Otel Lobby Jakarta: Lunch and Cronuts!

Picture above includes the main star of this entry. Got them blurred, so stay tuned :).

Got invited for lunch by Otel Lobby Kuningan Jakarta. For some of you who don't know (which I don't believe so), Otel Lobby is a restaurant/pub/lounge located in the heart of Epicentrum Kuningan, just beside Bluegrass restaurant.

Gotta love the interior. Surely one of the most attractive Jakarta's restaurants interior I've seen so far. The whole concept was actually inspired by "hotel lobby", and I believe the name's also inspired from it. The moment you enter the restaurant, you'll notice a concierge station which looks pretty much like a hotel-like receptionist and the dining areas are set to look like hotel lounge. Love.

Not only the interior, the exterior is freaking awesome as well!

If you notice the bubbly thingy, which is actually a lamp, it's made of silk grub's cocoon.

Sorry for the exploitation of the venue, it's so pretty I can't help not to share it! By the way, the deer is claimed to be fake, so there's no animal cruelty involved.

The idea of this visit, beside having lunch is the privilege to try out Otel Lobby's cronuts! Cronuts has been freaking nuts and they have been such a hip star of culinary lately. These cronuts are scheduled to be released next week so you can have the sneak peek earlier here (yay!). The lovely cronuts are made by the beautiful and talented Chef Maya Aldy, who is also the co-owner of Otel Lobby along with Gaby Bakrie.

But before getting to the cronuts, let's surf the lunch!

Zing Berry
IDR 45k
This beverage contains a slightly strong flavor of fresh bell pepper which for me, actually adds up the unique, kinda weird flavor, but in a good way. Personally, I'm pretty much fond of this one

Mint Lime Crush (Virgin Lime Mojito)
IDR 45k
The good old Virgin Mojito that I love, this drink for me, is a lighter version of a mocktail drink (non alcohol), short to say, quite refreshing.

Enchilada
IDR 85k
The filling of this Enchilada is chicken, I found this one very interesting, starting from the lovely presentation to a playful flavor and the great seasoning, this one is certainly a pleasure for both the eye and the mouth. A great appetizer to start the big lunch.

Pigs in the Blanket
IDR 45k
First time ever trying sausages wrapped in puff pastries and pretty satisfied with how they burst in my mouth. FYI, the sausage is actually beef, not pork. Still wondering the philosophy of naming it "Pigs in the Blanket". The sauce presented as the company is "Mustard Sauce". Another great round of appetizer!

Shrimp Malfatti
IDR 75k (regular), 105k (large)
If you're not aware of what Malfatti is, it's actually a hand-rolled dumplings, sort of the base of "Raviolli" only it doesn't have a certain form. May not be the most photogenic dish, but this one surely tastes more decent than it looks, however, I kinda expect the pesto flavor to be richer and more fragrant.

Smoked Salmon Fettuccine
IDR 75k (regular), 105k (large)
One of my most favorite menus from the lunch! This was such a pleasure for a baboon like me! I love how the Salmon is perfectly cooked, the thick cream to toss the whole thing with and the adorable home made fettuccine pasta! Very recommended.

Smoked Salmon Stone Baked Pizza
IDR 85k
For a 85k, this is such an awesome deal, really. It has a pretty generous cut of salmons, lovely flavor, adorable textures and a crispy baked pizza dough but still chewy in a way. I personally love the crust consistency of the pizza, even though some of you might think it's a little hard, but to decide, go here and order this one!

Slow Cooked Salmon
IDR 115k
Hands down, this one is probably the one that gives me chill! I adore this course!!! Accompanied by the Potato Confit and Hollandaise Sauce, those three main elements of this dish were working well with one another. The Salmon is very soft and smooth because it's slow cooked, let it sit for around 25-30 minutes, boiled, not grilled or baked. You'll find a lovely pink Salmon, even more tender in the middle!

OTL Fried Banana Split
IDR 45k
The deep fried bananas are cooked adorable! That great temperature giving space for the bananas to soften down so you'll have amazing contrast from the crunchy coats and the soft bananas. Three scoops of assorted ice creams to make it even better. This dish is not only an eyegasm, but a major foodgasm!

After the big lunch, let me introduce you guys to the main star of this post! Ladies and gentlements here comes...

OTEL LOBBY'S CRONUTS!

