Kaihomaru: One of the Best Fresh Sashimi in Jakarta!

Definitely one of the best sashimi-eating experience I've ever had, here in my own hometown - Jakarta, Indonesia. No regrets! Located in Jakarta's so called Japan Town (Blok M). Kaihomaru is a small Japanese restaurant, not too big, not too small, it can probably hold around 50 people in a restaurant.
Stated on Jakarta100Bars.com that Kaihomaru is one of the best Japanese Restaurants. It's sad that maybe not a lot of people know about this place and they don't have website or anything like that.

This is Tairyo Mori, 10 different kinds of sashimi moriawase.

Hotategai Butter Scallop, Japanese type of mushroom on a shell.

Uni, BEST OF THE BEST OF ALL // Sea Urchin

Shishamo, it is a Japanese fish that is grilled and fried as a whole and served with its roe still intact (pregnant fish)

Unagi, tender and just nice. 

Dashimaki Tamago, Tamago means egg and this is some kind of egg omelette. TASTES SO GOOD!

Agedashi Tofu, it was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, yum!

Mochi Ice Cream, Matcha

Mochi Ice Cream, Ogura

Inside the mochi ice cream, it has these little white pearls that is sweet and crunchy.

It was definitely a great experience after all. Will definitely come back for the Tamago! SATISFIED and no regrets!

Kaihomaru
Jl Melawai VI 23
Melawai, Jakarta Selatan - Kebayoran Baru
021-7398-741

Potato Head Garage: Steakhouse Led to Disappointment

This is going to be my first post full of rants, complaints, and disappointments. I've always wanted to try Potato Head Garage simply because of the interior, it looks so grand. Pretty gold chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Magnificent furnitures and table settings. A lot of my friends came here and they said it was nice. I guess different people have different preference, I was curious about how the food tastes and it was definitely the worst food experience I've ever had. It was one of those days where all you want is eat decent food, pay for what you deserve, and get the best piece of meat served and sizzled by great chefs. 

"It was the day when all I wanted to do was spend the night with the family, this place totally ruined it."

When we called for reservation, they told us to just come in. Once we arrived at Potato Head Garage, they asked if we have any reservations and of course we said no. It was really heartbreaking, they told us they have seats for us, and yes we explained the whole story about the reservation thing. After 15 minutes or so, we decided to go somewhere else. When we reached the exit, they told us that they'll prepare us a table. Mixed feelings between disappointments and curiosity, we decided to give it a try.

Bread on the House

Green Beans Salad, it was this mix of green beans with garlic and some kind of spinach. (7/10)

Merlot Red Wine

Cute coasters!

Txogitxu Beef Astigarraga, Spain. It was such a regret that I ordered this. It was not tender at all and it was such a waste of money. A 1 kg of meat, it was recommended, but definitely not the best I've ever eaten. Definitely not a recommendation. (2/10)

Txogitxu Beef Astigarraga, Spain. The sauce was bone narrow butter, it was a little bland, but a great mix for those who love butter. It has little bits of, I guess it was the bone narrow. It tastes like little bits of potato.

Wagyu Ragout Papperdelle, this might be the best food I ordered here. It tastes a bit like Bolognaise, but the sauce is thicker. It also has some bits of cheddar. (8/10)

Putanesca Rigatoni, this is a little more tomato-ish. Very similar to Papperdelle, the only difference is this is more red which means the tomato is stronger and there's more sauce on this. For those who don't really like tomatoes, I wouldn't recommend this. (6/10)

More cute coasters!

Sweet Potato Caramel, the sweet potato tastes ordinary. The ice cream was vanilla, it was okay, not my favorite. (4/10)

Overall, I was really disappointed with the whole experience. Bad food, overpriced (obviously), and bad service. The only thing I like about this restaurant is probably the interior, sure it was inviting, but it was so not worth it. I will not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Potato Head Garage
Jalan Jendral Sudirman Kav 52-53
Jakarta Selatan 12190
Jakarta, Indonesia
(021) 57973330
WEB

Dessert Company: Heaven of Savory & Sweets

This definitely fit in my list of "Restaurants with Designed Interior". Love the concept and everything, thanks to Egghead you can also check out the detailed version of their designs here! Dessert Company is located in Pantai Indah Kapuk, Jakarta - Rukan Crown Golf. You can sit upstairs/downstairs, I decided to sit upstairs just because it was less crowded and have better design.

source: underconsideration.com

Du Kuh Bee: Eat-out at Late Night

I haven't had the chance to eat proper restaurant's meals lately. Portland, Oregon is famous for their culinary (foodcarts) but, there aren't a lot of places or dine-in restaurants that opens late at night. Du Kuh Bee is one of my favorite places to eat when most restaurants are already closed. This place is in Beaverton, Oregon which is on Southwest Portland.

