Pala Adas Jakarta

It's not a secret anymore that just like Senopati, Pantai Indah Kapuk is one of the most populated area in Jakarta when it comes to dining places. Numbers of new restaurants in and out each and every month trying their luck on the field but truth be told, I have one thing kept in my mind that I want to point out here.

When people ask me where to go to have a FANTASTIC meal in PIK or Senopati, I had the moment of silence, I couldn't really tell exactly which, not because I don't know (no no no) but it's just that there aren't so many restaurants that actually serve out of the world good food in both places, most of them are hangout places serving comfort food but mostly not fantastic good, but if I point out something like Emilie or Chateau Blanc then it's not our everyday meal...cost (I guess for most), well the closest to "nice" in PIK are decent ramen in Ikkudo, ice dessert in SumoBoo or grilled meats in Carnivor but where else if I may ask?

Last weekend with some foodie friends, we went to this newly launched restaurant called Pala Adas and I couldn't wait to blog about this because this one was worth blogging! The reason I blog about this is because this restaurant is located at the Pantai Indah Kapuk area but if you think of those in "Rukan Crown Golf" then it's not! It's located in the Elang Laut Boulevard, honestly a little hidden and not common but I see a good potential there. Keep reading to know the reason why ;).

Pala Adas actually means "Nutmeg and Fennel". Pala is the indonesian of nutmeg and Adas refers to Fennel and yes as you can see below, it's serving Indonesian food! Now I am excited.

This restaurant is pretty HUGE! Three "rukos" for one restaurant. What exactly is the english language for ruko?

Some interior shots...

To be frank, I love the interior even though when I got in it wasn't exactly as big as I expected. In a sense it's not really Indonesian, but there's something western-vintage, ethnic peranakan and Chinese about the decoration. Maybe I sort of stumbled on the red chairs and the hanging lamps, but still, the overall feeling of the room was beautiful.

Second floor. I forgot to point this out to the owner so I'm doing it here if he reads this, I think the second floor needs a little renovation or finishing because to me it looks kinda undone. As you can see, there's a mini space for karaoke night :D.

The second floor was also where the outdoor smoking area is, at the terrace to be exact.

Before I proceed to the F&B I just wanna tell you that I appreciate how they are with the food here, they're maximizing on the "LESS OIL" campaign and that's what they're doing with their food: to cook everything with less oil and IF you notice a little oil, it's actually from the ingredients that extract oil on the cooking process like coriander. I am totally a pro when it comes to this: less oil = possibility of more lifetime :).

Tropical Dragon
IDR 30k
This is what I ordered because the photo on the menu turned me on (in a delicate way) and when I noticed that it's dragon fruit + banana, I was sold! Big fan of banana beverages here!

The flavor was indeed good and refreshing with creamy milky flavor and consistency. You're going to notice that the banana flavor is dominating the overall beverage but it's actually the neutral character of the dragon fruit that didn't stand out, but I didn't find this a problem at all, in fact I highly recommend this to you!

Healthy Juice
IDR 20k
Technically a vegetable juice but with a little pineapple juice infused which then help to live up the flavor. I have been into healthy juice lately and hereby I want to encourage you to NOT be afraid of just listening to the term "vegetable juice", they were honestly really good, fresh and went along quite well with my taste bud.

Three Flavored Pork Ribs (Iga Babi Tiga Rasa)
IDR 158k
This was the perfect opening! Overall, the ribs were tender and juicy with semi-crispy coating. One portion consist of pork ribs with three different dressings: Rica-rica (traditional chili), Cabe Ijo (Green Chili) and Hitam Manis (soy and honey glazed). I was a HUGE FAN of their cabe ijo, it had the proper state of spiciness which I could take but that doesn't mean the other two weren't good, they were also very good, I do love the consistency of the meat on the "Hitam Manis", when a pork-rib that tender dressed and glazed with special Pala Adas sauce, the sauce would absorb to the meat resulting even juicier cut! LOVE!

Clockwise: Pork Ribs with Cabe Ijo (Green Chili), Hitam Manis and Pork Ribs with Rica-Rica, overall top shot!

