Flor

“Crafted with Passion, Baked with Precision.” That is the motto of Flor, one of the newer addition to Jakarta’s cafe scene that just opened six months ago. The bakery is part of Ismaya’s new viennoiserie concept in collaboration with pastry chefs Kevin Pratama and Saskia Auryn who bring in their expertise to create a selection of intricate and exquisite viennoseries, entremets and whole cakes that are both feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.

“We devote careful time and attention to the development of our pastries and entremets, ensuring each creation is crafted with utmost care. Our products are available in limited stock as we bake only three times daily. To secure your treat, it's best to arrive early.

Rest assured, we believe that good things in life are worth the anticipation and patience.” —Flor

Avocado Chocolate (76k)

A blissful combination of flourless dark chocolate cake with dark whipped ganache, avocado mousse, and avocado insert, all embraced by sea salt chocolate sable.

Strawberry Basil (Toba Temptation) (80k)

Layers of strawberry mousse and coulis with sweet basil pesto on a soft vanilla sponge and crunchy almond streusel, crowned with a mascarpone chantilly.

Jasmine Mango Szechuan (84k)

Jasmine tea mousse, mango passion cremeux, and mango passion coulis with a surprising kick from the mango Szechuan peppercorns inserts, all embraced by a delicate vanilla sponge.

Raspberry Rose Lychee (79k)

Pistachio Calamansi (86K)

Pistachio mascarpone mousse, mascarpone chantilly, calamansi ganache, calamansi gel, pistachio praline, pistachio biscuit and a sprinkling of almond streusel.

Hazelnut (84K)

Layers of hazelnut mousse, hazelnut praline, and creamy sea salt caramel, all nestled upon a hazelnut sponge cake.

St. Honore (80k)

Layers of puff pastry paired with vanilla mascarpone chantilly and dulcey ganache, accented by creamy sea salt caramel, vanilla cake, crème pâtissière, choux au craquelin, and coated in caramel glaze.

Banana (76k)

Enchanting flavors and textures of Jivara banana ganache, Jivara mousse, caramelized banana, banana pudding, banana cake & chocolate streusel.

What i ordered

Truffle Mushroom (57k) | 7.5/10

A roller coaster ride of buttery pastry, mushroom magic, and a smooth-as-silk cream cheese finish.

Very strong savory truffle flavors. The middle part did feel a bit soggy, probably because of the truffle, mushroom and cream cheese that are sitting on top of it. But overall it’s still enjoyable. This was the only savory menu I tried on my visit.

Pain Au Chocolate (38K) | 9/10

Bicolor chocolate croissant made with layers of flaky pastry and filled with rich Valrhona Ariaga dark chocolate.

The layers on the pain au chocolate is exquisite. It’s super flaky to the point that I don’t think I can eat this without making a mess (and I mean this in a good way). The ratio of the chocolate to the overall pastry is also just right, making it not overly sweet. Really enjoyed this one.

Ube Croissant (52k) | 8/10

Ube-infused croissant and whipped ganache topped with almond crumbles.

The staff told me this is one of their best seller for their croissants so my friend and I decided to try it. This one was also not too sweet and I think to enjoy this, you have to get all the components in one bite. Also, the presentation and the color of this croissant is certainly very attractive.

Avocado Chocolate (76k) | 8/10

A blissful combination of flourless dark chocolate cake with dark whipped ganache, avocado mousse, and avocado insert, all embraced by sea salt chocolate sable.

Eating this certainly reminded me of one of my favorite childhood drinks, avocado juice with chocolate condensed milk. This tastes exactly the same but in form of a moist cake. I get why this is one of their best seller. The flavors are very familiar (especially for Indonesians I’d imagine) and it’s probably one of the reason why it’s so popular with the locals. Although I have to say, out of all the things I tried, this one was a tad too sweet for my personal taste.

Strawberry Basil (Toba Temptation) (80k) | 7/10

Layers of strawberry mousse and coulis with sweet basil pesto on a soft vanilla sponge and crunchy almond streusel, crowned with a mascarpone chantilly.

If you like strawberry, you should definitely try this one. It’s not too sweet, and the strawberry flavor certainly shined through. The most unique part was the sweet basil pesto inside the mochi-like component on top (and fyi, despite the fact that the staff told me it was mochi that was on top, no, it wasn’t mochi. The texture of the outer layer is solid).

Pistachio Calamansi (86K) | 8/10

Pistachio mascarpone mousse, mascarpone chantilly, calamansi ganache, calamansi gel, pistachio praline, pistachio biscuit and a sprinkling of almond streusel.

