Author: Ardi

The GoodLife

Review:

Coffee is usually the last thing I look for when I was in Bandung. Partially it is because I have grown to accept that there are no good ones and settled for flavoured ‘coffee’ like the ones sold in Starbucks – a lot of people love the sugar-induced coffees and a few appreciate the actual quality of the coffee there.

A friend of mine from Bandung took us to this little café at the heart of Bandung called The GoodLife. When we first arrived, I had to check with her to see that we were in the right place. The café is part of a small office house and is quite obscured from the outside. I wouldn’t blame you if you thought it was the office’s garage – but, hey, there are famous companies started off in a garage!

Drinks at The Goodlife

Cold Brew Coffee – 15k

The GoodLife’s cold brew coffee was already pre-chilled for our convenience. It is believed that cold brew coffees have lower acidity and lower caffeine content when brewed in equal volume.

The coffee also came in a nice little pre-packaged bottle… so that you don’t need to wait for it to be processed.

Hot Matcha Latte – 20k

Latte – 20k

The food menu

Dutch Pancake – 50k

It can be said that Dutch Pancake is the ‘signature dish’ at The GoodLife – we ordered three of them!

It was quite a wait because they actually made it from scratch… and also the fact that they only had one oven at that time (you might need another one soon ^_^).

However, I must say it was definitely worth the wait and it was quite a decent portion for me (read: very big for an average Indonesian person). The pancake itself was (obviously) freshly served and the blueberries were the ‘icing on the cake’.

The thing that amazed me from the café was the ad hoc menu. At one stage, the owner told us that she bought this beautiful bocconcini and asked us whether we wanted a bocconcini pizza. She also offered us something that was only described as ‘savoury rice’. It’s exciting and almost felt like enjoying dishes in a fresh-produced, fine dining place -> except that it is still a garage ^_^

Bocconcini pizza – 30k

Savoury rice – 30k

Lebanese Bread – 30k

Panini with extra egg – 25k

The final verdict for The GoodLife

It was a nice experience having a sip (okay, maybe ~~slightly~~ a lot more than that) of coffee at The GoodLife.

Details:

Jl Anggrek 15, Bandung

+62 813 2208 8104

https://www.facebook.com/thegoodlifebdg/

Mar 2, 2016
The Hub House Diner

Review:

We went to The Hub House Diner because of the ads that they put up in their facebook page. It was for their weekly promotional “Bang for Your Buck Tuesday burgers”. Every burger on their menu is $10 and there is a special weekly burger. They have a special burger every Tuesday after 5pm.

That week, the special was Buttermilk Spicy Fried Chicken Burger.

Buttermilk Spicy Fried Chicken Burger – 10 – with gherkin, butter lettuce and spicy chipotle aioli

This was the special for the week that we visited The Hub House Diner. The interesting bit about this burger was that the aioli was properly spicy.

Hub Cheese Burger –10 – Signature Beef Pattie, American Jack, Frilly Lettuce, Tomato, Fresh Spanish Onion Ring, Gherkin, Cheeseburger sauce

Normally, this burger would cost you $16… and I think it was a bit over my comfortable limit for a burger. However, for $10, it was a good burger to have!

Pimp My Fries with Truffle, Manchego Cheese – 11

I ordered this out of curiosity. It turned out to be the one I liked the most that night. There was a generous serving of Manchego Cheese and truffle.

Kiddie Popcorn Chicken – 11 – Panko Coated Balls of Chicken Breast, with fries, ketchup

It feels quite weird when the kid’s menu item is more expensive than yours. However, knowing that the little one really loved this dish really paid it off!

The final verdict for The Hub House Diner

The Hub House Diner is a nice venue to have a dinner on Tuesday… especially with its $10 burger!

Rating for The Hub House Diner:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $10 burger every Tuesday

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

410-412 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill 2203

+61 2 9518 1887

http://www.thehubhousediner.com.au/

Feb 23, 2016
The Little Snail

Review:

I have known The Little Snail for quite some time, but I’ve only managed to visit it the other day. The Little Snail restaurant is located in the iconic Darling Harbour, Sydney.

