After we’re seated in our designated seats, we have to wait for about 15-20 minutes for the meal to be ready. Apparently, despite the fast food concept (you order & pay for your meal at the counter in advance), the meal was made upon ordering. BonChon claims to use a special frying method that is healthier & more delicious. That day, we got to try Bonchon’s chicken salad 36.818K, chicken wings (4/8/16 pcs), thighs (3/6/12 pcs) & drumsticks (2/4/8 pcs) for 25K/45.909K/88.636K, fried dory (3/6/12 pcs for 35.909K/62.727K/99.545K) and french fries (9.090K/cup). There are two flavors to select from: original & spicy, then the chicken will be coated with the chosen flavor and fried.

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In my opinion the taste were quite mild. The spicy version won’t be burning through your stomach, not like other places, which assigned spiciness levels to their menu. The skin was quite crunchy, and the meat underneath was still juicy and perfectly cooked. As we used our hands to eat (much easier than using spoon & fork), our hands did not become too greasy, so I suppose the dish weren’t as loaded with oil as in other fast food joints.

After the dish, we’re given a cup of two mochis shaped like dumplings with vanilla ice cream filling (10K). It was delicious, although the skin were a bit tough. I do hope that in the future, they would have other fillings like ogura/green tea ice cream in their mochi Overall, it’s a nice addition to Jakarta’s fast food scene.

BonChon Chicken
Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, Skybridge 5th Floor
Jl. MH. Thamrin No. 1. Jakarta 10310
www.bonchonindonesia.com

Rujak Es Cream is actually a weird dish. It’s a combination of es puter (Indonesian’s traditional coconut ice cream) with a spicy rujak serut. So the taste was quite nano-nano. There’s the spicy sauce, then the fruits, and a scoop of cold ice cream combined together to create a weird but cool dish. It is certainly delicious for us who love spicy things and best enjoyed on a hot day.

Rujak Es Cream Pak Nardi yang Pertama
Jl. Harjowinantan
Yogyakarta
ph. 08574 3535 573

After the 2nd breakfast, we went to Ullen Sentalu Museum at Kaliurang. Ullen Sentalu is a private museum of Javanese culture and art. After touring the museum, we went to a colonial style building housing a restaurant called Beukenhoff located at the back of the museum that serves Dutch cuisine. I’ve read good reviews about this restaurant, so we decided to try it. The restaurant’s interior is very interesting, with a classic ambience and a very nice view from the veranda. I instantly fell in love with this place.

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At first we only ordered Banana Caramel (fried blanched pisang mas with palm sugar syrup and rum) 24K to share, but then we couldn’t resist to order more. So we ordered Salmon Croquette (rolled mixed Norwegian Salmon, vegetables and potatoes, served with mustard sauce) 34K and Hutspot met Klapstuk (mashed potatoes stuffed with slices of beef tenderloin and beef sausage cooked in red wine sauce) 58K. The dishes have great presentations and the taste was also above average. The banana caramel tasted good, not too sweet. The salmon croquette’s portion was quite big. SC’s hutspot also tasted delicious, although there were several pieces of tough meat, but all in all, we had a great time here.

Beukenhoff Restaurant
Ullen Sentalu Museum
Kaliurang Yogyakarta

Opening Hour
Tuesday – Sunday 10.00 am – 4.00 pm

Reservation
ph. +62 (274) 895131
fx. +62 (274) 881743

From Yu Djum, we went to SGPC Bu Wiryo which is also famous in Yogya. SGPC stand for SeGo PeCel which is a humble rice dish topped with various kinds of vegetables and drenched with peanut sauce. Located at Gajah Mada University (UGM) area, the place is spacious, kind of old, but clean, with rows and rows of long wooden tables & chairs. There was even a band, playing a mix of oldies and the latest pop hits. Overall, the place screams nostalgia to me

We went to the back where all the dishes were served. Since I still felt full from the previous breakfast at Yu Djum, I only asked for a small portion of sego pecel with several choices of satays. The vegetables were fresh and I love the peanut sauce. It wasn’t too spicy and it was ground coarsely, so the grainy nut texture still remains. In my opinion, it was an “honest” dish. Very simple, but delicious and heartwarming.