This one is another one of the best seller and I actually quite enjoyed it. The pistachio calamansi flavors blend quite harmoniously in my mouth as the sweetness and nuttiness of the pistachio was balanced by the acidic and refreshing calamansi.

Overall Experience

If you’re looking for a place where they sell desserts and pastries with attractive visuals, this is the place to go. Honestly, I had my reservations prior to my visit because usually in Jakarta, things that are visually pretty don’t necessarily taste very good. But after trying three of their pastries and three of their entremets, I can say that this place is worth trying, especially if you’re into desserts.

Their entremets are really well made, visually attractive, and taste pretty good. Although some are sweeter than the other, the overall consensus from my friend and I is that we think Flor is worth trying.

The cafe itself is not very big and they don’t have a lot of seatings. So if you don’t want to wait for a table, I would recommend making a reservation prior to your visit.

FLOR

 

Address: Jl. Gunawarman No.11 A, Jakarta Selatan 12110, Indonesia
Telephone: +62858 1111 0939
Hours: Mon-Thu 7 am - 6 pm | Fri-Sun 7 am - 8 pm
Baking Time: 7am | 11am | 2pm

Instagram: @flor.jkt

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Barcelona Dining & Bar

Barcelona Dining & Bar is a quaint Spanish restaurant that serves various cuisines inspired by the flavors of Spain with a little bit of Asian twists. Offering plenty of seatings inside a two-story building, the cozy interior and the vivid colors inside of the restaurant are reminiscent of places you’d visit in the Southwestern of Europe. The restaurant is also part of Hiro Group’s growing portfolio and is located at One Satrio, an open space lifestyle center at Kuningan, South Jakarta.

The food

Crispy Pig Ear (75K) | 8.5/10

Deep-Fried Pig Ear, Garlic, Daun Jeruk, Paprika Powder, Espelette, Tartar Sauce

The pig ear was fried to a crisp without being too oily. The highlight of the dish was the Tartar sauce for me. You gotta dip it in the Tartar sauce before taking a bite. We even asked for a refill for the Tartar sauce cause it was that good.

Baked Butter Scallop (125K) | 8.5/10

Hokkaido Scallop, Shrimp, Paprika, Butter, Tobiko

The butter sauce was wonderful. The liquid gold was savory, well seasoned and the scallop was nicely cooked. Also, I like the fact that they served the dish with burning charcoal underneath the shell which kept the dish warm and the sauce from being hardened.

Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna (80K) | 8/10

Crispy Sushi Rice, Tuna Tartare, Chili Aioli, Scallion

I like the play on texture on this one. The crispy sushi rice was well-executed, crispy on the outside with moist rice on the inside. The tuna tartare was also good, but I do wish that they’d seasoned a little stronger and it’d be nice if the tartare is chilled to get that contrast in temperature and make the dish more refreshing (just my personal preference though). But overall, this was a good dish.

Wagyu Tounge (280K) | 9/10

Grilled Thick Cut Beef Tounge, Negi Sauce, Chili Oil, Yuzu Foam

Really love this dish. The tounge was juicy, tender and cut in the perfect size. The sauce was savory but fresh at the same time. This was my favorite dish out of all the dishes we ordered.

Crab cannelloni (158k) | 8.5/10

Crab Meat, Shrimp, Jalapeño Pickles, Sauce Américaine, Tobiko

The pasta was cooked al dente. The combination of the pasta, the crab meat and the sauce was really nice and balanced. Although I have to say this dish might be a better option for sharing because the portion is quite big.

Overall Experience

Me and my cousins went to Barcelona during New Year’s day and the 4-months-old restaurant wasn’t too busy. The food was great. Everything we ordered we did enjoy. Their sauce works were also really wonderful because every single dish that we had had a distinct flavor that separate them from each other. Service was also great. The waiter who served our table was knowledgable about the menu. The manager also stepped in to help accommodate our dietary restrictions. Noise level at this place was at a medium just because there weren’t too many people around our table during the time of my visit (I have a feeling it might be high if the place is crowded). All and all, I had really nice meal at this place and probably going to go back again to try their other menu.

Barcelona Dining & Bar

 

Address: CBD One Satrio, Jl. Mega Kuningan Jl. Prof. DR. Satrio No.13, Kuningan, East Kuningan, Setiabudi, Kuningan, Jakarta 12949
Telephone: +6282 28000 3501
Hours: Sun-Thrs 11:00 am -11:00 pm | Fri-Sat 11:00 am - 00:00 am

Instagram: @barcelonajkt

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% Arabica Jakarta PIK Golf Island

% Arabica just opened its fifth location in Jakarta by introducing what could possibly be one of the most iconic structure of their outlet in Indonesia to date. Located in the middle of PIK Golf Island’s main roundabout, it’ll be hard to miss the unique modern circular structure enclosed by floor to ceiling glass surrounding it, giving you a glimpse of their signature all-white interior. 