Sate Pala Adas
IDR 30k

This might be simple in presentation and appearance but this one surely not so 'little' on the flavor, the meat was slow cooked for hours (maybe that's why the meat was tender and soft), loving the Serundeng (shredded coconut sauteed with spices with palm sugar) dressing. Huge crush!

Pala Adas Fried Duck with Green Chili (Bebek Goreng Cabe Ijo)
IDR 78k
OMG favorite! The duck was fried perfectly and seasoned perfectly, best thing of all: STINK FREE! Don't you hate it when you happen to get just the most unfresh duck you might want to blood vomit!!!

I was glad that this was fresh and beautifully crispy but not overall dry, comparing to certain famous duck restaurants, this one lies on the top part of my list! The meat was juicy and tender and the green chili wasn't crazy spicy so I guess generally more people could take it and the seasoning for both duck and green chili were beautiful and savory!

Gurame Sambal Matah
IDR 78k
Their version of sambal matah was slightly different that what I used to have in most restaurants, it's a little milder and less spicy (for me), but rich in the seasoning and mostly savory. The carp fish was cooked crispy and seasoned nicely (loving the amount of saltiness) and while still leaving the meat part to be lean, juicy and fresh.

The best thing about carp is not the meat, it's the crispy tail! I could abuse that part myself.

Gulai Singkong
IDR 18k
The coconut milk broth was mild and this was cooked without oil but still remains good :).

Pala Adas Oxtail Soup (Sop Buntut Pala Adas)
IDR 78k
Pala Adas' version of Oxtail soup was something certainly not to miss! The soup was extremely tasty with just the proper seasoning! Salty in a good way, savory with the hint of spices that weren't overpowering my palate, I even read some other claiming this to be better than the famous one in Bogor Cafe, well not too sure about that because if you had this, there's a slight difference from the soup but both was pretty good. The meat was extremely beautiful and tender and for me, the more fried shallots in the oxtail soup plus a little touch of green chili is the better!

Sambal Pacak
I must say this one was tasty but such a DEVIL! Devil because this was extremely spicy! The kind of spicy that tune up in seconds and stays in your tongue for quite some time. For those who love bold spiciness this one is definitely must try!

Banana Pala Adas
IDR 20k
To be frank, I didn't try this because this contains cheese but according to my friends this one was delicious.

Kolak Pala Adas
Their version of kolak was surprisingly good! Sweet in the best way, fluffy banana with caramelized flavor, simply the good quality kolak.

Es Kacang Pala Adas
From the three desserts served on the lunch, this one was my favorite! It's actually very simple: red and mung beans over coconut milk and crushed ice but the red beans were caramelized in a very lovely way and the soup (coconut milk base) was mild and decent. Perfect for the hot sunny day and good to share since it's quite big!

I gave so many compliments to the food here and indeed I had no bad comments to give because everything was great, especially the fried duck and the oxtail soup. Just so you know, they differentiate the chili on every dish, just like the above: the green chili on the fried duck with the green chili on the pork ribs were different, there's at least a simple different touch like the play of seasoning or the amount of chili given and indeed tasted slightly different on the most detailed observation LOL!

Forgot to take the pic but I loved their Pandan Rice, the flavor was like the mix of Uduk Rice (Coconut Milk Rice) + Liwet Rice in green color. TASTY!

I truly had a beautiful lunch! Pricing was still relatively affordable for PIK price. Now I can finally a recommend a decent Indonesian restaurant to dine in at PIK. I do hope they manage their quality control because I couldn't afford complimenting their restaurant and had people telling me that it wasn't as good as what I wrote, but again, it's personal taste and I happen to like each and every food.

Thank you for reading!

Pala Adas
Elang Laut Boulevard No. 8-10
Pantai Indah Kapuk, Jakarta Utara
021 - 2921 9129
Opening Hours: 11 AM - 10 PM
Price Range: IDR 50k - IDR 100k
INSTAGRAM

FIND ME HERE

FACEBOOK || TWITTER || INSTAGRAM || GOOGLE+

email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

Map for Pala Adas

Three Buns Burger and Heads Jakarta

This is personally one of the most anticipated restaurants and it's now finally opening for public just yesterday and yours truly of course managed to fit his way to the early days! Ladies and gentlemen say hi to this new joint in the Senopati neighborhood:

Three Buns Burger and Heads Jakarta!