I was actually quite surprised when learning that for 3-course lunch menu, they ‘only’ charge $38. I think it’s quite a decent price given the location of the restaurant. They also have a 2-course kids menu for $18 that comes with a choice of soft drink or juice.

Escargots de Bourgogne – dozens snails marinated in herb-infused court bouillon, oven baked in garlic butter

For my first course, I chose Escargots (aka snails), my go-to dish when I visit a French restaurant. The 12 rather large escargots were not deshelled. It was quite a spectacle!

Pate Maison – Armagnac flavoured duck liver pate with marinated champignons, date chutney and port vinaigrette

The other ‘must have’ dish from a French restaurant was ordered as my wife’s first course. It was quite a generous serving of duck liver pate with curious spots of mushrooms around the plate. The date chutney complemented the pate beautifully.

We had to order extra slices of baguette because we wanted to eat the pate to the last piece! It was very nice!

Crispy Fried Calamari and Chips

This was the first dish for the little kid. The calamari was crunchy on the outside and not chewy! It was pretty good!

Kangaroo Fillet – (recommended rare) on garlic pommes puree with a seasonal greens

Cooking a kangaroo is notoriously hard. You overcook it and it would render the meat inedible. Since the recommendation was rare, that was what I ordered.

The kangaroo was already pre-sliced to a bite size (mind you my bite size might be different than yours). It was perfectly cooked with a nice accompanying sweet sauce!

Citrus marinated Tasmanian Salmon – served on sweet peas risotto and sauce vierge

Another well-balanced dish with perfectly cooked salmon. I had to ask google about sauce vierge, literally translated as ‘the virgin sauce’. It was made from olive oil, lemon juice, chopped tomato and chopped basil.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberry topping

The kid’s menu ice cream (that was actually the same size as the grownups!) was very pleasant to look at – or in my son’s case to dip his hand into. They use sable Breton (aka shortcrust bread) to give that extra kick to the ice cream.

Classic Crème Caramel

It is a very simple and classic crème caramel… as expected.

Chef churned hazelnut and praline ice cream on sable breton and Grand Marnier caramel

It was actually quite similar to the kid’s ice cream in terms of quality. However the adult-version came with liquor content and the sugar ornament at the top.

The final verdict for The Little Snail

Darling Harbour is probably the next best thing in Sydney after Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Having a three-course lunch for $38 at The Little Snail in Darling Harbour is such a steal!

Did you know?

You can get a 25% discount when dining at The Little Snail restaurant if you have the Entertainment Book. Entertainment Book is a book used in fundraising campaigns for fundraising companies like Cancer Council and RSPCA. It contains a lot of discounts for a lot of restaurants!

Upon researching about The Little Snail, I came across an expired Groupon link. It would’ve been nice to get an even bigger discount for the restaurant!

Rating for The Little Snail:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $38 for 3-course lunch

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

50 Murray Street, Pyrmont

+61 2 9212 7512

http://www.thelittlesnail.com.au/

Feb 17, 2016
Catalina Rose Bay Wedding
Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

This is probably one of my most memorable reviews of the year. We went to Catalina Rose Bay to celebrate my ex-work/gaming/foodie mate’s wedding. Catalina has been a Good Food Guide’s one-hat restaurant for a few years.

Catalina was also voted as the people’s award winner for 2015 by Australian Financial Review. The restaurant overlooked a beautiful bay with yachts and sunset view.

So, having a wedding venue that is a combination of great food and great view isn’t that bad, is it?

Travelling Entrée (or some might say roaming canapé) – Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

According to the Assistant Manager, the travelling entrée is not part of the regular menu at the restaurant. We get 10 (yes, TEN!) different travelling entrée. Being a travelling entrée, it was quite hard to get a picture of all of them although they were eventually put on display for the bridal party.

