Open Door Jakarta

Just a few days ago, I came to attend bloggers luncheon with the newly opened Open Door, yes, another door has opened and to be fair, if you knew and had been to Midtown Owl before (now doors closed), then Open Door's marking its "welcome sign" on the exact same spot and location, with pretty much the same interior but this time, different brand.

Was greeted with this! Exclusive much!

I love sunflowers and I love the fact that they have these on the setting, feels like greeted with some cheerful spirit!

Yes!

The interior of Open Door rang minimalist, clean, comfortable, simple and homey, it's just a pretty decent place to chill and relax or simply to have your own me time, the restaurant also provided a mini bar if you desire a more relaxed chilling while sipping some of their signature cocktails, also two alfresco (outdoor) dining areas if you prefer sitting closer to the earth (NOT), actually it's if you want to smoke freely without interrupting others.

Won't have enough of sunflowers!

Grapefruit Mojito
IDR 32k
Pretty refreshing but maybe a stronger hint of the grapefruit could be more unique.

Orange Cooler
IDR 28k
Might be very simple and easy to execute but surprisingly I was really fond of this one! It was fresh, fruity but frank, I didn't think they're using natural squeezed orange extract, more like orange flavored syrup.

Crispy Baby Calamari
IDR 40k
The calamari was deep fried and seasoned with spicy seasoning. They're doing a pretty good job with the temperature of the frying state and the seasoning was pretty good too.

Curry Dust Chicken Wings
IDR 39k
I have high hopes for this dish because I was curious about how well the chicken would blend with the curry flavor but unfortunately this one tasted more like deep fried chicken with curry powder all over it, and it didn't even taste like curry, the seasoning wasn't really blending and infused but I must admit that the chicken was depe fried perfectly tho!

Tom Yum Fried Rice
IDR 50k
I also had high expectation for this particular dish, first, it's Tom Yum, which is like one of my favorite all time dish as well as flavor! Second, it's freaking fried rice (not much to say), but I was kinda let down by the fact that the fried rice was way too plain, it didn't even close to taste like Tom Yum and the color should be a little more red to be honest (personal standard). In a way, this one was vegan material because I couldn't notice any meat given.

Grilled Spring Chicken
IDR 80k
To cut things short, my favorite dish served on the lunch! I love how tender and juicy the chicken was, the coating was smoky and everything was nicely executed! Must admit, they're very good in cooking the chicken dishes, the potato was also cooked nicely and the cream had this savory but in a sense, sweet, this simply was one of that dish you just want to try even though you might find this kind in many restaurants.

Let me put it this way, if the chicken fails, then everything else must fail even worse.

Kalbi Kimchi Burger
IDR 60k
This one was unique and it was my first time to experience having Kimchi Burger. As you know, Kimchi is traditional Korean fermented vegetable side dish, I thought this was going to be salty, sour and spicy but apparently I didn't have those expected, their version of Kimchi was not bad, it was actually more savory and guessing since it already had that juiciness from the beef, the Kimchi had this infused beef aroma and flavor. It's supposedly going to be fun experiencing how Kimchi and meat blended in a bun and in a bite.

Es Campur Pannacotta
IDR 32k
They're just very unique with their menus, not done with the Kimchi Burger, they also had "Es Campur Pannacotta" or Pannacotta with Indonesian ice dessert. Presentation wise, pretty, flavor wise... GOOD! I was pleased with how they managed to make the pannacotta to have this silky texture with milky creamy vanilla flavor (without overpowering everything), and I love the idea of putting palm sugar on the portion, for me, this wasn't overpowering sweet because each material balanced each other, it was just smart!

Tokyo Banana Dessert
IDR 42k
I have love and hate relationship with their Tokyo Banana Cake dessert. I love the presentation and the overall flavor, but I just wasn't a huge fan of their texture without the ice cream, I guess it was just tad dry and less moist comparing to the Tokyo Banana you usually have, well clearly doesn't have to be the exact same, but I guess that's the regulation of the common sponge cake. I personally am not a big Tokyo Banana fan, it's good but I didn't find it out of the world good, but yes it's addicting. I love the idea of giving vanilla flavored ice cream, made everything better. If only the sponge cake was moister, this could simply be stunning.

In a nutshell, I had a good lunch on Open Door, might not be all great but still ok. Open Door is simply a place for when you're looking for somewhere to hangout with pretty affordable prices, good food, nice ambiance but I guess if they want to make it big on the competition, they should be more unique and better on the food quality control, when it comes to the game, mainstream is not an option my dear.

...and again! Needs to end this post with another pic of sunflower LOL!

Open Door

Royal Mediterania Garden Residence Lobby

Jl. Letjen S. Parman Kav. 28, Podomoro City

Jakarta Barat 11470

021 - 2942 7007 / 06

Opening Hours: 11 AM - 11 PM (daily)

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Map for Open Door Jakarta. It's just beside Central Park Shopping Mall Jakarta, across if you're taking the side entrance. Very noticeable.

*this post is brought to you by Open Door

Le Cafe Gourmand Gunawarman Jakarta

Just couple of days ago there's this new cafe opening in Gunawarman street and fortunate enough I got invited to come to the grand opening and actually try out some of their products! Give it up for this new cafe in town: Le Cafe Gourmand. It's just crazy how Senopati and Gunawarman streets are evolving to this boulevard of guilty pleasures, more and more restaurants are opening in town and even more are preparing to open!

This particular "Le Cafe Gourmand" is actually a branch from its origin under the same name in Surabaya and the fact is, Le Cafe Gourmand is one of the hippest cafes in Surabaya and they're very famous for their coffee. The branch in Jakarta is located in Gunawarman street #65 just exactly across Le Quartier and Loobie Lobster.