Again and again, a new restaurant opening in the hip urban area, Senopati, Senopati is obviously the 'it' area when you want to look out for great places to eat and it's such a sheer joy that Three Buns is making its debut in Jakarta here, frankly speaking, just the perfect neighborhood!

Three Buns is being brought here to Jakarta by the Potato Head group (PTT Family), and they're having another branch in Singapore in May. I guess the name told you everything already right? Yes they serve only Burger dishes here (six variants to choose). Frankly speaking, I was honestly stunned both in a good and not so granted ways when I first stepped my feet to the restaurant, it's because the interior was simply beautiful and minimalist with majority wood applied for the seating, the dining area was actually more like a tower instead of the common dining setting, totally not what I expected before and it was a pleasant surprise. You'll notice a van when you enter the restaurant and the van was actually functioned as the cashier area. The not so pleasant experience was more for the weather wise, since the roof was transparent, the sun strike like laser and it was just very humid! So very humid I notice almost everyone fanning themselves.

I came around 12 and the sun was probably on its hardest, warning for everyone who want to take pictures of food here (including me) because the sun was a bit tricky here, some area could be 'attacked' with hard sun light or got no sun at all, kinda hard to explain it you go here to know what I mean!

On the other hand, still stunned by how pretty and bright the place was. TOUR!

I ordered their signature burger, "Baby Huey", initially wanted to try their "Four Floors" with two stacks of Beef Patty, double cheese ZOMG and triple onions but I could simply faint of fullness after that! You need to know that Three Buns is applying the "self-service" method here so starting from the order to the pick-up you're going to do it yourself, but they easen up for you because you're going to be given a number (indicating what order number you are) and there is the number-board hanging and when your number starts blinking, that means your order is ready!

Burgers and fries might not be the most photogenic dish but when they're at their must-unphotogenic, they're simply at their best!

Baby Huey + Sherbie Hancock 

IDR 95k, IDR 30k

This particular burger consist of 150gr beef patty, bespoke artisan buns and generous and I mean really generous dressings! The homemade sauce was slow-cooked and it really lived up the overall flavor, almost BBQ-ish with a little tanginess, it was just very tasty, bold without overpowering it in a bad state. The meat was cooked to perfection, FYI the default cooking level for the meat is medium, but you can custom it how you want it. The buns were perfectly soft probably the best bun consistency I've tried so far. Overall it was a pretty satisfying portion.

The beverage was pretty refreshing and I just love the sourness from the lemonade. Simply good.

Naughty Fries
IDR 45k
The fries here are not the common lean cuts, more like various shapes but I feel like that's the quality of it and I was just fond of the consistency. The Bearnaise sauce and minced beef chili made the overall flavor a little more vibrant, tangy, BBQ-ish and spicy, but the parmesan cheese kinda tone it down a bit. This just worth a try.

I must say I had an awesome time dining here, Three Buns dining concept was supposedly for take-away orders (during the day, seats originally will be available on 5 PM) but hereby I beg the team to think it over (especially today when some people walked out because they could only 'take-away'), it's just because the experience and vibe of eating the delicious burgers won't be the same when it's taken away no matter how humid the place is and especially if you care about the photo-purpose. As in for pricing, I personally think it's a little hefty for one portion of burger, fries and beverage, I spent around IDR 200k for just 'this', but after having the meal, it kinda worth the money I spent :).

Come come come, I have the psychic ability and I believe this burger joint will be crowded soon!