They were all quite simple but yummy entrée. Here they are in no particular order with my best guess of ingredients:
- Smoked salmon with cream cheese and caviar on crostini
- Fresh oysters with lemon and Catalina’s vinaigrette
- Fresh tuna with vinaigrette and peas puree
- Zucchini flower with goat cheese
- Beef with pastry
- Eggplant
- Sausage rolls with tomato sauce
- Mozarella arancini balls
- Battered prawns
- I am not quite sure what the last one was!
[vc_gallery type=”flexslider_fade” interval=”3″ images=”4588,4589,4590,4591,4592,4593,4594,4572,4573,4574,4575,4576,4577″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” img_size=”600×400″]

Main Course – Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

What separate Catalina from wedding venues I attended before was its main course. Instead of having alternate main course for the table, they actually asked which of the two you prefer!

Roasted lamb rack with minted pea puree, baby beetroots & tomato jus

I sort of ‘cheated’ and asked the groom whether I should order the barramundi. He told me that I would love the lamb rack… Great advice! The dish came with TWO racks of lamb!

No surprise it was quite a sweet dish considering that it was complemented by beetroot, tomato and minted pea. It was a decent portion for main.

Roasted lamb rack with minted pea puree, baby beetroots & tomato jus

Roasted lamb rack with minted pea puree, baby beetroots & tomato jus

Crispy skin Cone Bay barramundi with spanner crab ravioli, enoki mushroom, avruga, sage & eschalot cream

Being on the main table, I could not find someone that I could pinch the barramundi from. It did look very pretty and (without a doubt) grilled perfectly!

The complements further enhanced the seafood character of the dish.

Crispy skin Cone Bay barramundi with spanner crab ravioli, enoki mushroom, avruga, sage & eschalot cream

Dessert – Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

For the dessert, it was a no-brainer for me. I do not like dark chocolate and I tried hard to find someone who wanted to swap if I did get the dark chocolate… surely I did get the dark chocolate (which I quickly swapped with the other groomsman!)

Unlike the main course, the dessert was served alternately between guests.

Strawberry pavlova with lime curd & strawberry coulis

The two-tone pavlova looked elegantly simple.

Unfortunately when I got to the table, the ice cream was completely melted – we took way too many pictures! I was also quite full from the 10-course travelling entrees.

I did finish the pavlova to the last scoop and I think it was up to the one-hat standard.

Strawberry pavlova with lime curd & strawberry coulis

Dark chocolate mousse with wattleseed ice cream & cocoa tuile

As I am not a big fan of the dark chocolate, I had to ask my friend how it tasted and he said ‘it was nice’.

The technical aspects were quite apparent on the dish.

Dark chocolate mousse with wattleseed ice cream & cocoa tuile

Petit Fours at Catalina

Sommelier Adam and Port

Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

Details:

Lyne Park, Rose Bay, NSW 2029

+61 2 9371 0555

http://catalinarosebay.com.au/
Feb 9, 2016
Komune Beach Club

Review:

In our last leg of our holiday at the end of last year, we went to an area in Bali (possibly) least visited by tourists called Candi Dasa. It was a very nice and peaceful area where divers love to visit. However, the place has a huge drawback: food. There was practically none that’s worth mentioning.

Luckily one day we went a bit out of the area and was recommended to this restaurant by my cousin who live in Bali: Komune Beach Club. It was a pretty modern beach club with beach-side pool and a nice bar area. The menu sounds very Australian with Australian slang such as chook.

Super club sandwich – 85k – Grilled chicken tomato lettuce avocado fried egg and bacon

It was quite a regular club sandwich that you can find in Sydney (I guess it can be considered ‘super’ in Indonesia). They also give you wavy potato chips.

‘Island of the Gods’ salad – 80k – Freshly seared sliced tuna on a bed of mixed greens, sesame seeds and mushrooms, with A special Asian dressing.

I am not going to talk about the mixed greens salad because… well… it’s just a mixed greens salad. I’m more intrigued with the seared sliced tuna. For a country not known for fresh fish eaten semi-raw, the tuna was actually pretty good!

Fish and chips – 55k – Fresh local fish delicately crumbed served with fries and salad

The fish and chips that we ordered was from the kids menu section. It was quite a decent portion for a kids menu. I also love that they actually gave salad for the kids!