*APPLAUSE*

Otel Lobby's cronuts are currently available in three flavors: (left to right) Coffee Caramel, Lemon and Chocolate! Due to the quality control and the preparation (preparing cronuts are not a piece of cake hmm), prior to that, ordering one day before is recommended in advance, and when it's served, 30 minutes are the maximum time for serving. As in for me, since I took photos, I have to let 5 minutes gone in a snap (*o*).

Generally, Otel Lobby's cronuts are going to be strong contenders, they're crunchy, rich in flavors and good-looking (the last one doesn't really count LOL).

Coffee Caramel
Caramel glazed on top of the cronut is already an eyegasm for me, they're so photogenic my camera can't wait to snap it! As in for the flavor, the coffee cream injected inside the cronut is pretty strong and slightly salty, but as in for me, that's a good thing :).

Chocolate
From the three cronuts served, this one is definitely my most favorite! Starting from the lovely texture play from the crunchy almond and the cronut itself, the chocolate's also really decent! This version is the only one without the cream filling. I was expecting it to have a cream filling, just to know how it would taste, a milk-chocolate cream maybe? :). Anyway, I recommended this one for you to try out.

Lemon
This one is the most plain looking, but surely not to be missed! I like the match between the cronut and the lovely lemon cream (sort of custard-ish)! Out of all three, this one is the lightest and I'm going to still recommending this one for you <3.

The price are not yet published due to the internal decision that's not my authority section, but I heard from the PR that they're going to be affordable, anyway, you can follow my social networks so I can keep you updated with the latest news!

Thank you for such an amazing lunch session, Otel Lobby! Your food are indeed very lovely. This ain't sugar coated words honey!!! Looking forward to come back and try out your famous Beef Wellington for sure!

Anyway, eatandtreats is being featured by inside the Cita Cinta Magazine's web (yippie) and if you want to see me and also recommendations of lovely eating and hangout places in Jakarta and around, please click on the widget on your right, and it will direct you to the "Info Jajan" column. You probably need to scroll up a few times due to this long post.

Otel Lobby || WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
The Annex Building, Bakrie Tower, South Gate Entrance
Jl. Epicentrum Tengah
Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan 12940
021 - 2994 1324

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email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

Union Jakarta Cronuts: Flaky Donuts!

Ever since the first Cronut experience back in Mandarin Oriental, I am still in search of Cronuts in Jakarta. The invasion of this hip food is driving me nuts!

Nowadays, a lot of restaurants in Jakarta has been releasing their versions of Cronuts and one of them is Union Jakarta. I bet this upscale restaurant needs no introduction, they're known for their fabulous cakes. Hands down! So I paid a visit a while ago to try their version of Cronut! And oh, their version of Cronuts are called "The Flaky Donuts".

Just like its Red Velvet, back in the early days of the release of Union's famous Red Velvet Cake, the queue was insane and sometimes it's even sold out for days! I bet the same thing's happening to this cronut. I have received tweets from my Twitter followers saying that Union's "Flaky Donuts" are mostly sold out in just hours and I received various information about the release hour, some said it's on 2 PM, others claiming it's around 3 or 4 PM, so I can't give you the exact information to that.

I bet I am one of the luckiest dudes in the world for always making it on the last minutes because by the time I visited Union, there were two flaky donuts left and I overheard a costumer saying to his friend that he wanted to take two, so I smarten up and ask the waiter to get it to me quicker! Suck on that I won!

So, as you can see above, that's Union's "Flaky Donut". I ordered the Cinnamon and Sugar and I gotta say that it does look a lot flakier than the one in Mandarin Oriental.

Union's Flaky Donut is slightly bigger and taller than MO's. It might look a lot simple and plain than MO's but they cooked this Flaky Donut smartly, because I love the fact that the each layers of the cronut is not sticky to one another, that's the science logic of it, well at least for me, I like it that way. It's crunchy on the shell and smooth on the inside, when I chew it, it feels like I'm actually eating like a regular donut.

Surprisingly, with the most simple ingredients such as sugar and cinnamon, for me, the flavor is sorta rich! You can feel that explosion of flavors in your mouth and you got the texture as well, both from the flaky donut and the sprinkles of sugar.

Union's Flaky Donut is available on three flavors, each retailed on IDR 42k (after tax), almost twice more expensive than MO's. By the time I visited, only this flavor left and there's two of it (just like the folklore I lulabbi-ed above). Surely going back to try the other flavors. Overall, this Flaky Donut is great, especially for the fact that this is really simple! However, I find MO's to be more interesting due to that unforgettable Vanilla cream *drool*.