On top of that, they’re also introducing their first drive-thru service in Indonesia at this location, offering you the option to grab your coffee on the go. The multi-award winning design studio Nomura no. 10 who’s responsible for many of % Arabica’s world-wide outlets including this one, certainly has done a wonderful job with the space.

*% Arabica Golf Island PIK will be open to public on December 9, 2023.

 

% Arabica Jakarta PIK

Address: Bunderan PIK, Jl. Pantai Indah Kapuk, 14460
Telephone: +62-811-1992-0007
Hours: Mon-Thu 8:00am - 10:00pm | Fri-Sun 7:00am-11:00pm

Instagram: @arabica.indonesia

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Locos BBQ • 로코스비비큐

Locos BBQ (로코스비비큐) is a Texas style BBQ restaurant that opened at the top of Gyeongridan-gil (경리단길) in 2014. They specialize in tender, flavorful BBQ meat that has been aged for more than 24 hours and sell craft beer, wine, and cocktails that go well with the meat.

When I walked towards the entrance of the restaurant after I passed their big logo signage in front, I was greeted by the strong smell of smoke coming from their open kitchen behind the counter where a variety of smoked meat is being displayed. The waiter asked me to wait before finally signaling me to follow him to enter the restaurant and seated me on one of the empty long tables.

I arrived at the place around 6 pm on a weekday for dinner and the place wasn’t too busy. There were 4 other people who were already in the middle of their meal when I got there and were seated spread out across the restaurant.

The vibe of the restaurant is reminiscent of the BBQ restaurants I’ve been in the States. They have a bar area right next to the entrance, dimly lit with yellow lighting and blue and red neon light as accent colors. The main seating area is decorated with globe string lights hanging on the ceiling, rough textured walls, and wooden tables and benches. I think they nailed the interior pretty well. Plenty of seating available as well as private room if you prefer for special events.

I ordered their Half Rack Original Baby Back Rib (₩21,900) that is served with fries, buns, coleslaw and jalapeños. The meat was super tender and fell off the bone when I cut it. The seasoning and flavors were pretty solid, although the sauce was a bit on the sweeter side for my personal preference. I did ended up dipping the meat into the additional sauces they provided on the table: the Sweet Barbeque, Mustard Barbeque, and Chipotle. They were all good sauces, but I think my favorite was the Chipotle sauce. Overall, it was a great Baby Back Rib for me.

As for the sides, the fries was really good. They were very crispy and not oily at all. The buns were a little dry for my taste and kind of reminded me of those breakfast buns we got on the airplane. But maybe they’re suppose to be like that so when I eat the buns with the meat and the sauces, they’ll compliment each other more? Not sure. The coleslaw was alright and I did wish that it was served chilled instead in room temperature.

The noise level in this place is medium to high since there’s music in moderate volume playing through the speakers. And the place did get busier after the dinner rush started. I ended up ordering the Korean Spicy Baby Back Rib to-go for my friends after my meal and I had to wait for about 30 minutes or so because there were more people then. The Korean Spicy Baby Back Rib was good too by the way. It’s just too spicy for me since I can’t handle spicy food very well. All in all, if you’re craving for some good Texas style BBQ in Seoul, I would totally recommend this place to try.

 

Locos BBQ • 로코스비비큐

Address: 서울 용산구 회나무로 83
Telephone: 02-794-3234
Hours: Everyday 11:30-21:00 | Weekdays Break Time: 14:00-16:00

Instagram: @locos_bbq_official

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Rain Report • 레인리포트

If you love rainy days, you’re probably going to love one of the newest addition to Seoul’s unique cafe line-up this year, the Rain Report (레인리포트). Offering a perpetual once every 15-minutes rain all day long, this rain-themed cafe gives patrons an immersive experience of sipping coffee during a rainy day. The unique concept certainly becomes their biggest selling point, especially with the possibility of snapping a picture with an umbrella under the rain, just like one of those scenes in K-dramas. Some would say it’s quite romantic, don’t you think?

Combined that with a wide selections of coffee, unique desserts and ample seatings inside the cafe, it’s not surprising that soon after, this cafe went viral and became one of the most popular newly-opened cafes in Seoul with patrons lining up for a seat during the weekends.

My visit to this cafe was two months after their soft opening in April and one week after its grand opening in June. After seeing many clips of this place that were constantly popping up on my feed and DMs from my followers to check this place out, my interest was definitely piqued. And so I went to check out the Rain Report.