Cheese burger – 70k – Homemade 180gram juicy beef pattie with sliced cheese topper

Cheese burger was the one that I actually ordered in Komune Beach Club that day. I would normally think that 180gr is a bit small but I had to take what’s available. It was quite a decent burger with (interestingly) pasta-like sauce, crinkle cut chips and a curious side of pickled gherkin and salt.

It wasn’t the most amazing burger ever, but it was quite an antidote for our deprivation of good quality food.

The final verdict for Komune Beach Club

Komune Beach Club menu is heavily influenced by Australian cuisine. The portion is quite big when compared to regular Indonesian dishes.

Did you know?

I later found out that Komune also has a hotel in Gold Coast. I guess that explained the Australian theme.

Candi Dasa, and its surrounding area like Padang Bai, is actually a well-known diving area.

Rating for Komune Beach Club:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $5 – $10 per dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Keramas Beach, off Jalan Prof Dr Ida Bagus Mantra Bypass, Bali

+62 361 3018888

http://www.komuneresorts.com/

Jan 28, 2016
The Cut Bar and Grill

Review:

When people talk about the best steakhouse in Sydney, you will always hear The Cut Bar and Grill as one of them. That’s why when a group of friends from overseas came to visit and wanted to try the famous Australian steak, I dared myself to take them there. It was sort of a gamble for me as I personally haven’t tried it before and I would really hate to have over-hyped and overpriced steakhouse.

There were eight of us and was one day before New Year’s Eve. I actually did not expect to be able to get a seat at The Cut. However, long story short, we were seated (and possibly the most underdressed bunch ever set foot in the restaurant).

As if the square boxes on the menu are not clear enough for you, I’ll make it clearer: when you are in the restaurant, ORDER A STEAK!

They have quite a large range of cuts with marble score ranging from 2 to 9+ (translate: If it is cooked properly, it is so friggen’ good!).

Côte de Bœuf – $145 – 1kg Grasslands Grass Fed served with two sides and two sauces

This steak is (supposed to be) designed for two people. It also comes with two sides and two sauces – that’s a $30 value!

When the steak arrived, it was eye-catching, looked juicy and perfect.

However, we seriously doubted that it was 1kg… or the fat was probably burned down by the 650ºC Broiler. In the end, we felt that one of us could finish this easily by ourselves.

Signature Upper Cut – $65 – 400g 4-hour slow roast F1 Wagyu Standing Rib

The 400g was ordered by our other friend. However, the funny thing was that it looked bigger than our 1kg steak!

I did try the steak from my friend and it was pretty amazing. My friend even said that this was “The Best Steak in my life”.

Flat Iron Steak “The Butchers Cut” – $43 – 250g Rangers Valley Pure Black Angus MS 3-5

It looked pretty sad and small on that big plate. However, we have to consider that it’s only 250g.

Sauces – $4 – Bearnaise, Chimichurri, House Steak Sauce, Mushroom, Shallot Red Wine Bordelaise

I was actually quite intrigue with the chimichurri, but in the end we opted for House Steak Sauce and Bordelaise. I liked the house steak sauce better than the bordelaise.

Whipped Potato – $10

Cauliflower, Blue Cheese Dressing – $12

These two were the extras we ordered with our steak. We were also considering Rocket salad (my favourite vegetables), but the blue cheese dressing eventually got my vote.

Roasted Button Mushrooms, Thyme, Smoked Speck – $13

It’s a nice and quite complex mushrooms side dish.

2013 Yellands & Papps Vin de Soif Grenache Mataro, Barossa Valley – $59

They have a good range of wines. My friend selected this for the group.

The final verdict for The Cut Bar and Grill

My guests were very impressed with the quality presented at The Cut Bar and Grill… and I agreed.

Did you know?

For those of you who got outvoted into this restaurant, they do have non-steak dishes as appetizers and mains. They also have a selection of desserts.

Rating for The Cut Bar and Grill:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $43 – $145 per steak

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

16 Argyle Street, The Rocks, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9259 5695

http://www.cutbarandgrill.com/

Jan 21, 2016