SGPC Bu Wiryo 1959
Jl. Agro CT VIII Klebengan
Yogyakarta
Ph. +62 (274) 512288

Back to my Yogya’s trip review. Since Yogya is a gudeg town, there are a lot of gudeg to try. One of the most famous ones is Gudeg Yu Djum, so we decided to have that for breakfast on our 2nd day in Yogya. There are several branches of Gudeg Yu Djum in town, but our driver took us to Yu Djum’s house at a small alley near UGM. When we arrived, the place was already crowded. At the terrace, there was a woman singing Javanese song accompanied by several old men playing guitar, cello and ukulele. The front area of the house has been turned into a dining area, while at the back side of the house, there are a traditional kitchen for cooking gudeg using firewoods.

We ordered two portions of nasi gudeg to share. Gudeg is a traditional Javanese dish that uses young jackfruit that is cooked for hours with lots of palm sugar & sweet soy sauce. A portion of nasi gudeg consisted of warm rice topped with gudeg, braised egg & beancurd and krecek (a dish made from cow’s skin). I have to admit that maybe this is the most authentic gudeg that I’d ever tasted. My friends seemed to enjoy it very much, but apparently, it’s too sweet for my taste. I think if you like sweet dishes, Yu Djum is the place to try in Yogya.

Gudeg Yu Djum
Karangasem Mbarek CT III/22
Jl. Kaliurang Km.4,5
Yogyakarta 55281

ph. +62 (274) 515968

Two weeks ago, several food bloggers & I got an invitation to attend “Casual Fine Dining with Starbucks Indonesia” held at Starbucks’ recently opened store at Tempo Scan Tower – Kuningan. The main highlight of the night was the introduction of their winter promotion: Guatemala Casi Cielo. The event started with coffee tasting prepared by their barista using a french press. Each of us was given a small cup of coffee to taste. According to the fact sheet we’re given, Starbucks Guatemala Casi Cielo coffee is made from a blend of four single origin farms in the Antigua region of Guatemala. The term “Casi Cielo” means “almost heaven”, with a rich and elegant character which tasted smooth and full-bodied. Now, I’m not a coffee expert and just an amateur in the coffee world. So, when I was holding my cup and was asked to smell it, I think my nose failed to pick up those fruity aroma that I should’ve smelled. Instead, I think the coffee smelled a bit too smokey. The taste was bold though, I enjoyed it with the ‘Tokyo Cheese Danish’ they prepared for us to go with the coffee tasting.

After that, we moved to our designated tables to try Starbucks’ new winter food series. In my plate, I got:

• Starbucks Fruit Toast 19K
  Two slices of fruit toast (whole wheat bread loaded with assorted dried fruits such as cranberry, raisins, apricots, papaya, pumpkin and sun flower seeds, plus assorted nuts) served with a choice of butter/strawberry jam. This turned out to be my fav, and when SC tried it the next day, he liked it too
• Mango Lychee Layered Cake 30K
  This also tasted good. The cake was so smooth and light. The outer side of the cake was layered with lapis legit, which tasted good on its own, but when combined with the lychee cake overpowered the overall taste.
• Tokyo Cheese Danish 21K
  A sweet and buttery bread with cream cheese filling. This is a good combination for a cup of black coffee, as it was sweet
• Chicken Caesar Wrap & Tuna Tomato Wrap @33K.
  It was a good old tortila bread with either tuna salad or chicken caesar salad filling. Served cold and it was delicious

Overall it was a great night. Starbucks really knows how to pamper their guests and at the end of the event, we’re given a cup of hot white chocolate mocha which taste so good. Thank you Starbucks for the treat and pssttt.. I love my new Starbucks planner and cups. I made my own pot of Casi Cielo the next day and it went very well with the caramel stroop wafel.

It turned out that this is probably the most delicious dish I had in Yogya. The fried pigeon was succulent, well marinated and a bit sweet. And the sambal terasi, oh… *drool* It’s heavenly, and if you love a super hot & spicy sambal, you must order this to go with the fried pigeon. The gudeg was OK, but not the best I’ve tried. This place really boosted our bad mood from the previous place. Kudos to SBTB’s fried pigeon & sambal terasi.