They open until 12am on Monday to Thursday and closes at 1am on Friday and Saturday. Their special dish is 'Pork Noodle' the noodle is freshly handmade. You can choose the level of spiciness, usually I go with the medium spicy, trust me it's not even that hot.

Du Kuh Bee is rather small, sometimes you have to wait for a while because it can get quite packed at times. The restaurant itself can hold around 30-40 people.

Appetizers from the kitchen!

Chinese Herbal Pork Hock, this was probably the most disgusting edible dish I've ever eaten. I'm not a pork fan and so this was not my favorite. It was chewy, quite similar to jellyfish and very oily. At first I thought it was pig's ears, but it doesn't look like it, turns out it's their feet. (3/10)

Close up pic of the Pork Hock

Shrimp Fried Rice, THIS WAS MINE! :') I'm not sure why, but to me this tastes perfect. Though it looks simple and plain, but it somehow tastes really good. It contains prawn, green peas, scrambled egg, and thin cuts of leeks. The prawn tasted fresh and the whole meal was evenly seasoned. Yum! If you don't eat seafood, they also offer 'Kimchee Fried Rice', 'Egg Fried Rice', or 'Chicken Fried Rice' (8/10)

Close up pic of the Shrimp Fried Rice

Du Kuh Bee's Special Pork Noodle (Medium Spicy) People usually come here to eat this. I remember ordering this dish with zero spicy and it tasted bland. The spicy seasoning is what makes this dish tastes really good. It contains cabbage, FRESH HANDMADE noodles, blocks of pork meat, and thin cuts of leeks. If you don't like pork, they also have 'Vegetarian Noodle', 'Chicken Noodle', 'Shrimp Noodle', or 'Squid Noodle'. (8/10)

The price person is around $15-$20/person for all these dishes. Here's a review from Oregonlive that I found online.

Du Kuh Bee
12590 SW 1st St
Beaverton, OR 97005
(503) 643-5388

Hours:
Monday to Thursday
16:00 - 00:00

Friday and Saturday
16:00 - 1:00

Yuzu: Best Japanese Restaurant in Portland

This Japanese restaurant is located in Southwest Portland, Beaverton. Yuzu is probably the best Japanese restaurant I've ever been to. Also my favorite place to eat supper or dinner. Monday - Friday, they open 6pm-9pm and on Saturday, 6pm-9pm. Sometimes it gets crowded around dinner time, 6-8 so be prepared to wait. Two best dishes I ALWAYS order are Kakuni Ramen(ramen and Pork belly) and Katsu Don(chicken katsu and rice).

Gyoza or potstickers. This was very crispy and full of meat and vegetables. The sauce was salty and a bit sweet. Big portion  for appetizer, perfect for sharing and starter. (7/10)

Every time you order their Ramen, they always give you the garlic and sesame seeds. Add these to your ramen!

Menchi Katsu, This is a breaded and deep-fried ground meat cutlet or croquette; a fried meat cake. The meat is pork. It was really soft and the teriyaki sauce makes it even more tasty, also the mayonnaise makes it a perfect combo. (9/10)

Katsudon, this is my favorite dish in this restaurant. They offer 3 different sizes for this dish; mini, regular, and extra rice for the hungry ones. The white thing on top is egg, with the chicken katsu below it and rice on the very last layer. The egg is somehow what makes it good because it is half-cooked and when you mix it with the rice, it adds flavor to it. (10/10)

Here's the signature dish, Kakuni Ramen. Spring onions, red ginger, pork belly, ramen, and the amazing broth. The pork belly is one whole square cube that melts in your mouth. The broth was something extraordinary as it tastes something like I've never tasted anywhere else. The broth was strong, but no too much. The ramen was soft, but not still munch-able. The best! (10/10) 

Here's the amazing piece of pork belly. Very generous, thick, and huge. Isn't it tempting? If you are interested in trying the ramen, but not a fan of pork belly, you should order the Tonkotsu Ramen. It is the same as Kakuni Ramen, only without the pork belly.

The total cost for all these delicateness was around $15 per person, DEFINITELY WORTH THE MONEY. 4.5/5 rating on Yelp and 90% 'like it' on Urbanspoon.

Yuzu
4130 SW 117th Ave
Ste H
Beaverton, OR 97005
(503) 350-1801

Viva Las Vegas!