Three Buns - Burger and Heads
Jl. Senopati Raya No. 90
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12190
021 - 2930 7780
Opening Hours: 11 AM - 12 PM
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK || TWITTER || INSTAGRAM

email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

Common Grounds Jakarta

Common Grounds is a new coffee shop and eatery located in Citiwalk, sort of new but the hype of this particular place is buzzing, so I decided to my pay myself a visit to this happening place and try their famous all-day breakfast menu. Yes, you read it right! Finally another decent place serving all-day breakfast, even though I am not a big breakfast person but I start to realize how important breakfast was, my visit to Singapore in January was such an eye-opener, knowing that Singaporeans are such big breakfast people! It's amazing that almost everywhere I went to in the morning was crowded with people having breakfast, the most popular ones must be the kopitiams.

But I don't know, I am not even a morning person...so...yeah you go. I slept late okay!!! I am even typing this on 1 AM, I must admit that I need to really change my sleeping pattern because it's kinda the opposite of normal human beings, but I believe a lot of people sleep really late as well *defensive*. That's why probably the best for me is actually on-the-go breakfast.

Common Grounds interior was simple with majority white color all over the venue, but guess what, I just want to be honest here, I think Common Grounds is just a little too good to be in Citiwalk, no offense to Citiwalk, and I am not saying that Citiwalk is bad so don't assume things. I just feel like they should have their own place (more like Alfresco dining place) because I could see a huge potential of this particular coffee shop if they have their own place at a better area, decorated with their own style, but maybe a little vintage (personal wish), the same walls, probably like Hyde Kemang or Union kind of place, but let's just hope they could really have their own place in the future.

Good thing they have separated smoking areas! Salute.

When I look at the interior, I don't know why but it kinda reminds me of underground subway area, maybe it's those white brick walls, but I am referring to this in a very good way. I don't have anything bad to say about the interior, it's just proper.

Before going here, I just had a meeting with the crazy peeps from Peeta Planet, they spent the whole week here in Jakarta shooting here and there and they were just friendly, humble and I think I am going to make an independent blog post about them, but meeting them was such a joy, it's rather disappointing that I couldn't join them when they asked me to be in their show because of my bloddy schedule, last week was krayzeeh! Wishing for another collaboration in the future tho :). Anyway I was not feeling very full because I only ate very little finger food served on the meeting so I was up for something... bigger. I had the good old Cappuccino with Common Grounds Eggs Benedict.

Cappuccino
IDR 33k
I just love how well-balanced every element in this glass of cappuccino was, the natural flavor was medium-strong, it had that natural sweetness, in a way not very milky, it was just how a proper Iced Cappuccino should be. FYI they have few brewing methods: V 60, Aeropress and Chemex and they just recently released the Cold Brew creation which by the way took one week to create, the kind barista gave a little for me to try, it was mild and subtle :).

Wondering why they made such great coffees? Not until the end of my visit when the owner reached a guy who were taking pictures of the interior, I am talking about myself here, he gave me his name card and I found "Pandava" written on it, FREAKING WORRY FREE! NOW I KNOW! Pandava is like one of the best coffee shops in town, their coffees are just how you spell be-au-ti-ful!

Eggs Benedict
IDR 65k
I must say that I was quite stunned with this Eggs Benedict, short to say, it was super good! The eggs were cooked perfectly, not greasy and just...yum! The Hollandaise sauce was also pretty good and not very milky. The french fries was fried nicely, not oily, crunchy while still leaving the center to be soft. Sauteed Mushroom? CHAMPS! The lettuce was also fresh with sour sauce dressing (not sure but actually tasted like Yuzu). It was a pretty big portion for one.

Eggporn!

Generally, in a nutshell, Common Grounds is a common coffee shop but with not-so-common quality. You might call it Pandava-in-disguise, but they serve freaking great food so suck on it! How do I know? well based on some reviews from my fellow food bloggers who worships their all-day breakfast creations. This freaking worth your visit and plus, I think the prices are still reasonable, especially if you witness the portion, the food here starts from IDR 35k-75k. If you care so much about WiFi, they have a pretty fast WiFi connection, another plus point eh?

Please stay good, the only option Common Grounds should take is to be better <3.

Common Grounds Coffee Roastery

City Walk Sudirman 1st fl.

Jl. K.H. Mansyur No. 121

Jakarta Pusat 10230

021 - 2555 8963

FACEBOOK || TWITTER || INSTAGRAM

email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com