SBTB
Lesehan Malioboro di waktu malam
Jl.A.Yani No.76
Malioboro – Yogyakarta

There were 5 of us and we ordered several menu to sample. From the menu we picked: sate kota gede 60.252, sop buntut ala Omah Dhuwur 60.252 and gurame grontol 65.252. For the beverages, we went with a pot of hot cammomile tea, wedang OD 13.252, wedang sari jahe 13.252, wedang kapulogo 13.252 and ice lombok 13.252. Our drinks came first, and the most surprising one was my ice lombok, which tasted a bit spicy and decorated with a bird’s eye chili.

We also received a complimentary basket of kripik singkong (cassava crackers) and it was delicious. Sadly, our orders turned out to be disappointing. First the gurame grontol tasted horrible and not fresh at all. The meat kind of smelled and we suspected it was stored too long in the fridge. The vegetable accompanying it was also bland. The sate kota gede & sop buntut were just average. Overall it was not a pleasant experience. Since the price were quite high, we had high hopes for the dishes & ambience but it was wide of the mark. Their waiters didn’t seem to be aware of our disatisfaction since they didn’t ask us anything about the meal that we didn’t finish.

Omah Dhuwur Restaurant
Jl. Mondorakan No. 252 Kotagede
Yogyakarta

ph. +62 (274) 374952
fx. +62 (274) 374952

Our next stop was a new place called Bu Ageng, owned by a famous Indonesian literati/actor Butet Kertaradjasa. Located at a Javanese pendopo style building with exposed ceiling, the place feels spacious and breezy. The kitchen is attached at the front right side of the main building, so the patrons can peek into the clean and spacious kitchen. The place was a bit crowded when we arrived since it’s lunch time, and judging from the building style, it was free to smoke there. Luckily, we can get a table at the corner of the room so we can avoid the smoke.

Since I’m not familiar with Javanese food, I let my friend decide what to order. We ordered sotong gelap (stir-fried squid with traditional spices and squid ink), terik daging (beef stewed in coconut milk) 12K, sayur lodeh (a mixture of eggplants, long beans, melinjo leaves, squash, stink beans and dried shrimp in light coconut milk broth with chilli) 7K, lidah masak semur (stewed beef tongue in sweet soy sauce) 12K, sambal kutai (chilli sauce mixed with eggplant, long beans, stink beans and tempeh mixed with special Kutai spices) 4K to share. We also ordered nasi campur terik daging sapi (rice topped with beef stewed in coconut milk and various other dishes like Minang style omelette, dried tuna, sambal kutai and gendar crackers) 22K and nasi campur ayam bakar suwiran (rice topped with shredded kitchen and other dishes) 16K. For dessert, we asked for their special dessert called bubur duren mlekoh (durian bread pudding) 9K.

The dishes came in small plates, but adequate for us as we’re not really hungry at the time. Most of them really tasted like home-cooked dishes. My favorites were the sambal Kutai (because it was spicy) and the sotong gelap. Meanwhile, the bubur duren mlekoh looks like bread pudding, but insted of milk, they used durian. The result was delicious since I love durian, although I think the concoction was a little too watery. But overall we had a great time there. The place was interesting, the food was good. We also had a chance meeting and a brief chat with the owner who was very friendly.

Bu Ageng
Warung Masakan Omah
Jl. Tirtodipuran No.13
Yogyakarta

3 weeks ago, we took a short trip with several friends to Jogja, mostly to sample its food. This is our first stop at the city since the place is located right in front of Adisucipto airport. While waiting for our friends to arrive on the next flight, we ordered a portion of nasi gudeg komplit gendhing (paha atas) 22k. To be honest, I’m a bit wary when I eat gudeg, some can be excessively sweet. But I found out that this gudeg is quite acceptable. Not too sweet, I love the krecek, and for the spicy food lover, you can just crush the bird’s eye chili, and eat it with the whole dish. It was delicious. But it’s still too early to claim that this is the best gudeg I’d ever tried. Hopefully, we can go to other gudeg sellers during this trip

Gudeg Bu Tjitro
Jl Adisucipto km 9
Yogyakarta 55282
ph. +62 (274) 488662, 484405, 7104250 fx. +62 (274) 488662