to use the said vouchers. And it just happened that I never been to Monsieur Spoon before so she said all the more reason to go.

We arrived at the place, got seated and ate our lunch (see more photos and read about my reviews about this place on this post).

When we got the bill, the total came up to IDR 301.537 ($20.11) and Winda’s vouchers were for IDR 300.000 ($20) so we only had to pay IDR 1.537 ($0.11) for our lunch. That was probably the cheapest lunch ever.

After we’re done with lunch, we drove over to PIK Avenue Mall where Winda’s next schedule is. She invited me to tag along to her trial cooking class but since we’re a little bit early, I stopped by Heycha to get some drinks because we didn’t order any back at the restaurant.

I was going to get milk tea but then I saw new Coconut Shake menu and decided to give it a try. On a side note, I think coconut drink is definitely the next trend in Jakarta’s F&B scene. Been seeing lots of new coconut drink menu being introduced by different restaurants and brands lately.

So while I was waiting, there’s a GoFood order right before mine and since there’s only 1 server manning the store, he had to go down to deliver the order before coming back up to make my order. Before this, I didn’t realize that the servers are the ones who have to deliver the foodto the driver (I thought the driver’s usually the one who goes into the mall and pick-up the order from the counter). But I guess different malls have different protocols for GoFood orders. The only downside about this protocol is he could’ve easily missed prospective customers while he was gone (there were people who came by to order but left because nobody was there).

Anyways, that’s one random new thing I found out about GoFood orders.

Also, update: I just checked Heycha’s Instagram and apparently I visited during their last day of operation at the PIK Avenue Mall location. This location has now closed.

Coconut Shake (33K) | 7.5/10

Not too sweet and has some great texture to it. It’s a little firmer than a slushy texture and not too watery, but still goes up the straw quite smoothly. The texture also held up well in room temperature even after an hour or so. A pretty nice refreshing coconut drink.

After I got my drink, I reunited with Winda at ABC Cooking Studio for her trial class. ABC Cooking Studio is a modern cooking studio originated from Japan that aims to bring joy and happiness through food by teaching people how to make healthy delicious dishes. They essentially offer membership for cooking classes in a high-end cooking studio. The cooking classes also vary from cooking course, bread course, cake course, wagashi course, and even kids course. What made them different compared to other cooking studios is that they apparently use original recipes that were developed in Japan but using ingredients that are available locally to create the same result. The PIK Avenue Mall location is actually their third and newest location in Jakarta (the other two studios are located at Central Park & Senayan City).

Winda was kind enough to arrange a spot for me but since I personally am not really into cooking and more into eating (and washing the dishes usually) because when I cook this is what I do:

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A post shared by FOODY DREAMS (@foodydreamss)

Plus, somebody needed to take photos and videos of the experience (with clean non-greasy hands) so I volunteered to do that instead and be a spectator on the side while watching everybody else doing the cooking.

So how it works for the trial class was every table was assigned a different recipe and our table got the Japanese Beef Hamburg Steak recipe. There was one instructor per table and we got Chef Michelle who guided us through the cooking process. All the cooking tools and ingredients were already prepared and cut per one serving portion. We only needed to follow the cooking instruction on the sheet (although the Chef mostly was guiding us through her explanation during the class so the sheet worked as a secondary guide) and do some cutting, pouring, and stirring throughout the process.

Since I opted out of cooking, the Chef offered to take over my ingredients and cook them for me so I can still try the dish while she can demonstrate the cooking for others as well. Of course I said yes to that. That was really nice of her. In the end, I got a portion to take home and had it for lunch the next day. The Japanese Beef Hamburg Steak was actually really tasty (even after I reheated it on the microwave). The meat was juicy, the Japanese rice was cooked perfectly and the sauce was seasoned really well.

Also, check out Winda’s Instagram reel below that she made about the experience. You can see the end result on her video since I didn’t take any picture of it.

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A post shared by 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑎 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑎 | 𝗝𝗞𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗜𝗘 🇮🇩 (@munchandsnap.jkt)

After we’re done with the cooking class, we stopped by Pantjoran PIK because Winda wanted to get Gong Cha before we go home. The sunset was pretty nice that day and there was surprisingly a lot of people around the area for a Monday. Maybe because it’s now school summer holiday that more people are out and about during weekdays? I certainly wasn’t expecting the place (and the mall from earlier for that matter) to be this crowded to be honest.

And that’s pretty much wrapped up the day for us. It was such a fun outing and I feel like we did a lot of things throughout the day. And just like how we started the day, we also ended the day by listening to Joji’s Glimpse of Us.

‘Til the next hangout!

(And if you’ve made it here, thanks for reading!)

Also, Joji’s Glimpse of Us was stuck in my head after this day and I literally listened to it on repeat for the next couple of days.

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Monsieur Spoon PIK

In 2012, Monsieur Spoon chose Bali as its home base where they established their first flagship store on the famous island. Nine years and five more outlets later, they’ve successfully established themselves as one of the go-to French bakery cafe in Bali and continue their expansion outside the island by opening its first outlet in Jakarta at Urban Farm PIK on April 30, 2021. Just like their Bali outlets, Monsieur Spoon PIK also carries a wide variety of artisan breads, desserts and pastries, including their signature French all-butter croissant, a well-known best-seller in Bali.

The architecture of the bakery cafe itself is inspired by the French conservatory with cushion seats by tall windows, French rattan chairs and round marble tables decorating the interior. The space is pretty and classy, yet still casual enough for people to come without having to dress up to the nines. They also have outdoor areas with plenty of seatings if you prefer the fresh air but if you come here during lunch or day time, sitting outside can get pretty hot, especially on a sunny day.

After we sat down at our table, the server came over and took our orders. I came for lunch with a friend so we ordered the main dishes and skipped the pastries.

The Food

King Prawn Angle Hair (135K) | 8/10

Pan seared king prawn, tomato fondue, cashew nut, and basil pesto. A light and tasty dish. The pan seared King Prawns were cooked nicely. The meat texture was nice, firm and juicy. The fresh tomato fondue and the basil pesto were also a nice combination. And the chili flakes gave a nice little kick to the dish. Overall, a beautifully presented and tasty dish and I really enjoyed it.

Chicken Cordon Bleu (120k) | 7/10

Organic chicken, beef bacon, emmental cheese, fresh tarragon, and French fries. The breading was crispy and not too thick. The chicken was cooked well, tender and moist with melted cheese around it. The french fries were also good. I’m usually pretty picky with chicken dish in general, but this was pretty alright for me.

Overall, it was a nice satisfying meal. The service was great. The servers were friendly and they were quick to tend to our requests during our meal. One additional note, as nice as the lighting is, the seats by the windows could get pretty hot during the day (we moved table because the sun was a little too hot and the air-con wasn’t too cold inside) so if you plan to come, maybe don’t wear an all black shirt like me or choose a table away from the windows to avoid that.

 

Monsieur Spoon PIK

Address: Urban Farm, Jl. The Golf Island Boulevard, DKI Jakarta 14460, Indonesia
Hours: 07:00 am - 10:30 pm Daily
Telephone: +628170114344

Instagram: @monsieurspoon
Website | Dine-In Menu

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