Showing posts with label jakarta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jakarta. Show all posts

Sunday, March 4, 2012

8 Flavors of Xiao Long Bao at Paradise Dynasty (Indonesia)

A restaurant chain in Asia is taking Xiao Long Bao (XLB) to another level with eight different flavors of XLB. At Paradise Dynasty, which has locations in Singapore and Indonesia, you can get XLB with black truffles, foie gras, cheese, ginseng, garlic, crab roe, and szechuan flavor (and of course, there's the original).

The XLBs were about the same price as Din Tai Fung, but if you order the sampler (a basket of all 8 flavors, they can get pretty expensive). If you know what you want to try or have a lot of people to share with, I'd suggest getting a basket of individual flavors.

Paradise XLB

Sunday, March 14, 2010

The "Legendary" Oxtail Soup at Hotel Borobudur (Jakarta, Indonesia)

Who's calling this ox tail soup legendary? I didn't start it, for sure. By the time I was enjoying food, Hotel Borobudur was already known for their "legendary oxtail soup."

The claim makes sense historically, as Hotel Borobudur is the first five star hotel in Indonesia. Being a 5-star hotel and all, the ox tail soup costs a ridiculous Rp. 150,000, which is a whopping $15. Well, putting it that way it seems affordable to try, so we went.

We had a super early dinner because my parents had to fly back to Surabaya around 6 pm. When we got there we realized we're missing both the lunch and dinner buffet! The dinner buffet would've cost $25 and came with all the ox tail soup you want, along with crab and other goodies. Dammit.

Besides your typical soft drinks, Hotel Borobudur also offers a couple of traditional drinks, one of them being a jamu which is said to be the favorite of an old king from Jogjakarta. Jamu is the medicinal herbal drink of Indonesia and its variety spans as many as the herbs you might think of to put in it.
This jamu is actually sweet and refreshing, without that medicinal funk at all.

We all got, of course, the ox tail soup. But Hotel Borobudur offers three types of sop buntut: the original, fried, or bbq.

The verdict of the day: get the original.

The oxtail meat in the original soup is much more tender and the soup as a whole retains more of the meat flavor.

For the fried and the barbequed, the meat is served dry, separated from the broth.

The oxtail meat is tougher in this case and having them fried or with bbq sauce on top didn't add much for me and did not compensate for the loss of the meat's tenderness.
Everything is of course served with a side of appropriate condiments - in this case lime to squeeze into the soup, pickled vegetables, and a dollop of chili sauce. Add to taste.

The questions "was it worth $15?" and "was it worth Rp. 150,000?" are completely different, even if the two monetary values are equivalent. In the latter case, probably not. If you're curious in trying this legendary oxtail soup, though, you should probably go for the buffet. That seemed worth the money.

Bogor Café at Hotel Borobudur
Jalan Lapangan Banteng Selatan
P.O.Box 1329
Jakarta 10710
Indonesia
Tel: (62-21) 3805555
http://www.hotelborobudur.com/

Indonesia: Jakarta/Bogor

JAKARTA
Restaurants:
Bogor Café Hotel Borobudur
Paradise Dynasty

Street Carts:
Popiah Tiong Sim

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BOGOR
Warung Doyong

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Indonesian Street Food: Popiah Tiong Sim in Jakarta

Jakarta, like all other Indonesian cities, are filled with food carts and hawkers, and Pluit street is known for their selection of Medan/Hokkianese food.

Being from Medan, one of my grandma's favorite cart is Tiong Sim which sells popiah, a Fujian/Chaozhou-style spring roll made with a thin, crepe-like buckwheat skin.
Every popiah here is made to order, and it's quite something to watch the guy expertly, and very rapidly, build your popiahs.

The popiah skin is first brushed with hoisin sauce, then filled with lettuce, ground chicken (or any meat would work too - we're in Indonesia here so it has to be halal), fried shallots, and pickled jicama. Some places also add crushed peanuts.

Then he rolls, rolls, rolls, and voila!
The skin is so thin but the popiah does not fall apart. The flavor of the buckwheat skin really complements all the filling. Dip in chili sauce or chili-ed fish paste and you won't be able to stop eating. Unless you're eating with your cousins and all the popiahs are gone within 5 minutes.

Tiong Sim
Jl Pluit Sakti Raya no. 42
Jakarta, Indonesia

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