A few weeks ago, I went to Las Vegas with my family for a few days. It was definitely one fat week. I gained a few pounds after the trip and am trying really hard to lose those now. Day 1 was not as tiring because it was kinda late when I reached there. I wanted to go to Gallagher's Steakhouse in New York New York, but sadly it was closed. Then, I found this 24 hours restaurant called The America which is also in New York New York. Here goes my probably the longest post in this blog:

Huge US map and its resources on the ceiling. PRETTY :')

Oregon <3

Their Caesar Salad was overpriced and too much cheese. I was hoping for something healthy, but they gave me this instead.   It was too cheesy for a salad, but because I love cheese, I loved it.  5/10

This was my personal meal. It was huge for a single portion and it was fresh and good for the price. The crisp was evenly perfect. I would come back for the Fish and Chips. Luckily, it was not fishy at all when I ordered this. The tartar sauce was my favorite. 

This was my mom's turkey burger. I didn't try it though, but she managed to finish the whole thing, so it must be good.

My brother's Macaroni and Cheese. It was cheese with macaroni. The cheese was gooey and so thick that he couldn't finish the whole thing. 7/10

Sirloin Steak. Honestly, this was not the best thing I've ever tasted. It was not tender at all. Definitely not gonna come back for this. 4/10

Honestly, I don't recommend this restaurant for late night supper because it took us almost an hour to get our meals. The service was horrible. The next day finally paid off, my dad finally had his wish came true. He has always wanted to go to Gallagher's Steakhouse in New York New York, but he never had the chance. This place is quite unique because the meats were dried and aged to the bones that's why it was really tender.

Meat display in front of the restaurant.

Filet Mignon, it was the best steak I've ever tasted. The tenderness was beyond perfection. It was totally worth it. 9/10

The Prime Rib was huge! It was more than enough for the 4 of us. It was tender but a bit too salty. The sauce was a perfect combination with the meat. 9/10

Filet Mignon, :') BEST

The Asparagus was great. The sauce tastes like butter and mayonaise, I think it's a mix of those two. 8/10

The next day we ate lunch at a food court in MGM. We had Bonnano's New York Pizzeria for lunch and it was okay. Perfect meal and size for brunch.

My dad's Caesar Salad. Definitely better than America's, no offense. Though the cheese looks more, but it was not as salty. 7/10

This was our pick from the displays. We had to pick any different choices from what they had. We had scrambled egg, bacon, hash brown, and patties. The hash brown was my favorite! 7/10

Spaghetti and Meatballs. This was also good because it was not too tomato-ey and or sour/salty. I wish there were more sauce though because the pasta was a lot. I loved the meatballs, tasted kind of like Ikea's. 8/10

The next day, we had a one night stay at Hard Rock Hotel. My brother, dad, and I decided to go for the happy hour in Pink Taco which is also located in Hard Rock. It was a mexican bar, but their food was not bad. Their happy hour meal started at 3 o'clock till 6, and everything was 5 dollars. Check out their Happy Hour Menu.

Corn chips, complimentary by Pink Taco

3 different sauces for the corn chips. Top left was my favorite, it was some kind of bean with a mix of BBQ.

So this was my favorite, Pink's Chicken Nachos. We ordered 2 portions of this because it was amazing. The level of crisp and saucy was almost equal. I am craving for this all over again right now. 9/10

Flautas. It was something ordinary, but pretty extra for its price. 7/10

Tijuana Steak Tacos. Not the best, but it was still edible. It tasted plain because there were no sauce and too dry. 7/10

Cheese Quesadilla. I thought Quesadilla was something like a lasagna, turns out it's this. I was a bit disappointed because I didn't think it was worth it. It was plain and dry. I was hoping for something meaty and saucy. 7/10

For dinner, we went to Venetian and ate at Noodle Asia. We were so tired and we couldn't say no to a Chinese Restaurant nearby. I wasn't sure whether the food tasted really good or maybe it was because I was too starving.

Fried Rice with Prawn and Vegetables, it was really good! The sauce was creamy and the fried rice was not too seasoned and the rice was soft. Everything was cooked well. 9/10

Wonton with Dumplings, it tasted really good after the soup was poured into it. Before, it was plain and it didn't taste like anything. The soup was warm and tasted even better after a long tiring day. 9/10

Roasted Pork, this is probably heaven for almost everyone, but not me. I am not a fan of porks and so, I can't say that this tasted good. The sauce was thick and not overly poured which is great. The side sauce was actually something new to me. It was a bit spicy but tasted like BBQ. 6/10

It's finally the end of this post. That was a lot of 'food-porn'. Last but not least, here are all the restaurants I mentioned in this post:

The America
New York New York Hotel & Casino
3790 Las Vegas Blvd SLas Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 740-6451

Gallagher's Steakhouse
New York New York Hotel Casino
3790 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109(702) 740-6450

Bonnano's New York Pizzeria
3799 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 597-5007

Pink Taco
Hard Rock Resort & Casino
4455 Paradise Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 693-5525

Noodle Asia
The Venetian
3355 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 414-1444