After walking up and down steep roads leading to the cafe, I finally arrived at their flagship location that’s nestled in the middle of a residential area in Itaewon. Tall black fence gates greeted me with a flap display alternating between their logo and weather forecast icons on the board. I walked up the black stairs lined with bamboo trees and soon find the entrance to the building.

First thing that I saw when I walked in was the big LCD screen displaying the weather forecast. Next to it is an umbrella holder that holds multiple clear umbrellas with black handle on top of it. I soon found out that the cafe actually provides these umbrellas for visiting patrons, in case you want to take a picture under the rain with them. Very convenient.

The door next to the umbrella holders leads to the most Instagrammable spot in this place, the rain area. This is where the once in every 15-minutes rain will happen and you can line up for your turn to take a photo under the rain with the clear umbrella. Also worth noting, since there’s usually a line, when you’re taking a photo on this spot, the people lining up as well as those who are sitting inside the cafe will be your audience (which might be a little awkward for people like me). The spot also gets pretty wet after a while, so you might want to be careful if you’re bringing cameras or tripods. Probably best if you have somebody take a picture for you so it’s quicker.

The indoor area is decorated with black sleek modern interior with multiple screens playing rain clips and more flap displays with graphics, reminiscent of a newsroom setup. There are two floors with a tower of monitors hanging down from the high ceiling in the middle of the room, water trickling down at the bottom of it creating the sound of rain drops.

The first floor seating consists of the middle lobby-like area that is facing the photo spot and the coffee bar area at the far end side of the room. Second floor has more seating with semi-private sections with sofas and lounge chairs. The noise level in this place is moderate to high when I was there since it was quite busy despite the fact that I went there on a weekday. It did get a bit loud for me when the place was more crowded later in the afternoon because everybody was talking all at the same time.

On the dessert table, there are various financiers on display with unique flavors like Squid Ink, Amarena Cherry, Fig Wine, Triple Cheese, Maple Bacon, Basil, Kaya Coconut, and Almond Pistachio. I think this was also my first time seeing long rectangular and savory financiers so it’s very interesting. I ended up trying 5 of the financiers—the Squid Ink, Fig Wine, Maple Bacon, Basil, and Almond Pistachio. Taste wise, they’re all very interesting and taste distinctly different from each other. I quite like them all, except for the Squid Ink (there’s a bit of that fishy taste that I personally am not quite fond of). Texture wise, they’re all a bit hard and dry for my personal preference. Part of it is maybe because they’re all displayed out in the open so they’re not as moist? But overall, they’re still okay for me.

For their cake selections, they have a wide variety of very pretty cakes displayed inside the cooler:

STORM - Mont Blanc 몽블랑
RAIN DROP - Green Grape 그린 그레이프
SUNNY DAY - Strawberry Souffle 딸기 치즈수플레
CLOUD - Deep Black/Black Cloud 블랙 클라우드
WIND - Opera 오페라
SUNSHINE - Mango Tiramisu 망고 티라미수

(Also, love that they stick to the overall concept of weather for the naming of the cake.)

The price for each cake ranges from ₩12,000 (≈$9) to ₩16,000 (≈$12). The portion is quite big so I think you can probably share one cake between two people. They also have a Coffee & Dessert Pairing Omakase (커피 & 디저트 페어링 오마카세) for ₩38,000 (≈$29).

I really wanted to try the Cloud, but when I got there they were out of stock. I even came back again later that evening to see if they have a new batch but it’s out of stock again. So in the end, I didn’t get to try the cake. Maybe next time.

For the drink, the limited non-coffee options was a bit of a let down for me. I ordered the Sunny Day (써니데이) (honestly just ‘cause it’s the most visually attractive and I didn’t feel like drinking chocolate or tea) and it tasted like orange juice and soda.

Overall, I enjoyed my visit to this place. Love the whole concept, branding, design and the attention to details they put into the graphics they use around the space as well as their social media posts (the product photography on their IG feed is super nice by the way). For me, it is one of those places that I go to more for the interior and the vibe rather than the desserts and drinks (although I might change my mind if their cakes are really good. We’ll see if I get to try them in the future. Or maybe their coffee is really good? I wouldn’t know since I don’t drink coffee). Since the place is quite popular and has went viral, if you’re looking for a chill, quite place to hang out at, this might not be the right choice for you (at least for now since the place just opened). Or maybe go visit during the weekdays to try to avoid the lines and the crowds.

 

Rain Report • 레인리포트

Address:서울 용산구 소월로40길 85 1, 2층
Telephone: 0507-1360-4302
Hours: Everyday 11:00-21:30

Instagram: @rainreport_official

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