The crowd was uber packed that night and I couldn't take any good photo of the environment and interior, but what I could tell you is that the cafe was very nice designed and decorated with hand-painted illustrations on the wall. The cafe was not exactly huge and spacious but also not petite. I think the vibe of the cafe led to this youthful urban concept and in a way unisex (got the prettiness and the cool), it had this square in the middle of the cafe for the cakes display, coffee and tea station. Good thing is that they have this no-smoking policy which I truly root for and beside it could ruin the coffee beans quality so back off smokers!

I'll come back for sure to this cafe and make a more appropriate review but the purpose of this post is to give you the picture of what Le Cafe Gourmand Jakarta looks like.

They hire experts to work of their coffees and teas, like Rodney Glick from Seniman Kopi for coffee and Ratna Soemantri who is a pretty well-known tea expert. I paid attention to what she's doing at the event, it's like she's very detailed when it comes to tea and beyond.

ICE CREAM HEAVEN!

Whenever you pay a visit here, go have their gelato and sorbets! Very nice. Free flow for everyone on the day!

I tried each two scoops of their gelato and sorbets, the left one was the salted caramel and rum raisin gelato and the right one was the raspberry and mango sorbet. Generally both their gelato and sorbet had pretty decent texture: smooth and nicely melt in your mouth, but I was wondering if they're using nitrogen freezing process because the sorbet was really soft and smooth, I mean sorbet usually still has this rocky-ice texture. The salted caramel flavor was really good, it had this generous amount of caramel sauce and proper balance of salt used in the gelato, it's just proper in every way. I found the rum raisin to be just a little tad too sweet but proper amount of alcohol used, while for both sorbet: amazing! Awesome sweetness balance, fruity flavor and both flavor has their own quality: the raspberry was a little more sour and the mango was very fragrant.

Triple Chocolate Tart
Texture and appearance wise, this tart was pretty decent, the pastry skin was crunchy but not over-hard, and the chocolate ganache's texture was also nice, but one thing I was not very fond of this was that it lost the expensiveness and classy touch from the chocolate, eventually tasted just okay when I was expecting the chocolate to be like this dark premium chocolate flavor, I know it's kinda hard to explain but you should try it yourself to (probably) understand what I meant.

Rose and Noisette Eclairs
Another great thing to point out about Le Cafe Gourmand is definitely their eclairs! I had two of them and my favorite one was the one on the right (Noisette) with Macadamia nuts on top, it's eatandtreats must-try certified! The hazelnut pastry cream was clearly the freaking bomb! It had this nutty, caramel and chocolate flavor that kept me drooling for more (only if I don't give a damn about fats I will). The pastry was also moist and light in texture. The rose eclair had this fragrant filling and decent sweetness balance and rose extract but overall I felt like the previous one caught my attention the most!

MUST TRY!

Beef Rib Pie
When it comes to food, I need both sweet and savory ones! After messing with some delicious sweet devils, I tried their signature beef rib pie and I was pleased enough with the flavor of the beef meat, it's like the filling of Lasagna, sort of Bolognaise like only with less tomato sauce, but I was expecting more kick from the base seasoning like salt or that touch of spiciness to it to make the score 90. Texture wise, nice.

Coffee Pannacotta
Having this reminded me of frozen stuff like gelato, I think it stayed quite a while in the freezer and texture was not silky or smooth like how pannacotta should be and when I scoop it and had this on the tounge, it was very cold, but guess what, I think I sort of liked it. The overall flavor was pretty good, it had that proper amount of coffee and vanilla cream that balanced nicely.

The pleasure didn't stop there, I got the chance to try out their tea and coffees as well: starting from the base like espresso to their cappuccino and freddo creations (the cold version). Generally, they have nice coffees! I think they're pretty serious about their coffees or else they won't bother collaborating with a coffee expert like Rodney Glick. I am a cappuccino person and I found their cappuccino to be medium in strength and they got that premium flavor to it that hit my taste bud on the spot. They gave me this spicy flavored coffee but I was not really fond of it, it tasted weird for me. They provide a few brewing methods like V-60 Pour Over, Syphon and Cold Drip and they're using both dark roasted beans (Sumatra Gayo, Aceh and Papua Wamena) and light roasted beans (Bali Kintamani and Ethiophia).

Their teas were also made nicely, I tried their green tea and pretty impressed by the notes I experienced, it was mild but in a way strong, and it was definitely fragrant and again... premium flavor (damn I talk like a freaking tea expert here I just felt it OKAY).

But nothing wow-ed me more than their hot chocolate, it was one of the best hot chocolate beverage I've had in my life. It was made out of dark chocolate, it was not exactly sweet but the chocolate flavor was just rich and I guess it will also stay nice if they made the iced version of it. Noted, I'll come back for more hot chocolates!

Heavenly hot chocolate!

After trying some of their creations, generally they have nice sweet treats for both food and beverages, they also have all day breakfast like sandwiches, I had my eye on their Croque Madame on the menu but didn't manage to have that on my visit so I guess I'm going to order that on another visit and update this post, but one thing I could tell you, the prices were pretty affordable here. The pastries start from 17.5k - 40k and the main courses (sandwiches) start from IDR 50k and above.

In a nutshell, there's this new dessert place opening in Jakarta (Gunawarman to be exact) that you should pay a visit, I guess they just need to keep up the quality of the products to survive on the business!

Good luck Le Cafe Gourmand! PS: I still drool over your hot chocolate damnit. Ciao!

Le Cafe Gourmand
Jalan Gunawarman No. 65

Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan

Jakarta Selatan 12110

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