Still on the hunts of the Cronuts in Jakarta. If you have recommendations, tell me! I heard Publico's awesome. Can't wait to taste it! This ain't over yet!!!

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email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

Cronuts Mandarin Oriental Jakarta: Going NUTS for CRONUTS!

Cronuts are probably the hippest culinary venture at the moment! A lot of people have been talking about this so I decided to give them my try.

Since I am such a culinary hipster (and yeah I labeled myself that way), I have been stalking about this cake for a while and apparently I found some valuable informations worth to share to you all, including the fact that is cake is such a hype in J-town that some restaurants have been publishing and selling their own version of cronuts. Excited to give them each one of more try.

A little history of cronuts. It's called "cronuts" because it's a pastry in the form of donut, but the main physique is the croissant dough, it's simply a CROissant doNUTS. Thank God for Dominique Ansel, a pastry chef and the owner of Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City, who is the master behind this phenomenon in the culinary world. It's first released in May 2013 and ever since, it has been an unstoppable vibe! Hundreds of people are willing to queue (even) outside his store just to get this brilliant $5 pastry.

Dominique Ansel, photo courtesy of Google

Well, the existence of cronuts are definitely bringing a touch of freshness and such a breakthrough for the culinary world, forget about the overrated Red Velvet Cakes and Rainbow Cakes and let yourself blend it to the hype of the moment: Cronuts! Trust me, it's more than just a simple fried croissant garnished with sugar and cinnamon. The cooking method is slightly not as easy as you think, there is a challenge in the process to make sure that the layers stick together, less gross and greasy.

The one that I am about to review is from Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop. they apparently declaring to be the first to introduce cronuts in Jakarta. Bravo!!! Each cronut is sold for IDR 28k after tax, half than Ansel's retail price. Looking at the Jakarta market, and as a costumer, I think it's still on the affordable state, in the end, I might have to think twice if I have to keep on spending $5 for each cronut </3. Anyway, in the Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop, the cronut is spelled as 'KRONUT' with the "K".

TO REMEMBER
The cronuts sold in the Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop won't be available the moment you step inside and there will be NO DISPLAY, the best thing you can see is on the brochures or probably here in the blog (LOL!), so therefore you need to call the cake shop (number below) and place your order, sometimes the orders get super exploding that you need to call two days before! yes, two days!!! Also, the cronuts are only ready on 2-6 PM! Such a freaking commitment to enjoy cronuts. I don't know if they worth the wait for some. Probably these rules applied because cronuts MUST BE enjoyed fresh fried, to get the lovely fresh original crispy textures of it.

But luckily, it was my lucky day!!! I did not call and I didn't do anything before, just bring myself to the hotel around 4 PM and order two cronuts for myself only! Luckily, I only need to wait for 10 minutes before the fresh fried cronuts served on my table.

I did some tests, first, the smell, well it clearly smells like a fresh fried dough with a little hint of cinnamon and almond. Good start, such an invited scent to the nose and quickly, the brain.

Second, the texture test! I might had done mistake because Dominique Ansel doesn't recommend cronuts to be cut by the knife, because it will ruin the beauty of it and those displayed on the advertorials, but whatever I can't wait to rape the cronuts so I used the knife instead. SUCH A CRISPY LAYER ON TOP and it gets moister down to the bottom, and another crispy hit on the bottom. The glazed sugar is also crispy!

Vanilla cream is used on top of the cronuts as a garnish and also inside the cronut as the additional filling, which definitely leads us to the last test: FLAVOR! From the first bite, I must say that I am kinda into this right now! As I am typing at the moment, I freakin want this right now, especially remembering how crispy but in the same time very chewy and moist it is! The idea of having the vanilla cream filled inside is just genius, the almond, the sugar, the cinnamon, GOSH just such a burst and explosion of flavors in the mouth! Promise me, one is not enough! NOT!!!

The cronuts in this cake shop are made by the talented Chef Wita Girawati. Next time I meet this person, I am going to give her a hug (OK it gets creepy).

I am so recommending this cake, but please keep in mind that this is not over yet, I am still going to surf the cake shops in Jakarta in my search for the yummiest cronuts! I am ready to be impressed or disappointed, just part of the journey but let's just be fair.

PS: Keep in mind that cronuts are not recommended to be served over 6 hours before your cronuts got saggy like stretch marks.

Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop || WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Jakarta
Jalan M.H. Thamrin PO BOX 3392
Jakarta Pusat 10310
021 - 2993 8820 (ORDER)
Cronuts only available on 2-6 PM everyday.

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email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com